Shelf

Which one is cheaper?

Type the price and size from each shelf tag. Shelf shows the price per kilo, litre or sheet, deals included.

 

 

    Your price book

    A list of the best unit price you've seen for the things you buy every week, so you know a real deal when you see one. Leave your email and we'll send one note when it's ready.

    Blank price tags on a supermarket shelf rail, one with a lime sticker

    Comparing unit prices in the aisle

    Bigger packs are usually cheaper per kilo, but not always, and deals make it harder: is 3 for 5 better than the big bag? Shelf turns every tag into the same unit so the answer is one number.

    Type the price, the size and how many are in the pack. If there's a deal, pick it on the tag. The cheapest gets a sticker, and the others show how much more they cost per unit.

    Questions

    How is the unit price worked out?

    Price per pack, after any deal, divided by everything in the pack: size × number in the pack. A 6 × 330 ml pack of cans for 4.50 is 1,980 ml, so 2.27 per litre. Shelf then shows every product in the same unit, even if one tag is in ounces and another in grams.

    How do multibuy deals work here?

    Pick the deal on the tag. "3 for 6" means each pack costs 2. "Buy 1 get 1 free" halves it. "Second one half price" makes each of the two 75%. Shelf uses that deal price for the comparison and tells you how many you'd have to buy to get it.

    Can I compare grams with millilitres?

    Not fairly. Weight and volume only match for water, so Shelf compares the products that share a unit type and flags the odd one out. Most tags print both; use the one the others use.

    What about toilet paper and kitchen rolls?

    Use sheets: rolls go in the pack box and sheets per roll in the size. Big rolls with fewer sheets can still win. If the sheets are a different size, compare by metres instead; most packs print the length.

    Does it work offline in the shop?

    Yes. After the first visit the page works without signal, and it remembers your last comparison on this phone. Add it to your home screen from the browser's share menu.

    Do you keep what I type?

    No. Prices stay on this device. We count page views without cookies.

    More from Shelf

    Price per ounce calculatorPrice per kg calculatorPrice per litre calculatorToilet paper price per sheetIs the multibuy really a deal