Apparently, some places charge you a convenience fee for cold drinks vs. room temperature ones. People are split over the practice.
In a popular TikTok, user V (@89moravanny) shared that she was recently at the liquor store and noticed something strange with the pricing.
She went to buy a bottle of premixed margarita from the refrigerator of what seems to be a liquor store and saw that the price was $11.99, but then she peeped something weird. She passed the same bottle (same brand, same size, same flavor) in one of the aisles and it had a much lower price tag at $8.67.
That's a whole $3.32 difference over some cold air.
"Paying a 'cold' convenience fee is crazy to me," V says.
The TikToker adds that she doesn't drink much, and therefore doesn't buy alcohol all that often, so she was very baffled by the upcharge.
And here's the thing: many people in the comments section said they wouldn't mind a more reasonable upcharge, understanding that refrigeration and the electricity required for it is an extra expense and convenience. But $3+ was just too much.
"I’d probably pay an extra dollar if I was heading straight to an event from the store, but that’s crazy," a commenter wrote.
"Way too much of a price change. I could see a dollar or something like that," another said.
"I know right! It’s crazy that the fridges don’t just run on free electricity!!!" a viewer added sarcastically.
There do not seem to be any laws or regulations in place specifically addressing if it's OK for an item to be sold at a premium when it's cold versus at room temperature.
And, for the most part, businesses are allowed to set their own prices, and it's up to their discretion if they want to charge a convenience fee for something like refrigeration.
Side note: You know who wouldn't charge you a convenience fee? Arizona Iced Tea. In a viral interview, the company's founder, Don Vultaggio, said that he has no plans to increase the price of the iconic corner store beverage. Arizonas have remained 99 cents a pop for 40 years despite inflation, MarketWatch reported.
“We’re successful. We’re debt-free…Why have people who are having a hard time paying their rent have to pay more for our drink? Maybe it’s my little way to give back," Vultaggio said in an interview. OK, side note over.
This video comes as the general population continues to be financially strained by the cost of buying or doing nearly anything.
As journalist Erik Sherman noted for Forbes, while politicians and economists have been yelling into the abyss about inflation slowing down and the economy getting better, that's not really the full picture.
@89moravanny I’m not much of a drinker so this baffled me so much when I found out and still does lol #creatorsearchinsights #fyp #trending #margarita #frozenmargarita #summerdrinks ♬ original sound - tay
While on paper, the numbers may be getting better, there are several real-world factors to note. First off, inflation doesn't affect everyone the same way, like how a person who rents is dealing with different issues than a homeowner. Also, things like healthcare, child care, and education costs go up much faster than official inflation numbers state.
On top of all that, and what many people know to be true from the ever-increasing costs of their daily lives, just because inflation is going down doesn't mean prices are going down with it.
"Inflation is a set of accumulating prices. As inflation slows, it doesn’t mean that prices do. For the most part, categories of spending keep all the increases they’ve seen and then add the new ones, even if they increase at a slower rate. The prices get higher and higher with incomes for most people never having really caught up," Sherman writes.
"People are buried, and they see expenses slipping further away from what they can afford."
The Daily Dot reached out to @89moravanny for comment via TikTok direct message and comment.
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The post ‘A ‘cold’ convenience fee is crazy’: Customer notices the refrigerated alcohol costs more money than the alcohol on the shelves appeared first on The Daily Dot.
