Buy 1 get 1 half off sales - aggravating math

Jeraden

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,518
1
76
Maybe a weak rant, but I get tired of places running buy 1 get 1 half off sales and using flawed math to calculate the discount. They always have the disclaimer that the half off item must be lesser or equal in price to the full price item. Ok, that's fine. But if you buy 2 $100 items, and 2 $10 items, it seems you should get one of the $100 items half price, and one of the $10 items half price.
But no, they just take the 2 cheapest items and make them half off. So in the example above, you buy $220 worth of merchandise and save a whopping $10 using their method. Meanwhile if you had just placed 2 transacations, you'd save $55.

My specific rant is towards the current Thinkgeek sale - as I put a bunch of stuff in my cart to get reach the $75 threshhold for free shipping, just to realize they use the stupid method for calculating the discounted items, so now I'm not ordering at all.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
552.jpg


buy them separately, ofcourse the store will lookout for their profit
 

Jeraden

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,518
1
76
The 100/10 were just examples to highlight the problem. My particular potential order had less disparity between prices, but it's just the fundamental fact that they just take the cheapest items half off regardless of what you order. I guess if you are just ordering a couple high value items in similar price then it's an ok sale, but for multiple items of various values, it's kind of misleading.
Most normal retail stores do similar sales properly - basically discounting things to benefit the customer vs. minimizing the discount to the customer.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
Say whatever you want, I don't see anything misleading or deceiving. The sale is exactly what it says. Now if you do not like this kind of sale then that's a different issue, you can make a thread about types of sale and what's most popular and your favorite and hell, might as well throw a poll in there..
 

SamQuint

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2010
1,155
45
91
Every place does this. In general people are stupid and fall for it. It maximizes the store's sales while minimizing the discount to keep a healthy profit margin.

I don't really think Think Geek has that much exclusive merchandise. Shop around and see if you can find a better deal elsewhere.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
The 100/10 were just examples to highlight the problem. My particular potential order had less disparity between prices, but it's just the fundamental fact that they just take the cheapest items half off regardless of what you order. I guess if you are just ordering a couple high value items in similar price then it's an ok sale, but for multiple items of various values, it's kind of misleading.
Most normal retail stores do similar sales properly - basically discounting things to benefit the customer vs. minimizing the discount to the customer.

I agree, if you have multiple items in your cart, the discount should be applied to the highest 2 items.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
I loathe the use of the acronym "BOGO" by companies who don't understand that "BOGO" stand for Buy One, Get One. To me that means the second is free, not 50% or 25% off or whatever % off, it's Free. Buy One, Get One. I'm looking at you Payless Shoes.
 

Vdubchaos

Lifer
Nov 11, 2009
10,408
10
0
Buy 1 get 1 50% off = 25% discount but you have to buy 2

Lower if items are not the same price.

Pretty easy if you ask me.
 

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,661
199
106
Say whatever you want, I don't see anything misleading or deceiving. The sale is exactly what it says.

Yep.

I do see they have the Borderlands 2 Swag Loot Chest in stock for $99. That would be a pretty good discount for two Borderlands 2 fans if they went in together.

-KeithP
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
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Think Geek is a perfect store for buying useless shit that you will throw away 3 months later saying "Why did I buy that stupid shit for $20?"
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
I hate "buy one - get one". I usually only want/need one, but that first one is ridiculously priced, so I end up buying nothing. :( Or going elsewhere.
 

Midwayman

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
5,723
325
126
I hate "buy one - get one". I usually only want/need one, but that first one is ridiculously priced, so I end up buying nothing. :( Or going elsewhere.

One of the grocery store nearby is famous for doing this. You have to buy waaaaaaaay more than you need or pay regular price. Sorry. I don't want 4 cases of soda at once.
 
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
81
I loathe the use of the acronym "BOGO" by companies who don't understand that "BOGO" stand for Buy One, Get One. To me that means the second is free, not 50% or 25% off or whatever % off, it's Free. Buy One, Get One. I'm looking at you Payless Shoes.

BOGOHO - Buy One, Get One Half Off