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“Anything To Save A Buck”: 97 Times People Felt Scammed By Companies (New Pics)
Whether you realized it at the time or not, you’ve probably been a victim of shrinkflation. A combination of the words ‘shrink’ and ‘inflation,’ shrinkflation is what happens when companies reduce the size of their products, and either keep the same prices or raise them. And it feels like you’re being scammed.
The ‘Shrinkflation’ online community calls out the most brazen examples of this happening, shaming companies for ‘subtly’ shrinking their products in stores. We’ve collected some of the worst recent examples to show you how shockingly shameless it can look.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Where Are The Chocolates?
RELATED:
#3
Celebrations Are Nothing To Celebrate
UnclePanda 7 hours ago
The difference here is that they resized the package to the new quantity. At least they're honest about it.
At its core, shrinkflation is a stealth tactic. It is most commonly seen in the food and beverage industries, though it can be spotted elsewhere, too. Investopedia stresses that companies rely on it to maintain or boost profit margins as production costs are rising.
Shrinkflation can sometimes go unnoticed because the reductions in size are minimal.
However, this tactic can backfire. Immensely!
#4
Chocolates Are Shrinking (Again)
#5
General Mills Casually Makes 17% More Profit By Dropping A Bar From The 6 Pack!
#6
Was $8 Now It's $10 :(
ADHD 23 minutes ago
Agolf Twitler , the pedophile that was elected in USA, has a d**n cheek to blame the world for prices, you are being robbed by yourselves, 10 bucks for spice is wild. a YTer i watch, was complaining his washing machine and drier went kaput, 2k each, FECKING WHAT !!!! 300 to 600 in Europe folks. the spices, like a dollar or a dollar fifty ish. omg.
Shrinkflation can massively harm brand loyalty, consumer trust, and the company’s reputation.
“Businesses risk consumer disappointment and losing customers if buyers notice the smaller packages and understand that they are getting less product but paying the same price that they paid for the larger amount,” Investopedia points out.
#7
I Measured A 8 Inch Tortilla… Guess What I Found?
#8
For What Purpose😭
#9
Twizzler Hiding How Much Shorter Their Product Is With Extra Packaging
Lost Panda 17 hours ago
It looks like they changed the individual product length but kept the original packaging.
In a nutshell, when consumers spot concrete examples of products shrinking, they might feel like they’re receiving less value for the same (or bigger!) price.
One way that you can become more aware of potential shrinkflation at play is to pay attention to product packaging redesigns.
#10
McDonald's Meat Is Now Thinner Than Its Cheese
#11
Giving Mickey And The Beanstalk Sandwich
#12
Take Away 60 Gummies And Slap Value Pack On It!
Check the net weight of the product or the number of units included in the packaging, and compare it to what you used to get before.
If you find that your favorite brand product has shrunk, you should remember that you always have alternatives. Vote with your wallet! Either refuse to buy the product or boycott the brand and buy the same thing made by another company.
#13
So What Is It Called When They Do This??
#14
Same Seeds From 2022 And Now
#15
Is This The New Standard Breakfast Burrito Size At McDonald's?
I had some McDonald's points expiring so this burrito didn't cost me anything but if I did have to pay for it, $3.29 in Prescott, AZ. The price and size is the reason I rarely go here anymore, only to get my daughter a rare overpriced Happy Meal. I don't know if this is the new size burrito or if because they are currently selling wraps that this was some leftover tortilla option but either way it's pathetic and my last one. It was nice when I could get this meal for $5 but it is now $10.39 and I don't know why they call it "extra" "value" meal.
Broadly speaking, businesses tend to see shrinkflation as a more viable alternative to raising prices. The former is more subtle. The latter is much more noticeable and likely to anger customers
“When raw materials or labor become more expensive, manufacturing costs rise. Consequently, this weighs on profit margins; the percentage of revenue remaining after all costs,” Investopedia explains.
#16
Charmin Ultra Soft Strikes Again
UnclePanda 7 hours ago
I don't think the tall one would work in most TP holders. The imprints are circles on the right and ovals on the left.
