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> No one price matches for protein bars because it's a commodity item with minimal price differences (and people often have a preferred brand anyway), but they
by jahsome 7mo ago
> No one price matches for protein bars because it's a commodity item with minimal price differences (and people often have a preferred brand anyway), but they probably do for $2k laptop.
This is the most "silicon valley" statement I've ever read on this website. Perhaps I'm just being obtuse and misunderstanding, but the assertion people don't price match groceries is so, so wrong. Many, many, many people have no choice. Far more than those regularly purchasing laptops.
- Tadpole9181 7mo agoI'm rather well off and I'll still pay attention to the price of my groceries. Especially luxuries like protein bars. If it's too much, I'll either only get them where they'll cheaper or just outright not buy it. It's nuts that people genuinely believe statements like this.
- krackers 7mo ago>or just outright not buy it Yes, but that is different from going out of your way to purchase the protein bar at the lower price in the place you can find it. You are not going to drive to another supermarket for just the protein bar alone. So there is an intrinsic stickiness. You might hold off on the purchase if you're happening to visit the other store in the near future, but would you drive to a store you've never heard of before /just/ for a bar?
- jahsome 7mo ago> but would you drive to a store you've never heard of before /just/ for a bar Some people have no choice. Checking other stores and planning multiple trips is exactly what they do, e.g. those on fixed income, coupon power-users, etc. Outside our comfy bubble here, there are a LOT more folks in that camp than those buying luxury goods.
- threethirtytwo 7mo agoIt’s an aspect of the truth. Tons of people don’t price match and tons of people do. Whats nuts about humans is the quickness of judgement and extremity of statements. Think about this, the man who said that is not actually nuts. And you calling him “nuts” is actually the more ludicrously unrealistic statement.
- krackers 7mo agoI also did err by making a blanket statement "no one price matches for protein bars", so GP was right to call it out. I do understand and see that there are cases in which one's time preference could be such that it is sensible or necessary to price-match at that granularity even when buying a single unit. However even then there's still other constraints such as cost of transportation & reputation of vendor. Even today you can often find protein bars or name-brand supplements on Amazon for a slightly lower price (including shipping) than supermarkets, but that comes with the risk of adulterated, expired, or tampered products that not everyone will accept for the sake of slightly lower prices.
- threethirtytwo 7mo ago>I also did err by making a blanket statement "no one price matches for protein bars", so GP was right to call it out. This was clearly an error. GP is right to call it out, but not right to characterize it as nuts. It's obvious what you meant.
- jahsome 7mo agoIt's not that "nuts" to take the literal meaning of people's own words. Calling it "obvious" someone meant something rather than what they actually typed with their own fingers is pretty nuts though. It might be common for folks to misspeak (mistype), but that by no stretch of the imagination makes their actual meaning obvious. It's quite literally the opposite...
- threethirtytwo 7mo agoSo you’re saying I’m nuts? Do you go to peoples faces and say that? You’re not nuts. But you are trying to twist the logic to justify your own situation. The correct word to characterize this is “manipulative”. Clearly, no one is nuts on this thread but some people are just dicks. It’s completely normal for people to not be literal, and to also mistakenly say something.
- krackers 7mo ago>the assertion people don't price match groceries is so, so wrong. Many, many, many people have no choice I guess I didn't quite say my point clearly, the time and physical cost to get to a grocery store puts up barriers against perfect price matching. You likely are not going to go out of your way to visit a grocery store for just a single item. And I don't think online delivery will change anything here because shipping is a fixed cost, so price swings less than that will not change any buying habits.
- lijok 7mo ago> I guess I didn't quite say my point clearly, the time and physical cost to get to a grocery store puts up barriers against perfect price matching. You likely are not going to go out of your way to visit a grocery store for just a single item. I think you’re a bit out of touch with the common man. People do this constantly, some to a comical degree, going so far as to make two loops on their shopping trip to return groceries they found cheaper at the next store.
- suddenlybananas 7mo agoI have never heard of someone returning groceries (unless it turned out to be moldy or something). Definitely not because they were cheaper elsewhere. Surely there would be food safety issues with accepting such returns.