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4 pack rant

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Man, A significant portion of you are getting straight up HOSED for beer. $20 for a 4 pack of Rasputin? Must be an Atlantic North East thing.

Some people are lucky enough to be able to get Founder's brews. The closest place to me that sells Founders is over 1,500 miles away.
 
yep, I feel ya here, I love Green Flash WC IPA when it was ~9-10 / 6pack, now it is the same for a 4 pack. WTF

So basically I don't buy it anymore. How is this suppose to get them more revenue if you raise the price and you get less sales?

You get the same amount of $ by selling less product therefore you save money.
 
yep, I feel ya here, I love Green Flash WC IPA when it was ~9-10 / 6pack, now it is the same for a 4 pack. WTF

So basically I don't buy it anymore. How is this suppose to get them more revenue if you raise the price and you get less sales?

Are you sure they're getting less sales? I'm sure their accounting and marketing departments are watching those numbers.
 
Are you sure they're getting less sales? I'm sure their accounting and marketing departments are watching those numbers.

I have to agree. They would lower the prices, or not produce the beer at all, if they weren't selling. Otherwise, why bother?

You get the same amount of $ by selling less product therefore you save money.

bingo.


On the 4 packs, I definitely have a problem paying so much for only 4 beers. Even taking the alcohol percentage into account, it doesn't seem worth it to me. When I drink a beer, I drink a beer; regardless of the alcohol percentage. If I feel a little extra buzz in the process, that's nice, but I'm not guaging what I buy based on the amount of alcohol if it's only a few percentage points higher. It seems pointless to spend so much on a 4pack when cheaper options are just as good.
From a marketing standpoint, I do see why these companies do it though. It's one of the first things you learn in marketing class: a higher price makes a product seem better.
That said, I'll stick to six packs and maybe that occassional (couple times/yr.) seasonal 4 pack. Heck, I don't even buy much beer anymore: I like mine just fine.
 
Are you sure they're getting less sales? I'm sure their accounting and marketing departments are watching those numbers.

I'd be inclined to believe that more people are willing to spend X dollars for 4 beers than are willing to spend 1.5X dollars for 6 beers. Hell, I'd be thrilled if all beer dropped to the four packs with a commensurate decrease in price. I'm rapidly getting tired of dropping 10-14 bucks on 6 packs of beer that may or may not be good.
 
Sorry to kick up an old thread, but I just got back from Wegman's there is an increasing selection of 4 packs. The prices are out of control. The worst offender was Founders Breakfast Stout for 12.99! That's 78 dollars a case, not including tax. The cheapest was 9.99. That's just an insult.
 
Interesting to see this thread and that it's two years old. This has been pissing me off too. And yes, I've actually cut down dramatically on my purchases of beers that come in four packs, but not really to spite the companies, just because I don't feel like wasting the cash honestly. Let's take pumpkin beer, and I LOVE pumpkin beer, in years past I used to buy cases of Weyerbacher, Dogfish, etc. This year so far I've only bought one Weyerbacher 4 pack and one Riverhorse 4 pack. In my area (NY/NJ) I get charged $12 when buying ONE 4-pack. That's $3 for a 12oz. Sorry but that's just too much, and yes I know pumpkin beer costs more money to make and has a bit more time involvement. So, I instead just keep ordering my cases of Franziskaner at about $2 a 16.9oz bottle and am brewing up my Pumpkin ale this Saturday.

Another trend I've been seeing is the switch to 33cl (11.2oz) bottles from 12oz. I'm not talking European beers which is to be expected, but American companies switching from 12oz to 11.2oz and keeping the same price. Thank God I homebrew.


Rev.
 
Some businesses think the recession is over (it's not) and feel it's time for some price creep and/or product shrinkage. Like we all have more $$ to spend. I used to buy orange juice in 64oz. cartons, now it comes in 59oz (1.75L) cartons. Same price. I see other products in the stores that are a little smaller than they used to be.

Same thing with beer. More micros are selling beer in 4-packs. I still do the calcs in my head and decide if I want to pay X dollars per bottle. If it is outstanding beer, I will.

OTOH, I always look for some good bargains. There are decent beers to be had for <$10/sixpack and bombers for 3 or 4 bucks. I find bombers of Deschutes beers in my local stores for around $3, sometimes on sale for a little less. A 22oz. Black Butte makes a nice, low-dough pour for me, and I always have a few on hand for guests who don't want homebrew.
 
Stone recently changed from 6-packs to 4-packs for their 12oz packaging on Ruination, Oaked AB, and Sublimely Self-Righteous, but they did so to knock down the overall price. It went from $16 6-packs to $10 4-packs, which I find a lot more palatable. I would be irritated if they had dropped two bottles and kept the price the same.
 

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