80 Times Shrinkflation Had People Feeling Scammed By Companies
When I was growing up I’d go to the grocery store with my mom and watch her nitpick about the price of everything. I always thought she was overreacting or being a bit dramatic about it, but now that I have to buy groceries for myself every week I think I owe her an apology.
Inflation has only increased prices, leading companies to play tricks on us like offering less for the same price, also known as shrinkflation. The sticker shock is less intense, but it still rubs me the wrong way, like I’m getting a bit scammed. The only silver lining I can find during this whole shrinkflation era is that now when I eat a family-sized bag of chips I don’t feel so guilty. It’s the shrinkflation.
Now the only question is how long will this go on for, and will it ever be reversed? I have a feeling those chips aren’t magically growing back to full size anytime soon.
1. Nobody Buying This Milka Chocolate In Germany Anymore. It Just Won The Worst Shrinkflation Of The Year Award
This is a pretty famous chocolate brand in germany with lots and lots of different flavors. Germans did not take kindly to them breaking the decade-long “always been 100grams” package and making it 90g. While also raising the regular price from 1,49€ to 1,99€
2. (Nutella) It Looks Fine From The Front. Then You Turn It Sideways, And The Truth Is Revealed
3. Same Exact Package, 20 Less Gummies
Bought the one on the left last night. One on the right I bought 3 months ago.
4. Cried Over A Bagel This Morning
I’ve been buying Dempster’s Everything Bagels for years, but the holes have gotten so big due to shrinkflation that they can’t even hold their shape when I spread SOFT cream cheese on them. You can see the cream cheese clumps because I was trying to be so careful. It’s just the collective of many issues I have with money, grocery prices and shrinkflation these days, but I sat on the floor and cried.
5. Image saying “we hold true to our promise!”. Back to 1L again from 0.7L. Green cloud on right saying “The 1 Liter bottle is back”. Critics saying they made this up because people stopped buying it.
Image saying “we hold true to our promise!”. Back to 1L again from 0.7L.
Green cloud on right saying “The 1 Liter bottle is back”.
Critics saying they made this up because people stopped buying it.
6. Daelmans Stroopwafels Shrank 26%, Too Small To Rest On A Mug Now
Not sure when these change haven’t had them for a while, but they’re tiny now.
Hilarious that they keep their ‘heat on the mug’ selling point despite them being too small to rest on any mug that isn’t a shot glass.
Down 310g to 230g, only a 26% reduction, nothing major! Won’t someone please think of the shareholders!
7. Bic Pens
8. Just Took My New Deodorant Stick Out Of The Box… Is The “30% More!” In The Room With Us?
9. 19¢ Increase For Less Juice
10. I Can’t Even Wipe My Bum Without Getting Scammed
When I was doing the classic roll of paper into my right (I wield right ) I noticed it was less wider, I had to post this
11. What Is This. Just Opened Box
12. Not Even Pretending Anymore
Bought this and noticed when I got home that they purposely removed one. Didn’t even bother hiding the empty spot with a sticker.
Second photo to show that it still sealed.
13. Makeup Stick Cut Almost In Half
14. They Didn’t Even Change The Package
Haven’t even noticed till I got home. All my life there have always been 20 eggs in the package. And it’s not like they even changed the package – they simply left empty cells and covered them with the etiquette.
15. Really???
16. CeraVe’s “Value Size” Moisturizer Went On A Capitalism Diet And Lost 15% Of Its Weight In Only Three Months – With A Price Increase
17. Pat Mcgrath Eyeshadow Quads (2019) vs. (2026) – Same Price
2019: 6g
Approximately $10/g
2026: 5.2g
Approximately $12/g
18. From 48 To 42, Bag Stays The Same
19. Remember When Microwave Burritos Filled The Wrapper?
First time I’ve bought these in years, don’t think I will again. I used to be able to make budget enchiladas with these but now I need twice as many to fill the dish…
20. Pint No More
Half the ice cream at Wawa are shrunk to 14fl oz containers. I haven’t purchased these in a long time, but soon th days of “hey, grab me a pint when you’re at Wawa” will be behind us. Shame.
21. Now 20% Less For The Same Price!
22. The Main Ingredient In This Taco Mix Is No Longer Chili Powder
23. “Shrinkflation Is Real”
The price continues to increase and the total number of chips decreases, at some point we’ll get empty can if they don’t stop.
24.
I’ve seen posts here about how Always is shrinkflating/reducing the size/quality of their menstrual pads.
I happen to have an Always Ultra Thin Overnight pad from ~2011, ~2018, and 2025 to compare, so I did some comparison and analysis.
2011 and 2018 have different wrapper patterns but otherwise seem to be the exact same product. 2025 had a redesign.
The Data:
I’ve bolded any significant differences.
Measurements:
– Pad length (overall): 12.5 inches no matter the year
– Pad width (back): 4 inches no matter the year
– Width including wings: 6.5 inches no matter the year
– Absorbent core length: 10 inches no matter the year
– Absorbent core width: 2.75 inches no matter the year
– Adhesive backing width (main pad): 2.75 inches no matter the year
– Adhesive backing width (wings): 0.6 inches (2011, 2018), 0.3 inches (2025) <- a 50% decrease
Weights:
– Unopened pad weight: 7g no matter the year
– Saturated pad weight (water): 57-60g (57 was 2011, 60 was 2025. In my opinion a negligible difference)
Obviously water is not comparable to actual use.
