All the supermarkets I've seen unit-price packaged goods by the "ounce,"
meaning both avoirdupois ounce (28.4 g) and fluid ounce (29.6 mL). For most
liquids, the difference between the two "ounces" is slight. Clearly
retailers use the "ounce" because (1) they can use the same "unit" for all
products, whether sold by mass or volume, and (2) the unit is so
ridiculously small that it makes prices seem cheap, since almost nothing
comes in packages of 1 oz or less. Unit prices vary from about 4 cents/oz
for bulk grains and pasta to 90 cents/oz for overprocessed, heavily hyped
stuff (where you are paying mostly for the box and advertising). Only a few
spices and liqueurs are over 1 $/oz. But I very rarely see any shoppers
smart enough to look at unit prices anyway. (You can tell when they do,
because the numerals are usually so small that you have to get up real close
to read them.)
Loose goods are invariably priced by the pound, which makes them difficult
to compare with the packaged goods, unless you enjoy multiplying and
dividing by 16 in your head.
Obviously, the simplest and most honest thing to do would be to price
everything by the kilogram and liter, and the great majority of things
people buy are >1 kg or L. But as we have discussed before, that will never
happen unless the Government forces it to happen, because it would be
immediately obvious how overpriced some foods are. Retailers will resist
metrication of unit prices tooth and nail because it will make prices sound
higher--even if they use an awkward 100 g or 100 mL as the unit. (Hectogram
and deciliter would be somewhat simpler to express, but they are not legal
here). The stated purpose of the FPLA is to allow consumers to make rational
comparisons, but in that respect it has clearly been a failure.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kilopascal
> Louis,
>
> You're talking sense! The people who write the articles don't think along
> sensible lines. The fact that one can not buy milk by the ounce, and most
> people if asked could not even tell you how many ounces there are in a
> gallon, 3 litres or 3 quarts is not even considered. It is done this way
> because marketers want the consuming public to think they are helping the
> consumer by giving them a means to compare prices. But, the units chosen
> are unrealistic or difficult to manipulate, so out of frustration, the
> consumer does not bother to compare. Thus, no one knows what
> product is the
> better price value.
>
> The marketer doesn't want the consumer to know. He doesn't want the
> consumer to be able to easily figure out unit pricing. He wants it to be
> difficult so the consumer gets frustrated and gives up. He wants the
> consumer to believe that what he tells him/her is true. Since the consumer
> has decided not to compare for himself, because he can't, he believes the
> marketer and buys the product unknowing whether he was cheated or not.
>
> And that has got to be the oldest scam, or at least one of them.
>
> John
>
>
>
