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?!

x post with @adaline

It's an independent shop - not a community or co-operative initiative.

I have a co-op card. It is valid at all co-ops. Is your locals only co-op card different?

As for doing a big shop at Tescos before you come - off course you can do that - I've done it myself if I'm going to a very remote area where it's difficult to buy food but, when you run out of bread/milk/beer half-way through the week, do you really want to make a 40 mile round trip on busy, unfamiliar roads to the nearest big supermarket?

Most people would just pop to the village shop, be grateful that it's there and be happy to support a small business that's providing a community service as well as convenience for them.

Yes - our co-op is independent. Even if a shop isn't a co-op or community run they can still be important to local people.

It's an independent shop

Even more of a reason to offer locals discount. They don't have the support of a large head office or other shops to help them - they're on their own. They need the support of the locals more than most.

The younger staff member asked the older staff member what to charge the other customer in the shop, and the reply was 'local prices'.

I think it def not on. A lot of places need to tourists to survive. Think of cornwall it has a high unemployment rate, with out the tourism their isn't much else.

Do you complain about NHS staff getting discounts? Or students? Or members of various other organisations that offer discounts in certain shops? Or is it just local discounting that bothers you

I think it's being charged more....

If that makes sense - psychologically I think it's easier to accept if someone else gets a discount on something compared to if you are being charged extra for it.

e.g. Normal Price £1. Locals get a 10% discount
Compared to Normal Price 90p. Tourists Price £1

I am sure there's some studies that have been done on that kind of thinking.

Worst case of local favouritism was in a Pembrokeshire pub where the locals were served their meal before us, even though we ordered a good 10 mins before them and their food looked far more generous portions than ours.
Not been back since.

We looked pretty similar, sounded pretty similar and were buying pretty much the same things. It wasn't as if I was standing there in a uniform of Seasalt, White Stuff, Boden and Joules, braying loudly in a strong Home Counties accent, clicking my fingers and demanding 'a case of your finest champagne, my good woman', whilst whopping my wad on the counter.

yep, I think it is a ripoff if I'm a minority subsidising the local majority

No, I don't have to suck it up:

I don't have to holiday in such parochial areas at all, or I can do all my shopping in advance

If the local favouritism is in a pub, cafe or restaurant,
then of course trip advisor can help warn off other tourist victims

Customers don't just have to suck it up; they can take their custom elsewhere
Tinternet is a wonderful tool for warning about rip-off places

But you're not being ripped off because nobody is making you spend your money there.

You can chose to pay a higher price, or you can go to Tesco or order online - nobody is stopping you

You haven't answered the other points - would you be pissed off if you were the local benefitting from the discount?

If it's not okay for locals to get discounted prices, presumably you disagree with things like student discount, family railcards, NHS discount etc? If not - why are those discounts acceptable but a local one isn't?

@chomalungma but the tourists aren't being charged more.

The standard price is X. If you are a local/regular you get the benefit of being charged X minus Y. Same as if you had a student card or an NHS card or similar.

Tourists aren't charged the regular price plus an increase. They're being charged the standard price. If the business wants to give discounts to their regular customers then that's their choice.

Where we live we get a local discount for attractions, about 50% less for one major attraction and several local free days for others.
In India there were clear listed differences between local and tourist.
It isn't that abnormal.

Tourists aren't charged the regular price plus an increase. They're being charged the standard price. If the business wants to give discounts to their regular customers then that's their choice

Who knows what the standard price is - in a shop with no prices?

(I am taking that from when the OP said the shop assistant asked what price to charge)

I've heard of it elsewhere. My friend (visiting a friend in S Africa) was told there was a ; local rate, Africa rate and tourist rate!

Shops have to have prices available somewhere - on request if not displayed.

Presumably the assistant was unsure whether the person in question qualified for the local discount or not?

We live in a rural area with more than our own share of tourists at times, as well as too many second homes, wealthy retirees and commuters, seasonal jobs, and the need to keep shops and services going year round - I do understand the issues. The difference is we all - locals and visitors - pay a few extra pence on items in our local shops.

Where I live, there are a few cafes that offer a discount to locals or people who work in the town. They are often the people who keep the cage going for the 9 months of the year tourists aren't really around, and the cafes probably acknowledges that a lot of locals don't earn the best wages, whereas most people who holiday here are pretty well off.

I don't know of any shops that do it, but I think it's fine if they have a discount scheme for regulars or locals.

Jobs in tourism are often low paid and temporary. Most people would rather have some proper investment in the region and yeah do have a bit of a resentment of tourists - especially those with a high handed attitude. There's also the resentment of high rents and house prices caused by various factors but including second home owners and holiday lets. Many people who grew up in this town and maybe still work here can't afford to live here anymore. And that is bad for communities.

Would we be better off without tourists? In my opinion, probably not - all jobs in industry would still be gone. Would it be better if the county didn't rely on tourism? Yes.

I live in a tourist city. There are various ways that locals are treated better than tourists including by the local council - you can get significantly cheaper parking with a parking pass that you can only get if your vehicle is registered in the city. You can also get into things like swimming pools much cheaper with a local library card.

We have “resident weekends” where locals can go to a lot of the tourist attractions for free.

If I am going out for dinner then I will always wear my work pass as it makes it clear that I am a local. Sometimes it makes no difference but sometimes you do get a nicer table / better service / squeezed in when they are full. It makes sense for the restaurants - they will survive or not (and many don’t survive the winter) depending on whether they can get people to eat in the restaurant on a Tuesday evening in early February. And tourists are long gone in early February. Where as I still go out for dinner in February.

It’s always a strange relationship between locals and tourists in a tourist place. On one hand you are very aware that part of the prosperity of your home is because of the tourists. (Although I personally do not work in an area which is even vaguely tourism related.) A lot of the facilities of the city are tourist related. But they don’t half fuck it up. And so many seem to have no comprehension whatsoever that this is a place where people live and work and try to get their kids to school.

I bloody wish our city would introduce a 'hen and stag' party tax.

Local deli is very tourist facing during the summer and Christmas season. They carry some different lines which are generally for the tourists, they don’t really stock them in low season.

They charge locals and tourists the same price for everything. But at the end of the season, when they are clearing out the tourist lines, they do sometimes throw them in as freebies to regular local customers as a bit of a bonus.Do you fancy this? Oh you can just have it!” kind of thing.

Visitors aren't being charged more. Regulars are getting a discount - just as lots of people get discounts at shops/pubs if they have a loyalty card. That doesn't make a place a rip-off.

The barber DS uses offers their 10th haircut for free, one of our local cafes offers the 10th drink for free - it's rewarding customer loyalty and makes good business sense when there are other barbers/cafes in the same street. Do you honestly think that's a "rip off"?