Today I’m sharing the classic Channel 4 series Supershoppers and their money saving tips, since I’m all about value for money here on the blog.
This consumer show investigates all sorts of spending areas to see how we can spend better and save more. They use taste tests, product tests, and analysis from experts to challenge whether paying more always equals better quality. Luckily for me, they do a bunch of maths too so that I don’t have to…!
The episodes below come from series 3, presented by Anna Richardson and Andi Osho. I’m using this series to start because my time machine only travels back so far. Although they’re a few series ahead now, the best shows are timeless anyway. I still find this useful to refer to when I think I might want to research a purchase as the information has aged really well.
Don’t have time to compare who’s cheaper by a penny on the day? Learning some general rules instead on how to best navigate a bombardment of marketing will pay us off in the long term.
Here’s what I’ve covered below:
Episode One
When is a multibuy offer a good deal
How to choose the right sports clothing
Is Holland and Barrett a rip off?
Review: Amazon Prime Now vs Sainsbury’s Chop Chop
Episode Two
How to get cheaper cinema tickets
Is premium chocolate worth the price?
Are crisps a rip off?
What do skincare claims mean?
Episode Three
How to beat shrinkflation
Why is B&M so cheap?
Is the Miracle suit worth it?
When is a British luxury clothing label really British?
Episode Four
Are mini snacks a rip off?
What’s the best value coffee loyalty scheme?
Should we avoid airline addons?
How to get cheaper theatre tickets
Episode Five
Why we should shop in the world food aisle
Are vitamin drinks a rip off?
Why is children’s toothpaste so expensive?
Episode Six
Is cheap washing up liquid any good?
Who has the best instore experiences?
Are newspaper offers a rip off?
Does premium baby food have better ingredients?
What are your spending priorities?
When saving for a massive deposit for my first house, I needed all the help I could to make my low salary go further. Who knew that watching TV could be an investment!
To make the biggest gains, we have to narrow down our spending priorities. Supershoppers covers all kinds of things we can throw our “disposable” income at, but not all of these things will be in everyone’s budget priorities.
I’ve written more about this in Epic Ways To Save For A House.
I’ve also recapped another Anna Richardson show How to Get Fit Fast (For Free). With Amar Latif she explored the most efficient exercise. I’ve turned their experiments into lots of ways to save on gym membership if fitness is one of your spending priorities (or you want to prioritise fitness without breaking the bank).
Or if food is your biggest spending area, try my recaps of Save Money Good Food.
Because the show covers such a range of products, I’ll be filtering whatever info I can into some existing pages on the blog. That way in future you can go to one place whenever you want to compare products or brands.
I’ll put more about that at the bottom of this post, but join the mailing list if you want regular savings ideas straight to your inbox. If you’re renting or living with family, I hope you find this useful on the way to saving more money.
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Supershoppers Episode One
- When is a multibuy offer a good deal?
- How to choose the right sports clothing
- When is Holland and Barrett a good deal?
- Review: Amazon Prime Now vs Sainsbury’s Chop Chop
When is a multibuy offer a good deal?
Multibuys can sometimes make it difficult to work out if they’re actually a better deal than buying another brand individually. If the pack size is the same then there is a trick to work out if one offer gives us more for our money when the retailer doesn’t make it clear.
How to get better value for money on multibuy offers
Split up awkward prices to calculate more easily the price per item. So for example, we want to know whether five tins of beans for £2.69 is a better deal than six tins for £3.
Instead of trying to divide 2.69 by 5, divide 2.50 (50p per can) then 19p(4p per can) & add the two together (54p per can). £3 divided by six is 50p per can, so the second offer is better value as we’ll pay less per item.
This gets a lot harder when the weights and the pack sizes are different. Mars sells in packs of 34g, 40g, 45g and so on. In the street they asked people to choose which was better value, a Lidl multipack or a Sainsbury’s multipack.
Most shoppers chose Lidl because it is usually the cheapest option if we take the price at surface value. The Sainsbury’s multipack cost less per gram though, so it’s actually better value. They found the same was true with the majority of Mars products for sale at Lidl such as Maltesers, Galaxy, and M&Ms.
So…
…don’t assume certain brands are automatically cheaper
…if the pack size is not the same, compare the price per weight where possible!
…if the pack size is the same, simplify the price to do any division and get the price per item.
How to choose the right sports clothing
Product test!
Fabrics in sports clothing are getting more competitive, but the big brands carry a price tag to match.
They got runners to test shirts from Nike, Under Armour, and Decathlon. Here was each shirt’s features:
- The Nike shirt had laser cut perforations
- Under Armour’s was marketed with odour control technology
- Decathlon were the cheapest with no bells and whistles
After one hour of cycling and running they had all wicked well except the Under Armour shirt which had sweat patches. This isn’t a downside if you like Instagramming your sweat to show how hard you’ve worked… Yum.
