If you are a huge manufacturer selling units in the tens of millions, shaving just a penny or two off of each bag of cookies or can of cocktail weenies can make a huge difference on your bottom line. So while we'd like to think the free market is all about selling good quality at a good price, the difference between profit and bankruptcy can in fact lie in the seller's ability to screw you an ounce or a nickel at a time.
Their little tricks are everywhere, and believe us when we say they add up. We're talking about things like ...
#6.
Bottom Dimples (And Other Sneaky Packaging Tricks)
If you haven't discovered it for yourself already, it's probably because you're not a clumsy oaf and have never dropped a jar of peanut butter on the ground. Because if you had, you might have observed that the bottom of that jar looked as if someone with a tiny fist punched it:
The Ripoff:
That sneaky dimple was put there for one reason: to put about two fewer ounces of peanut butter in the jar without the customer noticing. But manufacturers are keeping the prices the same, and sometimes even raising them. And peanut butter makers aren't the only ones pulling this shit, either.
You can't even trust the Jelly cartel.
A toilet roll might have the same number of sheets, but the sheets are an inch shorter, or worse, thinner. Cereal boxes are getting thinner while remaining the same height and width, to give the illusion of containing the same amount. A Hershey's chocolate bar has gotten an ounce and a half lighter yet sports the word "Giant," presumably because Hershey's thinks chocolate lovers are morons.
Read more:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18994_6-subtle-ways-youre-getting-screwed-at-grocery-store.html#ixzz1Cv62nXlg
