Price hunt to cut costs

Price hunting as the name denotes, means looking for different prices of the same product with hope of finding something cheaper.

When you go price hunting, it is not a guarantee that you get to make a saving. But if you must try it out, it should be worth the time and value for money.

Whereas price hunting sounds a conceivable practice, it should come as an addition not the main tool.
But, the real cost saving lies in taming consumption.

Consider a family of four –father, mother and two children under the age gap of five to three years.
They go out to price hunt for a tray of eggs at a neighbourhood supermarket and it costs Shs9,000.

Because they want to save some money, they also check with the shop at the corner where the same tray is surprisingly priced at Shs8,000.

After raking through the shops within the neighbourhood, the price is similar to their second trial.
As luck would bring, a truck laden with trays of eggs passes through the neighbourhood with men calling out for customers to buy each tray at Shs7,000.

This family then quickly buys a tray of eggs from a truck. They manage to save at least Shs2,000 compared to their first point of offer (supermarket) and again Shs1,000 less than the shops in the neighbourhood had offered.

Ideally, if this family consumes this tray in three days, it means in a month, they need 10 trays at the same price of Shs7,000. Their monthly expenditure on eggs is Shs70,000, thus saving Shs20,000 monthly.

A second family with the same size of members (husband, wife, two children (5 and 3 years), who usually don’t practise price hunting.

They buy a tray of eggs from the corner shop at Shs8,000. But this is consumed in four days. This means that monthly, this family will need about 7.5 trays worth (Shs60,000) thus saving Shs10,000.
Ideally, the second family still saves Shs10,000 without price hunting.
So, then what is the fuss about price hunting?
Tips
Sharing his advice on the two families, Mr Newton Buteraba, the chief executive officer House of Wealth, says: “Whereas price hunting can help create a saving opportunity, it can’t work in isolation if a household has no saving habit in their consumption ways.”

In the same way, Mr Shaban Sserunkuuma, a Consumer Education Trust, expert says price hunting or bargain hunting is good for consumers especially during times like these (Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown) that are characterised by near-universal income inelasticity.

“Just about everyone wants value for money and to save as much as possible. Price or bargain hunting will help consumers get value for money and enable purchases at relatively cheap prices,” Mr Sserunkuuma shares.
He adds that when you go out to price hunt, be mindful of bad quality, substandard or bad products.

“Enabling comparison and avoiding panic buying is among the most critical reasons for price hunting,” he adds.
To avoid buying cheap and substandard products, Buteraba advises consumers to buy from suppliers with a location rather than a mobile supplier.

“At least you can complain or replace, usually a mobile seller will have the luxury to sell substandard and disappear while with a stationed seller may not,” Buteraba shares.