Do you use a price book? Why?
I had a comment from a reader on my post on creating a price book where the reader wants to know:
“What’s the purpose behind a price book? To compare prices of the same items at different stores? I get that I guess, but I just can’t see creating a grocery list for 1/3 of my groceries at Safeway, 1/3 of them at Save-on-Foods, 1/4 of them at Costco and little bits and pieces here and there at random places around town. My time is worth more than having to drive all around town to save a few cents on a box of Kleenex, for example… so what purpose does it serve in a really practical way?”
I am new to creating a price book, so some you may have better answers than me! I posted my response to that post before realizing that this might be best as a separate post so that it does not get buried in the comments section of that old post.
My response to the above question is:
I’m not an expert, but here is what I plan to use it for..
1. To see what store really has the best prices on the things that I buy
2. So that when I see a sale ad I will know if it is really a good deal or not
3. If I see something on sale in the store I can check if it is really a good deal.
4. To help set a realistic grocery budget.I don’t plan on driving all around town to save a few cents cause gas is too expensive for that!
But say if I happen to be by a Target and I am low on mustard and they have the cheapest mustard then I know that and can run in for it.
So, now I am calling out to those of you that use price books or have thoughts on them that you would like to share. You can leave your comments on this post instead of the one from last week on price books.
October 18th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I stock up on sale items that are non perishable and that I know I’ll use anyway — and like you said, I know if it’s a really good deal by comparing to past sales and average prices in my price book.
Also, if I see a large amount of good sales are going on at one store, I’ll opt to grocery shop there that week. It’s actually rare that I just do the once a week thing though. .we consume what ever is on sale that week rather than figuring out what we want and then looking for that. I also factor in travel cost when considering whether or not going to a store is worth it.
October 18th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I personally think price-booking is a PITA, but there is some value to it. It’s pretty eye-opening to see that the “sales” at one store aren’t really sales compared to the regular price of that item somewhere else. (You can read about my adventures in price-booking here.
We shop about once every three months now, and there are 4 stores we always hit on a grocery run, because the price differences are worth it and because they carry different things. I can plan our shopping by store because of the price comparison I’ve done in the past, and it really does save us money.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
No, but that’s a brilliant idea! And I agree with you about gas.
October 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am
All - thanks for your thoughts and comments on price books!
Dani - thanks for the link, I’m checking it out since I am new to price books