Malcolm R
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2002
- Messages
- 25,231
- Real Name
- Malcolm
I've always been mystified by the sky high prices charged for spices in the supermarket when you can buy bulk spices at the local co-op/health food store or large containers at the warehouse club for ridiculously low prices.
This past weekend, I was at Costco and picked up a 7 oz. container of McCormick "Saigon Cinnamon" for $3.49. That's a heck of a lot of cinnamon for a casual baker, but you can't beat the price...
...especially when I'm in the supermarket today and discover that the dinky little 2 oz. jars in there are selling for $4.29!! Same brand: McCormick; same product: "Saigon Cinnamon"; but the 2 oz. container costs 80 cents MORE than my super-size 7 oz. container.
Many other spices also follow this huge mark-up in the supermarket. For some reason a tiny little bit of sweet paprika is about $4 in the supermarket, but I can get a whole 18 oz. jug of it for about $6 at the warehouse club.
I just don't understand how the supermarkets get away with charging so much when other retailers can sell much larger amounts of the same product for a fraction of the unit price.
I think I've found a new way to make money...buy spices in bulk at the warehouse and resell for massive profit.
This past weekend, I was at Costco and picked up a 7 oz. container of McCormick "Saigon Cinnamon" for $3.49. That's a heck of a lot of cinnamon for a casual baker, but you can't beat the price...
...especially when I'm in the supermarket today and discover that the dinky little 2 oz. jars in there are selling for $4.29!! Same brand: McCormick; same product: "Saigon Cinnamon"; but the 2 oz. container costs 80 cents MORE than my super-size 7 oz. container.
Many other spices also follow this huge mark-up in the supermarket. For some reason a tiny little bit of sweet paprika is about $4 in the supermarket, but I can get a whole 18 oz. jug of it for about $6 at the warehouse club.
I just don't understand how the supermarkets get away with charging so much when other retailers can sell much larger amounts of the same product for a fraction of the unit price.
I think I've found a new way to make money...buy spices in bulk at the warehouse and resell for massive profit.