I've wanted to write this post for a long time, and today this situation really irked me, so I finally did. This particular time it occurred at a Walmart, but I've seen the same type of pricing methods in many different stores.
Here's what happens. A local store is selling two different sized packages of ground beef. They're identical except for the size. Below is the 10 pound package:
...and here's the 5 pound package.
This is the annoying part. They all have a "unit price" on the price listing. But...the 10 pound package has a "per ounce" price
...and the 5 pound package right next to it has a "per pound" price.
So they use different "units" for 2 different sizes of the same thing! I've seen this used for all different kinds of products - anywhere that you're looking around at the prices, trying to find the lowest per unit price (ounces, pounds, grams, etc.), you'll see it.
I find this, over and over again. Even when they're selling eggs, sometimes the price is per dozen, and sometimes it's per egg.
Of course I can, and do, multiple the per ounce price by 16 to get the per pound price, or do whatever other calculations necessary to figure out the unit price. Cause I'm frugal.
But I guess this strategy must work, I'm assuming most people don't bother or can't do the calculation, so they don't get the benefit of knowing the unit price.
Does this happen just in the US?