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Bruce Wrenn
03-27-2019, 8:49 PM
There must be people who lie awake at night figuring how to cheat the consumer. Here are a few of my favorites (yeah,right!) First, toilet paper and paper towels. When they emboss the tissue, it means the thickness is greater, and less sheets per roll. Have you noticed how easily TP now fits into the holder, as the rolls are much narrower? The absolute worst is at the Georgia rest stop on I-85 south, near the SC line. If it was any narrower, it would be "fanny floss." Next on my list is peanut butter. Next time you are in grocery store, see how many different brands are the same height, but different weights. Turn them over and look at the indentation in the bottom of the jar. Next is Dial soap. The bar is shaped like a saddle, length wise on one side, and cross wise on the other. When you pick up package, it feels full size when in fact it's about 2/3's the weight of old bars due to scalloping. Just a few of the ways I have found for companies to cheat the consumer, add you least favorites.

Lee Schierer
03-27-2019, 9:38 PM
Down sizing product content while subtly changing packaging has been going on for over 20 years. Ice cream used to be sold in half gallon containers. The shapes of containers were altered to look the same while being slightly smaller in volume. What you have noted is nothing new and will likely continue.

Andrew Joiner
03-28-2019, 12:50 PM
I notice those things as well Bruce. I tell my wife and friends and they think I'm odd and cheap. I prefer to think of myself as an informed consumer.:)

Scott Donley
03-28-2019, 3:32 PM
Yep, take Folgers coffee as an example. Use to be 35.4 oz than became 32.2 oz than 29.? now 25.4 oz. Container looks the same, red plastic with black top, just a bit shorter each time, never enough to notice unless you compare the 35.4 to the 25.4. I only notice because I use the containers for my dirty and clean brass in multiple calibers. The price never changed, in reality it has gone up a bit.

Perry Hilbert Jr
03-28-2019, 4:41 PM
when I was a youngin, Campbells condensed soup came in 15 oz cans. Tuna came in 8 oz cans. Everything shrunk. There has always been a big indent in the bottom of some bottles, like wine. Candy Bars shrank, Sodas got larger though. Went from quarts to liters.

Derek Meyer
03-28-2019, 4:42 PM
I was bowling league a couple of weeks ago and one of my teammates ordered a pint of some IPA. He drank it, but when he went to order another one they had no more on tap. They did have cans of the same stuff, though, so he ordered one of those. His 12 ounce can came and he poured it into his pint glass. It filled the glass to within 1/8" of the rim. So a "pint" is really about 12.5 ounces there. That's one way to make a buck I guess, especially at $5 a pint.

Tom Stenzel
03-28-2019, 5:01 PM
The size of coffee containers has bounced around forever. Remember 3 lb. cans? The size has been trending downward for decades.

The one I that got me ticked off was Dannon reducing the size of a cup of yogurt from 8 oz. to 6 oz. due to "customer demand". I don't remember demanding that I get 25% less and paying maybe 10% less for 2 months.

I remember when Mrs. Butterworths pancake syrup was introduced it was advertised as having 2% butter in it. Years later it became 1%. Then it was 0.4%. After that it listed butter flavors or something on the bottle. But no actual butter.

Then they introduced the low calorie version, Mrs. Butterworth Lite. Then they called the not so low calorie version Original. That threw a flag for me- Original implies that they are selling is comparable to what they sold 50 years ago. Of course that is a bunch of hooey. Original in this case means 'whatever the heck it was we were selling last week'.

At the Large Store With The Smile Face I just saw bottles of 50% isopropyl alcohol. Isn't 70% the norm? I'm sure it'll be marketed as a premium product soon. With a price to match.

Pre-diluted antifreeze.

It's official. I'm an old grouch.

-Tom

Bill Orbine
03-28-2019, 6:54 PM
Holes in Lifesavers..... Remember the promotion that they were later selling the holes?
Ice Cream use to be sold in pint, quart and 1/2 gallon.

Terry Wawro
03-28-2019, 7:33 PM
The absolute worst is at the Georgia rest stop on I-85 south, near the SC line. If it was any narrower, it would be "fanny floss."

OK Bruce, you've peaked my interest. I live near Clemson so the next time I drive by the rest stop I'm going to have to stop and inspect the "fanny floss"!

Bruce Wrenn
03-28-2019, 8:24 PM
OK Bruce, you've peaked my interest. I live near Clemson so the next time I drive by the rest stop I'm going to have to stop and inspect the "fanny floss"!

We usually stop for gas in SC before crossing into GA when going to IWF. Stop at GA welcome center and check to see if there is a better hotel deal available. Print out deal, and upon check in have them do the price match. Don't forget that pre filled propane tanks only have 15# of propane in them. That's why I make a couple trips per year to local dealer to have a bunch filled. It's like buying two and getting three free.

Jim Becker
03-28-2019, 8:52 PM
Consumers tend to notice price increases immediately while completely missing downsizing of packaging/quantity/weight, etc., which is effectively a price increase without changing the price shown. Almost no one reads labels nor do many tend to check the "price per unit" on the store shelves (required by law I believe) while making their selections. And like Lee said...it's nothing new.

Frederick Skelly
03-28-2019, 9:35 PM
There must be people who lie awake at night figuring how to cheat the consumer. Here are a few of my favorites (yeah,right!) First, toilet paper and paper towels. When they emboss the tissue, it means the thickness is greater, and less sheets per roll. Have you noticed how easily TP now fits into the holder, as the rolls are much narrower? The absolute worst is at the Georgia rest stop on I-85 south, near the SC line. If it was any narrower, it would be "fanny floss." Next on my list is peanut butter. Next time you are in grocery store, see how many different brands are the same height, but different weights. Turn them over and look at the indentation in the bottom of the jar. Next is Dial soap. The bar is shaped like a saddle, length wise on one side, and cross wise on the other. When you pick up package, it feels full size when in fact it's about 2/3's the weight of old bars due to scalloping. Just a few of the ways I have found for companies to cheat the consumer, add you least favorites.

Too many MBAs getting paid to think up cost cutting ideas...

Ron Citerone
03-28-2019, 9:50 PM
K-Cup coffee....................$28 per pound!

Jim Koepke
03-29-2019, 12:52 AM
Holes in Lifesavers..... Remember the promotion that they were later selling the holes?
Ice Cream use to be sold in pint, quart and 1/2 gallon.

Certain brands still sell full 16 fl. oz. pints and 32 fl. oz. quarts. My recollection is Ben & Jerry's still comes in pints. Not sure about Haagen Daz. The Kroger store brand at the local Fred Meyers is also a full pint.

jtk

Jim Becker
03-29-2019, 8:55 AM
K-Cup coffee....................$28 per pound!

True, but there is a level of convenience and reduction in waste that at least makes up for part of that cost. This is especially true for office and other similar accommodations, but even for some home users who just drink a cup or so or have family members who like different brews, it can be reasonably practical. I don't use that system...I grind my own for my daily lattés.

Stan Calow
03-29-2019, 8:56 AM
A pound of bacon is becoming 12 ounces, and it seems that Oreos are getting smaller and thinner. But in fairness, the weight/size information on all these products is on the label and if people don't read it, then its not cheating, just taking advantage of peoples' inattentiveness..

Jon Nuckles
03-29-2019, 10:43 AM
Try not to view this as an attempt to cheat you. The sellers are simply helping you absorb the inevitable price increases without causing you distress. ;)

Malcolm Schweizer
03-29-2019, 1:15 PM
Portions are getting smaller, but people keep getting bigger and bigger. :confused:

Edwin Santos
03-29-2019, 1:41 PM
K-Cup coffee....................$28 per pound!

Not to mention the thousands (millions?) of pounds of garbage the little cups add up to create.
K-Cups are an environmental disaster and the inventor said in an interview that he wished he could un-invent them. Since inception, the estimate is that 57 billion of those little cups have been sold. Enough to make a chain that would wrap around the Earth about 72 times.

Coffee grounds themselves, and even the paper filters, are biodegradable and do really well as fertilizer and compost. Not the case with plastic K-cups.
Many Starbucks locations have a little sign inviting customers to just ask for used coffee grounds for the garden.

Andrew Joiner
03-29-2019, 2:45 PM
I use an Aeropress but if your into saving the Earth reusable k cups are available.

Tom Stenzel
03-29-2019, 6:11 PM
Been waiting to pounce on this, being a woodworking forum I would have thought one of the first posts would have asked:

What size is a 2X4 again? I didn't learn that 4 + 4 =7 in school! But in my garage it is.

