Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

That's interesting. The model regulation for unit pricing states that if the
product is sold on the basis of units ("100 sheets"), then the unit price is
quantity 1. OTOH, if the product is sold on the basis of area, then the unit
price needs to be related to area.

http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasure...H130-FINAL.pdf

So the question is: what are the units on the package itself?

And of course, states are free to amend, modify or ignore the model regulation.

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT) from the zak
:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

But think about when you use them -- you don't tear off X square feet
of paper towel, you tear off one (or two). To me it makes sense to
compute unit price per towel because that's price per use.

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

In article , Stan Brown wrote:

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

Microfiber cloths work far better than standard terrycloth towels.

(Robert Neville) wrote in
:

So the question is: what are the units on the package itself?

Not that I spend a lot of time examining packages of paper towels, the
ones I remember have both the number of sheets and the number of
square feet of product.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

(Stan Brown) wrote in
t:

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT) from the zak
:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

But think about when you use them -- you don't tear off X square
feet of paper towel, you tear off one (or two).

You tear off as much as you think you'll need. If the sheets are
small, you'll tear off more.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

Stan Brown wrote:
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT) from the zak
:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

But think about when you use them -- you don't tear off X square feet
of paper towel, you tear off one (or two). To me it makes sense to
compute unit price per towel because that's price per use.

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

Use cloth when you can, but paper when you can't.

For example, cloth to clean up paint or motor oil drips is probably not
a reasonable use of cloth. Paper to dry your hands is not a good use of
paper.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
A great many people think they are thinking when they are
only rearranging their prejudices. -William James

Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
Stan Brown wrote:
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT) from the zak
:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

But think about when you use them -- you don't tear off X square feet
of paper towel, you tear off one (or two). To me it makes sense to
compute unit price per towel because that's price per use.

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

Use cloth when you can, but paper when you can't.

For example, cloth to clean up paint or motor oil drips is probably not
a reasonable use of cloth. Paper to dry your hands is not a good use of
paper.



I noticed recently that the local Cala/Bell Markets which are owned by
Kroger's have some paper towels priced by square feet and others by
number of sheets.

"George Grapman" wrote in message
...
snip

I noticed recently that the local Cala/Bell Markets which are owned by
Kroger's have some paper towels priced by square feet and others by number
of sheets.

strictly for confusion. i usually only use 1 sheet of paper towel at a
time, so i price it by the sheet. i use tp by the length, so i price it by
the ft2.

----------------------
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice
cannot sleep forever."--Thomas Jefferson

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide
everything." -- Josef V. Stalin

www.myspace.com/bodybuildinggranny

heavy on the country music. if you don't like country, scroll down for
some surprises.

"Evelyn C. Leeper" wrote in message
...
snip
For example, cloth to clean up paint or motor oil drips is probably not a
reasonable use of cloth. Paper to dry your hands is not a good use of
paper.

the powers that be tell us that it's more sanitary. ditto for sponges.
we need to use paper towels for
all cleanup and drying. NOT.

--
----------------------
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice
cannot sleep forever."--Thomas Jefferson

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide
everything." -- Josef V. Stalin

www.myspace.com/bodybuildinggranny

heavy on the country music. if you don't like country, scroll down for
some surprises.

On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT), the zak
wrote:

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Unit pricing is a joke anyway. I regularly see stores post a unit
price in ounces for one brand of product and pound for a different
brand. If they could unit price in standard aardvark meal portions, I
suspect they would do that as well, all in the interest of
obfuscation.

Stan Brown wrote:

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

High-quality cloth diapers do an excellent job. We just use
hotel-quality hand towels.

On Jun 26, 2:22*pm, Samantha Hill - remove TRASH to reply
wrote:
Stan Brown wrote:

Someone else said "don't use paper, use cloth". I agree in principle,
but in 40+ years I've never found a cloth towel that does anywhere
near as good a job of drying as paper. I'm willing to try something
new if it really works. Anyone have any practical suggestions?

