One change that everyone is seeing or will see is . . .

Shrinkflation.

Yeah, it is a big word but there is nothing big about the money we use.

There is also nothing big about the quantity of items in the cart while we try to shop within our means.

Companies have no choice but to up the prices when the cost of what goes into their products rises; or do they?

It used to be they would get you to buy their product by offering a better value. In the case of dish soap, for example, they would say, "Buying this little bottle is just like buying two bottles of the competitor's soap." and "It's concentrated so you can use less to do the same job!"

I am not talking about Dawn - not available here

It's All Lies

When they started offering the concentrate, I would pay a bit more and I would test it. A little dish soap did last a long time but recently, I have noticed that the same dab of soap on the sponge only lasted long enough to suds a few plates and then I have to put more soap on to do the last few plates.

As a scientist, I tried timing how long the suds would last.

I also tried doing one plate and setting the sponge aside for a minute, then going on to get the other two plates done. It had lost suds while waiting there on the counter.

I suspect nano-tech - the opposite of timed-release pills - timed ineffectiveness.

Companies have gone from offering a product that would do a whole sink full of dishes with a half teaspoon to doing that same load with five times the soap.

Then that little guy who says "just one drop" (see cover photo) wants you to buy the half gallon size bottle of "concentrate" when you head to the store. They know you are using more and more soap as they put less and less actual soap into the bottle.

They suck you in to one lie, then when you have made the switch to their brand, they switch the product and get you to buy more of the stuff that should last a year.

I used to buy the small bottle of dish soap and do dishes once per day and it lasted months. I cooked almost every day and the smallest bottle seemed to never run out. I remember a time when I had bought the one liter bottle and it had lasted over a year because I moved after a year and I moved the dish soap, the same one I remembered bringing to that apartment when I moved in.

Detergent is not the first or even the only thing that will shrinkflate in our lifetime. It happens with meat, smaller portions in the same size white tray. How about vitamins. I have seen this one. Same size bottle of pills with 80% of the bottle being filled with an oversize cotton ball - did I strike a nerve anyone? Or maybe toothpaste where the second time you squeeze it, there is an air bubble that you just paid for which comes out and it now looks like you are low on toothpaste again, right? Anyone?

To Review

The government makes your currency shrink by design. Each bill buys less day by day to infinity.

The factories put less product in the package so you also get less for those shrinking bills you spend.

So the same hour of work you do for your money buys you one tenth of the product it used to. The ultimate scam and it is all by design.

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I am also investigating the possibility that they are including nano-tech into our products to make products expire faster so that you use more. That is what I talked about when I said I timed the same quantity of dish soap and how soon it lost its suds on the sponge.

It is as if they only want to squeeze the most amount of money out of us while tricking us into believing that we are buying the best product. And if so, then there is collusion among the competing companies. That would be the opposite of healthy business competition.

Whenever I found such a travesty in the past, I would always tell a few people that I know, hoping to save them the trouble of being ripped off in the same way I had been. Over the last ten years, I have noticed that most take the side of the corporation and start with the excuses the company might make when they are outed...

"But they have expenses and taxes..." <-- that is definitely not the point.

People still buy quality all around the world. They are willing to pay more for the item or product which does the best job or lasts a long time. I had a corporation a decade ago and I was able to compete in such a way that my customers were loyal. They knew my products and they bought them no matter the cost. My way of doing business was not to charge high prices at all but as others came in with severely inferior products, my prices became high by comparison though I had not raised them.

image credit

It is hard to recommend that one spend more for quality in times of inflation, but less waste does equal less cost when comparing apples to apples. Years ago, the people did boycotts when companies started taking advantage of society. I still do, but I am alone in my efforts.

Let me know what you think.

For More...
Musical Frequencies
Compliance
Cheap, Convenient Fascism
That's Bad for You

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Many of the @changes that I present will prove to be parts of the path that has led us to the place where we find ourselves. I am glad that there is an immutable platform where it can be documented.

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^{Originally posted on DClub Community Articles. Hive blog powered by ENGRAVE.}