Authored by Michael Maharrey via SchiffGold.com,
Inflation robs you of purchasing power by driving up the price of everything you buy. You see the impacts of inflation every time you go to the store. But sometimes inflation hits you in a more subtle way that’s difficult to see – through “shrinkflation.”
I experienced shrinkflation first-hand last weekend.
Inflation-driven rising prices don’t just hit consumers. In fact, they typically impact producers first. As the cost of materials, labor and equipment goes up, companies feel the pinch. Eventually, they pass those costs on to their customers.
But raising prices is bad for business, so sometimes, companies find other ways to cut costs. They shrink packages or simply put less stuff in the same size box. While the price stays the same, you get less product.
Shrinkflation doesn’t show up in the CPI and consumers often don’t even notice, but the effect is the same as rising prices. You ultimately end up with less stuff.
It is stealth inflation, robbing you of purchasing power in a back alley.
MY BRUSH WITH SHRINKFLATION
Last weekend, my wife and I took an overnight trip and stayed in the same hotel as we did on a trip to the same place almost exactly one year ago. Surprisingly, the room rate was within $10 of last year’s price. But the hotel is clearly trying to find ways to cut costs.
Check out the soap.
The package on the left was the soap on the bathroom counter a year ago. My wife brought the soap on the right home from this year’s trip.
That’s shrinkflation.
You’ll notice that last year’s soap is called a “Body Bar.” The soap on the right was rebranded as a “Cleansing Bar.” I’m not sure if Eco Botanics still makes the body bar, but it wasn’t available in our hotel. Either the company shrank their product or the hotel now opts for a smaller, and presumably less expensive, soap version.
Either way, we paid the same for our room and got less for our money.
That’s shrinkflation.
Sure, it’s not really that big of a deal when we’re talking about soap, but shrinkflation is rampant out there.
MY FRIEND’S SHRINKFLATION EXPERIENCE
Just today, a friend of mine had his own run-in with shrinkflation. Here’s how he described it in a Facebook post.
Today I picked up a new Kentucky license plate for the Jeep. The plate they handed me felt more like plastic than metal, was thinner than usual, and no longer had the raised letters and numbers of the past. This, in a vacuum, would be unconcerned.
It’s part and parcel of a larger picture though.
The devaluation of the dollar manifests itself everywhere in ways we don’t even expect or measure. The consumer price index measures inflation charitably by allowing, at their discretion, for the use of substitute goods and services to offset price increases. There are no aggregate metrics to account for the decrease in quality of goods, for shrinkflation, and the precipitous declines we’re experiencing in the quality and formerly personal nature of important services.
MORE EXAMPLES OF SHRINKFLATION
MousePrint.org chronicles shrinkflation. Here are some recent examples.
- Betty Crocker Cake mixes were downsized to 15.25/oz some time back and recently shrunk again to just 13.25/oz — a full five ounces less than the original. The boxes are identical in size.
- A package of Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites went from 20 ounces to just 15. But the bites are now bigger — but with fewer calories per serving. What’s going on here? A closer look at the front panel reveals they changed the serving size from four bites to just two now.
- The Quilted Northern Ultra Plush variety has gone from 284 sheets down to 255.
- Hill’s Science Diet “Perfect Weight” dog food decreased their package weight by 2.5 pounds.
We also see shrinkflation in services. Remember full-service gas stations? Now, we pump our own gas, bag our own groceries and manage our own investment portfolios.
The inflation tax is insidious and relentless. My friend in Kentucky summed it up nicely.
The equity in our humanity is being harvested, borrowed against, and shipped to many whoms and elsewheres more politically expedient. Out here in the Districts it’s pert near omnipresent.”
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The eggs are smaller. 4 poached eggs every morning.
I remember my Dad saying back in the ’50s, “The Hershey bar we got for a nickel was twice as big as the one you just got.” That was before the bar shrank again in size and the price went up to a dime. This shit has been going on as long as I remember and I remember the latter 1950s.
Remember buying Bazooka Jo bubble gum @ 2 for a penny?
I remember it being a penny, but then I didn’t start buying Bazooka Joe until I could read. Penny candy didn’t get phased out until I was starting Jr high or thereabouts.
you are fogetting skimpflation. I bought Smartwool mountaineering socks at the end of last millenium. The price hasn’t changed much, but holding the fabric up to the sun, much much more light comes through. I have been insulted by the manufacturer. Fuck em
Your Hershey bar is probably loaded with GMO cheap ingredients and palm oil crap.
As for hotel “soap”, the $225/night Hampt0n Inn I stay at in Charlotte has switched to wall mounted dispensers for “body wash”, shampoo & conditioner. The soap bar at the sink has shrunk by 25-30%.
Bring empty plastic bottles and fill right up!
Stop buying packaged food. It’s all rubbish anyway.
Money is simply a way of keeping score. What is really happening is your labor is becoming worth less, and the government and banks are taking a bigger percentage of what you do earn. They never abolished slavery, they only perfected it, and made it all inclusive.
Before I die, I hope to see the day when Congressmen are chased through the streets by their constituents…….
…and then hung from the nearest lamppost. (I believe is how you meant to finish the sentence)
“Dancing half way up the lamppost” was the description I heard.
My favorite ammo went from 25 to 20 in a box, price slightly higher.
Those “pounds” of coffee that shrunk to 14 oz a few years ago are now 11.5 oz.
Switch to tea. It’s cheap at Marshalls.
Folgers black silk is now 22.5 oz per can. I remember 3# cans were the standard once.
I notice popular items are jumping up in price but unpopular items are not. For example grapefruits are now $2 each and Avocados are double what they used to be but dragon fruit and Bok Choy is the same price it was two years ago. Shop accordingly.
I just had a colonoscopy for my birthday (would not recommend, schedule for a different date).
The prep called for 64 oz Gatorade to mix with miralax. I had to tell the nurse that due to shrinkflation, Gatorade now comes in 28 oz bottles and I diluted with water to make up the volume difference.
She seemed a bit shocked.
sound like a load of shite
It’s everywhere. My favourite to explain to others is this one. Australia Sydney.
Pure cream (I think it is called heavy cream in the US) used to be AUD $5.10 for 600mL that came in a wax carton. Pricey yes but my choice to have as my username denotes.
So come July they took it of the shelves for 6 weeks.
Then they reintroduce it. Well fuck my dead dog, it is now AUD $5.50 for 500mL. Now to add insult to fucking injury it now comes in a plastic bottle (where is saint greta when we are taking away its childhood) and to make matters worse they place a “new product” sticker on the price label.
The size of Pringles are smaller, even though the can is the same size. They look lonely in there.