High-quality cloth diapers do an excellent job. *We just use
hotel-quality hand towels.

We still use the cloth diapers from when my daughter was a baby almost
two decades ago as rags. They work great!

Scott in SoCal wrote
the zak wrote

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Not if you have a pocket calculator.

Or any decent cellphone.

On Jun 26, 6:32*am, Scott in SoCal wrote:
In message
,

the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Not if you have a pocket calculator.

I use my iPod Touch as a calculator. Not frugal...but it does the job.

On Jun 26, 1:19*pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Scott in SoCal wrote

the zak wrote
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.
Not if you have a pocket calculator.

Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...it doesn't have a
calculator

On Jun 26, 9:51*am, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:49:58 -0700 (PDT), the zak

wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Unit pricing is a joke anyway. *I regularly see stores post a unit
price in ounces for one brand of product and pound for a different
brand. *If they could unit price in standard aardvark meal portions, I
suspect they would do that as well, all in the interest of
obfuscation.

All the more reason EVERYONE should pass basic math, right? I've seen
the same thing in stores...they can't put one over on me...I know how
to multiply and divide

Seerialmom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Scott in SoCal wrote
the zak wrote

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Not if you have a pocket calculator.

Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...

Yep, very indecent indeed.

it doesn't have a calculator

Typical Motorola steaming turd disguised as a cellphone |-)

Seerialmom wrote
wrote
the zak wrote

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Unit pricing is a joke anyway. I regularly see stores post a unit
price in ounces for one brand of product and pound for a different
brand. If they could unit price in standard aardvark meal portions, I
suspect they would do that as well, all in the interest of obfuscation.

All the more reason EVERYONE should pass basic math, right?

Wrong, thats why god invented calculators.

I've seen the same thing in stores...they can't put one over on me...
I know how to multiply and divide

You've multiplied too much already, seerially.

Time for some retrospective abortions/division.

In , the
zak wrote:

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

My experience at the supermarkets where I usually shop is that they also
give unit prices being price per 100 sheets.

- Don Klipstein )

On Jun 26, 3:29*pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Seerialmom wrote

Rod Speed wrote
Scott in SoCal wrote
the zak wrote
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.
Not if you have a pocket calculator.
Or any decent cellphone.
My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...

Yep, very indecent indeed.

it doesn't have a calculator

Typical Motorola steaming turd disguised as a cellphone |-)

But at least I can take pictures and use the bluetooth on it to move
onto a PC

Seerialmom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Seerialmom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Scott in SoCal wrote
the zak wrote

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.
Not if you have a pocket calculator.

Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...

Yep, very indecent indeed.

it doesn't have a calculator

Typical Motorola steaming turd disguised as a cellphone |-)

But at least I can take pictures and use the bluetooth on it to move onto a PC

And if you had chosen it more carefully, you wouldnt need a separate ipod.

And you'd get much better pictures with a better cellphone too.

the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

But you can't. So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

Seerialmom wrote:
On Jun 26, 1:19 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Scott in SoCal wrote

the zak wrote
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.
Not if you have a pocket calculator.
Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...it doesn't have a
calculator

I bet it does, just very hard to find and use. Even my cheapo Nokia $30
cell phone has a calculator. Of course, no camera or bluetooth.

Jack Bauer wrote
Seerialmom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Scott in SoCal wrote
the zak wrote

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Not if you have a pocket calculator.

Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...it doesn't have a calculator

I bet it does, just very hard to find and use.

He's right, P83 in the manual, Office Tools, Calculator.

Even my cheapo Nokia $30 cell phone has a calculator. Of course, no camera or bluetooth.

On Jun 27, 3:02 am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

But you can't. So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

http://www.target.com/gp/help/displa...isplayLink=tsm
http://www.target.com/
gp/help/display-contact-us-form.html?displayLink=tsm

On Jun 27, 3:02 am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

But you can't. So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocatermi...ce&csid=Eoc a
http://www.mass.gov/
?pageID=ocaterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government&L2=O ur+Agencies+and
+Divisions&L3=Division+of
+Standards&sid=Eoca&b=terminalcontent&f=dos_enforc e&csid=Eoca

Jack Bauer wrote:

They will have all different sizes and brands, but in the end they are
all just bottles containing water, right?


