Is it just me or is charging 50p for a paper bag at M&S food outrageous?

I can see your cat’s bum face from here 🤣🤣🤣.

Not proud, more annoyed at the crap bags on offer. And my re-use and recycling is stellar, thanks, and has been for decades.

So proud of theft and waste. Nice. Good for you.

I don’t buy them. In M&S I just take them if I don’t have my own. Never pay for them. You can’t fold them up to keep in your handbag so their reuse value is limited, and there’s no way I’d put anything heavy or breakable in one, especially if it’s raining. They’re single use as far as I’m concerned. And I’m not bothered about the social status of carrier bags 🤣🤣🤣.

Were bags given away for free or was the cost of bags aggregated into the price of the groceries you bought? Surely giving customers a choice of whether to pay for a bag is better than effectively forcing them through marginally higher products?

If you don't want the bags on offer, don't buy them. They can offer whatever bags they want to, at whatever price they like. Up to you if you want one or not. Just the same as anything else they sell.
I personally think the M&S paper bags are great. We've had one for ages, it serves as our "posh" bag, when a Tescos one just won't do. Holds several bottles of wine just fine.

If you’re hoping I felt patronised by your comment then sorry to disappoint but you’ve been unsuccessful.
Pp was moaning about being penalised for being forgetful, when the entire point of the penalty is to make it unpalatable for people to not reuse their own bags. I provided suggestions for how to remember bags and avoid the forgetfulness penalty.
Clearly some people don’t want to be helped and would rather moan about having to pay at the same time as admitting they keep forgetting and don’t do anything to change that fact.

Of course they’re not forced to. Not sure why you would think they are. But retailers were fine with giving bags away for free - they are hardly in the market of pissing off their customers, are they? And like I said, they get advertising for it. They could just get plain bags which would be cheaper the produce - but that’s not what they want.

I don’t have an issue with bags being charged for as long as they’re fit for purpose. M&S ones aren’t. They are proof that re-usable plastic can be better than the alternatives.

So are you saying that the retailer has to pay the government 50p for every bag they sell? Or are you saying the government makes the retailer charge for the bag but the retailer gets to keep whatever they make? Either way, the bag costs to make so someone has to pay for it. In the "old" days, yes the cheap bags were given away for free, but I suspect, regardless of any government mandate, retailers would be charging for bags now anyway. Their profit margins are so small they need to claw it back somewhere. And with every product a consumer buys, it's up to that consumer if it's worth the price. They aren't being forced to buy it.

The charge isn’t coming from retailers (except for paper bags) - it’s coming from the government. Prior to this retailers have paid for bags for decades. These bags we pay for aren’t plain - they’re advertising the brand - we the customer are advertising their product.

The reduce/reuse message is really wasted on some people.

Can I ask why you think this? The shop has to pay to have them made and shipped to the shop, why should someone get them for free?

Why? Perhaps only left shoes should be charged for too?

No. Her eyes were rolling because your response was rude and patronising. Thought you needed an explanation as you don’t seem to have understood.

How does it feel when someone is rude and patronising to you?

YANBU. Only plastic bags should be charged for.

Wouldnt bother me as it would be my fault I didn’t take a bag.

next time you know

What a great response 👍. Truth hurts?

🙄🙄🙄

Sounds like you and your partner need to be less forgetful then. Keep a load in your car boot, one in your coat pocket and one in your bag. You manage to remember keys and phone when you leave the house, I’m sure.

I’m happy for them to profiteer if it makes people think twice about just paying for a bag at the till and incentivises them to remember their own next time. It’s really not hard. Put the charges up even more, I say!

Does it surprise you that shops exist to make profit?

It did but it used to be much much cheaper than it used to be now.

In Scotland the bag charge gas covered paper from the start. Only exceptions are paper bags for things like bread or for medication. We even pay for a bag for a McDonald’s takeaway.

You mean deal with the consequences of companies profiteering off of the forgetfulness of consumers. OK hun.

Also, I do have bag for lifes but usually store them at home. Very often forget to put them in my car, as does my partner.

Profiteering refers to the act of making unfair or excessive profits, often by exploiting situations, particularly during emergencies. It often involves taking advantage of consumers or society for financial gain.

Therefore I’d argue that it IS profiteering. Especially 50-60p for a paper bag. The charges were brought in for plastic bags to dissuade customers from using those as they are not as good for the environment as paper.

For me it’s not paying for a bag so much as paying for a crap bag that I object to.

And the change was never meant to be for paper bags (and yes, I know they have a carbon footprint too).