Channel 4 news

[Dr B]

It's great - but if you get the chance watch it tonight for what appears to be a marketing / pricing scam.

Could be one for Teek & John to use as a good example (for teaching or factsheets) to use.

I think Tesco are accused of increasing the prices on certain things (sometimes more than double) and then sold them half-price - which was still higher than the original price :D

Of course, i have not seen the programme yet - but that is the accusation in the advert. Will be interesting to see if this really is a scam or not and what the arguments are.

[Admin]

I'll have a butcher's hook at it. O0

[tablemonkey]

I think Tesco are accused of increasing the prices on certain things (sometimes more than double) and then sold them half-price - which was still higher than the original price

I always imagined that was what they did anyway. People think they are getting a bargain then. But surely if Tesco had the product at double the price then other supermarkets had to have theirs at around the same? Maybe they didn't want to cut the price down and are fed up with Tesco for drawing attention to the fact the product is cheap.

[Admin]

Well Tesco denied any wrongdoing but it seems quite obvious that they were out to deceive people IMO.

Prices of certain fruit and veg would be at (for example) £1.49 at the beginning of December, rising to £2.99 in January, only to be put 'on sale' at half price of £1.48 later on... ::)

They did claim that prices rose before the sale because of market forces but it was pointed out that other supermarkets' prices did not rise in conjunction with Tesco's.

It would be easy to check on the validity of supermarket sales offers by simply checking their competitors' prices. If they're claiming it's a half price sale then the prices should be around half the price of their competitors'. If they're not then the sale is bogus.

It's a bit like the insurance companies' "save upto 30% on your car insurance" claims. If they're all saving us upto 30% it can't be comared to each other!

[Mongrel]

I think Tesco are accused of increasing the prices on certain things (sometimes more than double) and then sold them half-price - which was still higher than the original price

I always imagined that was what they did anyway. People think they are getting a bargain then. But surely if Tesco had the product at double the price then other supermarkets had to have theirs at around the same? Maybe they didn't want to cut the price down and are fed up with Tesco for drawing attention to the fact the product is cheap.


People are creatures of habit. They'll shop around for the best price on cars, computers, suits etc but when it comes time to get your weekly shopping in they'll normally do it in one hit at their regular supermarket. It's a bit of brand loyalty and a fair chunk of laziness

[Cuddles]

There are rules about when you can claim things are "on sale" which say that they have to be at a price for a certain length of time (not sure how long) before you can reduce them and claim it is a discount. Assuming Tesco havn't actually broken these rules then they have done nothing wrong. If people are stupid enough not to notice that they are paying double the price on some things for a month then it is entirely their own fault. Equally, if people are stupid enough to buy things simply because they say "sale" on them that is also their own fault. Since all food is required to have price and price per weight/volume displayed there is no excuse for falling for tricks like this. It may not be the most moral thing ever done, and I'm all for exposing fraud and real scams, but there comes a point where it just gets silly. I see no need at all for us to try to protect people who aren't even capable of buying their own groceries from themselves. This isn't a case where they don't have all the information or anything is being deliberatly hidden, all the information is actually printed on the food, people are just too lazy to bother about it.

[Admin]

There are rules about when you can claim things are "on sale" which say that they have to be at a price for a certain length of time (not sure how long) before you can reduce them and claim it is a discount.


It's normally 28 days but for perishables like fruit and veg it's less.

[Sgt Badass]

Putting the laws, trading standards etc. to one side for a second, what's happening here is simple shopping psychology. Refer to Robert Cialdini's 'Influence' for all the fun of the fair, but basically, we are idiots when it comes to making decisions with regard price and value.

Essentially, it's impossible for people to handle the sheer amount of information that's required to process whether something is a bargain or not. Therefore, if peas have a sticker saying 'half price' on them, people will ten to believe it and buy them. They don't compare it to the price last week because they can't, they just assume the new price is correct.

My mother works in Tesco and she has had people go straight to the bargain shelf and pick up tins with the magical yellow 'reduced' sticker on it and pop 'em in the basket. Often the prices are incorrect and the sale price is higher than the original.

Cuddles is right. Stupid is as stupid does.

[chillzero]

I often got annoyed at picking up what looked like a bargain in Tesco, but after looking a little closer realised it was a rip-off. Another reason I don't shop in-shop any more.

Like - buy 2 for only £1.40!!! When one on its own costs £0.65.
etc.

[QueigBladecaster]

This is common 'sale' practice I used to work for a well known electrical retailer who shall remain nameless.

Every time we would switch into sale mode there was a price change the month before which told you exactly which were going to be the big sale items, ie the ones that jumped up in price so they could be advertised with huge savings when the sale started.

It got so obvious that we had to put up disclamers in the shop stateing that these products had been advertised at the higher price for at least 28 days prior to the saving being claimed. all perfectly legal but no less underhand.