Friday, March 23, 2018

Cheaper Isn’t Always Better: But Free Is Always Best, so #Relax’nRead On Me By Margo Hoornstra


          What is up with toilet paper these days? Is it just me, or are the rolls themselves becoming narrower, the cardboard tubes inside wider? In other words, less product for the same, or larger, price.


I don’t know how this is working at your house. At ours, there seems to be much more movement and play around the spindle. Not at all like some of the public restrooms where the toilet paper roll is packed so tight into the holder, you’re lucky to get off one teeny tiny square at a time. Or bits and pieces that are totally useless. Still, there is so much paper provided. Doesn’t that make you feel like a cherished customer?
Your basic advertising/sales tool is at play here, product enhancement-modifying existing products so they appear to be improved. We’ve all seen the ad strategies used. Same great product, more manageable (read smaller) package. More rolls for your money!
Let’s face it, as far as a market, we are locked in. Toilet paper manufacturers can pretty much charge as much as they want for as little as they want to offer. I mean, consider the alternative.  On second thought, don’t.
Bottom line, I know I’ll always be a good toilet paper consumer. Not of the cut rate brands either. Did that once and it sure wasn’t pretty. Thought I’d found a good sale so I stocked up. Never again. Took forever to use it all, because no way was I going to throw even one sheet out unutilized.
That’s not exactly what I set out to share here today. In my defense, a little consumer bias I needed to get off my chest. Proof that cheaper isn’t always a better deal.
Speaking of which, I do have one too. A deal that is. And not cheaper even – FREE.
A romance short story, available for FREE download.


Back in the day, as they say, my father wrote scripts for a radio show out of Detroit titled Manhunt, which was a forerunner of the television show Dragnet. True stories pulled from actual police files, as they also say.

This story is based on one of those scripts.

So please, click on the above link and enjoy!
Take some time to #Relax‘nRead.
It’ll help you forget the unfortunate product ‘enhancement’ our toilet paper everywhere is going through.
My days to blog here are the 11th and 23rd.
For more about me and the stories I write, please visit my WEBSITE


18 comments:

Jannine Gallant said...

Fun little story. You needed more suspects, though! A table full of them, all hating him for a different reason. Then, it wouldn't have been a short story, I guess. LOL

Andrea Downing said...

Margo, your toilet paper theories remind me of the story of the guy who went to a toothpaste manufacturer and said he knew how to sell more toothpaste--make the hole in the tube bigger. Unfortunately, or fortunately for us, we can only make our books as good as we can write, and hopefully that suffices. I'll look forward to reading, and be thankful for, your freebie short story.

Brenda Whiteside said...

Your toilet paper story cracked me up. But your free short story is a prize!

Diane Burton said...

LOL at your t.p. story, esp.restrooms at highway rest stops. Itty-bitty pieces! No wonder there's scraps of tissue one the floors. My DIL calls herself a toilet paper snob. She even brought a package to her parents' house, so she didn't have to use theirs. LOL Thanks for the short story. Can't wait to read it.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Always the critic, Jannine’s! Wait! That’s part of your job description. Maybe i’ll make it into something more....someday.

Vonnie Davis said...

The toilet paper post was priceless. Thanks for my morning smile. I'm SO old...a-hem...I actually remember that radio program, sitting on the floor in front of the consul radio, listening. I thought it was so thrilling. I blame radio for expanding my visual imagination.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Anything to sell more product, right, Andi? Good point about ourbooks. One can only hope we provide readers more bang for their buck.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Thanks, Brenda. Glad I made you laugh a little. Enjoy!

Alison Henderson said...

I'm right with there with you on the TP issue. And what about soap? OG is a confirmed user of old-fashioned Dial soap, and they've been carving the size of the bars down steadily until now all you get is a sliver--before you even use it. Can't wait to read the story!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Love it, Diane. A toilet paper snob. Maybe your DIL and I could start our own movement. Heh-heh! Rest Stop bathrooms are the worst offenders. Hope you enjoy the story.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Another one I made smile. Very cool! Especially cool you remember the show, Vonnie. Don’t blame radio - I say we owe them a big thank you!

Margo Hoornstra said...

You use Dial too? Great minds times two, Alison. Who can forget those huge bars of Ivory? Enjoy the story.

Rolynn Anderson said...

So many products are made on the cheap these days. I'm told appliances, in particular, are made not to last (my old washer/dryer lasted for 35 years!). In general, you get what you pay for, but one day I'll tell you the history of my buying lawn furniture...it's not just price you have to watch...is all the materials and construction. Bigtime research involved. Thanks for the story, Margo!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Big time research indeed, Rolynn. We have an upright freezer that's pushing fifty and still going strong. Unfortunately, we live in a society with a disposable mind set. I'll look forward to hearing your lawn furniture story.

Alicia Dean said...

LOL. So true about toilet paper. The bargain brands are NO bargain. I have a few cheap rolls (not sure how I ended up with them), but I use them in a pinch when I, God Forbid, run out of the good stuff! Thanks for the free download. I'll be sure to check it out.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Ha, Ally. I make a point to NOT run out of the good stuff. Not anymore anyway. Hope you enjoy the story.

Leah St. James said...

Fun story, Margo! I love the real-life angle. Truth is often stranger than fiction! And you're so right about the shrinking packages, but not just TP, everything! I realized awhile back that the old gallon containers of ice cream are now something like 48 ounces. And the prices did not go down, but in fact went up in some cases. I'm all for companies making money -- that's what companies do -- but the marketing spin to hide the fact that we're getting less feels deceitful.

Margo Hoornstra said...

Glad you enjoyed the stories, Leah. You are so right about products. I have no problem with companies making money either. However, every time I get a letter from a bank or credit card company that starts out ‘In order to better serve you’ I can’t help but roll my eyes.