More about the ratings system for grocery deals

Here on Springs Bargains and on our sister site, Denver Bargains, we use a ratings system on grocery and drugstore deals to help you know what’s really a good deal. Some people think that just because something’s in the ad and you have a coupon for it makes it a good deal, but that’s far from the truth! Knowing when to hold your coupons and when to use them can make hundreds of dollars of a difference in your grocery budget.

So, here’s information on what’s going through our heads when we rate the deals, to give you a better understanding of when to hold your coupons and when to go “all in”.
About The Ratings

We use a scale of 1 to 5 to rate deals, with 1 being low and 5 being high.

1 – not even on sale, basically regular price
2 – perhaps marginally on sale, but only buy it if absolutely necessary
3 – a decent deal, but one that probably comes around pretty often (about once a month or so). I would buy at this price, but not more than enough for a week or perhaps two.
4 – a great deal; we’ve probably seen it lower so i wouldn’t buy a six-month supply, but would stock up with whatever you’ll use for the next 2 to 3 months
5 – an amazing price; buy as much as is reasonable (depending on the item, probably a six to twelve-month supply)
What Factors Into The Ratings

The ratings factor in the price, sale frequency, season, coupon availability, and overall price fluctuations. Price is an obvious one, but sale frequency is also important. $1.77/lb is a great price for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but that sale also comes around at almost every store about once a month, so it’s only rated a 3. There’s no need to fill your freezer with chicken at that price because you’ll be able to get it for that price a few weeks later.

Seasonality is a big factor, especially with produce. In the winter, I would rate strawberries at $2.50 per pound a 4 or perhaps a 5, but as summer approaches that $2.50 price will only be rated 3. Of course, just because I would rate strawberries at $2.50 at 4 or a 5 in the wintertime doesn’t mean it’s a good time to buy a bunch and freeze them – wait until summer when they’re even lower and taste better. It’s just an indication that for winter, it’s a pretty good price and if you have to have strawberries, go for it!

Seasonality doesn’t just affect produce, though – non-perishables have seasons, so you may see us rate a 75¢ can of soup as a ’3′ in the wintertime, but as a ’4′ or a ’5′ in the summer.

Sometimes a deal might be rated a little higher because a great coupon is about to expire. If you’ve got a $2 coupon that expires next week, and normally that product doesn’t normally release coupons, we may rate it a bit higher just because it’s not likely we’ll get that high-value of a coupon for awhile, even if the product’s net cost has been a bit lower before. Generally, we’re going to indicate why we’re bumping up the rating if it’s because the coupon is about to expire.

Particularly in the past year, we’ve seen grocery prices start to rise: and it’s looking like they’ll probably keep rising for awhile. So, as prices are in transition, so are the ratings. What was a ’3′ in January of 2010 may now be a ’4′ in January 2011. You’ll often see us note that “this item used to go lower, but we haven’t seen a better deal in quite awhile”. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we do watch the sales cycles pretty closely and can reasonably guesstimate that if an item hasn’t reached our “rock-bottom” price at it’s normal rock-bottom season, it’s probably time to adjust the rating.
Differences Among Stores

In order to get the best deals, I’d recommend shopping at a couple of different stores every week, and varying which stores you shop at based on what’s on sale and what you need.

For instance, King Soopers is my “go to” store, and I usually shop there every week. But depending on what’s on sale where, I’ll stop in to Sunflower Market or Safeway or Albertson’s on an given week. Some weeks, I only end up shopping at Sunflower Market and Safeway. Other weeks, it will be King Soopers and Albertson’s.

Be flexible with the stores you shop at to get the best deals. We generally use one rating system for all stores, and generally assume people are shopping at a variety of stores depending on what’s on sale where. If you only shop at King Soopers, regardless of what other stores have on sale, then an item that’s rated a ’3′ at King Soopers may actually be a ’4′ for you.

The ratings system is a bit tricky because we don’t know who’s shopping where, but over time, as you use the weekly matchups more and more, you’ll likely develop your own personal in-your-head ratings as you start to recognize the sales cycles at the stores you shop at.

The ratings for ethnic markets like Rancho Liborio are a bit tricky as well. They have incredible prices on produce and I would highly recommend shopping there periodically, but I also know many people don’t shop there regularly. So, it’s difficult to decide how to rate their 49¢ jalapeño sales, for instance: that price would definitely be a ’5′ at any other store, but Rancho Liborio runs that sale about every other week, it seems, so I wouldn’t consider it a “buy a six-month supply” price at Rancho Liborio.
Differences Among Brands

The ratings system assumes that you are not terribly brand-loyal. We try to rank products according to their type, not necessarily according to the brand. Often, we’ll rate something and then note that if you’re brand-loyal, you should rate it higher.
Using The Ratings System Without Using Coupons

Yes, the ratings will still be helpful even if you don’t use coupons! Generally, many of the ratings would be the same without a coupon if you never use coupons. There’s going to be some exceptions to this, of course, but by and large I’d use the same ratings for a non-coupon shopper.
What Matters? All Natural, Organic, Etc.

We do factor in whether or not a product is organic, because that’s a certified standard. We do not, however, take into account the “all-natural” claims of any product, since anyone can slap that label on any product – there is no standard for what “all-natural” means.
Got A Question?

If you’ve got a question about the ratings system, please leave a comment and we’ll be happy to help you out!