They say "size doesn't matter". Crock o' beans!!

OK...I have what some might say is a strange quirk...handed down from mother. I purchase bar soap in packs of 8 or 10 and then take it out of the little box to store on the shelf so it hardens. In theory, I guess it lasts longer once it hardens.

So I go to Walmart, which KILLS me to spend money at that place to begin with, but their prices on toiletries and H&B products really can't be beat. And I'm absolutely NOT going to Target. I buy an 8-pack of Coast Soap...pretty much the only brand I've used since I started buying toiletries for myself. I unwrap and unbox the bars to put on the shelf and WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!!! Somebody put the wrong mold on the assembly line that day? The bars are like 25% SMALLER than the ones in the cabinet I bought some 6 or 7 months ago!! WHAT THE HELL, MAN!!! They're BARELY larger than what I would call a "travel size" bar of soap! I guess it's "buyer beware"...apparently these are 3.2 oz. bars and I've been buying 4.0 oz. bars. No 4.0 oz. bars on the shelf that day.

THIS is what pisses me off about companies that produce goods. They wanna say, "SAME LOW PRICE!! SAME GREAT PRODUCT!!" BULL!! SHIT!! Morning rant...had to get it off my chest. Guess I'll go shower now...

Have you tried shower gel?

I found an old 4-pack package of toilet paper while cleaning and organizing a closet. It must have been at least 10 years old.

Compared to some I recently bought, these older rolls are wider and there are more sheets per roll. Also the new ones seem thinner.

Yep, product shrinkage, less product for more money.

Toilet paper is not a place for product shrinkage. I swear some of the stuff is 2 inches wide and I've had to resort to a combination of weaving and origami to make it work.

Yes, it seems like you get a bar of soap and someone had already used it for a dozen showers or so.

I'm starting to catch Aldi shrinking some of their products, they were pretty good about not doing it until lately. The tip off is it usually has a fancy new label compared to the old one.

It’s the oldest marketing scheme...

1) product sales peak

2) need to keep increasing margins

3) reduce size, keep price the same for margin boost, rubes don’t notice

4) margins stagnate again

5) increase size and price, relaunch as such

6) repeat above until product dies

7) launch new product, change name, reformulate, etc

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Toilet paper is not a place for product shrinkage. I swear some of the stuff is 2 inches wide and I've had to resort to a combination of weaving and origami to make it work.

You're not kidding. I have XL hands and you almost have to use 2 fingers. It's the ONLY reason I keep my Costco membership, because the toilet paper is the same width as it used to be!!!!!!!!!!

Come to think of it, look at the sizes of coffee containers at the grocery.

It used to be pretty standard that a pound of coffee was, well, a pound.

Now you see containers of coffee, especially that red container brand, down to around 10 ounces or so.

It's a race to the bottom.

I buy multiples of certain items when they go on sale. Unfortunately, some get squirreled away in the wrong spot and don't get found for years. I have older versions of a lot of products.

This crap is being done to just about everything. Newer examples are almost always smaller.

V.

They’re doing that with all the major brands of soap. I used to use only Irish Spring and they pulled the same stunt years ago. Try out Duke Cannon. It’s a 10oz brick that’ll last you a long time, and the ingredient list is half as long as the unopened Irish Spring I have left.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Toilet paper is not a place for product shrinkage. I swear some of the stuff is 2 inches wide and I've had to resort to a combination of weaving and origami to make it work.

You're not kidding. I have XL hands and you almost have to use 2 fingers. It's the ONLY reason I keep my Costco membership, because the toilet paper is the same width as it used to be!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, but the Kirkland toilet paper is just about see-through it’s so thin and wispy.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
They’re doing that with all the major brands of soap. I used to use only Irish Spring and they pulled the same stunt years ago. Try out Duke Cannon. It’s a 10oz brick that’ll last you a long time, and the ingredient list is half as long as the unopened Irish Spring I have left.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Toilet paper is not a place for product shrinkage. I swear some of the stuff is 2 inches wide and I've had to resort to a combination of weaving and origami to make it work.

You're not kidding. I have XL hands and you almost have to use 2 fingers. It's the ONLY reason I keep my Costco membership, because the toilet paper is the same width as it used to be!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, but the Kirkland toilet paper is just about see-through it’s so thin and wispy.

I agree it sucks, I buy the Charmin at Costco exclusively it is the full width too. Costco usually runs $4 off a case of it every other month.

Duke's actually uses this phenomenon to point out that they DON'T do it!

Most other brands are now 28-30 oz jars:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I agree it sucks, I buy the Charmin at Costco exclusively it is the full width too. Costco usually runs $4 off a case of it every other month.

Thanks for the heads up on that, I'll keep an eye out for the sale.

I noticed the same thing with brands of antiperspirant I use...less product. If the company has to raise prices as a cost of doing business, THEN DO IT! Don't shrink my favorite product(s) and then claim "STILL SAME LOW PRICE!" FU and the horse you rode in on, with that crap...

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Toilet paper is not a place for product shrinkage. I swear some of the stuff is 2 inches wide and I've had to resort to a combination of weaving and origami to make it work.

just wait until you have to use the three seashells




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/gdnuOa7tDco

I don't even want to start on candy bars.

I noticed this problem with my last batch of Irish Spring. Likely to BE my last batch of Irish Spring. It seemed softer, too. (I don't do the erj dry it out thing.) Didn't last worth a damn.

quote:

Originally posted by REdwin89:
I don't even want to start on candy bars.

But isn't this where it all started from? Hershey's 5 cent bar would fluctuate in size depending on the costs of the raw materials, just to stay at 5 cents when others went to 6 or 7 cents?

Try buying a half gallon of ice cream.

^^^^
I don't have ice cream that often...maybe twice a year. But that is the ONE THING Blue Bell has done right. They may have doubled in price, but by god their container is still a HALF GALLON of Grade A, Kick Ass, TEXAS Ice Cream!!! 64 oz. of pure HEAVEN!!