Yesterday I went to buy A4 papers at Tesco Hypermarket in Seremban. I couldn’t decide which brand to buy when I reached the A4 papers section because there were many brands available. Double A looked attractive in quality, Tesco Choice looked cheap and Bright (new brand I think) looked competitive in price! Which one should I buy??
The paper manufacturers are smart businessmen. They lower the price at the same time they lower the number of sheets too! You may think that you have bought something cheap, however, the truth is although the A4 papers are cheap but you have fewer sheets of papers! (绝代商骄-->合理化烟雾 business theory) For example, Double A offers RM11.50 with 500 sheets while Tesco Choice offers RM8.35 with 450 sheets of papers.
So how to decide which one should I buy? As an engineer, to compare which one is the cheapest, let calculate all the brands in Ringgit/sheets (so that sheets is not a factor).
For 80GSM A4 paper
(note: GSM=gram per square meter, it means the thickness & quality, high GSM meaning it has high thickness & quality):
*Tesco value A4 Paper
440 sheets---RM 7.90--- RM/sheet 0.0180 (cheapest)
*Tesco choice A4 Paper (Tesco has two different types of A4 paper)
450 sheets---RM 8.35--- RM/sheet 0.0186
*Bright A4 Photocopy Paper
440 sheets---RM 8.90--- RM/sheet 0.0202
*PaperOne All Purpose Paper A4
500 sheets---RM 11.49---RM/sheet 0.0230
*Double A Premium Quality Paper
500 sheets---RM 11.50---RM/sheet 0.0230 (most expensive)
For 70GSM A4 paper
*Bright A4 Photocopy Paper
440 sheets---RM 6.50 ---RM/sheet 0.0148 (cheapest)
*Tesco value A4 Paper
440 sheets---RM 6.90 ---RM/sheet 0.0157
*PaperOne All Purpose Paper A4
500 sheets---RM 9.90 ---RM/sheet 0.0198 (most expensive)
In conclusion, Tesco Value A4 is the cheapest which is RM0.018/sheet while Double A is the most expensive which is RM0.023/sheet for 80GSM A4 papers. You have to pay 28% more per sheet for 80GSM Double A papers! For 70GSM A4 papers, Bright appears to be the cheapest among the others which is RM0.0148/sheet while the highest price is RM0.0198/sheet which means you have to pay 34% more per sheet for 70GSM category!
(note: we have to look into quality of the papers as well. For normal usage, the quality of the A4 papers are almost the same)
2 comments:
Hi Jienhau
Thanks for linking to PassportChop. Do support us at the Nuffnang Blog Awards :-)
By the way, on your post, I think its quite common for house-brand goods to be cheaper - this is also the case in Singapore (although I would buy A1-brand papers as house brand papers are usually of poorer quality)
Hi ZQ travels,
I did vote for you. ;)
Ya, it is true that house brand papers are poorer in quality. It mainly depends on usage.
Thank you for your comment. :)
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