However, for this analysis I felt it was enough.
Misc:
The strips that cover the wing adhesive had an interesting difference on them:
2011 and 2018 say “up to 10 hrs of leakguard protection” while 2025 simply offers “up to 100% leak-free comfort” (whatever that means) with no time.
What I didn’t compare: comfort, quality of materials (skin irritation), number of pads per package (I don’t have the packages anymore, so this post is just about the actual individual pad product)
Tl;dr:
The only measurable difference is in the thickness of the adhesive strip on the wings.
Everything else is comparable if not exactly the same. No shrinkflation found of the product itself aside from the wing adhesive.
25. Every Few Months It Feels Smaller. Finally Have Proof
26. Little Deborah, What Happened To The Cake Frosting?
These cakes used to look just like the pictures. Where’s the frosting???
27. We Won
Guess the feel of price gauging made people stop going to McDonalds and now we brought them to their knees. They are bringing $0.69 burgers (5 max) – even cheaper than back in the day. Same calories and protein like back in the day. But will we be back?
28. Just Picked Up A New Container To Replace My Old One. 3.2 Ounces Missing. And The New One Cost 20 Bucks At Walmart
29. Sephora Eyeliner: 67% Less Product And 5% More Expensive
30. Noticed This Unexpectedly
31. Charmin! New Package Of Charmin Toilet Paper On The Left vs. The Prior Package On The Right. Ugh!
32. Large Fries Scam
33. This Is Just Sad
34. Same Price, But You Lose 3/4 Of An Ounce
35. Last Year’s Macarons vs. This Year’s Macarons
36. This One Really Grinds My Gears
37. Caught In The Act! 17% Less
38. 3 Coins Now
39. I Knew It Looked A Little Sus At Walmart…24oz Down From 27.6oz
40. What Is Shrinkflation?
41. Fooled By The “Buy Again” Reorder On Amazon — Same Listing, Same Price, But Smaller Bag
42. Nature Valley Granola Bars Are Hoping You Don’t Notice!
43. This Is A Joke Right?
44. Minute Maid Fruit Punch 5% Juice Cut To 3%
45. Frank’s Hot Sauce 25oz → 23oz -8%
46. Little Bites
47. Well, Fewer Calories…
48. Not Only Did The Pencils Not Come In Color Order But They Are Tiny
49. Simply Unacceptable
50. Shrinkflation Or False Advertising?
51. Been Food Prepping For Years. 16oz Dropped To 15. Now 15 Is Actually 221grams Dry; It Was 255 In The Last 15oz Can
Been food prepping the same dish for years. Same process each time. Now Kroger is adding more water and less beans to make the weight of 15oz.
52. Costco Fabric Softener
53. It’s Been Less Than 3 Months Since I Bought The Older One
54. The Pringles I Bought From 2 Weeks Ago (Right) vs. The One I Bought 2 Days Ago (Left)
55. The Grocery Store Price Display Couldn’t Keep Up With The Shrinkflation
Price display is for a 34.5 oz, but the product now weighs 31.8 oz.
No wonder it’s on sale. Cascade Platinum Lemon
56. Ferry-Morse At It Again
57. Feels Lighter. Lasts Longer!
58. Crystal Light Updated More Than Just The Box Design
59. Proof Of String Cheese Shrinkflation
60. I Bought The Box On The Left For $15 Bucks In September. The Right Shows A Screenshot I Took Today
61. Has Anyone Looked At Tooth Floss?
62. What The Heck Is This?
63. Screw You Q Tips!!!!
Bought from a wholesale market. Last year and this year and at the same price!
Screw you Q Tips!
64. Dove Deodorant Downsized
65. 7 Cinnamon Rolls In Pillsbury Package Claiming “Still 8 Rolls!”
I checked them all, none were stuck together. Bought at Aldi
66. Thanks Mcdonalds
Did McDonalds actually shrink the fillet o fish patty? This is the second one I’ve gotten that’s like this. The first time I figured it was an unlucky fluke and that I just got a horrible fillet, but this is the second I’ve gotten that was embarrassingly thin. Different location 3 weeks apart
67. Same Autoship Order Trying To Pull A Sneaky. They Even Removed The Cute Cat With A Weird AI One
68. Pay More For Less!
69. Not My Chocolate Chips!
70. Atkins Went From 5 To 4 Bars After “New Look”
71. Bought These For The Same Price A Week Apart
72. I See Costco And Dunkin Are Pinching The Bag But The Price Stayed The Same
73. Alpen Muesli: Shrinkflation…this Feels A Little Misleading
74. They Got My Favorite Pesto
75. Entenmann’s Donuts Are Shrinking… I Feel Betrayed
76. I Guess They Want You To Eat Less Beans
Oddly the weigh on the white beans didn’t get reduced
77. Needed Some Nutmeg When Visiting My Parents, Found Their 10yr Old One Vrs The One I Just Grabbed…
78. Same Product, Same Store, Same Price, 1 Week Later
79. Is This A Joke – $9 Mcdonalds Filet Of Fish
80. What Is Happening To Christmas Candy?!?!
literally $5.50 for 5 gummies. i dont know if these were available last year but i do know that $5.50 for 8.82 oz of candy gummies is a ridiculous price. this is maybe $2 worth of candy tops.
The jar isnt even full, it LOOKS full from the sides but its empty in the middle!
h/t: r/shrinkflation