Yesterday we went to a fundraiser at the FP Gal's school. They sold tickets at the door and the listed prices went like this:
$1 = 5 tickets
$5 = 20 tickets
$10 = 40 tickets
$20 = 80 tickets
As we looked at the sign I whispered to the FP Gal and asked her if it was really a better deal to keep buying one dollar worth of tickets rather than to buy in bulk. She quickly did the math and decided that I had it right.
We asked the ladies with the cash box and after some discussion they agreed. The lady who set up the whole shebang was nearby and a quick question to her suggested that she didn't see what we were getting at. I bit my tongue and didn't say anything about math skills and we paid for our tickets and wandered off.
As we left, we talked to the cash box ladies again and they said that it was done that way so that kids with only a dollar would still get a good deal. Kind of a loss leader, I guess. I can see the logic though it is the opposite of most marketing set-ups. And, to be brutally honest, I'm not all that convinced that it was done on purpose.
Still, it was a fundraiser for kids and I don't feel bad that we could have somehow squeezed out a few more tickets out of them. As it was, we ended up giving the bulk of our tickets away so we could take our tired daughter home.
1 comment:
I sent this link to several of my friends who are involved with math, Peder, and, like you, they're convinced this was unintentional. It may have worked out "for the children", in which case, great, but it does show a stunning lack of mathematical ability at the adult level.
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