Think there are a lot of sale items at your local supermarket? Take a closer look—supermarkets are using new techniques to make items appear as though they’re on sale when they’re really not, says Charlie Peters of paylessforfood.com. Luckily, spotting the fakes is easy. To do it: Double-check the shelf price—which is the item’s normal price—with the price you see on…
* Handwritten signs. Savvy supermarket owners know that shoppers are trained to assume anything with a handwritten sign is on sale since most of the store’s signs are professionally printed. Stores use this to their advantage by placing handwritten signs on products that are selling at their usual price.
* A pile of shipping boxes. Taking a cue from discount warehouse clubs, grocery store owners place cases of laundry detergent, soda, shampoo and other products still in their original shipping containers in store aisles to give the appearance that it’s overstock and, therefore, being sold at a discount.
* Every variety you want. Sometimes, a store will place a particular product on sale—but exclude one variety of that item. For instance, all Campbell’s soups may be on sale except chicken soup or all Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn may be on sale except the Natural and Organic variety. They’re hoping you aren’t looking too closely and notice the one exclusion.
* Bulk-sized items. Shoppers automatically expect to get more bang for their buck from bigger sizes, but now stores are upping the price on them. Compare the unit prices to see if you’re actually paying more for the larger size than the smaller one.
Tip: Parents can cut spending in half by simply putting kids in the shopping cart seat. While following shoppers with children, researchers found that those who let young kids walk ended up buying twice as many items as those with kids who were wheeled around, reveals a study out of the University of Vienna in Austria. No wonder: Stores place items that kids will love—like cookies and toys—low so they can grab them.
[photo: Adam Pieniazek]
