Can retailers over label products wih higher prices?

Valli

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

They have to abide by the price displayed to the consumer

no they don't

browneyedbazzi

halibut2209 wrote: »

See the OP! If I wanted to buy a packet of fags pre-labelled at £5.63 and was told it was £6.03, I'd want to complain to someone!

Vote with your feet - go buy them from somewhere else.

Or better yet, don't smoke, it's terrible for you.

In the case of cigarettes, prices tend to go up due to duty/tax increases rather than just inflationary pressure. Manufacturers/suppliers often give retailers permission to sell for a different price to the one pre-printed on the packets in that circumstance.

Valli

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

There are complicated rules about 'invitation to treat' but if retailers aren't careful about prices on display matching what things ring through the tills at they can get themselves into trouble.

In short, if when you bring something to the till they notice it has been incorrectly price labelled, they can refuse to sell it at the marked price. They should inform you of the this and tell you the correct price then you can make a decision whether to buy it or not at the correct price. If they simply ring something through the till at a different price to that on display then it's not ok!

Not that complicated...

price marked on item

customer selects item

customer takes item to till and (AT THIS POINT THE LAW COMES INTO PLAY)
offers to pay the marked price

the retailer can EITHER accept the customer's offer to pay the marked price OR say (for example) 'there has been a mistake and I'm not prepared to sell this item at that price'

It's not a complicated rule - it's the law

A retailer doesn't get into trouble unless he/she has deliberately set out to mislead. For example, stating that there has been a reduction when there hasn't.

halibut2209

Actually, the whole tax thing is exactly the reason I brought up the issue of cigarettes. The retailer pays the tax when they buy from the wholesaler. So if there's a tax increase of, say 50p, then the retailer gets that 50p, not the government.

You seem knowledgeable in this area. May I ask how? (And I mean that in a nice way!)

browneyedbazzi

halibut2209 wrote: »

Actually, the whole tax thing is exactly the reason I brought up the issue of cigarettes. The retailer pays the tax when they buy from the wholesaler. So if there's a tax increase of, say 50p, then the retailer gets that 50p, not the government.

You seem knowledgeable in this area. May I ask how? (And I mean that in a nice way!)

The retailer adds 50p to the pack on the shelf so that the income from that pack pays for its replacement - there's very little profit in a pack of cigarettes for the retailer (they sell the stuff because it gets people through the door and often leads to sales of other products that have a much higher margin).

I do tobacco control work, hence knowing a bit about how they operate.

halibut2209

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

The retailer adds 50p to the pack on the shelf so that the income from that pack pays for its replacement

That's where I disagree.

As a retailer, you buy something, pay your tax, then sell at the accepted profit margin.

When a tax increase occurs, you've already paid the tax, so you sell at the "accepted profit margin" price. Then when you buy your next load, you buy at the higher price, then sell at the higher price.

The whole point of being a retailer is that YOU pay up front and then get the profit back at a later date. That's what business is.

browneyedbazzi

halibut2209 wrote: »

The whole point of being a retailer is that YOU pay up front and then get the profit back at a later date. That's what business is.

I think a lot of retailers would say the point of being a retailer is to make a living. The way they run their business on a day to day basis is up to them provided they do so in a legal way - if you don't like the way a particular retailer operates then you don't have to give them your money...vote with your feet.

halibut2209

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

provided they do so in a legal way

Which is what this thread is about

I'm pretty much up on consumer law, but this whole issue on pre-printed prices is one that I have not seen any proof of either way, and it's come up here several times before.

mjm3346

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

That's about the sum of it - the issue about not selling multi pack items individually would come down to the contract between the supplier and the retailer. It's a civil dispute between the two, there's nothing illegal about selling the items separately...

Nothing illegal providing the individual items are marked with the legally required labels (Best before etc) and it is not just on the multipack outer.

Standard guidance to "small shops"

If you split multi-packs check that each
separate pack has the necessary

information on it

molerat

Overpricing is not in itself illegal but is very poor / lazy practice which could fall foul of the Price Marking Order 2004 which states that prices must be "unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible"