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Comment by im3w1l | Hacker News Reader

I have heard that too, but I don't believe in it. If they do it, it must be applied only in specific circumstances, and with some other mechanism to restore the size again. Because containers aren't getting silly small over time. They seem to be pretty much aimed at whatever is a convenient amount.

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It's a documented phenomenon that happens so regularly there's a name for it: shrinkflation.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/24/sweets-are-...

This absolutely happens. But after a while, manufacturers increase the size & price at the same time, pointing out the increase in product, of course. None of this is new, it's been happening for decades.

Specifically, Hershey's Chocolate Bars did it to maintain a 5 cent price from 1902 until 1969. By then, the bar shrank to half the size as it used to be, so they doubled the size of the bar and charged 10 cents for it.

Coke was also a nickel for a long time, and since it was frequently sold in vending machines it was advantageous to be able to sell it for a single coin. So they actually lobbied for the production of a 7.5 cent coin.

Coffee is sometimes that way. For more expensive beans brands’ll cut the weight and keep the price the same, shelve it right next to the other stuff. You have to check the weight to see which ones are expensive.

[edit] and of course 12oz has replaced 16oz as the “standard” size.

The UK mandates putting 'price per unit' on the price labels, which makes this kind of comparison a lot easier.

Some stores in the US have that, some don’t, and it’s always a lot smaller than the total price when they do.

I've come to really enjoy grocery shopping, planning a week worth of meals, being adaptive when good deals come up, trying new things, working to minimize waste. Eating a healthy diet.

One of the things I like about grocery shopping is practicing mental math, and I calculate price per quantity mentally when choosing between different brands/sizes. It's good mental exercise, and the ability to do that sort of division mentally occasionally is helpful in other contexts.

A lot of them that do mix units between products of the same class (one measured as volume per unit, and another as mass per unit), making it difficult to do a direct comparison.

What do you mean by "it's smaller than the total"? Do they literally write the wrong price or do they choose any unit they happen to think makes for a good sounding price per unit?

In most of Europe (probably all the EU countries at least, unified regulations yay) shops need to put the price per 1kg/100g/1L/100mL on the tags, depending on which is most appropriate for the product.

The physical printing is smaller.

Often much smaller. A few stores like Costco actually print it large enough that you don't have to get up close and squint at each price tag to see the unit price. Usually you can't just scan the shelf and comparison shop on unit price.

Same in Canada. Unit prices are useful for comparisons, but it's hard to avoid the big, colorful "ON SALE" tags.

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