Is it just me or is charging 50p for a paper bag at M&S food outrageous?

[sequin2000]

I know I should have brought a bag and I usually do. If the option was a plastic bag I would have struggled with the shopping in my arms to the car, but I thought as it was paper it wasn't so bad. What I didn't expect was to be charged 50p. M&S say the bag can be used 100 times. Is there anyone out there who has reused an M&S paper bag? AIBU in thinking most people don't realise they cost 50p, that the assistants should make this clear and that M&S are profiting from this government policy?

I reuse my Sainsbury's bags many times. I can't see a problem with them.. I rarely buy a new one as I take bags with me so I couldn't even guess how often I've reused them.

Heaven forbid it won't all fit in one bag. What happens then, do you buy another bag or leave some of your shopping and make another journey to get the rest of it.

We always bring our own bags.Also a med size plastic bag fits in my handbag ,for when out with DD or on my own .You should not need to buy one unless only rarely.Paper or plastic is still not great for the planet .

Choices are remember enough bags, buy bags or manage without bags. If the bags are too expensive, don't buy them. Same principle as for anything that may be going inside the bag.

You failed to bring adequate resources to complete the tasks you were doing and so needed the shop to help you out by supplying the resources. It’s more than reasonable to expect to pay for that, ergo YABU.

Indeed, a well-known retail pricing concept are 'KVIs', or 'known-value items'. Retailers know that some product prices are always known by shoppers, e.g. pint of milk, etc., but others are not, e.g. shoe laces.

This allows cross-subsidy of price-sensitive items, like milk, bread, etc. But there is also a line that can be crossed, as this thread illustrates. A mark-up of 4-5 times is simply profiteering, in my opinion.

80 years ago plastic bags didn’t even exist - it was the norm to bring your own basket or woven bag to put YOUR shopping into. As someone else said the bag tax isn’t new and if shops sold plastic bags for 5p everyone would continue to buy them willy-nilly and we would continue to destroy the planet for future generations. Get yourself a bag, keep it in your car or handbag. Be an adult about it or pay 50p and take your punishment on the chin.

Hardly. I just don’t want umpteen bags in my house.

It's not profiteering because a shopping bag isn't a scarce or perishable resource. It isn't like milk, where it is needs to be replaced regularly and most of us can't have a dairy cow of our own. One simply needs to bring their own bag, or use their hands (or indeed pay the small fee for a bag). Don't like the price, don't buy. Simple.

I just took them the first few times, as I didn’t realise there was a charge! Paying for paper bags is regular occurrence here (Republic of Ireland) now. I bring my own canvas bag.

Not sure the OP said this was the most pressing thing in their life😅 There are threads about everything. I mean - wait for it - the SAME PERSON can have two simultaneous threads running about wildly different topics. One about the breakdown of their marriage. And another one about the terrible quality of children’s shoes these days. I know … mad innit?

Here in Scotland we have always had to pay for paper bags since the bag charge began.

This^
also however reusable are paper bags they are not so durable as plastic ones. Paper bags are ok to move shopping into a car boot but if you need to walk with them around town, visit cafe or toilet, put them on the floor here and there, they can easily get wet or torn.

Or maybe we just are trying to do our bit for the planet, imagine that.

Paper costs more to produce than plastic.

Although paper is recyclable it's still not the solution. We should be trying to reduce waste and most things don't actually get recycled.

Although I'm sure M&S are just doing it to make money rather than caring for the environment.

I use my M&S paper bags at home to hold my recycling bits and pieces in the kitchen until I’m ready to decant everything into the wheelie recycling bin. They last for ages and I’m happy to pay 50p for it.

i always thought the charge was to discourage you from buying one. But if you do forget to bring your reusable bag with you at least it’s a paper bag.

Just because something's recyclable doesn't mean it doesn't take any resources to make and recycle it. The bag charge is designed to discourage people from using single-use bags, no matter what they're made of.

Yeah and to be honest I don’t disagree with this as a concept but it used to go to charity. What happened to that?

Do Primark still do free paper bags?

No.

The point of the thread has been lost on many here and 'just take a bag' is great advice so thanks for that I am human and had forgotten a bag, I don't carry a handbag. I'm 100% in favour of the deterrent and saving the planet. The thread was about the shops who are sneakily making large profits and don't tell shoppers the price. I'd have absolutely no issue if i'd been told the price and/or the money was donated to an environmental charity. And no, it isn't the biggest issue in my life, but I thought Mumsnet was about discussing issues big and small. I stand corrected.

Yes but you don’t pay for the privilege of reusing a bag, you pay as a deterrent from using single use plastics.

If a bag is paper and recyclable it ought to be free and also reused - they’re not mutually exclusive!

You pay as a deterrent from taking a new bag (of whatever material) which is therefore an incentive to bring your own.
If paper bags were free people would be less inclined to remember to bring their own and you can bet most would be immediately put in the recycling (or worse, the rubbish bin) and only a small portion would be reused. They’re also less hardy and less reusable than plastic bags for life.
Again, REDUCE should be the first choice.

Is there anyone out there who has reused an M&S paper bag?

Yes, the M&S paperbag lasts ages, to be fair. Though I haven't taken them out in torrential downpours.

I only ever bought them once, I usually have my bags with me and usually shop at Tesco and always have bags in my car.