You obviously have not tasted some of the off brands at Walmart.

I find the 24 packs of 1/2 L Poland Springs to be the best value /
quality that frequently go on sale here for $3.99.

While we don't drink them at home, they are very convenient to have in
the car when traveling.

In article ,
(Don Klipstein) wrote:
In , the
zak wrote:

Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

My experience at the supermarkets where I usually shop is that they also
give unit prices being price per 100 sheets.

On average, that is probably actually more accurate a predictor of how
much a roll really costs, since most people will consume paper towels by
the sheet, not by area.

For example, given a roll X with sheets of a given size (let's call that
size 1), and a roll Y, with sheets 10% bigger (so, size 1.1), all those
spills small enough to clean up with one X sheet would take one Y sheet,
so the net result would be that the extra 10% on the Y sheets would be
completely wasted on those spills.

Here's a table:

Spill Size # X sheets # Y sheets
---------- ---------- ----------
( 0, 1 ] 1 1
( 1, 1.1 ] 2 1
( 1.1, 2 ] 2 2
( 2, 2.2 ] 3 2
( 2.2, 3 ] 3 3
( 3, 3.3 ] 4 3
...

I think most spills will be in the ( 0, 1 ] range, using 1 sheet of
either, where the extra 10% on the Y sheets is completely wasted on
those consumers who don't carefully tear off the dry portions after
using a towel and save those for small later spills.

--
--Tim Smith

On Jun 25, 11:49 pm, the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

Yeah, it's a math nightmare and not worth the time to do any real
figuring. Paper goods are still a relatively cheap product and small
part of total living expenses, so I just buy according to quality I
desire.

Instead of grabbing a paper towel every other spill etc, I grab a
cheap, ( dozen for 4 bucks ) washcloth which can go in the wash and it
costs nada.

On Jun 27, 1:02*am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. *They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? *But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
* Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

Interesting. We shop at two different stores on a regular basis. A
Kroger chain store and a military commissary. In both cases every
beverage (water, soft drinks, fruit juice, etc) they sell is unit
priced per ounce, regardless of the packaging or volume of the
package. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a unit price shelf
label that wasn't expressed per pound or ounce so long as the label on
the product is expressed in those terms (which is pretty much
everything on their shelves). Even the OTC drugs they sell are unit
labeled per dose.

I guess I don't understand the compulsion to buy what's cheapest visa-
a-vis what's best (a matter of personal opinion). In most cases you'd
have to buy in pretty large quantities for the difference to matter
much. For example: We eat canned albacore tuna packed in water. Our
regular grocery store carries three national brands. We've tried all
of them, and I personally see no difference, but my wife has a
preference which happens to be the most expensive. The price per
ounce between the cheapest and most expensive is about 15 percent.
Not enough to matter given the volume of the stuff we buy. She buys
what she likes.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. *You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

Absolutely right! But, another example of a feel good law with no
real intention of enforcement. Take a look at some of the discussions
of the National Do Not Call Registry you can find in the groups.

But you can't. *So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

Your best bet would be to contact the Consumers Affairs Division of
your state Attorney General's Office. But, unless they've got an axe
to grind with the business for other reasons don't expect much
response

In article , sarge137 wrote:
On Jun 27, 1:02=A0am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. =A0They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? =A0But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
=A0 Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

Interesting. We shop at two different stores on a regular basis. A
Kroger chain store and a military commissary. In both cases every
beverage (water, soft drinks, fruit juice, etc) they sell is unit
priced per ounce, regardless of the packaging or volume of the
package. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a unit price shelf
label that wasn't expressed per pound or ounce so long as the label on
the product is expressed in those terms (which is pretty much
everything on their shelves). Even the OTC drugs they sell are unit
labeled per dose.

