评论
打印
This is a coupon for Burger King's Croissan'wich, and it's promoting a buy one get one deal.
这是汉堡王可颂三明治“买一送一”的促销优惠券。
Buy one breakfast sandwich full price, get a second one for none extra cost.
买一个全价的早餐可颂三明治，不花钱就可以再领一个。
But one customer found that something was off about the deal:
然而，有一位顾客发现这桩生意有点不对头：
when she was charged two different prices for the sandwich.
买这款三明治的时候她被收取了两种不同的价格。
When she ordered a single sandwich, the price was $2.16.
当她点一个可颂三明治的时候，价格是2.16美元。
But when she ordered two sandwiches and used the BOGO coupon,
但当她用“买一送一”的优惠券点两个的时候，
the price of each sandwich was $3.19, more than a dollar more.
每个三明治的价格就变成了3.19美元，比单独买贵了不止1美元。
This went on for years before Burger King was sued for overcharging customers.
这种情况一直持续了好几年，最后，汉堡王因向顾客索要高价被告上了法庭。
BOGO is so appealing that it's hard for consumers to see it for what it is.
因为“买一送一”实在是太吸引人了，以至于消费者很难看透它的真面目。
Buy one, get one.
买一，送一，
It's a thinly veiled attempt to convince a customer to buy more than one item at a time.
这是一种几乎不加掩饰地劝说顾客一次购买多件商品的做法。
For a thrifty shopper, BOGO can sound like the best way to get more bang for their buck,
对于节俭的购物者来说，买一送一听起来似乎是让他们的钱花得更值的最好办法了，
but often it's simply not as good a deal as it appears.
但通常情况下，这种优惠并没有看上去那么划算。
Consumers perceive the quality of a bargain based on the price they pay compared to the original list price.
消费者对买的东西划不划算的感知是基于他们所支付的价格相比原始标价之间的优惠程度的。
Take this food processor on Amazon for example.
就拿亚马逊上的这个料理机来说。
The price on sale is $35, an amazing 52% off the $75 dollar list price.
标的活动价是35美元，比75美元的标价便宜了足足52%。
The problem is that Cuisinart doesn't list the item for Amazon's regular price
问题是，美膳雅官网上的价格并不是亚马逊给出的正价，
and based on an analysis of tracked prices over time,
而且，分析长期跟踪的价格显示，
Amazon has never sold it for more than $40 in the past 10 years.
过去10年里，这款料理机亚马逊卖出的价格从未超过40美元。
The cheating that goes on is rampant.
时下的这种欺骗行为可以说是非常猖獗。
Retailers are guilty, often, of distorting the regular price, raising the regular price.
零售商是有，而且经常有扭曲常规价格，抬高常规价格这一问题的。
And several companies have been caught distorting prices in conjunction with BOGO offers.
好几家公司都已经被发现有一边搞买一赠一的活动一边抬高价格的行为。
The suit accuses Visionworks of inflating the price of the first pair of glasses to partly cover the costs of the second, supposedly free pair, making it not actually free.
诉讼指控维真沃格抬高了第一副眼镜的价格，以此部分抵消第二副眼镜的成本，而这第二副眼镜原本应该是免费的，实际上却并没有免费。
It can be hard for consumers to tell whether BOGO is fair or deceptive
消费者很难判断买一送一的活动究竟是公平的还是骗人的，
and often their judgment is clouded by one four letter word: Free.
因为他们的判断力往往都被“免费”这个词蒙蔽了。
I mean, free is a tremendous motivational trigger
“免费”真的是一个非常有吸引力的刺激因素，
and they like the opportunity to expand the deal by buying more than one of an item.
而且消费者们也很乐意多买。
Very often consumers don't do the math.
消费者经常都不会去算东西的实际价格。
Buying more than one item means consumers spend more money than they intended. Not less.
多买就意味着消费者会花比他们预计的更多而不是更少的钱。
For example, say you want to buy a sweater that's normally $80.
举个栗子，你本来想买一件普通价格为80美元的毛衣。
Sweater A is listed at a 20% discount.
毛衣A有20%的折扣。
Sweater B is listed at full price, but has a buy one, get one free deal.
毛衣B是全价，但有买一送一的优惠。
While the second option may get you two sweaters,
虽然选第二种折扣你能得到两件毛衣，
you've just spent more in total than if you just focused on the 20% discount.
但你总共花的钱就比你只买八折的毛衣要多了。
Let's say those sweaters are on a buy one get one 50% off deal.
我们再来假设这些毛衣有买一送一的半价折扣。
Option one you buy one sweater for $80 dollars.
选择一是你花80美元买一件毛衣。
Option two, the first sweater would be $80 dollars and the second would be half off.
选择二，第一件毛衣80美元，第二件半价。
Translated into a straight discount,
折算成直接的折扣的话
the total saved from the BOGO deal would be the same as a 25% off deal,
买一送一也就相当于打了个七五折，
but the amount of money you spend in store has grown, because you bought two items.
但是你在商店里花的钱增加了，因为你买了两件商品。
Some BOGO deals only apply to items with lesser value.
还有一些买一送一的活动只针对比原商品便宜的商品。
For example if you buy that same sweater and a $10 dollar pair of socks, you still pay $80 for your total purchase.
例如，如果你还是买那件毛衣和搭配的一双10美元的袜子，你花出去的钱就还是80美元。
If you decide to get a sweater and $150 coat, the sweater would be counted as the free item and you'd still be shelling out $150.
如果你决定买一件毛衣和一件价值150美元的外套，这件毛衣则算作赠品，这样，你还是要剁手150美元。
For most deals, you're better off waiting for the one item you wanted to go on sale rather than purchasing it through a BOGO deal.
在买大多数东西的时候，大家最好还是等你要的那间商品直接打折而不是在做买一送一的活动的时候买。
Customers. I won't say "fall for it," but they go for it nonetheless.
我不会说，消费者们“已经爱上了这种促销手段”，但不得不说，他们还是吃这一套的。
BOGO disguises the fact that, unless you already intended to buy two items, it really isn't all that big of a discount.
买一送一这种手段掩盖了一个事实，那就是，除非你已经打算买两件东西了，否则它的折扣力度并没有你想的那么大的。
So BOGO deals can be fantastic if you're a shopper looking to buy in bulk and stretch your dollar.
总而言之，如果你想要屯货又想省钱的话，买一送一的活动还是非常棒的。
But for most of us, free isn't always the best option.
但对我们大多数人来说，免费并不总是最好的选择。
Well, just do the math.
不信，你自己算一下就知道了。
If it looks too good to be true it's too good to be true.
如果那个优惠看起来好得不像是真的，那它就真的是好得不可能是真的。
