Walmart: Price Check on Aisle 4

Great Value?  One is a better "value" than the other...

I made a little trip to Walmart on Saturday evening because I needed some cleaning supplies for the shower. I love Walmart because they have such great prices, but I was a little perplexed when I came across these two products...

Take a close look...the labels are similar but not identical.  One product is labeled "Mold & Mildew Remover" and the label proclaims that it kills 99.9% of germs.  The other product is labeled "All Purpose Cleaner with Bleach."  One sticker claims that it kills the Flu Virus and the label also claims that it removes stains and disinfects.

Then look at the active ingredients--both have 2.0% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach).  Sounds like their pretty much the same right?

The back of the bottles...

So I flipped the bottles around and the back labels are nearly identical except for the bar code.  Both labels claim to the exact same household germs, including e. coli, salmonella, staph, strep, mildew, athlete's foot, and the H1N1 influenza virus.   An impressive list indeed.  But an identical list.

The only rational conclusion is that this is the exact same product--just different packaging.  So you might think that the price would be the same.  Au contraire mon frere!  The one on the right is $1.88 for 32 ounces.  The one on the left....$2.88 for 32 ounces.  That's $1.00 more (53%)!!!

So it just goes to show that it pays to read the label--even at Walmart.  Just because Walmart has great deals doesn't mean that all of its deals are created equal.