I guess I don't understand the compulsion to buy what's cheapest visa-
a-vis what's best (a matter of personal opinion). In most cases you'd
have to buy in pretty large quantities for the difference to matter
much. For example: We eat canned albacore tuna packed in water. Our
regular grocery store carries three national brands. We've tried all
of them, and I personally see no difference, but my wife has a
preference which happens to be the most expensive. The price per
ounce between the cheapest and most expensive is about 15 percent.
Not enough to matter given the volume of the stuff we buy. She buys
what she likes.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. =A0You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

Absolutely right! But, another example of a feel good law with no
real intention of enforcement. Take a look at some of the discussions
of the National Do Not Call Registry you can find in the groups.

But you can't. =A0So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

Your best bet would be to contact the Consumers Affairs Division of
your state Attorney General's Office. But, unless they've got an axe
to grind with the business for other reasons don't expect much
response


Unit price. Seems I forgot all about that system.

Kroger food ? I grew up with them but they have been long gone
for many years here.

I often buy the cheaper Giant Eagle brands, which I find in most
cases are better than the other brands, and cheaper. Got the gas
perks also.

greg

On Jun 27, 11:49*am, (GregS) wrote:
In article , sarge137 wrote:



On Jun 27, 1:02=A0am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. =A0They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? =A0But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
=A0 Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

Interesting. *We shop at two different stores on a regular basis. *A
Kroger chain store and a military commissary. In both cases every
beverage (water, soft drinks, fruit juice, etc) they sell is unit
priced per ounce, regardless of the packaging or volume of the
package. *In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a unit price shelf
label that wasn't expressed per pound or ounce so long as the label on
the product is expressed in those terms (which is pretty much
everything on their shelves). *Even the OTC drugs they sell are unit
labeled per dose.

I guess I don't understand the compulsion to buy what's cheapest visa-
a-vis what's best (a matter of personal opinion). *In most cases you'd
have to buy in pretty large quantities for the difference to matter
much. *For example: *We eat canned albacore tuna packed in water. *Our
regular grocery store carries three national brands. *We've tried all
of them, and I personally see no difference, but my wife has a
preference which happens to be the most expensive. *The price per
ounce between the cheapest and most expensive is about 15 percent.
Not enough to matter given the volume of the stuff we buy. She buys
what she likes.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. =A0You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

Absolutely right! *But, another example of a feel good law with no
real intention of enforcement. Take a look at some of the discussions
of the National Do Not Call Registry you can find in the groups.

But you can't. =A0So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

Your best bet would be to contact the Consumers Affairs Division of
your state Attorney General's Office. *But, unless they've got an axe
to grind with the business for other reasons don't expect much
response

Unit price. Seems I forgot all about that system.

Kroger food ? I grew up with them but they have been long gone
for many years here.

Yeah the Kroger brand is gone from many markets. But, Kroger, Inc. is
alive and well. They operate almost 3,000 supermarkets between the
midwest and west coast. And many times that many convenience stores,
delis and bakeries. Check Wikipedia, or the Kroger corporate web
site. You may actually have a Kroger store in your area that goes by
a different name.

I often buy the cheaper Giant Eagle brands, which I find in most
cases are better than the other brands, and cheaper. Got the gas
perks also.

I agree. I buy many store brand items. But it's because I think
they're superior, not because they're cheaper - though they almost
always are. We also get the gas discount - 3 cents per gallon just
for scanning their shopper's card, and 10 cents per gallon if you've
bought at least $100 worth of groceries on that card in the past
month. And as a bonus their "street price" for gas is the lowest in
the area. The down side of that is that the lines at their pumps are
sometimes so long that I'm not willing to wait 20 minutes or more to
save 30 cents to a dollar on a ten gallon fill up.

On Jun 27, 12:02*am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. *They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? *But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
* Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

And the WHOLE POINT of unit pricing, as they told us back in the 70's,
is that it SHOULD NOT take a college grad with a slide rule or
calculator to figure this stuff out. *You should be able to look at all
the similar products and quickly figure out which is cheapest based on
the unit pricing shown on the labels.