#17
Orion Brand Cooking Chocolate Shrinkflation
#18
A Pretty Egregious Example Of Shrinkflation: Sainsbury's Frozen Cherries Have Shrunk From 450g To 300g, While Still Costing £3.30 A Bag
“Management can either sit back and hope investors do not become too despondent, or seek to find other ways to recoup some of these losses. For companies lacking strong pricing power, reducing the weight, volume, or quantity of products sometimes represents the best option to maintain a healthy profit without jeopardizing sales volumes.”
Raising prices might force customers to choose another brand. Meanwhile, small reductions in size typically allow companies to stay profitable and competitive.
#19
Caseys Being Sneaky By Raising The Height Of The Bottom Of Coffee Cups
Fire Singer 2 hours ago
Now that's a new one. Don't like that at all because it could very easily be overlooked. -_-
#20
Just Discovered This Subreddit And It Irritates Me To No End
I bought a new cake mix box, not realizing I already have one from a earlier in the year sitting in my pantry. And to my surprise I realized how much less was in a box but in all likelihood costing more than it did.
Anyone who bakes, knows it’s like a science and that a few ounces make a big difference. America, are we great yet?
Lila Allen 31 minutes ago
I will say Dolly Parton pancake mix and frozen meals are of higher quality than the average so that's something.
#21
Leave My Cat Out Of Shrinkflation!
I am really upset that Purina has decided to decrease the amount of HydraCare per pack. I am on an autoship so this is 100% the same product/variety. I called Purina to complain and they confirmed this change. Our economy is horrible and shrinkflation is already impacting humans so much. I’ve been upset about all of this and this is honestly crossing another line I didn’t even think about. Why can’t we leave the pets out of this?
The ‘Shrinkflation’ subreddit invites customers from all around the world to share examples of products shrinking in size. Not only is it interesting to look at these comparisons, but it’s also a good way to stay up-to-date about product changes in different countries.
This community has been shaming brands for brazen shrinkflation since mid-2017. And it remains active. At the time of writing, the online group gets 62k visitors every week.
#22
Reese’s Cups Don’t Fill Up The Whole Candy Cane
#24
Shrinkflation More Like Iceflation
George Costanza 3 hours ago
Ice coffee is a huge racket. Really any coffee you pay someone else to make for you is a racket. Costs pennies per cup to make it yourself. Learn how.
According to the moderators, members should focus exclusively on examples of shrinkflation. For example, price increases alone, without a reduction in size, weight, or number of items, don’t count.
Moreover, packages that contain lots of empty space also aren’t an automatic example of shrinkflation. “Chips have NEVER shipped in fully-full bags. There has always been airspace. Same for cereal and other dry goods sold by volume. Just because the packages aren't full doesn't mean you got cheated,” the mods point out.
#25
KFC You Cannot Be Serious
#26
Am I Crazy Or Did Pringles Get This Small Without Me Noticing? Especially When They Are Like 5 Bucks When Not On Sale
#27
So We Got A Birthday Cake From Carvel
The size was literally unbelievable.
I would have actually been mad but I found it more comical than anything, the Chocolate layer was virtually non existent which actually came out to be a good thing because I dislike chocolate to begin (the crunchies were there with vanilla & frosting) with but the size is truly what made me take my time to take a picture & post it here.
Anony Mouse 2 hours ago (edited)
I’ve seen this one before. You can see the box. You can see the cake through the box. They don’t hide it. This person must be really stupid to be surprised. This size is called “Li’l Love”. They ordered and bought a mini cake, then complained online about its size.
Something else that the subreddit encourages is being factual and specific. Just because you remember a product being bigger doesn’t mean much if you don’t have the evidence to back it up.
On the other hand, comparison photos showing the exact changes in weight, volume, and item count are exactly what prove that shrinkflation is taking place.
#28
Does This Count? (IKEA)
Same products from IKEA, bought a few years apart. Went from metal to plastic, and the plastic ones are chipping after a couple of uses.
#29
All I Hear About Is Food Shrinklfation, Which Lets The Other Companies Get Away With It
Lost Panda 17 hours ago
What you can't see here is that the 1997 one was all metal on the bottom too
#30
I Can't Do This No More
Anyone-for-tea? 4 minutes ago
You should see that guy who cooks from scratch on yt, Bob, I think his name is as he makes his own chocolate spread and it looks amazing!
What is the very worst, most shameless, top-tier infuriating example of shrinkflation that you’ve personally witnessed in stores?
Did you continue buying the product despite getting less of it, or did you end up boycotting the brand?
