So for the first time ever (or at least since I was 5 or 6), I didn't shoot off one firework this year around the 4th of July.  A little background about me and why this is a big deal:

1. For three straight summers in college I spent 20 days managing / living in a fireworks stand (I didn't actually shoot any off then either – that may have been dangerous, but I did shoot after the "season" was over).
2. For a long time, my uncles were in charge of the "big" fireworks display at my grandma's lake house.  Which meant for as long as I can remember I've been shooting off 2in mortar shells every 4th of July.
3. My family loves fireworks.

Guess what?  I didn't miss the faulty bottle rockets going off a few feet after the left the bottle (or my hand).  I also didn't miss having burnt thumbs.  This year, I was watching from afar, holding my 5 month old son enjoying other people doing the work. 

What does any of this have to do with marketing? It's a tangent – but it does, because I want to know why offers of "Buy 1, Get 7 Free" actually work.  

The fireworks stand I managed in college was actually reputable and we didn't do crazy giveaways or manipulative pricing, we just sold everything for a low price and most people respected that (although they sometimes needed an explanation). However, some people never got it.   

Other stands always seemed to do the same thing – following some absurd advertising structure that usual starts as:
Buy 1, Get 3 Free, then progresses to
Buy 1, Get 4 Free, then finally
Buy 1, Get 7 Free

All of which is bunk because they are charging you the same price (per item) as I was, but actually making the consumer buy 8 of each item instead of 1. 

How did they work this?  Simple math.  Other than the basics (bottle rockets or firecrackers, which they are selling as a loss leader), the rest of their pricing is rigged so you pay for all 8 items (or at least close enough – that they make up the difference on volume).  An example, I would've sold a big "cake" firework for $10 for one.  They would probably sell it for $75 and you receive 8 of them.  So you paid 9.38 for 8 versus $10 for 1.  But you're forced to buy 8 of them, which is stupid because you just blew most of your budget on extras you don't want.  Even if they sold it for $60, you're still paying way more than you should and spending a larger percentage of your budget on that one item.

My question is why don't people understand this?  I would always get consumers (I use the word loosely here), asking me "Hey – What's the deal here, how many free do I get?", to which I would explain the  math above (hopefully in a simpler manner) and say, "we give you the freedom to only buy 1 and buy what you want", instead of being conned into buying 8 of every item.  Most people would get it, but then again, 20% or more wouldn't and would leave the stand.

Driving to and from our weekend trip I saw the usual fireworks signs out, including one near my house where it said" Buy 1, Get 7 Free" and I'm still baffled to this day why people actually think this is a deal.

I guess you can fool all the people, all the time or at least enough to make a profit.