Which of these three animals pays more for his groceries?

A) The beaver
B) The moose
C) The giraffe

If you guessed the moose, you are right. But do you know why?

Manufacturers fight hard for eye-level space in grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and other retail outlets. They often pay for the space. Retailers, for their part, want to place those items that earn them the biggest profits (the highest mark-up) at eye level. This is because of: “The Rule of Lazy”. Which states that people will look where it is easiest to look, in other words, at eye level.

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What this means is that anything at eye level has the highest mark-up. And guess who pays that markup? Poor Mr. Moose. The can of beans that the giraffe buys from the top shelf and the can of beans that the beaver buys from the bottom shelf will have less of a marketing fee tacked onto the price than the can of beans that the poor moose will end up buying.

You can look high and low and never find the meaning of life. But you will find a cheaper can of beans.

This post was featured at Managing Your Personal Finances List #3.