to suggest a campaign using post its on supermarket shelves

[nippiesweetie]

Yesterday I was buying coffee for work in Tesco. The price per kilo was greater for a refill pack than it was for a jar but of course the weight differed so it was not obvious at a casual glance. That is, they are charging more for an item that is much cheaper to transport.

If I had had a post it pad I would have liked to leave a message - Look the pack costs more than the jar.

Would this be breaking any law? No damage, just information for other customers and if lots of people joined in...

What other pricing anomalies rip offs could be highlighted.

Actually op greenpeace do just this to help raise awareness of really bad consumer choices - tuna fish for example . It's about raising awareness by any fair means . I can't believe so many posters are bashing the op and not the bloody profit driven supermarkets . Capitalism runs in profit obviously ,but the wheels should cease to turn when conning people is an accepted practice . Sadly it seems to be accepted by the masses .

OP you are totally missing the point in blaming the shop. It's not that they are charging more for less. It's that the higher weight item happens to be cheaper when they buy it in.

I was questioning whether you knew for a fact that fluctuations in the commodity price was specifically the case in the example I gave. I think it is just as likely that they do it because they can and still be within the law.

Your depiction of how commodity pricing smoothly and fairly leads to fluctuations in the retail price leaves out the tendency for retailers to raise prices quickly but bring them down slowly. They do not live purely by supply and demand economics - sometimes this works in the customer's favour (loss leaders) but mostly it doesn't. And even in the case of loss leaders, the supplier is usually being screwed.

Corporations do not behave like small to medium sized businesses, they make the market as well as responding to it. Neither of us can know for sure why the prices were different.

Nomama I think that 'Sweetie' might have been aimed at me because the poster did not read carefully enough to realise that you were a long term humorous user of post its and not the OP.

I bet your post its get more laughs than angst and, like you say, little actions can bring about change.

26Point2Miles - please stop.

They provide a bin, it is specifically a recycle bin, 3 containers, labelled and well used. It saves customers having to take it home and do the same.

Quite a few supermarkets have tried this, it sticks in some places, not in others. The supermarket is charged to recycle its own waste, but contents of the bin goes into the recycle centre, in the same car park, they don't pay and I don't have to recycle from home.

It is a good thing, not a problem.

Ah nippies maybe you are right.

But I am still surprised at the apparent contempt for the little things people choose to do to make their environment a bit better.

Ah well you didn't say anything other than 'bin'.... So which supermarket is this?

Nomama Also some people don't seem to realise that the absence of the pearl clutching 'Oh no people might think I am odd or eccentric or different' gene, is quite freeing.

Not everyone's good opinion is worth having.

I did name the supermarket earlier

Sainsburys.

As I said, a few years ago many supermarkets trialled a wide range of recycling initiatives. They didn't stick on many places - customers didn't use them. But round here 1 Sainsurys and an Asda have packaging bins. Oh, so does the Coop in the small market town I live in.

Calm down 26 miles, you aren't chief interrogator!

There are people who can barely afford to eat and some may have poor literacy and numeracy. It incenses me that Sainsbury's sometimes sell individually packed value fruit and veg that are more expensive than the standard product sold loose. Also that most of the supermarkets seem to have made it harder for you to weigh loose produce by reducing the number of scales available. Asda is bad for this.

nippiesweetie

I wasnt talking to you

I was talking to Nomama, sweetie is an affectionate term, m'dear, the fact that you are reading into it says more about you than me....

Well I like the idea.

It incenses me that Sainsbury's sometimes sell individually packed value fruit and veg that are more expensive than the standard product sold loose.

That's because you are paying for the packaging. I never knew people found food shopping so complicated. This thread is a revelation.

TakeMe as long as you promise it wasn't a local version of the dreaded hun I'll take it on the chin, I bit

Nobody is saying its 'odd' 'eccentric' or 'different'.... It's just a bit shabby

A campaign should be well organised and a bit more polished

pipperoo that's a really good point!

TakeMe Given my MN name my mistake was understandable but I apologise for assuming you were a poster who posted without reading properly.

Why shabby? Oh! Organised, polished. Oh dear, I have been doing my local/personal politics wrong for about 35 years.

I shall cease and desist all such activities immediately - or maybe not!

pipperroo I may aim for things pink next week

26Miles Not everyone's good opinion is worth having and, in some cases, would be positively unwelcome.

Fairenuff I think with your adherence to strict supply/demand economics you miss out on some of the more nuanced ways in which supermarkets take advantage of less sophisticated shoppers.

I think you have nomama

I agree that supermarket offers and pricing is misleading, inconsistent and often illogical for a variety of reasons.

The best approach IMO would be to

1. Set up an on-line petition (hat's what the internet is for!) to highlight the situation using real examples of anomalous pricing. It takes some investment in time, but would get broader awareness than a few postit notes in single supermarket shelves which would be removed, by staff who have better things to do.

1. Write to local MP, highlight the situation and request representation in Parliament - this is an industry-specific situation which needs to be addressed by government. Self-regulation rarely works, pressure sometimes does.

1. Don't expect it to be resolved any time soon. That should stop pressure being exerted continuously, we are a democracy.

Tesco has received very bad press and probably took a hit on their share-price because of their pricing/offers. The more bad press supermarkets get, the more it kicks them in the share-price, ergo, the more likely they are to do something about it.

Apart from that, maybe consider not giving supermarkets all our business in 2015.

oops That shouldn't stop pressure being exerted...

Paying for the packaging?

What - maybe 50p for a flimsy 4 x 5 polystyrene tray and a tiny plastic bag?

You can buy a reusable plastic bag for 3p in Lidl!

I absolutely hate BOGOFs. They are often on perishable goods and encourage people to buy too much stuff which then spoils and gets wasted.

Why don't they just make individual pricing more reasonable??