Asda charging for carrier bags?

Middy

dibuzz wrote: »

I don't mind using my own bags, I've got quite a few of the hessian ones as they are useful for other things too.
My problem is actually remembering to take the blinking things with me. Even if I remember to put them back in the car I leave them in the boot when I go into the shop or take my son's car instead.
Years ago Kwik Save used to put all their boxes out for customers to use instead of bags but supermarkets don't seem to do that now.

Some Sainsburys have a roller of wine boxes at the checkouts. Nice, compact and strong. I used plenty for moving house countless times in the past 9 years.

geordie_joe

staffie1 wrote: »

Yes but can't you see that what's driving this is the environmental arguments against producing, distributing and disposing of billions of carrier bags each year?

I can't see how using my own reusable bags is paying for bags I'm not using. I have 4 bags for life, which cost me 50p each 2 years ago which I use every time I go to the supermarket.
How are the supermarkets ripping me off?

Because they have assumed that when you come in you will use their free bags, and added the cost of them onto the things you buy.

To put it simply, with made up figure for illustration purposes only.

The supermarket decide that an item should sell for £1.49, but they assume every customer will use a free carrier bag to take it home. A free carrier bag cost them 3p, so they put the price of the item up to £1.52.

If you buy the item, and use a bag the supermarket is making no profit from the 3p it added on for the carrier bag.

But if you take your own bag, you will still pay £1.52 for the item but not use a free bag. So the supermarket has charged you 3p for a bag you didn't use, therefore they have made an extra 3p profit from you.

All because they charged you for a bag you didn't use, and didn't give you a choice about paying for it.

I would call that a rip off.

geordie_joe

Middy wrote: »

I work for a supermarket. I see customers use free carrier bags for just:
. a single pack of Wrigleys Extra chewing gum
. a lemon

Also I have seen customer using them for:
. Packs of 9 loo rolls
. Large packs of nappies

The two things above have a handle on the packaging and are designed not to be put into a carrier bag!

They do it because they want the carrier bag, not to carry their chewing gum home, but to use it for something else when they get home. Maybe picking up doggy do in the park, or carrying their lunch to work.

But the fact is, the cost is added to the price of the goods they buy, so they have paid for it.

EssexGirl

geordie_joe wrote: »

The thing you have to remember is most free supermarket carrier bags don't just get used to carry shopping home. They then get used again, and often again and again.

people use them for picking up dog muck when they walk the dog, to give to their kids to put their we baths kit in, or dirty PE kit. They use them for pedal bin liners, and every time they need a cheap plastic bag.

So if they didn't get the free ones from the supermarket they would have to buy a roll of pedal bin liners. Which would do the same job, but they don't really want to take their lunch to work in a bin liner, or carry granny's birthday present to her in one.

That was exactly what I've always thought. Bet they won't ever remove the "hidden" charge for the bags when they no longer supply them though.
I have a load of reusable bags in the car and I do remember them most of the time, but when I do forget and use the supermarket not so free bags I use them for rubbish, cleaning the guinea pigs out, as liners for the wastepaper bins around the house. All saves me using bags that were specifically made for the purpose.

custardy

staffie1 wrote: »

Yes but can't you see that what's driving this is the environmental arguments against producing, distributing and disposing of billions of carrier bags each year?

I can't see how using my own reusable bags is paying for bags I'm not using. I have 4 bags for life, which cost me 50p each 2 years ago which I use every time I go to the supermarket.
How are the supermarkets ripping me off?

surely the enviromental argument would have brought in paper bags years ago then?
if you are using a car then you dont really need a bag with strong handles
you are still paying for the carrier bags you dont use

antrobus

Here is an old thread dating back to 2008 which says much the same thing.

ASDA Carrier Bags - No more freebies
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/915719

tom717

geordie_joe wrote: »

Because they have assumed that when you come in you will use their free bags, and added the cost of them onto the things you buy.

To put it simply, with made up figure for illustration purposes only.

The supermarket decide that an item should sell for £1.49, but they assume every customer will use a free carrier bag to take it home. A free carrier bag cost them 3p, so they put the price of the item up to £1.52.

Except that more realistically the bags cost the supermarket less than a penny, and you can put many items in one bag. The way supermarkets price things is way more complicated than that, there isn't a bag charge added to each item.

tom717

custardy wrote: »

surely the enviromental argument would have brought in paper bags years ago then?

Paper bags are not necessarily more environmentally friendly.

punkpink

tom717 wrote: »

Paper bags are not necessarily more environmentally friendly.

But paper is a lot easier and more enviromentally friendly to recycle than plastic!

lightisfading

Simple solution to not wanting supermarkets to rip us off and make massive profits off us - stop shopping there and support independent retailers instead.

Supermarkets' purpose in life is to make as much money as possible. Full stop.

Also, even if they are making massive profits, supermarket prices are artificially low - often pricing things below the actual cost of production. So you could vote with your feet and shop elsewhere (Tesco, til they charge for bags too), you could switch to independent retailers and help them and our farmers, or you could carry on shopping at Asda because it's convenient and cheap, and whine about a penny for a plastic bag.

I fully support charging for carriers. It makes people think twice about how many they use (I used to work in a supermarket which charged for them, and yes, people do use a lot less!), it makes many more people bring their own bags, and honestly - do you know how ridiculous it is to argue over 5 pence for bags against the £50 spent on shopping? If the can of beans you bought was a penny more you wouldn't notice it.