The Department of Performance Textiles at Leeds University tested the fabrics in a wicking test and found no difference in their wicking abilities. (Wicking is how well the fabric draws moisture away from us to stop us feeling soggy).
In the water absorption tests, the Under Armour shirt dried 20 times faster than the others.
I’d point out that not everyone sweats the same, so they probably should have each tried wearing the Under Armour shirt. It’s drying ability in the lab seems impressive though. This makes any sweat patches a bit irrelevant, as they won’t be there for long! These brands also make many different types of shirt, so I’m not sure that it’s a straight comparison.
When buying sports clothing, a cheap shirt might wick as well as a status brand like Nike. However, if you need a quick turnaround on your clothing to wash and wear it daily, Under Armour might give you better value for its drying time.
Which sports clothing brands do you swear by? Let me know in the comments.
When is Holland & Barrett a good deal?
H&B market themselves as the go-to for supplements and health foods, especially anything we might have trouble tracking down in a supermarket. How do their prices compare on the products that are widely available though?
Andi paid £4.49 in a Holland and Barrett sale for chia seeds. Anna bought the same quantity in Sainsburys for £2. They also found their supplements regularly cost more, but also tell you on the bottle to take more. The show found that one year’s supply from H&B of omega 3 would be £120 versus £14.19 at Asda.
This is because supplements aren’t medicines, so they’re regulated differently. This means the manufacturer can pick the recommended dose. Holland & Barrett aren’t doing anything wrong with their pricing and dosage. At the end of they day, they’re a premium brand. Expect to pay premium prices and to replace products more often.
H&B is allowed to sell stuff like horny goat weed. Yes, you read that correctly, horny goat weed. What an amazing name! Unfortunately, there’s no clinical evidence that it makes you, erm, horny. They’re allowed to sell it therefore if they don’t make a health claim. It’s up to the consumer if they want to pay for something without checking the benefit.
On the other hand, by promoting certain products before there’s detailed research, they are occasionally ahead of the curve. This is the nature of trends. Some trends bear fruit and prove to have real health benefits. Other trends just make your juice green for its own sake…Do your research if you’re unsure about getting behind a new product.
How to get better value for money at Holland and Barrett
- Ask whether you definitely need a supplement
- What’s the evidence that it works?
- Compare prices always!
Instead of paying for omega 3 supplements, frozen salmon is a cost effective way to get our weekly recommended portion of oily fish, or vegans can eat walnuts, or flaxseed.
We have to eat anyway, so why buy dinner, and then take a supplement on top? Unless we have a diagnosed deficiency. By the way, Iceland and the discounters sell frozen fish in bulk, and this often comes with a multibuy offer i.e. 3 for £10 (as per the first segment in this episode, the maths on this one checked out). I found Lidl and Aldi are cheapest for vegan sources of omega 3 otherwise (unless you can stack an offer at Holland and Barrett).
I do use Holland and Barrett sales despite being a frugal shopper most of the time.I stack offers when they have things like Nakd bars, peanut butter, and Jim Jams on promo as I eat these weekly.
After free delivery, coupon codes, TopCashback rebates, and credit card cashback, it’s cheaper for me to buy these things this way than anywhere else. If that sounds like a lot of work, I don’t think it is. Ordering in bulk means I only have to put that order together every now and again, and also it’s second nature to me to shop that way. Otherwise I’d be making my own energy bars…
Review: Amazon Prime Now vs Sainsbury’s Chop Chop
These are both one hour food delivery services by bike. Amazon Prime Now’s was sourced from Morrisons. They got two volunteers to buy the same shopping list, but each from the different services. The volunteers found the ranges limited and not in the best quantities. This might have improved since, but it depends on what you’re looking for I suppose.
They didn’t feel the search in Amazon was very intuitive. “Italian salad” brought back results for tuna salad, Italian meats, bread sticks and eventually salad at the bottom of the results. (Now you see why the feedback about the limited ranges really depends on the buyer. I didn’t know Italian salad was an everyday dinner ingredient).
However, this sounds to me like a normal day on Amazon. Amazon prides itself on having a huge quantity of products for sale. These results are related to an Italian salad and Amazon works on the principle that it’s more convenient to buy like items together. Expect to be recommended a bit of everything.
How did delivery compare
They declared Chop Chop cheaper than Prime at £4.99 for delivery. However, if you’ve justified a Prime subscription as part of your spending priorities already, then I’ll think you’ll find Prime Now doesn’t cost anything extra. There is a minimum spend of £15, but this seems much lower than supermarket minimums.
