As the price of groceries continues to climb, it seems sensible to buy items in bulk for a lower price, but as one Sobeys shopper discovered, that's not always the case.

Like Loblaws, the grocery chain has come under fire online for its pricing strategy.

A screenshot from a local Facebook group posted on Reddit shows two bottles of Compliments olive oil at Sobeys. The 1-litre bottle is priced at $14.99, while the 2-litre is priced at $36.49. One would naturally expect to pay more for a larger bottle, but in this case, the math just isn't mathing.

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The price of the 1-litre bottle comes out to $1.49 per 100 ml, while the 2-litre bottle comes out to $1.82, making the larger bottle 22 per cent more expensive per 100 ml.

"Omggg, that's ridiculous! Immediately, my thoughts were, 'Oh well, this one is a 2l vs the 1l,' and then I realized the price difference. Wild!" wrote one commenter.

Another Redditor warned people to always check the price of items per ml.

"It's your responsibility [as consumers] to check prices. Value packs [are] just marketing. Toothpaste small packs are typically also cheaper per ml," they wrote.

Another commenter agreed, stating, "Absolutely. There is no guaranteed price break on larger packs or bulk. That mentality of just stocking up on the big package and eventually it will all make sense financially is not real anymore. You have to scrutinize everything."

Another shopper has noticed that it has become an ongoing trend.

"I've actually noticed this for a couple of other things, too. At first, I suspected a misprint or pricing error," they stated. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're just banking on people's muscle memory to pick the larger/multiple quantity items. They could also just be betting that people can't do math anymore."

We compared the same items on Voilà, Sobeys' grocery delivery service in Ontario and discovered that the price difference online is even bigger.

The 1l bottle costs $10.99 at $1.10 per 100 ml, while the 2l bottle costs $33.99 at $1.70 per 100 ml. That comes out to the larger bottle being around 54 per cent more expensive per 100 ml compared to a smaller bottle.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you check unit prices while shopping?