Bundling is one strategy businesses use to squeeze a few extra points of margin by combining a bunch of products and selling them for one package price. Some bundles make sense (it’s nice when they’re optional), but other times it just feels like a scheme to get you to buy things you’ll never need.
Kitchen knives are a great example.
Knife blocks are sold in sets of 6+ knives, yet most people would get by fine (spending less money too) with a chef’s knife, a paring knife, and maybe a bread knife.
The other day I realized bed sheets are the same kind of “bundling”. They’re all sold as sets of sheets, and honestly I’m not sure why most of them are necessary.
Most North American hotels give you a lasagna style bed with at least half a dozen layers of sheets folded into each other.
But on a recent trip to Europe I noticed hotels simply provide a single duvet cover on top of a fitted mattress sheet, and it works really well. Makes cleaning way easier too.
Some of them even provide two single duvet covers on a large bed which has an interesting side effect. A couple can each use one duvet cover and nobody can blame the other person for “stealing” the sheets in the middle of the night.
Simpler, less cost, less maintenance, less arguing, but less revenue for the Bed Sheet Industrial Complex.
What are some other everyday bundles that people would be better off un-bundling?