The show thought Chop Chop’s accompanying recipes pushed pricier items. They both arrived within one hour. The Prime delivery included three damaged eggs in a six pack which I suppose could happen with any online shopping. They concluded that Sainsbury’s were cheaper and easier to use, and nothing was damaged.
I recently recapped Save Money Good Food which is all about making use of forgotten lurkers in the kitchen cupboards, or that we’re not sure how to use up… I suspect it’s much better value to cook that way than to order shopping at 5pm so that we can eat at 6pm.
I can imagine using Prime Now would optimise the value of a Prime subscription if you’ve subscribed for other reasons anyway, and if you work a job that makes it very difficult for you to shop for groceries at leisure.
Do you buy groceries through Amazon for better value? Share your tips in the comments.
Episode Two
- How to get cheaper cinema tickets
- Is premium chocolate worth the price?
- Are crisps a rip off?
- What do skincare claims mean?
How to get cheaper cinema tickets
Remember cinemas? Those places with the big screens that we can visit when we’re not in lockdown?
Cinema ticket prices have been rising over the last decade and the average is skewed massively by a huge range of prices. At the Odeon Leicester Square, a family of four on the weekend could end up paying £64. The same film might be £34 in Manchester Old Trafford, and £18 in Bristol.
This is because of dynamic pricing a.k.a. amending prices according to location, peak times, and new releases. If we go on opening weekend, we’ll usually pay a “blockbuster tax”. Buying tickets online gives cinemas data to decide their pricing.
How to get better value for money on cinema tickets
- Take advantage of dynamic pricing, and go where/when it’s cheapest
- Travel farther if the travel costs significantly less than the price difference on the ticket
- Avoid the “blockbuster tax” by seeing films later
- Or go to a cinema with a flat fee for all films
- Look for special discounts e.g. Vue’s Super Mondays/Tuesdays
When is premium chocolate worth the price?
Taste test
We spend eight times more on chocolate than cups of tea! Sales of the favourites that we grew up with have reduced as luxury brands like Lindt and Ferrero creep up instead.
To see how premium priced chocolate compares to the discounters they compared the following chocolate in a street taste test:
Lidl milk chocolate
Aldi dark chocolate
Hotel Chocolat’s 40% milk
Hotel Chocolat’s 70% dark
Out of 11 people, only four chose Hotel Chocolat as the more expensive by taste. This is quite a small group for a test, but for the vast difference in price, it’s worth giving Aldi and Lidl a go.
Did you know that Lidl’s premium chocolate is labelled as J.D. Gross 1809, but was created by marketers in 2004?
Chocolate expert Jennifer Earle said ingredients are a better indicator of value than the packaging. Vanilla extract is better than natural vanilla flavouring, and should be possible to smell.
If sugar is the 1st ingredient then the chocolate is cheap to make. Big and chunky bars usually mean poor quality to a professional taster. However if we hear a click when we snap the bar, that’s considered good.
At the end of the day though, most of us like cheap sweet chocolate. A chocolate expert has a slightly more refined palate! Do you pay more for chocolate? Let me know in the comments.
Are crisps a rip off?
These don’t represent great value for money when we end up with mostly empty crisp packets before we’ve even started eating. Food is sold by weight rather than volume which means it’s legal to sell huge bags that are only 1/3 full.
Mathematician Katie Steckles measured the air in various brands of crisp packets by putting the unopened bag in a jug of water to see how much water the bag displaced. Then they removed the air, sealed the bag and repeated the test.
Here’s what they found with 1st being the worst culprit:
1st Doritos standard size bag (70% air)
2nd: Walkers baked (59%)
3rd: Tyrrells veg crisps (55% air)
4th: Walkers grab bag (50% air)
5th: Doritos large bag (44% air)
How to get the best value for money on crisps: Buy by weight, not the appearance of the bag size.
This information may have changed since, so I’m not vetoing any particular brands. As the shows says, buy by weight instead of appearance and this should lead you to the better value for money.
Do your presents look like you were wearing gloves when you wrapped them? You might be interested in this video where Katie make gifts look more presentable. Especially watch if you are trying out greener methods of wrapping like using newspaper, magazines, or simply recycling wrapping paper and you’re nervous about what the finished result looks like.
What do skincare claims mean?
One viewer, Victoria, was spending £1500 per year on No 7, Estee Lauder, Neals Yard and other luxury skincare brands, so they decided to examine the science claims behind what she buys.
When I say you can save for a house by only spending on your priorities, you’ll probably want your priorities to be a little smaller…
“As tested in vitro”
Colin Sanders, a Cosmetic Chemist, said this means it’s been tested in a test tube and it’s common for something to work in vitro, but not in real life.
