Buy one get one free

In the light of recent reports highlighting the tremedous wastage of still packaged food from households in the UK what do members think about offers such as the one in the title. I would welcome opinion regarding the ethics of such offers which can encourage people to buy more than they realistically need or can use at any one time. If blame can be attached, does it lie with the manufacturer, retailer, customer or maybe a combination of all? What strategies might be implemented to reduce wastage?

Countries mentioned in this Post: United Kingdom

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9 Responses to “Buy one get one free”

  1. joomlach - November 19th, 2009

    There is nothing wrong with buy on get one free, ads it allows the customer to decide whether to buy one and leave the free one. If the decision is to take the free one they have saved money on the purchase and will be able to use it later.

    As for packaging, this could be drastically reduced, as there does seem a lot of waste and unnecessary packaging which is either to large so as to make whatever is inside appear larger than it is or to increase the appearance to get people to buy it.
    No manufacturer can be forced into changing their packaging, this is taking nanny state too far (just like everything else), but they should be more aware of their responsibilities and try to cut back on excess themselves.

  2. taintedmango - November 19th, 2009

    I think it is a bad idea. It probably has something to do with storage. If a product is bought in a large quantity because it has been a good seller and then for whatever reason sales drop off sharply it will be up to a store manager to keep the stock moving. There are only so many ways to do that.
    I have noticed that some products are now being sold with individual compartments so that it is possible to keep some of the product for a later date. This enables the manufacturer to sell the usual quantity and the purchaser to to use the product over a longer period of time.

  3. xokeatlovesjbxo - November 19th, 2009

    It seems a bit excess. I often pick up the free one simply because it is such, then if I need to throw it away, my reasoning is, oh well, it didn't cost me anything.

    I don't think people will necessarily care about the impact on the environment. I would like to add that I recycle everything I possibly can; and I also think it's a great idea for households to get fined if they don't follow suit.

    BOGOF indulges excess buying, which is unecessary.

  4. savitz - November 19th, 2009

    There is nothing wrong with BOGOF in itself. It is the consumers that go for this when they are getting no benefit because the don't need the extra product that need to be educated. In reality this is no different to lower prices for large "economy" packs. There are those who genuinely need the larger quantities anyway and this is a boon to them.
    Of course, larger economy packs do, as a rule, involve less packaging so should be encouraged. On the other hand, having just one size does save the manufacturer considerable amounts in tooling and handling costs.

  5. stangjumper - November 19th, 2009

    Acutally its very handy for me, seeing as i am on a very tight budget and have certain intorlences to foods. It as saved me a packet.
    Our supermarket at the moment are doing bags of salads 2 for 99p. This is extremly handy and cheap for me, as 1 bag i will eat for myself and the other bag is for my bearded dragons and African land snails. It also depends what the product is as well. Shampoo`s Showers gels and other toiletries are expensive, so when they do buy 1 get 1 free, it comes in handy, more so if you just happened to run out of hair shampoo whilst in shower with wet hair.

  6. steveouting - November 19th, 2009

    Here in Arizona where I live when an item is marked 'Buy one get one free' and you buy just one you're charged half price, so you still get the benefit. It would seem simpler to mark it 1/2 price, but then the merchant wouldn't get the benefit of moving more product, selling two to the people who think you have to buy two to get the benefit.

  7. simsion - November 19th, 2009

    I did fall for that trick a few times. It was in shoe shops and I have no reasons to complain.

  8. FrugalBookPromo - November 19th, 2009

    when it is perishable items like milk or bread, then it is quiet wasteful, but only if the consumer makes it so.
    if i was buying bread and milk and there was a buy one get one free offer, id take the extra free ones, but i would give them to my granny/cousin/friend cause i wouldn't be able to use them.
    if it was chocolate bikkies on the other hand .. id buy 4 get 4 free and id pig out in front of the tv

  9. jmschwartzman - November 19th, 2009

    Yes, it can be wasteful if the extra produce gets left in the cupboard…So do what I do. I phone my daughter ( or a friend) and ask them if they are interested. Either I have extra food to give them, or they pay me half the price I paid for it… either way, no waste.

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