Last time I went grocery shopping, I only bought one thing, a bag of black grapes, my favorite.
They used to be available all the time, until about two or three months ago they disappeared and when I asked the grocer said they hadn’t heard. A few weeks ago they said they were coming soon, and when I saw them, I grabbed a bag and went to the checkout and paid.
It cost like $9.08.

At first I didn’t think much of it, or maybe I didn’t even notice how much the bill was.
Then as I was walking out it hit me: “Wait a minute, $9 for grapes? Isn’t that kind of a lot of money… did I get overcharged?”
I paused outside the store, because it dawned on me I thought the sign said $2 a pound. I looked at the receipt and turns out I bought 3 pounds of grapes, so I thought I must have been over-charged $3.
Or another way of looking at it might be to say I overpaid 50%, apparently.
I’m standing just outside the doors thinking, “Do I go in and make an issue of this with a manager or do I let it go, knowing my time is worth more than the $3 I overpaid?”
I was set to walk away and forget about it, yet the feeling of being ripped off by this, my favorite grocery store didn’t sit well with me. And I didn’t want to mistrust them or start shopping elsewhere because they have friendly staff who go out of their way to be helpful (they provide the best customer service which is why I shop there – a useful lesson for your business, as well, hint, hint).
(Usually I don’t notice prices, so I can’t say how there’s generally match the other four big stores I could choose, instead.)
[Another key distinction of the wealthy, by the way, we don't shop on price. We value convenience and being able to get in and get out quickly more than price, because our time is what's more valuable than money.]
Think about that one.
Mostly because I didn’t want to feel like my favorite store could not be trusted, I decided to go back in and see whether in fact I was ripped off, or perhaps I was mistaken.
They had the sign for the green grapes to the left, $1.98 (turns out it was per pound, not by the bag as I perhaps carelessly assumed; fair enough, even if that makes grapes more expensive than other fruit, it’s what I enjoy eating).
On the left were the green grapes. Next to them were the black grapes, first time I had seen them in a copule months. To the right of them were the red grapes. About two inches from the sign giving the price of the green grapes was the sign saying that red grapes were also $1.98 (per pound).
As soon as I saw there was no price for the black grapes I realized I had made an assumption by not looking closely, by seeing “great, my black grapes are back”, looking at the price nearby and seeing $1.98 and going right to the check-out.
Was I deceived. Perhaps. Was it my own fault for not looking more closely? Absolutely.
Did I have any problem with the grocery store at that point? Not at all.
Was I happy I paid $9.08 – 50% more – for the grapes I wanted, instead of the red or green grapes? You bet I was!
I would much rather have what I really want than something that’s only “OK” to me or not very good. That’s what the black grapes are for me… even if they cost significantly more.
Will I buy them again? Probably tomorrow, in fact – regardless of the price difference, it’s still well worth it to me to have what I want.
[Another useful point about your business - your people will gladly pay more to know they're getting what they truly want. Please don't commoditize your services or products to match the prices or even beat them, of the other guys, who focus on quantity, not quality. By you differentiating yourself as "Excellence", your people will appreciate and respect that, and happily pay you even the 50% more I paid. Because you're giving them exactly what they want, and they will not, nor should they, settle for anything less.]
What would you have done when you thought you were charged 50% too much for the grapes?
What key take-aways did you get from this conversation?
Warmly,
Dan Klatt,
“Think And Grow Rich Guy”
Founder of the CarnegieCentre and
President of the Internet Marketing Organization
….Serving as Your WealthSensei!
Resources
- “Recession Proof Your Thinking Prosperity Fire Sale” – This more than anything else I can give you at this time will make sure you have the right Consciousness of Wealth and are creating and therefore attracting the things you want and desire, automatically and without even thinking about it consciously.
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