“Dermatologically tested” versus “dermatologist tested”. The latter Colin found more convincing. It means a dermatologist has been involved. I.e. the testing was supervised by a skin expert, whereas any brand can test something dermatologically.
Neal’s Yard told the show that ethics and transparency are part of their values and that their products are dermatologist tested either by the dermatologist, or under a dermatologist’s supervision, but they use “dermatologically” as they think it’s more consumer friendly. Ask your favourite brand what they mean by the claims on their packaging if this is something you want to dig into deeper.
“Clinically proven”
Colin said just because something is clinically proven doesn’t mean the result is spectacular. The test might also be done with a different product using the same ingredient, and the brand then assumes it will have the same results.
So…if you’re tempted to pay more just because a cosmetic makes one of these claims, have a think about what these claims really mean to you.
Episode Three
- How to beat shrinkflation
- Why is B&M so cheap?
- Is The Miraclesuit worth it?
- When is a British luxury clothing label really British?
How to beat shrinkflation
This is when the price stays the same on a product, but the quantity reduces. Or even worse, the packaging stays exactly the same and you can’t detect the changes e.g. the day that Andrex took 21 sheets off each roll. If you buy 16 rolls normally, you wouldn’t realise obviously.
In 2016 Cadbury mini rolls came in a 12 pack. In 2017, the pack reduced to 10. Activia’s Big Pot reduced by 50g. Birds Eye fish fingers became 10 in a box instead of 12. Doritos reduced to 180g bags instead of 200g (and according to the previous episode, crisp bags can contain plenty of air…)
How to get better value for money despite shrinkflation
We can’t control it much if brands reduce the pack size stealthily. If we’re not buying the best value item in the first place, then this might not make much impact. I have a page of 100+ Best Value Food Ingredients that lists the cheapest places to get everyday food items per weight.
If we are buying the cheapest by weight, and we notice that we’re getting less than usual all of a sudden, we can shop around and see if it isn’t time to switch brand. (And let me know so I can update any related pages!)
Why is B&M so cheap?
This discount chain has more than 500 stores and sells various big brands. So why do they seem so cheap? One third of the brands they sell though are actually unknown and made in China exclusively for B&M.
When we go in looking for the brands we know, we’re likely to end up buying the random stuff. None of them say that they’re B&M own label. They are labelled with an RRP (recommended retail price) and a selling price however, which implies to us that they’re brand goods that B&M have discounted especially.
Sylvia Rook from Trading Standards told the show prices shouldn’t mislead you, and should be fair and honest. RRP should mean the manufacturer sets the price and the product is sold in more than one place. B&M products aren’t sold elsewhere under the names that B&M use for their own brands.
However, because they’re “private label”, they might well be on sale elsewhere in the world under other own brand names. This is why B&M can show an RRP and a discount price.
They didn’t mention it, but private label goods are huge on Amazon: a Chinese factory makes an item for lots of different companies, and the company just whacks it in their own packaging at the end.
So…the RRP might not be a very meaningful point of comparison on B&M’s own label products. Buy something because you need it, and not because the reduced price versus the RRP looks like a bargain.
Is The Miraclesuit worth it?
Product test!
This swimsuit’s makers claim it will make you look 10 lbs lighter in 10 seconds, but it’s priced at £140. That’s £14 per lb then…
The show got a swimming club who wanted to look good while they exercise to test how quickly they could get into the suit versus cheaper options, and which they thought was more expensive without knowing the price upfront.
It took them 43 seconds at their fastest to get into the swimsuit, not 10 seconds.
Three out of five of the swimmers preferred Next’s Shapewear and thought Next was the more expensive suit. (These shows always limit the size of the sample group to make it practical to film…) At the time it was possible to get a Next Shapewear swimsuit for £26. Now they start at £32 full price I think you’ll find…
In a textile lab, they soaked both the fabrics in concentrated chlorine. The Miraclesuit faded.
Under UV light, the Next one faded slightly, the Miraclesuit didn’t.
Under a stretch test, the Miracle Suit performed less well, so they expected it to lose its shape over time.
So…if you pay more for swimwear, be aware you might be mainly paying for the design, and it might still fade if you actually go swimming, or it might get baggy after a while. Expect cheaper suits to fade in the sun over time too, but at least you will have paid less in the first place.
When is a British luxury clothing label really British?
Hunter, Jack Wills, Barbour and Burberry all charge a premium for their reputations as British luxury brands. Which of them are actually made in Great Britain?
Barbour wax jackets are made in England, but the labels on their other clothing doesn’t necessarily identify where it is made.
10 Jack Wills stores told the show they sell a selection of British made clothes, but that those items were out of stock. One of their “Fabulously British” sweaters was labelled as made in Portugal. Consumer Psychologist Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos said that they are a young brand and Fabulously British implies they have a heritage.
