Friday, March 7, 2008

Who's right?

I went to City today because I needed bread and the racks are stacked with beautiful baguettes, loaves and rolls on Friday. While there I also bought a package of Dr. Kracker cracker-flatbreads (seeded) that I love with "guac" even though they are a little expensive. When I got home:
She: (waving package in air) "I coulda got you these for a dollar!"
Me: "I don't believe it. Show me the coupon."
She: Goes to her office (dining room table) and comes back with a Shaw's coupon book.
Me: "This says $3 off $10 worth of Wild Harvest products."
She: "I know. They're in that section"
Me: "But you have to buy $10 worth."
She: "So? I can buy from anywhere in the store. They don't seem to care."
Me: "But it' s not ethical. It's not what the coupon says, and what if I don't want to buy
$10 worth of their products?"
She: (Staring incredulously) (Sigh) "Some people just don't know how to shop."
Am I wrong? There was no coupon for Dr. Krackers only a store coupon for $3 off IF you buy $10 worth. That might be $7 worth of stuff you wouldn't otherwise want to buy there so there's a gimmick unless you try to float the coupon for other stuff which might result in an awkward rejection. Who wants to put themselves through this? I'd rather eat less and enjoy the shopping experience more. What do you think?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We used to go to the store when they had these promotions: $8 off $40 worth of Post cereal, or $5 off of $15 worth of Taco shells, or $12 off of $50 worth of yogurt. And it's very stressful for a number of reasons: it's hard to accumulate $40 worth of cereal, or $50 in yogurt, you have to be very careful and calculating to make sure you have bought enough and that your items qualify, and then you have to make sure at the register, that the discount really does come through. It makes for a dismal shopping experience - and I think we decided we weren't going to give in to that if we can help it next time. We still have 12 boxes of Taco shells to go through, and they're not the kind I like either.

So I say - go ahead and shop the way you want to, because it's most people's main activity these days. For some it's about getting deals, for others it's about something else - but it's important to recognize that for many people, it's one of their favorite ACTIVITIES ... like a sport or hobby ... so even if they choose to drive 20 miles to a store to save 10 cents on brocolli, or go spend an extra $5 on bread that they could have gotten cheaper, or an extra $10 on a half pound of an exotic cheese, I think you have to let each person be - because each person has their own motivations for shopping the way they do.

Miss Moussaka said...

Frank,
I completely agree with you. I would rather enjoy my shopping experience, eat less and pay about the same. I think coupons are manipulative, you end up buying things you "kinda" want, and you end up paying the same or more.

Miss Moussaka said...

Josh, I agree with you too. I think some people LIKE driving the extra 20 miles to save X dollars or cents....