What do you think consumers can realistically do to push back against this tactic? We’d like to hear your insights, so be sure to share them in the comments, at the bottom of this list.
#31
Marathon Toilet Paper Has Been With Me Through The Thick And The Thin For More Than A Decade. I Feel Betrayed By Costco
#32
How Is This Not Illegal?
#33
Black Diamond See Through Cheese Slices
#34
Holy Freaking Hell, I Can't Believe I Just Paid $2.69 For A Chips And Cheese At Taco Bell. I Had No Idea, Never Again
#35
Betty Crocker Cake Mix
I’ve already had to adjust my White Almond Wedding Cake recipe once because the mixes went from 18.25oz to 15.25oz. Just bought a mix today to replace the one I’m about to use, and saw they dropped it another 2oz to 13.25oz.
#36
Dole Watering Down Juice And Reducing Carton Size, Went From 120 To 110 Calories Per Serving, Same Ingredients Same Serving Size
#37
Red’s Organic Burritos
Jason Boyd 14 hours ago
Well you have to expect to pay more for diet food - the new one is 60 calories less - winning!!
#39
Mini Haribo Gummy Bears With 4 Total Bears Each
#41
The Recipe Calls For A Pound. Fooled Me Once. Done
Does Johnsonville REALLY think I'm adjusting my gumbo recipe because they think they can fool us? That's my last Johnsonville.
TheBadHalfofHel 1 hour ago
Good luck finding any prepackaged meat that actually weighs one-pound. Bacon - nope (12 oz). Ham - nope (14 oz).
#42
Now “Large Size”
Jeff White 1 hour ago
This "could" be part of an intentional design to get Americans to stop eating such ridiculously sized portions. If you are told than a "normal" size is really large, maybe you'll think about it. But I seriously doubt this is the case because 1) come on, corporations are to make money, not serve the public good, and 2) American's think?
#44
I Knew It Looked Odd On The Rack, Now I See I’m Right—
#45
This Is What Every Cookie Packaging Is Like
#46
More Stems Than Florets
#47
The New John West Tuna Cans Are A Scam (79g vs. Advertised 102g)
#49
Yankee Candles Are Now Lighter, Have An Easier/Cheaper To Produce Jar And A Double Wick, Making It Burn Out Faster So You Buy More
Fire Singer 2 hours ago
Get a candle warmer. Makes a HUGE difference in how long candles last in my house!
#50
Half Full. All Of Them Are Like This And Its 2-3$ Each
#51
$6 For Way Less Cookies
#52
64 To 59 To 56 To 49 And Now Just 46 - Just Leave Oj Alone
Geoffrey Scott 10 hours ago
My frozen concentrate still takes 3 cans/water to make 1/2 gallon. No weaker taste either.
#55
I Have Been Telling My Boyfriend Jersey Mikes Doesn't Seem As Great As It Was Before So I Looked At An Old Picture And Damn. Both #9 With Chipotle, No Other Differences
TheBadHalfofHel 1 hour ago
Have a friend who's teenage son works at Jersey Mikes. The 'Sandwich Wizards' were re-taught to: 1) reduce each sandwich by 1 piece of each type of meat and 2) the slicer was adjusted to make each slice about 2/3 the original thickness. (I'm sure other sandwich shops do/have done this, too, but this is the only one I actually 'know' about.)
#56
Found A Packet In My Freezer From Last December Versus Buying Them Again This December And I Noticed A Change…
#58
Popeyes Makes Me Cry With This 5 Piece Tender Box Tho…
Average 5 piece tender box from Popeyes in the San Jose/Bay Area.
Full transparency, I got a 27 piece tender meal, but the worst part is that almost half of the tenders looked like this. 12 of the 27 were this bad. I didn’t realize they serve you tendons when you ask for chicken tenders. I have a photo of more “tendon nuggets” to prove it 🥺
#60
"Large" Casey's Pizza. With A Suspicious Slice As Well
Paid over 15 bucks for this They were huge like 4 months ago. This is a treat, split 2 ways because of the already outrageous price. Then a slap in the face with this weirdo slice to top it off.
Fire Singer 2 hours ago
Paid $22 per 12" pizza at a local place everyone was raving about, I must have different taste buds because I did NOT like it and it was definitely not worth the price for me. Glad others like it though I guess.
