Photo: Cátia Matos

What does 1 for 1 means?

When you use a 1-for-1 promotion, you're essentially paying the full price for 1 item, and getting another 1 'free'. The obvious drawback is that even if you get to choose what 'free' meal to get, the optimal decision is for the second item to be equal in price.

dollarsandsense.sg - Dining Promotions: 1-for-1 or 50% Off - Which Is Better?

What happens if you bet on yourself?

Betting on yourself means you are not limited to waiting for the right opportunity to come by. Instead, you can create your own because you know...

Last updated Nov 21, 2020

What is illegal bookmaking?

Bookmaking involves taking bets, either orally or recorded in writing. The law further defines a bet as a wager or agreement between two or more...

Last updated Oct 17, 2019

Make Your Bookie Cry And Pull The Hair By Generating $23,187

Promotion

When dining out, you are sometimes presented with the choice to utilise either a 1-for-1 promotion or apply a 50% off discount. Are both of them the same thing? Well, they’re not! This article will explain the difference so you can optimise your orders to make the best use of each promotion, or make the smart choice when deciding between them. While we used a restaurant meal as examples in this article, the same principle applies to other promotions such as 2-for-the-price-of-1 clothing sales as well.

1-for-1 vs 50% Off

When you use a 1-for-1 promotion, you’re essentially paying the full price for 1 item, and getting another 1 ‘free’. The obvious drawback is that even if you get to choose what ‘free’ meal to get, the optimal decision is for the second item to be equal in price. The not-so-obvious benefit is that you will only be paying the GST and service charge for one meal, since the second meal is ‘free’ and the taxes can only be levied on the first meal. In the case of 50% off, the price of menu items you ordered will be added up, and then a 50% discount is applied to it. Any GST and taxes will then be added back into your final bill. As you probably already know, a 50% off deal allows you more flexibility in ordering different menu items, possibly with wildly varying prices. However, you will be paying slightly more in GST and taxes, as compared to a 1-for-1 type of deal.

Here are two examples to illustrate.

[Update: Readers have highlighted that IRAS requires companies to levy GST on the net price, after discounts. We’ve amended the examples to reflect this.]

Example 1 – Ordering Two Same-Price Items:

Why do Irish have red hair?

Irish people developed their red hair because of a lack of sunlight, according to new research from a leading DNA lab. Irelands DNA has revealed...

Last updated Jul 27, 2022

Do you have to pay FanDuel if you lose?

It must be a real money wager from funds that you have deposited at FanDuel. If the bet loses, you'll receive a site credit equal to the amount of...

Last updated Nov 3, 2019

Promotion

1-for 1:

Pretentious Organic Truffle with Hand-Picked Avocado on Toast: $30

Pretentious Organic Truffle with Hand-Picked Avocado on Toast: (Free)

Sub-total: $30

10% Service Charge on $30: $3

7% GST on $33: $2.31

Total: $35.31

50% Off:

Pretentious Organic Truffle with Hand-Picked Avocado on Toast: $30

Sub-total: $60

50% Off on $60: -$30

10% Service Charge on $60: $6

7% GST on $36: $2.52

Total: $38.52

That’s quite a difference in price among two promotions that appear to be equivalent on the surface!

Example 2 – Ordering Two Differently Priced Items:

1-for 1:

Pretentious Organic Truffle with Hand-Picked Avocado on Toast: $30

Atas Smoked Biscuit with Special Sauce: (Free)

Sub-total: $30

10% Service Charge on $30: $3

7% GST on $33: $2.31

Total: $35.31

50% Off:

Pretentious Organic Truffle with Hand-Picked Avocado on Toast: $30

Atas Smoked Biscuit with Special Sauce: $6

Sub-total: $36

50% Off on $36: -$18

10% Service Charge on $36: $3.60

7% GST on $21.60: $1.51

Total: $23.11

In this scenario where both food items vary (substantially) in price, using a 50% is clearly the smart thing to do.

Make the Decision Before You Order

In case you haven’t realised it by now, if you want to get the best bang for your buck, you need to optimise your orders for each type of promotion. And that means making the decision before you order, and not at the time of payment.

Now you know how to best deploy your discounts and promotions.

Listen to our podcast, where we have in-depth discussions on finance topics that matter to you.

dollarsandsense.sg - Dining Promotions: 1-for-1 or 50% Off - Which Is Better?

What does it mean 9 to 2 odds?

9-2 Betting Odds means that out of 11 possible outcomes, the 9/2 odds are that there will be 9 of one kind of outcome and 2 of another kind of...

Last updated Sep 30, 2018

How much is a System 20?

Big Systems Better Value Myth A System 20, which costs $11,802.00 (on Saturdays 6-From-45 draw), covers a mere 38,760 games of six numbers from the...

Last updated Jul 8, 2018

Promotion

How often does a Favourite horse win?

about 35% On average favorites win about 35% of horse races. But, that win percentage can fluctuate based on the distance, surface, class, etc. For...

Last updated Jan 19, 2021

Promotion

What zodiac signs are billionaires?

Scorpio and Virgo lead the way Leos, Geminis and Cancerians come very close to the top contributing 9.3%, 9% and 8.8% to the list, respectively....

Last updated Nov 15, 2018