Aldi Pricing “Scam”?

[Dakota731]

That might be, but they don't seem to follow the same recipe!!

The snacks are never as salty and cookies are not as sweet.

Not saying that is a bad thing as lower sodium/sugar is generally a good thing but they just don't have the same taste even when comparing to name or other store brands

The Aldi knockoff Girl Scout cookies are just as good and taste identical for a third the price. Of course I support the scouts too if they ask me to buy, but the rest of the year I buy them at Aldi.

 

[DVCjj]

I like Aldi's and I like TJ's. I know they are considered 'cousins' because Aldi kinda owns TJ's.

I think both stores are unique and I find their different products fun and intriguing.

 

[sam_gordon]

Because I only buy it if it's on sale or a "deal". If I use something regularly and use one per week, that's $26 for the year for that one item that I save. Multiply that by how many items you do this for and it's a significant savings.

If it's on sale, buy as many as you need until the next sale.

So as long as it has the "sale" sticker, you'll buy it? You don't pay attention to what the actual cost is? That makes no sense to me.

Let's say you've been buying something for a year at $5. Then the store puts a sticker on it that says "Normal price: $10, 25% off, new cost $7.25. SALE!" You buy it because it's on "sale"? You don't think "well, this was worth it to me at $5, but not $7.50".

If you buy something regularly, you'll know if you're getting a good deal or not, regardless of whether it's on "sale".

 

[dez1978]

I like Aldi mostly for produce, canned veggies, eggs, and dairy staples. I don't really care about the price tag issue, whether it is on sale or not. If I am OK with the price I buy it.

yep, this. I love Aldi and their prices. So this doesn't bother me at all. I've seen the same thing happen at Walmart and Kroger.


But more importantly, I love the Aldi Aisle of Shame... You just never know what you might find in there lol.

 

[mrodgers]

So as long as it has the "sale" sticker, you'll buy it? You don't pay attention to what the actual cost is? That makes no sense to me.

Let's say you've been buying something for a year at $5. Then the store puts a sticker on it that says "Normal price: $10, 25% off, new cost $7.25. SALE!" You buy it because it's on "sale"? You don't think "well, this was worth it to me at $5, but not $7.50".

If you buy something regularly, you'll know if you're getting a good deal or not, regardless of whether it's on "sale".

On things regularly purchased? So like don't eat any more? I buy stuff I eat. If it goes up in retail price and goes on sale then it's no different at $10 vs $5 because the regular retail price has gone up. It's not like I'm going to stop eating. I'm talking things like spaghetti sauce and spaghetti. It's a staple in my Italian diet, why would I stop eating if the retail price goes higher so it's on sale now higher than it use to be? Ketchup, sugar, mayonnaise, stuff like that. Salad dressing, another staple of my eating. I pretty much eat a salad for dinner very often. Am I going to stop eating salad? I'm not talking chips and cookies to which if it was a penny for a package I shouldn't be buying and eating it.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I worked at Petsmart in the late 90s. At the time (maybe still?), they liked to boast that they didn’t do sales because their everyday prices were already so low they couldn’t be reduced further. Then they’d put on a big annual store-wide sales event that they advertised with great fanfare. The “sale” prices were questionable, to say the least. My favorite example was the seed sticks for birds that usually sold for $0.49 a piece. During the sale, you could get them for the bargain price of 2 for $1.

 

[MrsPete]

Why buy something because it's 50 cents off (whatever the "deal" is)?

You're right that the store tries to obfuscate the real price with .50 off or 20% off if you buy three or whatever else. But a smart shopper will "math up" the real cost and then decide whether to buy.

That does it. I'm never shopping there again. I'm going to go somewhere else and pay more. That'll show 'em!

That'll show 'em. They'll probably go bankrupt.

Wow, of all the non-standard brand name stuff at Aldi, their pizza is probably the best of that category.

I just can't cook them any more unless I fire up the charcoal outside as I have nothing big enough to cook it in.

Ick. I bought two of their pizzas years ago. Usually -- once I've paid for something -- we'll choke it down and say, "We just won't buy that again." We couldn't even finish that pizza.

Wife complained to a "local" Walmart over baby formula. Local for us meant 35 miles. We had 2 stores we shopped at, to the north and to the east. One store was like $0.90 more. So she called the corporate and said something. Walmart gave her the standard "we don't price match our own stores." She said good, she shops twice a week, once for herself and she takes her mom on a different day. She'll buy the formula at store A for $2.89 when she shops and then return it at store B for $3.79 or whatever it was with no receipt when she takes her mom to the other store 2 days later and she'll make a little bit of money. The following week, the higher prices store was the reduced to the price at the other store.

I shop pretty frequently at Walmart, and they're bad about this. They'll "up" the price in the computer but not on the shelf. I pay attention at the register and will go back /take a picture of the shelf and ask them to change the price, which they always do -- and I'm always nice about it because the register staff aren't the ones who create this problem.

The Aldi knockoff Girl Scout cookies are just as good and taste identical for a third the price. Of course I support the scouts too if they ask me to buy, but the rest of the year I buy them at Aldi.

