Free feels like a gift from the universe. But behind that word, stitched into retail banners and flashing across your inbox in oversized fonts, is a well-dressed lie.
In our modern world, we queue in the cold for cheesecake we don’t need, reaching for deals that shimmer with the promise of getting more for less. And the crown jewel of these promotions is the beloved “Buy One, Get One Free.”
It is painted as generosity. It whispers to our inner child, offering us delight without consequence. But if we listen closely and look carefully, we might find that what we are receiving is not a gift at all, but a carefully orchestrated illusion.
The Spell of “Free”
Behavioral economists have long studied the way people make decisions, and time after time, one truth emerges: our brains do not respond rationally to the word “free.” In an experiment people were given the choice between a high-quality chocolate truffle and a common candy. When both had small costs attached, most chose the better chocolate. But when the lesser candy was made free, people abandoned quality for the illusion of costlessness.
The moment something becomes free, our calculations dissolve. The cost-benefit analysis we normally run in our minds quietly vanishes. Suddenly, we are not buying a mediocre item. We are winning. We feel lucky. Chosen. And in this heightened state of emotion, we forget that retailers do not build billion-dollar businesses by giving away their products for nothing.
The Real Cost of BOGO
Buy one, get one free. It rolls off the tongue like a nursery rhyme. But this familiar offer is not as pure as it seems. Often, it is nothing more than a 50% discount dressed in fancy language. The price of the first item may be raised to offset the “free” one. Or the items themselves may be nearing expiration, poorly made, or otherwise unsellable on their own.
Retailers are not offering kindness. They are moving inventory.
Imagine a pair of jeans priced at $100. You are told that if you buy one, you get a second for free. But what if the jeans never sold for $100 in the first place? What if their real value was always closer to $40? Then you are not getting a second item for free. You are simply paying full price for both, rebranded as a deal.
It is a story as old as commerce itself. Raise the value. Promise a reward. Count on the customer not doing the math.
When Free Leads to Waste
There is also the question of what happens to that second item. Do we use it? Do we need it? Or does it sit at the back of a drawer, unused, eventually thrown away?
Economists call this the law of diminishing marginal utility. The first item brings us satisfaction. The second, a little less. By the third or fourth, the joy has faded entirely. We may feel bloated from too much pizza, or guilty about clothes still with tags.
We walk into a store needing one thing. We leave with two, simply because the second cost nothing. But nothing is not the same as value.
The Illusion of Savings
To understand why these deals are so effective, we must understand how they are designed. Retailers know that if they bury a cost in the price of the first item, most consumers will not notice. And if they offer “free shipping” with a minimum purchase, many will spend more than they intended just to reach that magic number.
A $10 mug with $3 shipping might not feel like a deal. But a $13 mug with “free shipping” is somehow irresistible. The math is the same, yet the perception changes.
We are not irrational because we are careless. We are irrational because we are human. And humans, like moths, are drawn to the flicker of free.
Lawsuits and Deception
Some promotions go further than illusion. They cross into deception. There have been hundreds of lawsuits in recent years against companies accused of raising prices before offering buy one, get one free deals.
In one case, a pillow company doubled the price of its product, then advertised a BOGO deal. In another, a suit priced at $600 was suddenly $800—right before a BOGO promotion began.
These are not accidents. They are carefully calculated strategies to take advantage of the zero price effect. And while regulators chase after the worst offenders, the deeper issue remains: our collective willingness to suspend disbelief in the face of a deal.
What to Do Instead
Not every BOGO is a trap. Sometimes, when you already need two of something—like toothpaste or laundry detergent—a buy one, get one free promotion can genuinely save you money.
But the key word here is need.
Ask yourself before you buy: Was I already planning to purchase two? Will I actually use both? Do I know the real price of what I’m buying?
And perhaps most importantly: Would I still buy this if it weren’t part of a promotion?
These questions return us to intention. They remind us that true value is not in what we are offered, but in what we choose.
The Wisdom of Restraint
My grandmother used to say, “Not everything sweet in the mouth is good for the body.” Her words ring truer than ever in a world flooded with marketing and manipulation.
To be a wise consumer today is to slow down. To pause before the purchase. To question the glitter and the glow. Because so often, behind the word “free,” there is a cost waiting quietly in the shadows.
We are not powerless. We can reclaim our choices, one thoughtful decision at a time. And when we do, we discover that the best deals are not the ones that dazzle with promises, but the ones that respect our intelligence and our value.
Emily