Woman sees Lysol ‘value pack’ of 2 at Target, so she whips out her calculator—and realizes how much people are being scammed

A woman went to Target and noticed something about the store’s value packs of Lysol toilet bowl cleaner. So she did the math. Then she realized buying in bulk was more expensive than just getting individual bottles of the product.

Em (@uglyduckmily) told her audience in a video with more than 28,500 views to “always check the math on these “value” packs.” But how often are they more expensive, and what can shoppers do to get the best deals?

What did she price check at Target?

Em took a video of a recent trip to Target that she posted on TikTok. In it, she walked over to a buy-in-bulk value pack of Lysol Power Cleaning Gel Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

 ”They sell this value pack for $5.69, but then they sell one of these for $2.79,” Em said. She then panned her video to a calculator, where she cross-checked the math.

“ 5.69 is more expensive than just buying one of these individually, and it’s the same amount, 24 fluid ounces. 24 fluid ounces,” Em said.

Value packs versus individual products

Buying in bulk saves consumers around 27% on average, according to LendingTree, but it isn’t always a money saver.

There are times when stores increase the cost of bulk items compared with individual products. In fact, the “large economy” size is often more expensive than an individual good.

In a publication from the Journal of Marketing, researchers concluded that quantity surcharges sometimes occur when “certain asymmetries in demand exist across package sizes.”

Price-setting can inadvertently lead to some products simply being more expensive than others, even if they’re from the same company.

How to avoid purchasing higher-priced value packs

Most commenters on Em’s video had one simple recommendation for anyone purchasing products in bulk: always look at the price of the individual item alongside it. Publications such as Cheapsimpleliving have also recommended this strategy, as it can save money while shopping.

In Cheapsimpleliving’s article, the writer identified that individual cans of Chicken of the Sea were actually comparatively cheaper than a $4.99 pack at Publix. “If you assumed as much and grabbed the 4-pack without checking the unit price, you would have wasted $1.03,” the author said.

The money-saving website recommended shoppers “Always check the unit price of every product you buy” and “Never assume that the multipack is a better deal than individually packaged products.”

Commenters weigh in

Some commenters thought Em’s video was unnecessary, as they didn’t necessarily want to save the additional couple of cents they could when purchasing individual items over bulk. Others, though, mentioned that they’ve noticed stores putting out products with quantity surcharges more often.

One commenter claimed that “Target always does this.”

“Just caught it on redbull. Charging a dollar more for a 4 pack than if you bought 4 loose cans,” they added.

Another person said, “A lot of people think that buying in bulk is cheaper so they don’t really do the math when it comes to how much it cost individually versus in bulk so the stores take advantage of that. I’ve been noticing that with Sam’s Club majority of their items are way more expensive than Walmart.”

Viewers were quick to recommend the extra step of doing the math, so that shoppers are at least aware of the quantity surcharges and can avoid unnecessarily expensive purchases.

@uglyduckmily #greenscreen always check the math on these “value” packs @target ♬ original sound – Em

The Mary Sue reached out to Em via TikTok direct message and comment, as well as via email to Target.

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