The majority of Hunter and Burberry manufacturing is abroad. Hunter wellies say Created in Britain inside their boots, but on the sole it says Made in China.
So…if you pay more to “support” a British brand check the label first, and be aware that having brand heritage and inventing a heritage with marketing are two different things!
I think with all fashion brands, there’s going to be much more of a drive towards sustainable fashion too. Which clothing labels do you pay more for? Are they sustainable? Or locally made? Let me know in the comments.
Episode Four
- Are mini snacks a rip off?
- What’s the best value coffee loyalty scheme?
- Should we avoid airline addons?
- How to get cheaper theatre tickets
Are Mini Snacks a rip off?
These include brands like Laughing Cow’s Mini Cravings, Maryland mini choc chip cookies, and Cadburys Mini Fingers. The prices don’t correspond to their miniature size though:
- McVities Digestive Nibbles can cost three time their normal pack of biscuits
- Cathedral City Nibbles are 180% more expensive than a family size block
There are three reasons for this. One, the brands aren’t offering value in terms of quantity because the mini sizes are supposed portion control. You are literally and knowingly paying more to eat less in exchange for potential help in not overeating.
Second, Kiti Soininen from UK Food and Drink Research at Mintel said mini products aren’t cheaper for brands to produce just because they’re using less ingredients. They can’t make the product twice as fast just because it’s in a smaller size.
Third, mini products exist because of our customer behaviour. Magnum launched Magnum Minis launched after consumer feedback that said eating a full size Magnum every day was overkill. Of course the brand’s response is that their product should be part of a daily diet…So they created a portion size that more buyers would be willing to eat more often.
How to get better value for money on snacks
According to Kiti, cheese is a popular alternative snack because chocolate has so much sugar. I think we can agree it’s much cheaper to buy a big block and cut a slice instead. If you want portion control, just cut it up in advance and put in mini tupperwares to take to work or wherever.
Oreos had the biggest gap in price between the standard biscuit and the minis. It’s better value to buy the normal size and do your own portion control. (I bet we eat more of the miniature size with the justification that it’s not as much food…)
What’s the best value coffee loyalty scheme?
Caffe Nero, Costa, McDonalds and Starbucks all have loyalty apps. Good luck “earning” a free coffee on the money you’ve already sunk when coronavirus is in town.
In Caffe Nero you have to buy nine coffees to get the tenth free, or around £25.20.
Starbucks lets you preorder. You need 15 virtual stars to get a free coffee though. This is almost 50% more of a spend than Caffe Nero if you were buying 16oz lattes. They expected this to cost £40.50. Pretty hefty!
At Costa Coffee you get five points for every £1 spent. For every point scanned, you get a penny. You only get points on every £4 spent though, so if you buy a drink for £2.65, you only earn points on the £2. Because of this rule, it would cost £71.55 in comparison to Starbucks and Caffe Nero to get to the free drink.
McDonalds give you the seventh coffee free. Their loyalty scheme costs the least to reach a free drink. Lattes are 14oz and you’ll spend £11.34 total before earning a free coffee.
How to get better value for money on coffee loyalty schemes
The McDonalds loyalty scheme costs the least to earn a free drink.
If you insist on going to Starbucks, split up any purchases. You get a star per transaction there, so if you’re going with others, pay for each drink separately.
Don’t spend more in Costa in hope of more points. Given the choice between spending £3 for a drink and £4.75 for a drink and something else you don’t really need, skip the second item because you won’t earn any points on the 75p anyway.
HOWEVER, I’ve also covered how to get extra Costa Coffee points (or as I like to think of it: free money!) So there are ways to make your favourite coffee shop more economical.
Of course, it’s far cheaper to take your own coffee out the house! If drinks on the go are really adding up, and this is NOT a spending priority for you i.e. you’d rather have a house deposit than a £3 cup of coffee every day, then invest in a reusable cup. (The reusable cup discount in coffee shops is vulnerable to pandemic bans, so getting your on the go coffee cheaper that way is not guaranteed. Making coffee at home in a reusable cup to take out is a futureproof solution though).
Investing in reusable drinks flasks and travel mugs
I was given a reusable stainless steel flask with an optional straw because I prefer iced coffee. However, this keeps hot for about two hours in the worst winter weather in my experience too. I don’t like the idea of putting a plastic straw in hot liquid, so I would put the lid on, and then attach the straw when it cools down. (You don’t need a straw to drink something cold obviously, but I drink a LOT of coffee and it stains your teeth).
Klean Kanteen make a flask that you can get interchangeable lids for (including straws) that keep hot for longer while being BPA free etc. I wouldn’t throw it in a bag and forget about it to avoid leaks. (You wouldn’t usually throw a shop-bought coffee in your bag though, would you?)
