Getting crafty with the "Craft Pack"

Great, now everyone knows. I haven't been to Wegmans in a while but I'm glad to hear they have mix a six now, my other spot isnt as good as it used to be. But I am always on the look out for a good deal, if they wanna sell me 6 bigfoots for $10or $11 I will buy that all day. I just got a few bottles of Dragons Milk for $1.99 each at world market. I dont feel bad, I was in the right place at the right time, it's not like that happens very often. The cashier knew they shouldn't have been in the singles rack, but they were, I told him I knew it was a good deal and whatever he wanted to do about it was fine with me. I was straight with the guy, Im not gonna try to trick anybody. But Im not going to go as far as turning down a good deal that a store is trying to offer me either.

 

If you are asking the question, you know what the "right" answer is.

 

my only complaint on mixing and matching is its hard (er) to get a fresh bottle because tracking inventory is insane

also when drinking 4+ beers mixing and matching can hurt the next morning

 

How is this stealing? If there are no rules as to the number of bottles of an individual brew in a craft-your-own pack and the OP didn't break apart any 4-packs to do it (i.e., the grocery store placed the individual bottles in this section) I can't see how under any definition it's stealing.

The store is placing the products in a place for you to buy them. If they didn't want you to buy them in a craft pack, then they shouldn't put them there. Or, have rules to the craft pack.

I've done this at Giant with Sofie & Matilda. They are ALWAYS placed in the craft-your-own pack section (not just a one-time error). The craft your own 6-pack costs $10, yet they sell Sofie and Matilda for $12 a 4-pack. They have no rules on how many of an individual beer you can place in a sixer.

There is no way any reasonable mind can think of this as stealing (or even "douchey").

 

If they actually allow this person to grab 6 Sam Smith's, which I still highly doubt, then it's a simple oversight on the part of the store. Your own moral code should set your rules, not the store.

The other day I gave the cashier a ten and she gave me back change for a twenty. It was the stores mistake, so I could have just kept the money. I spoke up and gave the extra money back. The other month I bought a sixer of Narragansett Bohemian Pils and the register rung it up as Narragansett original (which was a couple bucks cheaper), I spoke up and paid the difference. The OP's situation is no different: A mistake made by the business, that an honest person should correct.

 

You are assuming the store made a mistake. Why?

In my example, the store puts Sofie & Matilda in the craft your own pack section repeatedly. It's obviously no mistake.

Have you ever thought that the store does this to allow customers who wouldn't normally buy those beers a chance to try them at a slightly reduced price? Then when the store no longer offers them in the craft pack section, a customer may well buy the 4-packs of the beer simply because they like them. Seems like a good way to sell more 4-packs of them in the future.

 

You're assuming the store didn't make a mistake. Why? Just because it repeatedly happens does not mean it's not a mistake. Perhaps no one has ever tried to get a six pack of something that is even more expensive in a four pack, so no one noticed it.

Indeed, I get the concept, give people a taste and maybe they'll buy a 4/6 pack later.

I guess you and I are just looking at it from two different perspectives. I just wouldn't feel comfortable loading up a sixer of something that was cheaper than it's four pack counterpart. If the store didn't care, then that's different. But assuming they don't care simply because they placed the beers in the mix a six area is a stretch to me. Two each their own.

 

the Wegmans in Ithaca must be onto your 'crafty' ways. I've never noticed a higher priced beer in the mix 6 cooler. It's always the beers that are $9.99 or less a six pack.
They also have a 2 of the same beer limit.

 

That's also the policy at Wegmans in Leesburg, VA.

And every now & then, they'll have something a bit pricey in there like Great Lakes Blackout Stout or Nosferatu (which usually run at or a little over $10/4-pack there). Sometimes these pricier brews are placed there just to move them, I think.

 

A number of folks have posted that Wegmans will place beers that are approaching the best by date (or beyond the best by date) in the pick a 6 shelf. I would suggest that you check the bottle dates prior to purchase.

Cheers!

 

Based on this comment, it seems like you inherently recognize that filling a mixed sixer with all of the same beer is sort of gaming the system. Because if you believe that a store is putting a bottle (or bottles) in the mixed section when the per unit price of those bottles is cheaper as a single than it would be if they were purchased in their original packaging for the purpose of enticing shoppers to buy the original packaging at full price, then it should be fairly obvious that filling the mixed sixer with all one beer specifically circumvents the store's intent.

Again, it may not technically be against the rules, and in this case, the store's "mistake" isn't putting Sofie or Matilda into the mixed sixer section, but rather failing to put a sign out that says "no more than 2 of any bottle in any mixed sixer". So if people want to do this, that's fine--all's fair in love, war and economics--but let's be honest in admitting that it is, by nature, taking advantage of the store.

@JackHorzempa brought up a good point--that these stores often don't hesitate to take advantage of the consumer, so why would we be worried about doing the same back to them. A completely fair observation, and I think if a store is willing to break out a difficult-to-obtain beer and charge a premium for it, then turnabout is fair play. I wouldn't feel sorry for that store if consumers were gaming the mixed sixer rules the way we've discussed here. That being said, I personally try to avoid shopping at stores that have those kinds of practices, which is also why I would have a hard time taking advantage of the mixed sixer in the way described by the OP. I would be embarrassed to walk up to the counter with the mixed-sixer packaging filled with all one beer, just like I would have been embarrassed to be the employee telling Jack to pay $4 for a beer that I'm guessing doesn't cost $24/sixer normally.

 

Mix six programs are used to clean up short dated product. Ethical dilemma?

 

take the deal and run. no biggy.

 

Delicious pricing loophole. It's the store's fault if they can't figure it out.

 

Another reason I don't buy mixed sixes - don't want to have to ethically challenge myself.

 

The stores will absolutely put some higher priced than usual beers in the mixed sixer area if they need to move through some inventory. My local bottle shop has even steered me there once or twice after they did so.

He said "Hey I put beer X & Y in the singles row, we are trying to sell through them" he knew I liked those particular beers.

Not always a mistake, and absolutely a retailer's strategy to clear inventory as needed. No different than an apparel retailer like Macy's running an additional 40% off of something.

 

Let's say you filled up a create your own six pack carrier with Kona Lager. When you pay $10 for a $7 six pack, is the grocery store is going to feel bad about it?

 

Ethic/unethical I think always comes down to will someone be materially impacted in a negative way by your action.

- Will an employee/manager get in trouble for you buying 6 Sam Smith's? If there is a possibility of that, then I think its unethical to take that chance to save a buck or 2 for yourself if it could harm another's livelihood.

 

Cheers to @CellarGimp , @kgncfl and @todiefor for bringing in some thoughts to balance this discussion.

 

I don't see the dilemma here either. If there's no limit then whatever six you want is gtg. If you want all of 1 then more power to you. Like others have said, a lot of times these beers go in there to clear inventory and get rid of short codes. No different than a supermarket having a 24 pack of a particular soda for $8 and having sale on individual cans of same soda (and other flavors) on sale as singles @ 4/$1 and you choosing to get 24 singles of same flavor. One pack is meant to be sold at a set price, the other is part of a different deal and if you choose to actually take advantage of the deal they've laid out for you then no morale issue here. Stuff like this goes on in markets all the time. They know there's a chance they lose out a bit but they also know that most consumers aren't bright enough to take advantage of deal (trust me, I've managed in enough markets to know this is the case. It's usually the employees figuring it out and taking advantage or passing info along cause most people won't realize they can even do it).