Quick Tip: Buy One Get One...Or Not.

If you know what the acronym BOGO means, this post is for you! If the sight of those letters followed by a 50% gets your heart racing but occasionally leads you to over-indulge, here's a more logical way to look at it that may help you abstain when your wallet is groaning.

"Buy One Get One Half-Off" sounds great, but in reality it's a fairly average deal- just with a little marketing pizazz to make it seem more than it really is. In reality, every BOGO deal in existence comes with a stipulation that limits your actual savings: *Free item must be of equal or lesser value. Sound familiar?

What this means is that, no matter what the cost of your items, you'll never get more than 25% off your total purchase. Time for some math:

You buy a foundation for $10 and a powder for $10. The first item you pay full price, $10. The second, you save a whopping 50% so you pay $5. That makes your discounted total $15. Without the discount, you'd have paid $20. Your discount, $5, is 25% of the original total, thus, you saved 25%.

And this is a best case scenario. Say your more expensive (full price) item is $15 and your less expensive (50% off) product is only $5. That means you're paying $17.50 for what would normally be $20. Your savings? A totally not-head-turning 12.5%

Now, don't get me wrong, I like a sale as much as the next gal (more, if you ask most of my family and close friends. And casual acquaintances). But a company needs to do a little better than 25% to turn my head. If it's something you were planning on purchasing anyway, then it's your lucky day, but otherwise, don't feel as if you're missing out on the deal of the century if you decide to pass!