#61
Old Rum Cake Recipe Once Called For An 18.5oz Box Of Cake Mix. Later We Noted The Recipe Still Worked Ok With A Shrinkflated 15.25oz. Now The Box Is 13.25oz. Same Brand As Always
#64
Sprouts [Us] Sells Underweight Beef, Legally
#66
Standard Spreadable Butter
Just opened a new container of butter for the first time in maybe like 6 months and was shocked that nothing was stuck to the wrapper. I looked at the fill line of the container and was really surprised to not see it filled, only to discover I’m paying the same price (actually a bit more) for 13oz instead of the typical 15oz… same container btw.
Debby Keir 7 hours ago
Lurpak does it differently. We used to have 250g/500g/750g Now they sell 250/400/500/600/750, so, particularly with the 400, you think you're getting a 500.
#68
Bic Pens Use White Ink Tubes Now Instead Of Clear So You Can’t See Ink Levels When Purchasing Or During Use
#70
Tesco UK Shrinkflation, Outraged!
partner exclusively drinks Cadbury hotchoc so I obviously bought the 500g and took a pic because something didn't sir right.
Sure enough, 3 weeks later... the 500g is no longer on the shelf, neither is the 250g! Instead they offer 300g for £4.40 Thats almost £1 extra for 50g!
Absolutely outraged at Tesco, what the actual hell!?
Genuinely can't afford to shop at Tesco anymore
#80
Dang, Even Marriott Hotel Mini Soap Can't Outrun The Collapse Of This Economy 🤣
Debby Keir 7 hours ago
I can understand this - it's usually a single use (or a couple of days) product, so less wastage. (OK so your going to 'steal' it, but most of us never actually use the soap again, and it sits in our bathbag for months.)
#83
Almond Joy Snack Size Shrunk 24%
#85
Someone Was Selling 5 Year Expired Coffee... Decided To Dig Into The Wayback Machine And Chart The Shrinkflation
#87
Apparently Shrinkflation Has Hit My Waste Disposal Company
Another Panda 8 hours ago
That way you are forced to pay more when you need a second bin to make up for lack of space.
#88
94 Loads
Why even count the loads if they are so arbitrary - I bought the one on the left a few months ago and got gotten with the new one on the right.. at 84% of the old volume
Ryan-James O'Driscoll 11 hours ago
Says the same number of washes...could just be more concentrated
#91
Really?
#92
Equate (Walmart) Brand Floss. The Plastic Is Cheaper, And The Actual Floss Is Thinner. I Also Tried To Floss My Teeth And The New One Shredded And Got Stuck In Between My Teeth
#93
Two Sets Of Subway Coupons Sent Out About Two Weeks Apart
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 10 hours ago
I got an email once all proud of their deal for an 8 dollar footlong, but I remember all those commercials for 5 dollar footlongs when I was a kid, so 8 dollars feels like a slap in the face- and that's on sale!
#95
Shirnkflation And Deceptive Packaging
I hate 99 ranch for doing this, using the larger batch to cover up the smaller ones so you don't see it until it is too late. $3 for this....
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ongreenlevel 5 hours ago (edited)
Recently I take a revenge by adding distilled water where I can, to dilute shampoo&conditioner, liquid soap, dishsoap and other cleaning products, and also I'm using much less liquid detergent, like 1 tablespoon per wash. I noticed no difference in efficacy, everything works just fine but I see decent difference in my wallet, those savings add up. I'm not coming back, those prices are crazy for what we've got
Laszlo Larthlanc 6 hours ago
Wouldn't it be great to video record the meetings where these companies conspire to give less to the customers by any means necessary? I'd love to hear the conversations and see the expressions on the faces of these people while they do this.
ongreenlevel 5 hours ago (edited)
Recently I take a revenge by adding distilled water where I can, to dilute shampoo&conditioner, liquid soap, dishsoap and other cleaning products, and also I'm using much less liquid detergent, like 1 tablespoon per wash. I noticed no difference in efficacy, everything works just fine but I see decent difference in my wallet, those savings add up. I'm not coming back, those prices are crazy for what we've got
Laszlo Larthlanc 6 hours ago
Wouldn't it be great to video record the meetings where these companies conspire to give less to the customers by any means necessary? I'd love to hear the conversations and see the expressions on the faces of these people while they do this.
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