If you don’t normally add sugar to coffee, you may need a touch of sweet to balance the taste as the metallic inside a flask is noticeable to me. I do have superhuman taste buds among everyone I know though, (and superhuman sense of smell etc too, so it’s possibly just me being odd). Wash it out well if you put milk in your coffee too. I own other reusable straws and they came with a cleaning brush, so I just use that to get to any curves inside anything reusable that doesn’t have a big opening.
Once a flask is empty, it should be light, but they still takes up space to carry around obviously. If you’d rather have something that packs away, consider a Stojo.
Take advantage of your free one-day delivery on the above if you’re a Prime member already. Or get a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime if you’re new. A free trial of Prime Student lasts a whopping six months instead.
If you like a more traditional thermos cup, I have bought the OXO Good Grips Liquiseal Travel Mugs for others before and had good feedback on those too. Like Stojo, these are designed to be leakproof, so I would risk not holding onto this the whole time.
If instant coffee just doesn’t taste as good in your mind, then Aldi and Lidl sell the cheapest ground coffee by weight. Work out if investing in a cafetiere and ground coffee would be cheaper than what you spend on coffee from coffee shops over a year. Prime members might prefer to use Amazon Fresh, especially if you don’t have a discounter nearby and can get free deliveries in your postcode. Try Amazon Fresh free for 30 days.
Should we avoid airline addons?
Which addons are value for money and which ones can be found cheaper elsewhere?
Airport parking. The show found that airlines offered good discounts on these compared to booking direct, so give it a go.
Car hire was more variable, so this requires researching and comparing on a case by case basis.
Travel insurance was often more exepnsive. Easyjet were charging £50+ for a family policy provided by Allianz with £50m of medical cover. Allianz were selling the same policy with £10m medical cover for more like £35.
Consumer expert James Daley said £5m medical cover is all you need in Europe, especially if you have EHIC…
Brexit will likely affect the last point. Keep up to date via the NHS on how to use your EHIC in future depending on where you’re travelling in Europe.
Either way, definitely use comparison sites for the travel insurance instead of automatically adding it to the flight.
How to get cheaper theatre tickets
Apparently the answer is wait for a pandemic to hit and for your favourite show to be suddenly posted online for free…But what about when it’s business as usual?
The show found the Delfont Mackintosh theatre selling two front row seats for matinees for £110. The same tickets were £174 from See Tickets. LOVETheatre also charged more than buying direct from the theatre producer.
Ticketing expert Reg Walker said websites tend to pass service charges onto the consumer as booking fees. There’s also no rules on what constitutes a service charge. Ticketmaster add 10-15% to tickets. Other companies have booking fees in excess of 20%.
Ambassador Theatre Group own LOVETheatre, but it’s cheaper to buy their tickets directly through their theatres and individual websites. They charge even more on LOVETheatre for shows that aren’t at Ambassador Theatres. LOVETheatre say they can’t set the face value of
tickets since they are an agent; the theatre sets the price for them.
How to get better value for money on theatre tickets
- As with hotels and flights, try to book tickets direct in the first instance
- Shop around if you can’t get tickets direct for some reason
- Compare costs based on the final price including booking fees
And let’s say RIP to Amazon Tickets. They had the lowest booking fees of 5%…which might be why they ain’t selling tickets no more.
Episode Five
- Why we should shop in the world food aisle
- Are vitamin drinks a rip off?
- Why is children’s toothpaste more expensive?
Why we should shop in the world food aisle
Ah, one of my favourite aisles. It’s becoming more common knowledge that shops sell essentially the same products for different prices in different aisles. The quantities in the world food aisles are sometimes large (1l of Kikkoman soy sauce, 5kg Tilda rice etc), but they usually have a long date.
Did you know…? Aasani sold in Tesco is a Tesco own brand. Bizarrely, this brand of products are cheaper than other own label Tesco products. Only the packaging is different e.g. the naan bread has exactly the same ingredients. On Aasani products, the “Tesco” logo is a lot smaller and usually blends in with the background colour so that you see a foreign brand name.
So…head to the world food aisle to see if you can’t get the same quality and ingredients for a lower price. Lidl/Aldi nuts are even cheaper than Aasani nuts though!
Are vitamin drinks a rip off?
Even Tetleys is selling vitamin tea these days. It of course costs more than black tea. Apart from vitamin D the majority of us should be able to get all our vitamins from a balanced diet. So are vitamin teas a waste of money?
Dietitian Anna Daniels said the Tetleys vitamin tea would give you a boost from the caffeine, but not necessarily from the B6. If you want B6, she didn’t think you should be getting it from tea anyway.