But you can't. *So who do we contact to enforce the unit pricing laws?

Depends on where you live. It could be the consumer protection
department or the weights and measures people. I agree that if
they're going to say that BW brand A is .05¢ an oz then BW brand B
right next to it should not say .69¢ per ea.

In ,
sarge137 wrote in part:

On Jun 27, 1:02*am, Jack Bauer wrote:
the zak wrote:
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.

I have been in several different stores trying to figure out the unit
pricing on bottled water. *They will have all different sizes and
brands, but in the end they are all just bottles containing water,
right? *But the unit pricing is by the each, liter, ounce, you name it!
* Whatever units they can come up with to make it all more confusing.
You can't compare.

Interesting. We shop at two different stores on a regular basis. A
Kroger chain store and a military commissary. In both cases every
beverage (water, soft drinks, fruit juice, etc) they sell is unit
priced per ounce, regardless of the packaging or volume of the
package. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a unit price shelf
label that wasn't expressed per pound or ounce so long as the label on
the product is expressed in those terms (which is pretty much
everything on their shelves).

I have seen the supermarket nearest my day job have all the unit prices
for all sizes and versions of one brand of dish detergent with unit
pricing per ounce, and all unit prices for all sizes and versions of
another brand unit priced per quart.

I buy my dish detergent elsewhere. I don't even know if that
supermarket changed to all dish detergent unit prices being on the same
unit within the past 5-6 years or not. However, several hundred people
living within 3 blocks of this place are elderly or disbled or both along
with not having cars, and I wonder what percentage of such low mobility
people can multiply or divide by 32 in their heads.
Many college students who live within walking distance of that
supermarket 8-9 months a year also don't have cars, and I suspect many of
those also can't multiply or divide by 32 in their heads.
(Thankfully I can well enough very proficiently and quickly
multiply/divide in my head all numbers that are "pretty much the powers
of the 6th root of 2 and 20th root of 10" - "the 1/6 octave numbers" -
which include pi and the square root of 2.)

This sort of BS is one of the reasons why people demand politicians
passing laws telling business operators how to run their businesses. If
businesses (more like the notably verminous subset thereof; there are
plenty of upright and benevolent businesses) did better at playing fair
and doing the right thing, then some lawyers would have to find other
lines of work and the news media would need to become a little less like
vermin than they are now in order to justify their (now very necessary)
existence on serving public good.

- Don Klipstein )

On Jun 27, 3:40*pm, (Don Klipstein) wrote:


* This sort of BS is one of the reasons why people demand politicians
passing laws telling business operators how to run their businesses. *If
businesses (more like the notably verminous subset thereof; there are
plenty of upright and benevolent businesses) did better at playing fair
and doing the right thing, then some lawyers would have to find other
lines of work and the news media would need to become a little less like
vermin than they are now in order to justify their (now very necessary)
existence on serving public good.

*- Don Klipstein )

Absolutely right, Don. I'm the kind of guy who, if I saw an apparent
difference in the size and/or price to actually look at the unit price
label, would have the manager of that store standing in front of that
product and ask him/her just exactly how I'm supposed to to do a
proper price comparison. I'd also ask if they wanted to keep my
business, and what the consumer reporter at the local TV station would
think of the practice. Somebody's gotta do it. :-)

Regards,
Sarge

In article , Jack Bauer wrote:
Seerialmom wrote:
On Jun 26, 1:19 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Scott in SoCal wrote

the zak wrote
Target unit pricing shelf labels for paper goods like paper
towels and toilet tissue list the unit price per 100 sheets
instead of per 100 square feet as do other stores.
It's inaccurate. Sheet sizes vary. Converting unit pricing
from per 100 sheets to per 100 square feet is difficult
to do in the aisle of the Target store.
Not if you have a pocket calculator.
Or any decent cellphone.

My cell phone (Motorola V551) must not be decent...it doesn't have a
calculator

I bet it does, just very hard to find and use. Even my cheapo Nokia $30
cell phone has a calculator. Of course, no camera or bluetooth.