How about dimensionally stable plywood that's some marked size and isn't? Convenient that the size always gets thinner.
Or plywood filled with so many voids you buy thinly veneered air?

I'll stop there but I'm sure that the members here can come up with some real outrages.

-Tom

Cary Falk
03-29-2019, 6:29 PM
Portions are getting smaller, but people keep getting bigger and bigger. :confused:

Well yeah, people have to eat 2 to 3 times the portions to keep up with the shrinking portion size.:D

Jim Koepke
03-29-2019, 7:35 PM
Well yeah, people have to eat 2 to 3 times the portions to keep up with the shrinking portion size.:D

Like a restaurant a friend told me about. The food isn't that good and the portions are too small.

jtk

Mike Cutler
03-29-2019, 7:55 PM
Sacks of grained and feed.
The "standard", when I was a kid, used to be 100lbs. Then to make it lighter for women, their target demographic, they lowered it to 50lbs. Now it comes in 40 lb bags because 50 lb bags are too heavy!
It's not any cheaper either.
How about dog food in 32.5lb bags?

Mike Chance in Iowa
03-29-2019, 8:09 PM
Check out https://www.mouseprint.org and you will see all sorts of products that have changed.

Bill Dufour
03-29-2019, 8:59 PM
This is why I shop at Grocery Outlet. When the make the package smaller they take the bigger ones off the shelf so customers will not notice. Then They sell them to Grocery Outlet who sells the full size ones for about half the cost of the new improved smaller packages.
I remember Roundup kept reducing the concentration and calling it new industrial strength, extra concentrated etc as it went from 81%. down to 21% or less.
Bill D.

Brian Elfert
03-29-2019, 10:16 PM
It isn't cheating so long as they are truthful about the amount of the product being sold.

Cary Falk
03-29-2019, 11:24 PM
Clothes are shrinking as well. I have a few XL t-shirts from the '90s. They are bigger than the 2XL are now.

Pat Barry
03-30-2019, 8:25 AM
What a bunch of whiners we have assembled here. :-)

Bob Glenn
03-30-2019, 11:56 AM
I was feeling sorry for myself because I had no new shoes, then I saw a man with no feet.

Ron Citerone
03-30-2019, 7:06 PM
Not to mention the thousands (millions?) of pounds of garbage the little cups add up to create.
K-Cups are an environmental disaster and the inventor said in an interview that he wished he could un-invent them. Since inception, the estimate is that 57 billion of those little cups have been sold. Enough to make a chain that would wrap around the Earth about 72 times.

Coffee grounds themselves, and even the paper filters, are biodegradable and do really well as fertilizer and compost. Not the case with plastic K-cups.
Many Starbucks locations have a little sign inviting customers to just ask for used coffee grounds for the garden.


I still like my Melita Cone with a paper filter every morning, use 1 filter to make 2 cups no plastic waste. I buy name brand coffee when it is on sale for $2.99 a pound at Shoprite.

dennis thompson
03-31-2019, 8:39 AM
What a bunch of whiners we have assembled here. :-)

Amen to that, thankfully I'm not at the point where a big (or for that matter any) concern of mine is the price of toilet paper:)
We all seem so quick to criticize large corporations:(

Brian Elfert
03-31-2019, 8:54 AM
I like the UP&UP toilet paper from Target. The rolls had gotten so loosely rolled that each roll seemed to have hardly any paper on it. Target recently switched to bigger rolls of TP that are tightly rolled again. I have to change the roll a lot less often now.

I don't know if it is a stealth price increase or not as I never paid attention to the square feet of TP I was getting previously. The package is smaller with the rolls tightly rolled so Target saves on shipping and warehousing.

Jim Becker
03-31-2019, 8:55 AM
TP. Costco. That is all.

Brian Elfert
03-31-2019, 9:18 AM
Amen to that, thankfully I'm not at the point where a big (or for that matter any) concern of mine is the price of toilet paper:)
We all seem so quick to criticize large corporations:(

What, you aren't cutting open your toothpaste tubes and using the little bit that remains in the tube? If you value your time at all this is just a total waste of time. There are a lot easier ways to save maybe $5 in your lifetime.

I consider myself to be somewhat frugal, but I'm not doing stupid things like this. People who do this are cheap, not frugal. I choose what I buy carefully with an eye to buying stuff that will last. Frugal is not necessarily about not spending money.