walmart pricing oddity

[Soundguy]

Walmart is the closest 'grocery' store we have.. so we use it most of the time. there is a publix a few more miles down that we sometimes use ont he way home from work.. etc...

Anyway.. i was there shopping last night, and in the pet food isle, noticed an oddity... usually walmart branded products are the cheapest on the shelf, per unit, even if only by a couple cents.. anyway..e tc.

I noticed that walmart cat food ( special kitty? ) is the same price as purina cat chow.. to the penny.. same size bag.

In addition, the old roy dog food was .47 cents per 13.2 oz can.. whether youbought it byt he can, or the 12 pack box.. however there was another brand animal food.. ? twin pet/simon pet food? that was a whopping .33 cents per 13.2 oz can... It shocked me to see that... I'm surprised they would put out a product that much cheaper than their own... I wonder if it was a 1-time thing.. I've never seen that brand of food before, and the purina is usually quite a bit more than the walmart cat feed..e tc.

Also, in the baking isle.. can't remember if it was condensed milk, or evaporated milk.. however.. you had the regular brands.. like carnation.. etc,. then walmart brand.. then a brand with a spanish name... the carnation was the most expensive.. then walmart.. then the spanish brand... all with significant price difference between them...

anyone else see something like this?

soundguy

 

[PBinWA]

Walmart is all about moving inventory. I suspect some of the stuff you had seen had been on the shelf too long. You can get some great deals at Walmart at the end of seasons. I always try to hit the garden section in early fall. If you get there when they are closing it down for the winter the deals are amazing.

 

[Phils]

We have two WalMarts we can shop at.... one in Oroville and the other in Chico. It seems that the individual stores can set the prices as they deem appropiate. The Oroville store has much higher prices for the same items than the Chico location. Chico has competition, Oroville doesn't. They can get the higher prices in Oroville so they do. These stores are about 15 miles apart, just enough that the Oroville customers won't make a 30 mile drive to save a few dollars.

Phil

 

[Bird]

Like Phil, we have one Walmart SuperCenter about 2.8 miles south of us (and an Albertson's across the street) and another Walmart SuperCenter about 5.4 miles north of us (and a Kroger's across the street). But the prices on some items may be different, or management policies may be different. For instance, bananas are nearly always a few cents a pound cheaper at the north store. When they put out a sales ad in the paper to start on a Saturday, the south store did not lower their prices for the sale until Saturday, as the ad showed, but the north store lowered their prices two days earlier.

I always try to hit the garden section in early fall.

I keep a little Ortho Malathion Plus insecticide on hand. Home Depot always has it for 10.97 a quart. Walmart has it in season for $9.97 a quart. And yesterday, I got the last two quarts at the south Walmart for and even $9 a quart.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. I've done that seasonal thing before too.

Years ago when i convinced myself i needed a rider mower.. but wanted an economy one.. I got a murray from walmart.. I had been looking all season.. and waited too long.. none of the stores had any mowers left.. i found a walmart on the edge of town with one murray left.. got it for a 50$ cheaper than it was advertised...

soundguy

 

[dmccarty]

I have not noticed a store brand being more expensive than a named brand.

But a larger size bag/jug does not mean cheaper per ounce. I often see that the ounce or whatever measurement is being used, is more expensive on the bigger container than the same product sold in the smaller container. Gots to read those labels.....

The OJ brand we buy has a new container on the market. It looks like a gallon size... But it ain't. The cost per quart was much higher than the regular gallon container. It will be interesting to see if they phase out the old containers and only have the new ones.

The bagels in the deli I am pretty sure used to be 6 to a bag. Then there were 5. Noticed a few weeks ago that there are only 4 in the bag. The prices is still at 2.99. We ain't buying those bagels anymore.

Thankfully the beer prices are stable as is the container size. Otherwise I would be really complaining!

Later,
Dan

 

[300UGUY]

We have noticed a difference between walmarts. The store in Howell has a Meiyers, a Krogers, and a large independent, but in Fowlerville, no competition, and slightly higher prices. I think that is pretty common. If they kill off the competition, they can raise prices.

 

[coffeeman]

We have noticed a difference between walmarts. The store in Howell has a Meiyers, a Krogers, and a large independent, but in Fowlerville, no competition, and slightly higher prices. I think that is pretty common. If they kill off the competition, they can raise prices.

You have a good point. Slam the competition. The national bread companies, soda bottlers and beer brewers have done that for years. Go into a market and kill the little guys. As time goes on the price of bread, soda and beer go up and the consumer loses. In the end run the consumer has bought his rope to hang himself. We take the short term savings feeding the soon to be monster. (Just a thought. i hope all you Wal-Mart fans don't get angry at me.)

I bought a brand name juicer from a regular store. A short time later I saw the "exact same" juicer at Sams Club. It was cheaper. I don't know why, but I happened to know the power of the moter in the juicer I had bought earlier. The Sams juicer had a 30% smaller moter. It looked the same but was a cheaper version. The point; ya gotta watch wal-Mart and Sams.

Cheers...Coffeeman

 

[Redbug]

My wife and I have compared the food prices between Walmart and the chain food stores. Some items were cheaper at the food stores, however...when you compare a full shopping cart of food items the Walmart is cheaper. So for food, we go to Walmart. It is not as easy to food shop at Walmart, having to do more walking, being larger and more crowded but we do save a good bit. I think on their regular non food items, most things are not the cheapest nor the best quality compared to some of the other chains or local stores. However, their gas is cheaper...

That's an interesting point Coffeeman. It does make sense.

 

[Bird]

My wife and I have compared the food prices between Walmart and the chain food stores. Some items were cheaper at the food stores, however...when you compare a full shopping cart of food items the Walmart is cheaper. So for food, we go to Walmart. It is not as easy to food shop at Walmart, having to do more walking, being larger and more crowded but we do save a good bit. I think on their regular non food items, most things are not the cheapest nor the best quality compared to some of the other chains or local stores. However, their gas is cheaper...

That's an interesting point Coffeeman. It does make sense.

Like most things, it varies. We buy most of our groceries at Walmart because it's cheaper than Albertson's, Kroger's, and Target, but occasionally . . .. We went to Brookshire's yesterday because that's the only place I know of that still has the Planters Spanish Redskin peanuts that I like. But we bought some fresh peaches that were a penny a pound cheaper than Walmart, and I bought a good looking brisket for $1.29 a pound which is cheaper than the last time I looked at them at Walmart.