I have a Nokia phone, model that I can't remember, with a calculator.
I find that cellphone calculator worse than not having one!

It appeaers to me that there shoule be major consumer demand for
cellphones to have really easy calculator functions!

I am not one of the consumers shopping for cellphones much on that
basis, since I have a fairly good calculator that I built on my own within
my cranium! I am the proud owner of the Don Klipstein "Brainiac"
calculator, good enough for me to design gapped magnetic electronic
components and tuned port loudspeaker cabinets in my head.

However, many other people would do well to have something that they
normally carry all the time serving well as a quick and proficient
calculator. It appears to me that watches that are made to also be
calculators are too slow to use due to buttons/keys that are very small
and closely spaced.

If my "Brainiac" did not work so well, I would carry along a
true and decent calculator into supermarkets just as surely as I now do
most of my grocery hauling by bicycle to tell OPEC and Nigeria and Exxon
that I don't have to spend $4.15 per gallon to haul groceries home. I
just wish that more of my fellow Americans would spend a couple bucks to
get calculators, so that they and their fellow American consumers can
conspire to vote against this supermarket BS with their wallets and
pocketbooks!
If Americans when faced with such lowly BS can fight it without
resorting to government and lawyers, I think it's so much better!
America has been a country of "freedom loving outlaws"! I appears to me
that unit pricing BS/"horse puckey"/"cow-cookies" are better to be
fought by Americans to the extent that they can turn the tide against
BS-ing shopkeepers without needing government assistance to do so any more
than Americans needed Prohibition or the 55 MPH national speed limit!

Not that I think that BS-ing shopkeepers do not deserve heavy-handed
government regulation!
It's just that I find that an aware and able populace that America
*should have* is more effective than most of the elected officials that
all-too-many Americans are all-too-willing to sell their votes to; bought
by the all-too-many American voters who want pork, cutting of pork except
for that in their district, or get sold on tax cuts without matching
spending cuts on basis of being told something more optimistic than having
to pay it later *plus interest*.

- Don Klipstein )

In ,
sarge137 wrote:

On Jun 27, 3:40*pm, (Don Klipstein) wrote:

* This sort of BS is one of the reasons why people demand politicians
passing laws telling business operators how to run their businesses. *If
businesses (more like the notably verminous subset thereof; there are
plenty of upright and benevolent businesses) did better at playing fair
and doing the right thing, then some lawyers would have to find other
lines of work and the news media would need to become a little less like
vermin than they are now in order to justify their (now very necessary)
existence on serving public good.

*- Don Klipstein )

Absolutely right, Don. I'm the kind of guy who, if I saw an apparent
difference in the size and/or price to actually look at the unit price
label, would have the manager of that store standing in front of that
product and ask him/her just exactly how I'm supposed to to do a
proper price comparison. I'd also ask if they wanted to keep my
business, and what the consumer reporter at the local TV station would
think of the practice. Somebody's gotta do it. :-)

More power to you!

Next time I see BS as blatent as the more blatant that I have seen, I
will see if the consumer reporters at any of my local news stations are
interested!

Sadly, all too many businesses now have "no photography" rules.
Thankfully, I don't notice supermarkets stooping so low yet. I just wish
that our politicians were not elected so much on basis campaign budgets
funded by them selling themselves to those buying them.
But now that many cellphones have cameras and photo transmission means
and there are also many othervery miniature cameras available, I suspect
that if Aericans cared enough to be *capable* freedom loving outlaws that
they were back in Phobition days, we *should be able to* fight against
BS marketing practices even if our elected officials are not on our side,
and even where the news media is too badly fluff supposedly being on our
side while actually avoiding doing so (in order to keep getting ad revenue
from those that deserve to be exposed).

