Money Moral Dilemma: Is it wrong to buy cheap clearance food when we could afford to pay full price?

Tharweb

grassgirl said:

I work in a supermarket - please buy the reduced items, the amount we have left at the end of the night is sad. We have charities collect but they won’t take the ‘use by’ items. 

As a previous message said, they are literally worth less, so buy what you need. 

There are also charities that take cooked food and share out - maybe once in a while you would like to do this, if you still feel any sort of guilt.

Happy cooking!

Thank you! This is how I see it. It's sad to see so much food go to waste. 

MattMattMattUK

neverthesamedaytwice said:

Debating whether it's wrong or right to buy discounted food misses the correct target entirely.

Capitalism and the desire of supermarkets to make maximum profit at all cost is the issue here.

Supermarkets make profit no matter what, simply because we need food to survive. 

Supermarket net margins are 2.5-3% on groceries, they are slightly higher on home items and clothing and they make other revenue through financial products. If they sold food at zero profit it would still only be 2.5% cheaper.

neverthesamedaytwice said:

They will always pass on the increased cost, but seem to be a lot more reticent to lower costs.

Of course they pass on increased costs, if they did not they would end up loss making.

neverthesamedaytwice said:

Notice how all discounts these days are tied to loyalty card membership?! They're run by devious ****s

It is called marketing, ignore the "discount" and look at the price paid net instead.

The reality is that food is already too cheap, in many cases farmers are losing money and going bust and the costs of industrial farming are not factored into the price, which they should be. 

toppokaplaya

Honestly, if you truly can afford to not shop in the 'cheaper Isle' then I think you should stay away. Only because I know some shoppers who only shop in the 'cheaper Isle' as its the only place they can afford to shop. Or if you are like me and you just love a bargain, do as I do and buy something long lasting and put it in the basket that's normally behind the tills or by the door. This way at least your passing something on to the less fortunate. Well done to you for being brave enough to ask the question.

mazza73monk

Nothing wrong with saving some hard earned.

Then again, I am a typical Yorkshire man.
 

'Ear all, see all, say nowt;

Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;

And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt –

Allus do it fer thissen.

Translation: "Hear all, see all, say nothing; Eat all, drink all, pay nothing; And if ever you do anything for nothing – always do it for yourself."

Floss

Mother_of_Many said:

A few weeks ago, a woman in a suit cleared out the reduced section that my children and I were patiently waiting to have a look at. She got a trolley load and we went home and had a piece of toast before bed. My 8 year said how mean she was to leave nothing. 

How do you know that this woman hadn't just been made redundant or was a single parent whose maintenance hadn't been paid? Wearing a suit does not mean someone is wealthy enough not to need to shop in the yellow sticker aisle.

littlemadam

I dont see an issue with it, its what I do

a) it saves it from getting chucked in the bin
b) if you are going to eat it or freeze it why not
c) your saving pennies

its a win win

Tiger_Tony

I've watched people filling their trollies with clearance items. For example, 12 of the same cake. I've seen the same people doing this week after week. They always position their trollies so that nobody else can get a look in. My guess is that they own small stores and will resell the items at a higher price. Not sure what they do about the "Best By" date though.

elsien

It is legal to sell items that are past their best before date  - that is what the Approved Foods website base their business model on.
It's the "use by" date where it can't be sold after that date. 

grumpylittleprincess

No, i spend a lot on non reduced items as it is. I only take what I'll use and often buy items for the food bank donation. I find a lot of yellow stickers are vegan/vegetarian which is great for me. Per the comment about the woman in a suit buying all the reduced items, you have no idea what her situation is, but she should have been mindful of those around her. 

pollyanna24

I work in a supermarket and the amount of food we throw away is obscene. 

The other day I was throwing away over 80 boxes of strawberries when someone came over wanting some.  I said, yeah, take them.  She took me at my word thinking they were free and tried walking out, but we had to call her back to pay.  I felt bad, but the shop would rather the food goes to waste than somebody get it for free.  That's what I think is bad in the whole situation.