To think that shops charging non-locals higher prices is not on?

[BBInGinDrinking]

We're on a family holiday staying in a rural coastal cottage in the UK and have been doing all our grocery shopping at the local stores in the nearest villages. I discovered on the last visit to a general store in one village that they have two sets of prices - lower ones for locals and higher ones for visitors.

Who knew?! Is this a thing?!

Prices have to be displayed somewhere but there's nothing wrong with them selling things for a different price than is listed.

Just as when things are labelled incorrectly - the shop doesn't have to honour the incorrect price. They can, and often do, just as a goodwill gesture but they absolutely can choose not to!

It isn't legal. Prices need to be on clear display for every product or they could be fined by Trading Standards. Shopkeepers can't make up prices as they go along

They can if they want, actually. Whether or not it's appropriate as a business practice is another matter. I certainly would avoid a shop that didn't display prices. But I know a few folk who would only shop in such places, if they could based on the old chestnut "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it ...."

If you do display a price, then it needs to be clear and not subject to any tomfoolery - and that is where Trading Standards (what's left of them) step in.

I know quite a few people with mobility issues, and it's quite standard for companies to avoid any mention of pricing whatsoever wherever they can in order to force an "enquiry" and engineer a sale.

Since tourism was mentioned, a lot of tat antique shops in seaside towns tend to price by accent, rather than appearance. Loads of little tags on items saying £neg, or £poa ...

If the price states £1.50 for a loaf of bread, which is what the op pays but the locals pay £1.30 then that’s fine.
But if the price says £1.30 but the op pays £1.50 that’s not on.
It all really depends on the advertised price which the op didn’t seem to notice.

As for petrol, it’s always been different prices across the country.

Chain shop prices are also different, hence the higher prices at chain shops in motorway service stations and railway stations and airports, such as WHS, Boots, Greggs, Burger King, etc.

It's a tourism tax to fund things like car parks and amenities. A similar (though collecting through a different method) is being consulted on for the Isle of Skye:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-40774850
www.whfp.com/2019/01/04/tourist-tax-for-the-scottish-highlands-skye-business-owners-offer-contrasting-views/

As long as the higher price is on display, it is legal. It's a form of local discount, in the same way that I get discount for a national retail shop because my husband is an employee.

Exactly @PancakeAndKeith

As long as OP isn't charged more than the advertised price, the retailer isn't doing anything wrong.

What they can't do is advertise something for £5 and charge tourists £6.

They can advertise for £6 and charge locals £5.

Pricing isn't allowed to be misleading in any way, though, which it is if it's not even displayed.

The key is clarity. Where I live, we have a card that gives discounts to attractions, parking and some local businesses BUT this is clearly displayed and presented ss a discount, not a price differential.

I know supermarkets in London can be slightly higher but, again, the prices are displayed. I have been in certain independent shops, though, where they only tell you at the till. I won't go in those

All here:www.gov.uk/product-labelling-the-law

Read the part about special rules for retailers

www.gov.uk/product-labelling-the-law

The landlord of our local was doing this 40 years ago.
He had a different tariff rate when the coaches pulled on to the car park!

You already posted that point @9ofpentangles, as I said the point is that you can't charge more than the displayed price, not that you can't offer an extra discount.

I know but, in this shop, no prices were displayed- even on the receipt, which some are getting muddled about

Retailers do have to display prices

The OP didn't notice any prices - that doesn't mean to say there wasn't a price list or other shelf markings etc.

As for a receipt, there's no law requiring an itemised receipt to be provided.

This whole thread is based on some very vague shopping experience where nothing is certain at all.

Try going to Thailand.
They openly advertise this fact.
Mostly 2 or even 3 the cost for tourists.

Here's what she said:

Thinking about it afterwards, I realised that many or even most items aren't priced individually and aren't priced on the shelf or on a sign. I had also never been given an itemised receipt, so buying quite a few items each time I only ever knew the total rather than what anything actually cost

I would deduce from that that what they were doing was underhand - and illegal

We don't know that, OP said Thinking about it afterwards, I realised that many or even most items aren't priced individually and aren't priced on the shelf or on a sign.
So she's indicated there were at least some prices and she's speculating in hindsight that there weren't prices, she hasn't actually looked to check. Prices could be in a list by the till.

Also aren't priced individually is a rather random phrase that I took to mean "3 for £10" for example, which is still a price.

They could be but I know of no retailer, local or otherwise, where this is normal practice - apart from the ones in London I mentioned, who only told you a can of coke was £3 when you reached the till

I live in a very touristy area of Cornwall, and I wouldn’t have a problem with this if our local independent shop wanted to do it.

We are a young couple priced out of our family hometown (ownership, we will likely always have to rent and move every few years), and, as a previous poster put it, we have to put up with the effects of tourism and second home ownership, but without directly benefiting from it in any way. I’ll take whatever perk comes to us! Remember, Cornwall is the most deprived county in the UK. When you are a tourist here, you likely won’t see the hideous poverty in our old mining towns away from the coast.

And thank heavens the tourists are starting to head home again now! The roads have been horribly clogged for the last two months, it’s been a nightmare trying to get anywhere. And you can’t even walk and enjoy the local beauty spots because they’re so crowded and noisy.

I daresay it is a nightmare- as is London- but the Sainsbury's Locals still charge the tourists the same as the Londoners...

To clarify: I'm certain that most items were not visibly priced either with a sticker, on the shelf or with a sign by the till or anywhere else visible to customers. Some items had a price already printed on the label by the manufacturer, but without an itemised receipt I don't know if I paid that price or indeed any of the visible prices.

Never thought about it

Years ago, we camped in N Wales. One grocery shop for miles. We were short of cash, 2 dc, and it was just blatant overcharging. We never went camping in Wales again

They used to do it in North wales all the time. As soon as all the Holiday makers started coming they would charge them differently to us locals.

They also used to talk in Welsh when they knew non Welsh speakers were in the shop.

They used to justify it as they were visiting a holiday destination, they should pay a premium, nonsense really. I wasn't aware it still went on though.