Things sold on rolls seem especially subject to surreptitious price increases via alterations of the package size, since both the width and length of a roll can conveniently be reduced. Some items I've noticed recently:
Georgia Pacific's Quilted Northern last fall changed the size of its
product. Each sheet is now 4x4" (a half inch narrower) and the "double" roll has 86 rather than 100 sheets. The photos at right show the new and old rolls; you won't have trouble telling which is which. If the price remained exactly the same, you're paying a mere 31% more. You can call this stuff "bathroom tissue" if you like, but
whatever you
call the product itself, I'd say the price change is a pretty crappy deal. (Note: Consumer Reports, reporting this change in its February "Selling It" page, quoted a customer relations rep at Georgia-Pacific as saying the change "prevented a price hike.")
Scotch clear packaging tape: "Two-inch" tape is now 1.88". (It's the new math.) I don't have an old package to compare, but I suspect the length of the roll has changed too. With just the narrower tape, the real price increase is only 6%. (But of course it's "new and improved" in unspecified ways.)
Evercare Lint Rollers now have 60 sheets on a refill roll, rather than 70. Multiple
changes at once discourage direct comparison of the product; the older product (left) is 50% stickier (than something) and is labeled "professional," but the new one has "easy sheet removal." The company website dodged our question about availability of the 70-sheet "pro" version so we assume it no longer exists. Also, a quality shift -- the newer version is puffier and doesn't pick up lint as easily or quickly. The smaller roll size (30.1 sq. ft. vs. 36.84) equates to a 22% price increase.
All these are good, quality products that we use in our household frequently. But it's nice to know what's changing.
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