Ten for Ten

In the last six months or so--perhaps longer, I'm not sure---I've seen supermarkets selling items ten for ten dollars. Not, ten for a dollar, mind you. That kind of prices haven't seen its heyday for half a century.

For example, they had canned ravioli, ten for ten dollars. Or energy bars, ten for ten dollars. Which, with a little simple math, is a dollar each.

Why ten for ten dollars? When you see something that is N for D dollars, do have a nagging feeling that you must by N? Or if you buy less than N, does that mean the price is N/D? For most places it is. Ten for ten dollars really does mean a dollar each. If you buy 5, they don't make you buy 5 more.

Still, there have been stores that tell you that you only get the discount at larger quantities.

But what makes ten for ten dollars sound great? Most items in a store might say 2 for this quantity, but ten for a quantity? That's a bit unusual.

And it may speak to the innumeracy of Americans who look at these N for D sales and don't do the basic math to figure out if N/D per item is a good deal or not.

Indeed, this not only afflicts Americans, I'm told it afflicts Brits as well. So much so that consumer advocates are planning to hand out calculators that help compute just how much of a savings consumers are getting, and not only that, but also teaching consumers more about this.

I understand that learning math is tough for many people, even as we need it in day to day activities such as, I dunno, shopping. And stores aren't above trying to take advantage of your lack of math skills to give you a bargain that isn't a bargain.

Recently, I saw a container of six beers selling more per bottle than one for 12. Most people simply assume that if you buy in large quantities, then you must be saving over small quantities. They don't want to do the math to make sure it's the case. And in the end, even if you pointed out it's pricier, they're likely to throw their arms up and say "it's only a few cents--what does that matter?"

Maybe I should end this blog on a review of an Abbas Kiarostami to fit in with my ten theme, but that would be too much cineastic geekiness for one such entry.