Over the Top – CVS’s Maybelline Lipstick Price
At first I thought the $9.99 price for Maybelline Colorsensational Lipstick at CVS was a mistake. I hadn’t bought that lipstick in a coon’s age or two, so I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the price take a bit of a jump, but not THAT high of a jump. When I found out the cost was indeed correct, it added to my growing sense that CVS’s prices have steadily been rising a lot more steeply than other discount stores.
Sure enough, a few days later I hit my local Rite Aid and the price for that exact same Maybelline Colorsensational Lipstick was $7.19. That’s 39% cheaper. Which meant CVS was making $2.80 above and BEYOND a normal mark-up. And they were making that off ME. And I would be losing $2.80, the price of a nice juicy melon or box of berries, every time I would be dumb enough to pay that higher price for a tube of lip color.
The story doesn’t end there. When I double-checked the oline lipstick prices at CVS, the price listed for that Maybelline lipstick suddenly turned out to be $8.79 – over a dollar cheaper than their in-store price. It’s true some stores charge lower prices online than in-store but I couldn’t help wondering if that cheaper CVS online figure wasn’t conjured up more for the benefit of the Maybelline folks, who might not be exactly delighted with the exorbitant markup CVS was actually pulling in for their product.
It’s interesting though, that Rite Aid’s price for that Maybelline lipstick both online and in-store was the same $7.19. Which I think is always less confusing for customers.
If you’re wondering how CVS can get away with charging 39% more for a product than Rite Aid and why customers simply don’t desert them for the cheaper store, the answer may lie with their real estate. CVS stores are everywhere in New York and their locations are always prime spots near subway stops. The two nearest me are only blocks away, both on Lexington in the eighties, giving them a wide radius of buyers in every direction. Whereas the nearest Rite Aid is a bit of a hike much farther east. It’s a more out of the way location and too much of a hike for customers pressed for time or unwilling to traipse those extra blocks.
Needless to say, it’s now my lipstick refill stop and, pending further research in price differential, my discount store for who knows how many more items.
More On Shopping Kit and Kaboodle:
- Hocus Pocus Food Prices and Packaging
- Sorry, CVS, I Don’t Do Cashier Work for Free
- You get what you Pay for — Baloney!
- Tales of Big Apple Shoplifters
- Bargain Bonanza at the Metropolitan Museum
- CVS Self-service Checkout – Faster, Yes – But is it Better?
Buenos Dias Pat! (We’re taking a Spanish class so I can resist using Spanish here and there.)
What made you decide to suddenly start wearing lipstick? I try to wear it now when I go out but it frustrates me that it wears off so easily. How do women deal with this?
You’re obviously an observant and savvy shopper. It sounds like the hike further East to the cheaper Rite Aid is worth the savings and exercise!
Jun.26, 2012 | 11:38 amSusan Partlan recently posted..Justice and Judgement
My goodness, I always wear lipstick when out and about. Look like a corpse without it. I guess we were on different wave lengths when it came to learning about makeup tips.With lipstick you always wear 2 coats. The first you blot with tissue so it forms a base. Then when you put the 2nd coat on it lasts much longer. What I find tough is buying the exact right shade. It’s always too light or too dark so this problem is solved by wearing 2 shades, the dark on the bottom and the light on top, resulting in the correct finished shade.
Vaya con dios (1 of the few spanish phrases I remember)
Jun.26, 2012 | 3:19 pmMy comment disappeared but it looks like you got it. No one ever told me about applying a second coat! I’ll give that a try.
Jun.28, 2012 | 1:46 amSusan Partlan recently posted..Justice and Judgement
Oops. Sorry. Somehow your comment got by me but just published it.
Jun.28, 2012 | 2:17 pmLipstick works better with 2 coats! But it still wore off in about two hours…
Thank you for your comment on my post. I wasn’t an art major but took a drawing class in college that involved group evaluation of each student’s work. Very interesting. I’m wondering if group evaluation might work for writing as well.
Vaya con dios!
Jun.28, 2012 | 3:21 pmSusan Partlan recently posted..Justice and Judgement