To thinks wandering from one shop to another using your own shopping bag will be problematic.

[Sunnymeg]

I was thinking about when the new carrier bag tax come in in England. We have so many shops who actively discourage you from taking bags with you as they are concerned about people slipping things into them.What are these shops going to do when people start using their own bags for shopping. No one worried about it back in the 1960's, but times have changed. I hope this doesn't mean shops are going to start checking people's bags as they leave the shop.

Like most others, I've been doing this for years.
I carry a couple of those fabric bags which roll up really small in my handbag and just get them out in the shops when in town. I've never had a problem.

yabu
not a problem.
just keep hold of the receipt in case you get asked (I have never been asked and always use my own bags unless I'm buying furniture )

gosh, so much angst about nothing

What shops are these? I've never had any shopworker seem anything other than pleased I've got my own bag.

I can see why they might not like it if you put stuff straight in them as you walked around, but the only place this normally happens is supermarkets with hand held scanners isn't it? You use a basket or trolley otherwise.

I take all my own bags for food shopping now and if you are in and out of shops people usually have other bags with them anyway,

I permanently carry a jute bag around with me, with bags in.

I've never come across this suspicion based on carrying a bag already. OP, you must look dodgy.

Do you go to a shop, then go home, drop off what you've bought, then go to another shop etc?

I don't see how you haven't got bags, except for when you first leave the house.

It's a non issue.

As for packing, I think you'll find that more shops have the small baskets on wheels that you can put by the door.

I've always got my own bag with me [middle-class eco Guardian type] and this has NEVER happened.

The only remotely similar thing was when a man in a cheap independent homeware shop insisted on giving me his shop's branded plastic bag. 'It's my advertising' was his argument. I capitulated in the end.

Joanwatson - it's on plastic bags. Clothing retailers will keep just issuing paper bags and everyone else will just charge.
I keep a robust plastic bag rolled up in an elastic band at the bottom of my handbag for emergencies; we have a large collection of the eco supermarket bags which we mostly remember to take. These days the free ones are so flimsy anyway that you'll be lucky to make it to the car if you even half fill them looks at Sainsbury's
The eco ones are great though - I use them for household laundry, packing up the car for weekend trips, all sorts. Generally enough plastic bags make it into the house to deal with bin liners if necessary

YABU. I've brought own bags for 20+ yrs, not a problem.
At self-service, I pack after paying. This works fine, faster than if I packed as I went, probably.

Come to Cardiff OP - we have lots of nice, civilised shops including JL and various national chains, and it's really not a problem. People regularly shop using various combos of their own bags, no bags, rucksacks, bought bags and every permutation/combination you can think of. Most receipts these days are very detailed/itemised. Whenever we have English friends over, and we are shopping, they all manage just fine.

YABU and a bit silly.

Many people use their own bags and sometimes put things from more than one shop in the same bag. All you need to do is make sure you keep your receipts in your purse to show you have paid and you will have nothing to worry about.

I have been using my own bags for 11 years and have never had a problem.

Don't you just use your bag at the end and use a basket or carry it in store. We use our won bags and apart from when you've paid for it it's in no way different.
However i do have occasional moments of paranoia when I enter a shop which sells similar/same goods with one in my bag - but really I save my receipts so if challenged I usually would have proof.

Who are these shops that "actively discourage you" from using your own bags? I would think the shops will be pleased to save money on manufacturing them.

itsfab I initially read that as "yabu and a bit if a ninny" and had a lovely daydream about things people no longer say.

Bit of a ninny obviously

I've been trying to cut down on plastic bags for ages, usually have a reusable bag or carrier bag on me so it's not too much of a problem. The only time I've ever had any difficulty was in a clothes shop, where they tried to insist on giving me a plastic bag as 'proof of purchase'. I pointed out that the receipt would be fine, and they backed down.

It's really not going to be that big a deal - just visit a branch of Lidl and see how most people cope without free plastic bags.

In Wales it's all bags. Primark charge for their paper bags as for McDonald's and other fast food places.

M&S already charge for bags in England. Noone's up in arms. Lidls and Aldi have never provided free bags and both chains are going from strength to strength in terms of market share.

It's a non-issue in Wales, except that if you know you look "dodgy" then you learn to hang onto all your receipts from the various shops until you are safely home "just in case" you are challenged by a security guard. I use one section of my purse for change/cards and one for receipts & am in the process of training DS. (groups of kids can get watched unfairly everywhere by shop security just because of a few toe rags). Never had any problems personally but I'm an over cautious type by nature.

Online shopping without hoards of un needed bags is actually much nicer as soft fruits etc don't seem to get so squashed when they are delivered in crates. .The driver takes the 5 minutes to let you remove your goods from the crate instead of just dumping a load of bags willy nilly on the doorstep any old how in bags - very useful if like me you can be a nit picky so & so over substitutions as you get the chance to have a butchers at them. In short I much prefer online supermarket deliveries without the bags.

Now if Primarni would stop using those crap paper bags that disintegrate in the rain, or offer a plastic life would be perfect . That's the one shop I still get caught out in, never bringing enough of my own bags with me it seems.

All the clothes shops in Ireland offer paper bags, can be tricky in a downpour.

In Wales too, no problem. Even walking out of a shop with the item not in a bag, receipt is enough.

Supermarket self-service tills are no problem either. It asks if you have your own bag, I always say no and when it asks how many bags I have I press "0". It's really easy, you will get used to it.

I have never encountered any problem with using my own bag.
I keep all the receipts til I get home to be on the safe side - mostly for if I buy something in one soho and go to another where I could have bought it IYSWIM

Anyway. I think a little bit of confusion or security is worth less carrier bags fucking up the environment.

Our co op charges 10p for a bag bloody 10 pence !

How much mrsjay?

Primark paper bags are a nightmare If its raining I once had sodden clothes and was clutching my stuf