Eh, they're not identical, but they're good. And, yes, I love the MUCH lower price.
I no longer buy scout cookies -- instead I give a donation to the kids selling outside the grocery store and specify to the adults supervising them that it's to stay with the troop.

But more importantly, I love the Aldi Aisle of Shame... You just never know what you might find in there lol.

Yes, we once bought candle lanterns, which became table centerpieces for my daughter's wedding.

On things regularly purchased? So like don't eat any more? I buy stuff I eat. If it goes up in retail price and goes on sale then it's no different at $10 vs $5 because the regular retail price has gone up. It's not like I'm going to stop eating. I'm talking things like spaghetti sauce and spaghetti. It's a staple in my Italian diet, why would I stop eating if the retail price goes higher so it's on sale now higher than it use to be? Ketchup, sugar, mayonnaise, stuff like that. Salad dressing, another staple of my eating. I pretty much eat a salad for dinner very often. Am I going to stop eating salad? I'm not talking chips and cookies to which if it was a penny for a package I shouldn't be buying and eating it.

Eh, if the price of a staple goes too high, I'll look for an alternative. For example, I don't buy spaghetti sauce. It's cheaper /takes only minutes to make it from canned tomatoes and spices -- probably costs half as much as spaghetti sauce. Likewise, ketchup and mayo aren't that hard to whip up.
Or I'll try a different brand.
Or I'll use less.
I don't feel "forced to buy" just because a price has increased.

 

[mrodgers]

Eh, if the price of a staple goes too high, I'll look for an alternative. For example, I don't buy spaghetti sauce. It's cheaper /takes only minutes to make it from canned tomatoes and spices -- probably costs half as much as spaghetti sauce. Likewise, ketchup and mayo aren't that hard to whip up.
Or I'll try a different brand.
Or I'll use less.
I don't feel "forced to buy" just because a price has increased.

Spaghetti sauce was a bad example as I generally make mine with tomatoes. But whether with buying jars of sauce or buying canned tomatoes and making it yourself, the same issue of price increasing and buying on sale is still there.

Ketchup, Miracle Whip (preferred over mayonnaise, I just used mayonnaise because it's interchangeable in simple conversation IMO) and such, there is no alternative. There is no changing brands from Heinz Ketchup. There is no changing from Miracle Whip.

"Forced to buy" comment is a little weird. I'm not forced to buy anything. I eat the foods I eat and price has very little to do with it. I don't buy much, but there are certain staples you need to create food dishes and using a sub-quality item just makes a sub-quality food dish.

Thousand Island dressing is what I'm going to make myself next. I like Ken's Steakhouse, all others I already know is garbage, thus the price isn't going to get me to switch. I buy what's good. And even if I make it myself, the mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, the relish, the ketchup and or mustard and whatever else goes into it is all part of the problem of cost going up, it's just on the ingredients to make at home the same as the already made and on the shelf.

There's only one way to beat the increasing costs of food and that is to grow it yourself. I already know the horrors people on this forum think of that.

 

[MrsPete]

Spaghetti sauce was a bad example as I generally make mine with tomatoes. But whether with buying jars of sauce or buying canned tomatoes and making it yourself, the same issue of price increasing and buying on sale is still there.

Ketchup, Miracle Whip (preferred over mayonnaise, I just used mayonnaise because it's interchangeable in simple conversation IMO) and such, there is no alternative. There is no changing brands from Heinz Ketchup. There is no changing from Miracle Whip.

"Forced to buy" comment is a little weird. I'm not forced to buy anything. I eat the foods I eat and price has very little to do with it. I don't buy much, but there are certain staples you need to create food dishes and using a sub-quality item just makes a sub-quality food dish.

Thousand Island dressing is what I'm going to make myself next. I like Ken's Steakhouse, all others I already know is garbage, thus the price isn't going to get me to switch. I buy what's good. And even if I make it myself, the mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, the relish, the ketchup and or mustard and whatever else goes into it is all part of the problem of cost going up, it's just on the ingredients to make at home the same as the already made and on the shelf.

There's only one way to beat the increasing costs of food and that is to grow it yourself. I already know the horrors people on this forum think of that.

But "forced to buy" is basically what you said. You said if the prices of your basics go up, you just have to pay them -- you can't just stop eating. My point is that you have lots of options when it comes to food. Specific thoughts:

- My point is that canned tomatoes cost less than spaghetti sauce, so it's easy to avoid paying an increased spaghetti sauce price. I've seen some fancy brands lately that're $6-8/jar ... for tomatoes! Basics don't seem to have increased as much as processed foods.
- The more you're attached to specific brands, the more you're "forced to buy" something expensive.
- Growing your own food is not the only way to save, though it works great for some people. Personally, I didn't get the green thumb gene, but I love when my mom gives me bags of tomatoes; I use them to make/can loads of salsa.
- You can save by shopping around and taking advantage of sales; for example, butter has become sky-high lately, but Lidl just had a $2 per pound sale -- so I bought the limit.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am so bummed that I gave up chips again and decided to go back to eating healthy. I am intrigued by those "Gobble Gobble" chips.