Vitamin Water provides four more times vitamin C in a bottle than we need in one day. We pee out whatever our body doesn’t need, so unless you make your bottle of Vitamin Water last several days, you are just paying for expensive wee. Nice.
Vit Hit Lean & Green juices have two times the vitamin C our body can process in one day, so again it’s value improves if we don’t drink it all in one go. (A juice serving is 150ml to stay within the NHS guidelines for sugar anyway, so something like this can be spread out as one of our five a day).
Nakd Mango Machine has five times the RDI. If you had nothing but one of these in 24 hrs, you still would wee some of the vitamin C right down the…yeah, anyway.
They analysed the food diaries of two boxers, one of which liked to drink a whole Innocent or Nakd smoothie after working out six days a week. They found both boxers were getting adequate vitamin intake from their normal diet, so that makes all those smoothies £624 a year of expensive urine.
So…have a smoothie if you want a smoothie, but you might not want to pay extra for added vitamins, especially if you’re going to drink it in one. If you are buying them because you suspect you have a vitamin deficiency, see a doctor instead.
I find vitamin D tablets are cheapest from Savers, especially if your doctor has advised the high strength (25ug).
Why is children’s toothpaste more expensive?
This always costs more than adults, but why? Colgate were selling five different versions, but the only crucial ingredient in any toothpaste is flouride.
Brands will have anywhere between 500ppm (parts per million) and 1450ppm. Adults always want toothpaste with the latter.
Professor Nicola Innes said up to age 3 there should be at least 1000ppm of flouride in toothpaste (and over that age 1450ppm).
That’s it! That’s all you need to check for.
I’d add that Lidl/Aldi toothpaste at 59p for 125ml is the cheapest I’ve found.
Episode Six
- Is cheap washing up liquid any good?
- Who has the best instore experiences?
- Are newspaper offers a rip off?
- Does premium baby food have better ingredients?
Is cheap washing up liquid any good?
Should we pay more for that long-stay Fairy? Up to 50% longer lasting than the next bestselling brand is still the slogan on most of their labels. Ecover was the next bestseller at the time of filming, not counting any supermarket own brands. Ecover’s priority is the environment, not how long it lasts though.
Nicki Stopford from Which? said there are cheaper products that perform just as well. Which? tested standard Fairy’s performance against Aldi and Fairy’s own Platinum range.
Fairy Platinum came in 1st, then Aldi’s Magnum which is only 75p, then normal Fairy.
Which is better value really though? Aldi came in 2nd, and for the price difference, that’s still a good performance.
Who has the best instore experiences?
We only spent £1b on clothes and shoes in 2016…Only! But that was less than we’ve spent in the past. Fashion was also one of the first industries consumers abandoned during coronavirus despite lots of opportunity to shop online. Clothes just weren’t in our spending priorities.
Senior fashion analyst Tamara Sender from Mintel attributed the decline in fashion spending on buyers going out and eating out instead. I’m not surprised. I too would rather spend on doing than on things, but it’s amazing what you can do for free also!
Fashion brands need to create unique environments. Superga have artists in store who will paint your trainers for you. Sweaty Betty has free in store classes taught by people modelling the ranges. This is an opportunity to make friends and see how the clothes really move. Let me know in the comments if you’ve bought something after an instore experience.
They sent two students to Oxford Street to see what else was available. The brands wouldn’t let them film so they had to report back, but River Island had a style studio with free prosecco and a personal shopper in a VIP area. This meant you could try on outfits in a private room (you know, like a changing cubicle…Only bigger).
Topshop had Splash, a virtual reality slide with the scent of sun cream in the air to make you feel like buying swimwear. One of the students did indeed buy a bikini under the influence. Oasis had a cocktail bar…
How to get better value for money on instore experiences
The thing that strikes me about the last two is that they don’t really enhance the value of the purchase. Splash just sounds like the environment makes you more likely to buy. A bit like how smelling freshly baked bread might make you walk into a bakery. (Only joking – when was the last time you saw a bakery on the high street? It’s just as well Harry Styles became a singer instead otherwise his employment options among the baked goods would be rather narrow now).
Obviously this is what the shop wants, but what if shops got us to buy by providing the best quality things we needed in the first place? You don’t get a better bikini in exchange for smelling a bit of suncream. You just get another bikini when you already own four you don’t wear…
Keep in mind drinking alcohol lowers our inhibitions too. The cocktail bar and free prosecco are less about providing a memorable experience, and more about getting you to a state where you are more likely to purchase. At least the Sweaty Betty classes demonstrate their products in a way that’s useful. That’s my two bits anyway.
Experiences worth paying for
For balance, I do agree the following few experiences are really worth paying for if entertainment is your sole spending priority after saving, but you won’t find them in shops:
Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Sipsmith gin distillery tours
Harry Styles live
Backstreet Boys live*
*If you can’t put on a good live show after nearly 30 years in the music business, then you need to get another day job.
