Or are WHSmith ridiculously overpriced?

[ImCatbug]

Needed to buy some postage boxes and bubblewrap to post some Christmas presents today, and since I couldn't get to my usual shopping centre to buy some gift boxes I popped into the WHSmiths down the road from me.
£4.29 for 3m of bubblewrap??? £4.49 for a smallish medium postage box with a whole page of instructions just to assemble it?? I usually buy £2 gift boxes and bubblewrap from the pound shop. I actually found a 5m roll of bubblewrap in Sainsburys right afterwards and returned the expensive stuff to WHSmith.
I also had a look at the wrapping paper while I was in there and it's £4.49 a roll? Even the non-'luxury' stuff is £3.50 or so. And £8.99 for a pack of Christmas cards? Again, I found cheaper (and nicer) stuff in Sainsburys literally down the road.
I was going to buy a can of energy drink in there too don't judge me but it was about £2.40 a can, or 2 for £2.50. RRP for those drinks is £1.19 so even on offer they're more expensive in WHS than anywhere else.
The only time I see people in there is in the integrated Post Office upstairs. There is nothing in there that you can't get for the same price or much cheaper elsewhere.
I know IABU because I don't have to shop there but I just don't understand why they keep their prices so high.

most definitely NU.
I have long wondered how WHSmiths are still in business. Their prices are shocking.

They are overpriced I always fine.

Even on simple things like chocolate/pens etc

I've been saying this for years, I keep thinking they'll be the next high street store to go but they keep plodding on. I truly believe it's their train station/airport stores that keep them afloat; It's ridiculous to pay £1.20 for a pack of polos but they've got a captive market haven't they?

Same. I think a huge proportion of their sales must come from the fact that they have a lot of shops in locations where you might not have a lot of choice, eg airports, train stations - but that doesn't explain how they still have a sizeable shop in pretty much every town centre!

Went in there today for 10 dividers and 5 plastic wallets, guess what! The dividers were £1.50 roughly and the dividers £6!!! That's mental

Agree, in fact was thinking this yesterday when I popped in (and left empty handed). Stationary, envelopes & small toys, half the price at Tesco. Wrapping paper, cards etc all cheaper at Clintons/Borders.

I'm surprised it has actually lasted this long, needs a huge shake up to survive.

Sorry for cross post with catastrophic making the same point!

They're very overpriced. The one in my town incorporated the post office a couple of years ago and now everything's cramped together and it's difficult to find anything in there (not that I go in very often).
Not a pleasant shopping experience at all.

I suppose they make their money through their shops in airports and railways stations plus they have their newspaper/magazine distribution service.

The only reason they can possibly stay in business is the range of hobby magazines they sell, and their presence in railway stations. I live in a very small town with a ridiculously limited range of shops, but I wouldn't buy anything in WHSmith.

Ive not bought anything in WH Smiths for years....everything they sell is cheaper in Wilkinsons...Poundland etc....Im shocked as to how they are still trading.

To add....I was actually looking for a pencil case for DD. Cheapest was £6.99. I got one in Tesco for £1.50!

It's their airport & train & service station shops that keeps them going as they have massive captive markets there. They're always packed on the motorway & airport ones whenever I've been in!

They do pretty good discounts though. 75% off some decent stuff but their full price stock is extortionate.

Yes, their prices are absolutely ridiculous. Also their shops are getting scruffier and more cluttered by the day. My local branch is a huge one over two floors and it's a complete tip, as is the one at the station nearby.

I'm actually convinced they're going to go bust soon.

Yanbu they're so overpriced and our local one is just a bit crap. It's like a jumble sale, the range of books is crap and if I want a cheap bit of stationery I'll go to wilko or somewhere. I don't know how they're still going.

I feel sad about whsmiths. I used to love it when I was a teenager (20 years ago!) and now it's just awful.

Ours closed last year. It was a dump and I rarely bought anything but now it's gone I do actually miss it! I was just thinking today I needed to buy a new Filofax insert and started walking towards where they used to be before I remembered.

I agree with a pp, surely the only way whs are in business is due to the airport stores.

It's so so overpriced.

Yes, it's my shop of last resort after trying the newsagents, corner shop and post office. Not helped by their insistence on self service checkouts.
I don't honestly know why they don't shut the high street stores and focus on the station and airport ones, though I would be sad if they did as nobody else in my town sells their range of books.

I have no idea how they are still open,our local one looks like a crap market and the stuff is 3x the price of anywhere else. They deserve to go under imo as they have been over charging for far too long.

I haven't been in one for ages- are they still trying to push chocolate at the tills? I hate it when shops do that, it's shit for the employees who get in trouble if they don't ask every single time.

i dont get why they dont shut the non money making shops and just concentrate on the stations/airports

There's one under our office that sells biscuits, painkillers etc. Pack of neurofen £3.99, chocolate digestives £2.50 etc. A small packet of those Ritz Thins was 89p!

liberatethebuns yep, still pushing the chocolate/bottles of water at the till. I always feel bad for the staff because I know how awful it is when you're forced to push add ons, I work in a store that does similar, but even the chocolate is not cheap!

I agree about the airport/train station stores though, the only time I find myself going in there is when I'm travelling and need to grab a drink/snack but lately I've been trying to go to Boots stores at airports instead because it's cheaper, better range and I can use my points card. So even then they've got competition.

I used to buy a lot of art supplies there but have found lately I can get the same/better quality stuff cheaper elsewhere and only go in there as a last resort now.