2001connections-article0007 Tricky retailers loudly lower and quietly raise prices.

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2001connections-article0007
Tricky retailers loudly lower and quietly raise prices.

No doubt you have seen the publicity in stores and in advertising. Price drop. Price fall. Price cut. And so on. Sure enough, the chargeable amount in question was generally higher before. No complaint there, most of the time. But retailers usually fail to mention that they now charge more for other goods. Thus, the vendor seems intent on creating a false impression that all items in this particular store are now cheaper to buy. The solution is obvious. Require merchants to display price drops and price hikes with equal prominence. No more sneaking in a higher price and hoping the consumer won’t notice.

Listed below is a real-life example from my everyday shopping experience. I recall the timeline and data and numbers in good faith, as best I can, from memory. 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
My favourite local department store previously sold my favourite packaged candy for about 94 cents per package of 150 grams or so, since around 2001, I believe. [150 grams or so = about 5.5 ounces]. Sometime in 2003, if I remember correctly, they quietly raised the amount payable for this product to around 98 cents. Not so much. But there was no mention of the increase. And this same retailer makes a big noise over any price that they lower. And they do lower many of their prices. But to be fair, their conscience and/or the law should compel them to display a sign along the lines of “Price hike!! Was only 94 cents. Now we charge 98 cents. An increase of 4 cents, about 4.5%”. Recent update as of writing this article in late 2006: the product sold at around $1.07 per package. Yes, another stealthy price hike! And here is the most recent update as of semi-final editing of this article in March 2007: the assortment of boxed candies has changed slightly. However, the exterior of the package seems to remain about the same size. But the contents have shrunk to about 130 grams. The box is now around 65% empty, or containing about 2/3 airspace, to be more precise. And only 35% or so of the overall volume of the package constitutes the actual product!! It’s all outrageous!! Wait, it gets worse!! The price has increased stealthily once more, to $1.17. I have receipts for this most recent purchase!! Perhaps the slogan of this maker of candies and goodies should be “More packaging, less product, higher prices”!

Yes, I favour passing a law empowering consumers to take direct action against this particular pricing problem. Let there be officially-approved stickers, perhaps 3” x 5”, which citizens and/or inspectors have the right to affix on or next to the stealthily-price-hiked merchandise. Standard fields on the sticker to fill out might include: [[1]] Price before. [[2]] Price now. [[3]] Absolute rise in price. [[4]] Relative, or percentage-wise, rise in price. [[5]] Length of time between old and new price, perhaps measured in weeks or months, as appropriate. [[6]] Relative, or percentage-wise, rise in price, as recalculated on a yearly basis. [[7]] Actual inflation rate calculated on a yearly basis. [[8]] Side-by side comparison of [[6]] and [[7]]. And let the law prescribe a penalty for the merchant who removes any legitimately-affixed stickers without valid reason. Valid reason might include re-lowering, or un-hiking the price. Or obtaining permission in writing from the appropriate regulatory agency.
Perhaps eventually, every merchant will be dissuaded from attempting to deceive the public with tricky pricing. Let us all hope so.

End of
2001connections-article0007
Tricky retailers loudly lower and quietly raise prices.

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