Buy one get one free.
Nov 7th, 2010 by Kimberley Chung
Buy one get one half price. Everything under $10. Everything 50% off. Spend $50+ and get a free gift.
I have always been attracted to big bright signs on the windows of my favourite shops saying, “Buy one get one free” or “Buy one get the second for half price”. I use to feel that these promotions were very good deals because I would gain more for the amount that I have to give up. I felt that I had more consumer surplus over the producer surplus and thus therefore must be happier because of my discounted purchase. These promotions somehow always resulted in me purchasing more than I intended to from the start.
This was around five years ago, I was shopping for Christmas presents at Metrotown by myself. I went into Ardene’s to buy my little sister a pair of earrings. I walked into the store and they had promotions EVERYWHERE and the prices were quite low. I knew the quality of the products weren’t that great, but I was young and I had no money, so I decided to shop there anyways.
I remember going to Ardene’s with my mom when I was even younger, and they had these surprise packs. Inside the surprise packs were a variety of different accessories. The surprise packs were priced at two for five dollars. How could I turn down such a great deal? Over a few occasions, I received or bought more and more of these “surprise packs” and accumulated more accessories. I soon realized that I had a full shoe box worth of these accessories and maybe used one out of the twenty. Thinking back now, I realized that I wanted the surprise pack for two reasons. It was a surprise and you paid $2.50 for a bunch of items that totaled to $15 (I added up all the individual prices of each item).
Anyways, so I was looking through the unlimited choices of earrings and accessories and I finally picked out a set that I liked. I brought it to counter and the total was $14. Immediately the lady says “If you pick out one more pair, you’ll get one pair for half price!” I thought to myself, I guess that makes sense — I’ll go pick out another set. So I looked around for a little longer and then come back with another set. When I finished making the purchase, my receipt said $21. I thought to myself again, I didn’t really want the new set, why did I buy it? I ended up spending $21 compared to $14.I just picked out any pair because it was a “good deal”.
From that day on, before I make any decisions involving promotions, I ask myself, “Do I really need the second one or that extra unit or something?” Even though I am gaining more for what I give up, I end up spending more than I would originally spend. Long story short, promotions can get inside your head and are intentionally there to get you to spend more.