A grocery store shopper has come forward to explain how they fell for the oldest money trick in the book. They want their story to inspire you next time you’re shopping for groceries at your neighborhood supermarket, and they hope that they can save you from getting scammed by the grocery store’s trick. A shopper at a Brisbane, Australia Woolsworth grocery store came forward to explain how the supermarket giant stocked full-price items on a shelf of sale products in order to trick people into buying the full-price items when they think their prices have been reduced.
In the photo, which the Australian shopper shared on Reddit, you can see that the grocery store stocked a full shelf of John West canned tuna. Although the yellow signs on the shelf claim that the price of the stocked items has been reduced by half to just $1.35 each, the tuna cans are actually full price – but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the retail display.
If you take a very close look at the items on the shelves, you will find that John West canned tuna does not qualify for the sale. Even though these items are stocked near the sale items, the grocery store is charging full price for the tinned tuna.
In the Reddit post, the shopper wrote, “Well played, Woolies, you got me at the register for $2.60 each.”
She shopper explained, “Fell for their oldest trick. Sneak the full-priced item into the middle of the sale section. Yeah, I could have left them at the register, but they know, and I knew I would just suck it up.”
The shopper went on to explain that they actually saved a few pennies per can but not as much as the signs indicated.
“It was also on special but different percent. I normally pay $2.80 per can, but the register said ‘$2.60, you saved 60 cents.”
Perhaps, Woolsworth was trying to increase the price of John West’s canned tuna from $2.80 to $3.20 and decided to do so by first offering the canned tuna at a discount.
“I know this is only tiny amounts, but a s**** me to tears all these little micro scabby actions – shrinkflation and pumping up prices before discounting.”
Although thousands of people thought Woolsworth was pulling a quick one on customers, some people believe the grocery store chain simply made the mistake of stocking the canned fish near the sale items.
“Used to work at Woolies, ain’t no scheme. Can guarantee some night fill bloke who’s… seen a tuna special so filled it up with what he thought was all tuna,” one person wrote. “Front-end checkout girls are going to cop hell the next day when all the Karens who docket check demand that they all be free because of mispricing.”
Another person suggested, “Not Woolies trying to rip you off. Most likely an employee just placing it in the wrong spot.”
What do you think about this potential scheme at the grocery store?