- Don Klipstein )

"sarge137" wrote in message
...
Interesting. We shop at two different stores on a regular basis. A
Kroger chain store and a military commissary. In both cases every
beverage (water, soft drinks, fruit juice, etc) they sell is unit
priced per ounce, regardless of the packaging or volume of the
package. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a unit price shelf
label that wasn't expressed per pound or ounce so long as the label on
the product is expressed in those terms (which is pretty much
everything on their shelves). Even the OTC drugs they sell are unit
labeled per dose.

I remember years ago, standing in the supermarket aisle, trying to decide on
a container of furniture polish. At the time, we used Pledge, there was no
question about what brand I was going to buy. But which size? There was an
assortment of sizes that were aerosol cans, and the unit price was given per
ounce - easy enough to figure out which size was the most economical. But
there was also another set of offerings that were not pressurized
containers - they had a pump sprayer, like what you see on a Windex bottle.
The unit price for the pump sprayer was given in pounds. Again, easy enough
to figure out what was the most economical pump sprayer. But impossible to
tell if the pressurized can or the pump spray was the most better buy. Up
to that point, I had thought that the point of unit pricing was to make that
comparison possible - after all, what I was buying was furniture polish, and
it was the same product in each container.

I guess I don't understand the compulsion to buy what's cheapest visa-
a-vis what's best (a matter of personal opinion). In most cases you'd
have to buy in pretty large quantities for the difference to matter
much. For example: We eat canned albacore tuna packed in water. Our
regular grocery store carries three national brands. We've tried all
of them, and I personally see no difference, but my wife has a
preference which happens to be the most expensive. The price per
ounce between the cheapest and most expensive is about 15 percent.
Not enough to matter given the volume of the stuff we buy. She buys
what she likes.

True. I'll buy what I like - what I personally consider "best". But I
don't see any reason to pay more for it than I have to. For instance, we
use Minute Maid frozen orange juice concentrate - tried all the other brands
available locally, and that's what we like the best. But this stuff comes
in a variety of sizes, small cans and medium cans and large cans at least.
One week, the small can might be the best buy, another week it might be the
large can. I'll buy whichever size is the best buy that week. If your wife
likes a certain brand of canned tuna, there's nothing wrong with buying that
brand - it's your money after all. But if one size costs 10% more than
another size of the preferred brand, why not get the more economical size?
Maybe it doesn't make much difference, but it doesn't take any effort
either.

In article ,
(Don Klipstein) wrote:
Sadly, all too many businesses now have "no photography" rules.
Thankfully, I don't notice supermarkets stooping so low yet. I just wish
that our politicians were not elected so much on basis campaign budgets
funded by them selling themselves to those buying them.
But now that many cellphones have cameras and photo transmission means
and there are also many othervery miniature cameras available, I suspect
that if Aericans cared enough to be *capable* freedom loving outlaws that
they were back in Phobition days, we *should be able to* fight against
BS marketing practices even if our elected officials are not on our side,
and even where the news media is too badly fluff supposedly being on our
side while actually avoiding doing so (in order to keep getting ad revenue
from those that deserve to be exposed).

I don't think a store would dare try to ban cellphones, so the hell with
"no photography" rules.

Consider this situation. You want to by an item. You want to buy it
locally, because you want it *now*. But you have no particular
preference going in as to brand, or where you want to buy it. So, you
want to do a little research, then go buy one.

Here's one approach. Go the websites of your local retailers (Target,
Sears, Walmart, Bestbuy, and so on), and find their offerings. Google
some of the more interesting ones, then see what store has the best
price, and go buy it. Oops...the store is out of stock of that
model...now what has that second choice again...?

OK, approach #2. While at the "retailer website" stage, check to see
which models are in stock at your local store, so you can limit yourself
to them. Problem: some stores don't show local stock. Problem: even if
the website lets you look up stock information, they may have vastly
more items available online than your local store stocks, so it can be
very time consuming to find them.

Finally, the approach I'm using next time. Go to each store. Find the
items they have in stock. Take photos. Go home, load photos onto
computer, and view them, to find the makes, model numbers, and prices.
Research those online specifically, not wasting my time with all the
ones the store does NOT have in stock. Pick one, and go buy it.

--
--Tim Smith