If I think of anything else, I’ll do a proper post on things to do that cost versus free things to do. I’m not a Scrooge. I don’t think everything in life should come for free. We can get better value for our money on our spending priorities though.
Which experiences do you think are worth paying for? Head to the comments.
Are newspaper offers a rip off?
You might have seen a newspaper trying to flog you something random on their website. The show found spiralizers on The Mirror and The Telegraph websites for a reduced price of £14.99. Like B&M in the earlier episode, they couldn’t find any evidence of these products selling at the higher price.
The BVG group were running the online shops for the newspapers and selling the same products at the same prices on their own website, but they weren’t claiming any big discounts. These products were listed at the higher price on an obscure website that didn’t come up in Google. They had to type the exact website address in to find them.
Again, legally they’re not doing anything wrong. This is how private label products work. If we’re buying unbranded, then there isn’t much for us to compare obviously, so the sellers use pricing as enticement.
How to get better value for money on private label offers
Check the small print to find out when a product was charged at the higher price.
If you can’t easily find a product selling for full price, decide to buy it based on need rather than how attractive the discounted price looks. It’s not a bargain if you regret buying it at all.
Does premium baby food have better ingredients?
Let’s talk food labelling rules. Lamb hotpot requires 10% lamb. Change the name and you can put in less meat. Creamy fish pie only needs to have 8% fish.
There’s a naming loophole that makes it seem like we’re getting more though. A product can have a marketing name on the front. Then the contents just have to comply with its legal name (usually printed on the back of the label instead).
Heinz Lamb and Winter Veggies baby food only had 8% lamb and was still within regulations. This is because its legal name is Winter Veggies and Lamb (printed on the back).
Heinz Fish, Peas and Potato is legally called Peas, Potato and Fish. Makes you think twice, eh? (Although nutritionists would like us to eat more vegetables…So what’s your definition of “better”?)
A lot of manufacturers also sweeten baby foods with apple puree to make babies like them. Heinz told the show it provides the right texture. While purees are natural sugars, nutritionist Anna Daniels said these release quicker than eating fruit. Blending means the sugar isn’t enclosed within the plant cell wall anymore. The same principle applies to fruit juices and smoothies; they are technically free sugars without the fibre.
So…if you’re paying more because you think food has a prime ingredient, check the legal name. If the legal name implies otherwise, you might want to downshift a brand. If it’s mostly veg, it will likely be cheaper to batch cook and mash the veggies yourself.
Also check the ingredients to see which ingredient features most if you’re worried about sugar, as this might be the opposite of what you think from the packaging.
Supershoppers: So…How Do We Get Better Value For Money?
I think there’s some general points that apply to saving regardless of what it is that we think we need to buy.
- Start with a cheaper brand and work your way up in price if the quality isn’t ideal first time
- Compare the price per weight when buying food
- Don’t assume that everything in a discount store is a bargain
- Always shop around
- If you’re paying more because of an advertising claim…check what the claims mean really
- Book tickets and services direct
- Don’t automatically pay for addons
- Ask if you really need it
My biggest saving from the above is probably making coffee at home nearly always, but then I drink enough coffee to knock out a hippogriff.
Which of these do you already do when buying? Or which did you find most surprising? Let me know in the comments.
The number one way to save money on shopping
I don’t have a legal team and the show do, so just to point out I’m not trying to discredit any particular brand. The brands had a right of reply on the show, but I’m not trying to be a watchdog. Supershoppers challenges the information that brands provide and teaches us about marketing. However, I think we also have a responsibility over our purchases.
If we argue that we don’t have time to research our purchases therefore we can only rely on marketing to inform our decisions…how do we know we need what we’re buying in the first place?
We can choose brands that align with our values. We can choose brands that communicate with us in a way that we appreciate. BUT imagine if we took the time to research instead of impulse buying. I wonder how much we’d save when we realise that some problems don’t need solving with money anyway. If you haven’t got time to assess your spending, then it’s likely you haven’t devoted time to assessing your needs properly first. One often cancels out the other.
Here are some pages around the blog to help you get better value for money:
100+ Best Value Food Ingredients
Save Money Good Food taste tests
I’ll add to the taste tests as I recap more shows, and I’ll also aim to create a page of all the product tests from any recaps I do.
I caught up on Supershoppers series 6 most recently, and I’ll be recapping all the episodes in between including the Supershoppers money saving specials. If you want more posts like this, jump on the mailing list to make sure you don’t miss anything new on the blog.
*Some teeny tiny print for you: the prices were correct as of Feb-Apr 17. Always check before you buy!
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