Beware of shrinkflation. It typically rides with its partner, inflation.
With inflation, you pay more for the same thing.
Shrinkflation, on the other hand, you pay the same, but get less.
It is not new.
Products have been shrinking for decades. If you don't recognize that portions have been getting smaller, you may not think you are paying more.
But you are.
I first noticed it as a kid seeing chocolate bars and other candy getting smaller over the years, while the price either stayed the same or increased.
Over the years I started noticing it everywhere. Hand cream, packaged foods, beverages, toilet paper, ice-cream, all getting smaller while the prices were unchanged.
Many companies have been increasing prices hoping consumers don't notice, or care too much.
They are wrong. People around the world are noticing that this is a stealthy way of increasing profits - less of the item, the same high price.
The obvious solution, if the items are non-essential, is to quit buying them.
Goodbye shrinkflation - hello notbuyinganythingflation, a technique that inflates your bank account.
Don't buy their just as expensive smaller products, and save 100%.
Problem solved.
Several years ago, I bought a quart of Miracle Whip that was 30 ounces. Right on the front it said, "Same size!: I kept looking at the jar, thinking they don't want me to believe my lying eyes. I was just appalled at the nerve of MW.
ReplyDeleteDon't do your own research, and don't believe your lying eyes. Trust us.
DeleteHA!
- Gregg
Not only do they sell less actual product for the same price or more, but many products are made with inferior or abysmally cheap materials so that they break or wear out after one or a couple uses so you have to keep buying more. It can be difficult to find products that are made to last indefinitely, let alone a lifetime or multiple lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteYou have described not only shrinkflation, but also skimpflation, AND planned obsolescence. When did these become the dominant business models?
DeleteWe are getting ripped off, and it is about time we fought back and quit buying their crap.
Boycott all of them, I say, and support local producers making quality goods.
- Gregg