Author Topic: TPIR game proposal- "The Price May Vary." (Read 6851 times)

Jimmy Owen · « **on:** June 08, 2013, 01:05:46 PM »

Came up with a pricing game for discussion. 4 grocery items with a price. The object-match the prices with the supermarket they came from-Walmart, Ralph\'s or Safeway. Get all four right, win the big prize. You could make it more difficult by showing all three supermarket prices and matching the price with the supermarket.

pacdude · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2013, 01:28:27 PM »

Hmm, no. You would never get three different supermarkets to agree to do that. Someone who doesn\'t have a Ralph\'s or Safeway won\'t have any frame of reference. That\'s not dealing with the MSRP.

Did I miss anything?

TLEberle · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2013, 01:30:43 PM »

Cory brings up an interesting point, though probably accidentally; I thought The Price is Right dealt with what things actually cost, and not what the manufacturer suggests that they be priced at. (Let\'s Make a Deal on the other hand did ask for the manufacturer\'s suggested retail price on the west coast.)

clemon79 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2013, 01:56:47 PM »

If I\'m Ralph\'s, why in the purple hell would I participate in a promotion that merely points out that people can buy the same products I sell for less at other stores?

As for the \"what things actually cost\" angle, you have to have a baseline frame of reference to keep the game fair. Otherwise, just in Redmond, I can buy the same bottle of ketchup at three different stores (two of them owned by the same corporation) and the price range between the three might be as much as fifty cents or more. (Maybe a buck. I don\'t buy ketchup at QFC.) When your margin of error jumps into double digits, that breaks a lot of your games. MSRP and ARP are equivalent terms for that purpose. (Also I want to say at some point very early in the run of the show that was specifically referred to more often.)

That Don Guy · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2013, 05:08:57 PM »

This sounds like a game more suited for Let\'s Make a Deal...or at least it would if they offered \"pricing games\".

BrandonFG · « **Reply #5 on:** June 08, 2013, 05:39:33 PM »

Instead of making it about the grocery store, perhaps make it geographical, i.e. a store in L.A., then three other cities across the U.S., or even other countries.

I agree that it sounds more like a Let\'s Make a Deal game...

TimK2003 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2013, 06:43:07 PM »

Hmm, no. You would never get three different supermarkets to agree to do that. Someone who doesn\'t have a Ralph\'s or Safeway won\'t have any frame of reference. That\'s not dealing with the MSRP.

Did I miss anything?

This brings up another interesting question:

-- Is the show required to use a MSRP for prizes/products that are *not* sponsored by the manufacturer (i.e. \"Make hair styling easier with this stylish new hair drier\"), or can they use the price that store \'X\' is advertising that item for in that that particular week?

PYLdude · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2013, 08:46:29 PM »

Instead of making it about the grocery store, perhaps make it geographical, i.e. a store in L.A., then three other cities across the U.S., or even other countries.

That would certainly make more sense but that doesn\'t really improve on Jimmy\'s original not entirely logical idea. To me, it\'s overcomplicating things and you\'d probably be better off just not doing it altogether IMO.

TLEberle · « **Reply #8 on:** June 08, 2013, 08:49:15 PM »

It\'d be an interesting-er way to do Double Prices: \"Where is a Big Mac more expensive: Rio or Tokyo? Get it right and you win both trips.\" All the same it sill sounds more LMAD than TPIR, but what the hell.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #9 on:** June 08, 2013, 10:37:23 PM »

Maybe make it an east-west thing and discard the supermarket tie-in. Is this bottle of ketchup $1.98 in the east or the west? Do the reveal and if you get 4 right you win the big prize.

PYLdude · « **Reply #10 on:** June 08, 2013, 11:10:06 PM »

Maybe make it an east-west thing and discard the supermarket tie-in. Is this bottle of ketchup $1.98 in the east or the west? Do the reveal and if you get 4 right you win the big prize.

Why not just flip a coin? Accomplishes the same purpose.

TLEberle · « **Reply #11 on:** June 08, 2013, 11:11:43 PM »

Nevermind that Kent, Washington and Los Angeles, California are different places and I bet stuff costs different while we\'re on the same coast. But hey, the OP sure is getting lots of action here, isn\'t he.

trainman · « **Reply #12 on:** June 09, 2013, 12:42:51 AM »

I thought The Price is Right dealt with what things actually cost, and not what the manufacturer suggests that they be priced at.

They definitely use MSRP. Otherwise, it essentially becomes a series of games of \"what random number are we thinking of?\"

TLEberle · « **Reply #13 on:** June 09, 2013, 12:56:40 AM »

So when Bob would announce that the actual retail price of the frenulator was however much, was he making up host language?

trainman · « **Reply #14 on:** June 10, 2013, 01:20:19 AM »

So when Bob would announce that the actual retail price of the frenulator was however much, was he making up host language?

The actual manufacturer\'s suggested retail price, as opposed to the contestant\'s guess of the manufacturer\'s suggested retail price.

There\'s no one value they could use for \"what [any prize] is actually sold for in a retail store,\" given how widely that number can vary from store to store, day to day -- or even from person to person, in the case of cars and the like.