Customers using supermarkets as wholesalers.

DullGreyGuy

eskbanker said:

la531983 said:

Bob2000 said:

TheSpectator said:

What law do you think is being broken here?

If they weren't allowed to then do you think the supermarkets would let them?

I dont know what law is being broken. That's why l asked the question.
Thanks.

Even if there was a law stopping shopkeepers using supermarkets, how would you imagine this would be enforced?

"Who are you buying these 20 bottles of Coke for"?
"Oh, they are for me".

Nobody can disprove it.

I'd have thought that the major supermarkets would have the capability within their systems to cap volumes of specific items allowed on an individual transaction - I've certainly seen this on a number of occasions over the last few years during supply shortages.  Such limits obviously aren't foolproof though, but if they felt the need to impose them, I believe they could - clearly there's a difference between items routinely sold as multipacks (such as bottles of Coke) and shelves of whole chickens....

But the OP wasnt talking about a store deciding to cap purchases but a law stating that personal customers can buy as much as they want but business customers can buy a maximum of 2 of any one item in a non-wholesaler (or none at all and they must buy wholesale)

The quoted post was questioning how it would be practically policed... how would the cashier know that the 3 sets of 6 packs of coke are for residential or commercial use?

Bob2000 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

There's nothing unlawful about this, best bet is to write to the head office of the supermarket, they may impose limits if it's identified as an issue (they don't really want one person to buy all the good deals, they want you to go in for £5 chicken and leave with £50 worth of food). 

Supermarkets are massive and their scale makes them cheap, food wholesalers also tend to sell better quality food that obviously has a cost so it's not surprising. 

I'm sure I remember as a kid being taken shopping in Netto and there being signs up limiting x per customer but it's not something you see nowadays, at least not in our sleepy corner of Wales.  

Thank you for the reply.
It's just a moral  issue then taking everything and sod the next person.

I'm not sure it's even a moral issue... if there are only 2 tins left how many can the next customer take? 1 so that there's one left for the next person? Can anyone take the last tin because they'll be depriving anyone else after them of the opportunity? Should the richer person buy the more expensive brand to leave the cheaper ones for the poor? Who's considering the person who has an allergy and these are the only ones they can eat?

When there were wide spread supply issues during covid matters did feel a little different and whilst we normally do a big shop with a car periodically (and will buy 20 bottles of coke) and then do weekly shops using public transport we did stop the big shops, yet ironically used a car more. 


Retailers are free to put whatever restrictions they want in place. Some do limit special offer items to a maximum number per customer irrespective of who the customer is. Sometimes supermarkets are cheaper than wholesalers (though Tesco now owns Booker and Makro so it's a decision) and so some will buy from the lowest price. 

Manufaturers try and stop shops too, the multipack cans of coke having a label saying not to be sold individually but there is no law stopping it. Wholesales also have different products though, like calibrated portions so every chicken breast in a pack is the same size so customers can't complain in the restaurant that their portion was too small etc - though for chopped products calibrated isn't required (and its more expensive)

CliveOfIndia

eskbanker said:

la531983 said:

Bob2000 said:

TheSpectator said:

What law do you think is being broken here?

If they weren't allowed to then do you think the supermarkets would let them?

I dont know what law is being broken. That's why l asked the question.
Thanks.

Even if there was a law stopping shopkeepers using supermarkets, how would you imagine this would be enforced?

"Who are you buying these 20 bottles of Coke for"?
"Oh, they are for me".

Nobody can disprove it.

I'd have thought that the major supermarkets would have the capability within their systems to cap volumes of specific items allowed on an individual transaction.

They do.  A common one being Paracetamol, whereby you're not allowed to buy more than two packets (32 tablets, I think?) at once.  OK, that's slightly different as it's a legal requirement, but the technology is there.

But aside from any legal restrictions, it's purely down to the shop's own policies.  I know during Covid a lot of places limited the number of packets of toilet rolls you could buy ( what was that all about ???? ).  And as you say, they'll occasionally put a limit on certain items if there's a supply shortage.  But there's no legal reason why you can't buy as much of anything as you want.

Several years ago I worked for Lidl, when we got a delivery we'd put about a dozen boxes (each containing about 20 bags) of frozen chips in the freezer in the storeroom for a specific customer who bought them every couple of days.  Apparently he owned a takeaway, and the Lidl frozen chips were cheaper than what he could buy them for at the wholesaler.  I found that somewhat hard to believe, but there you go.

Undervalued

TheSpectator said:

What law do you think is being broken here?

If they weren't allowed to then do you think the supermarkets would let them?

There in no law being broken but at one point some supermarkets did put some restrictions on this so as not to upset their "normal" customers.

At one point one of the big supermarkets had a notice, not very prominent, in each shop saying that they reserved the right not to sell more that six of any one food item and not more than two of any one non food item to an individual customer.

Also some would refuse home delivery to business premises.

Smith2001uk

I've also seen a sign up in my local LIDL (max 5 items) but in practice people with trolleys full of all the spinach on the shelf and salad bags etc are never challenged. 

Grumpy_chap

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Supermarkets are massive and their scale makes them cheap, food wholesalers also tend to sell better quality food that obviously has a cost so it's not surprising. 

Quality does not always come into it.
I know the former Publican for our nearby Free House and he buys spirits from the superstore because they are lower cost than purchase through the trade channels to which an individual Publican has access.  Branded spirits are branded spirits regardless of the supply chain.

powerful_Rogue

There was a post on faceache doing the rounds recently where a professional baker was complaining that Tesco had increased the price of Mollys chocolate. Said when she buys 200 bars a week the cost to her buisness is greatly increased.

Tucosalamanca

CliveOfIndia said:

Apparently he owned a takeaway, and the Lidl frozen chips were cheaper than what he could buy them for at the wholesaler.  I found that somewhat hard to believe, but there you go.

Infinitely cheaper than the wholesaler.

In my retail days I could buy individual cases cheaper from Tesco than I could negotiate an HGV load (22 pallets) from the wholesaler, even when bringing brand reps into the discussion and rolling in all discounts.

It's still the same now, as an example...
Coca Cola and Pepsi are currently £7 per case in Tesco (sometimes as low as £6)
Wholesalers are charging more than that ex-vat, which makes Tesco at least 20% cheaper.

subjecttocontract

I'm sure when I've done my shopping at Tesco online occasionally I get a message telling me I can't increase my order for particular items. Sometimes e.g. they limit me to x8 tins of soup say. So, they already have a system that does exactly what you are asking. Perhaps you should change and shop in Tesco. Us shareholders are always happy to welcome new customers.

la531983

subjecttocontract said:

I'm sure when I've done my shopping at Tesco online occasionally I get a message telling me I can't increase my order for particular items. Sometimes e.g. they limit me to x8 tins of soup say. So, they already have a system that does exactly what you are asking. Perhaps you should change and shop in Tesco. Us shareholders are always happy to welcome new customers.

Thats for an online order. I suspect there is nothing stopping bulkier buying in store. If there is a cap there is usually a sign up saying as much

Even if there was a system in store, there is nothing stopping someone buying up to the limit, walking out, chucking the stuff in the car and then coming back in again.

molerat

Tucosalamanca said:

It's still the same now, as an example...
Coca Cola and Pepsi are currently £7 per case in Tesco (sometimes as low as £6)
Wholesalers are charging more than that ex-vat, which makes Tesco at least 20% cheaper.

And who is one of the biggest wholesalers in the UK ? Yep, Tesco.

My local Chinese gets their chicken & pork from the supermarket, a cafe gets it's jam from Lidl and a restaurant owner regularly seen in Lidl with a trolley load of veg.