Supermarket excessive mark-ups

optique

Sometimes I find that certain items are heavily overpriced, even in supposed cheap supermarkets. Could I modestly suggest a hunt to name and shame these items? We simply need to show that a comparable product is available elsewhere in the UK for much cheaper (and vouch for same or better quality). This should genuinely embarrass supermarkets, especially Tesco and Asda which don't like being caught with their pants down.

There could be three categories: where supermarkets overcharge by at least 25%, at least 50% or by at least 100%.

To start things off:

* peppermint teabags, box of 40 in Tesco: £1.60. Box of 25 in Aldi or Lidl: 49p. 100% overcharging by Tesco in this case.

* extra virgin olive oil, 750ml, £2.24 in Tesco. Same in Aldi or Lidl: £1.79. 25% markup here.

* mixed peppers, 500g for 99p in Tesco. Same in local greengrocer: £1.30 kg loose. 50% markup here.

Errr... [struggles to find others as the supermarkets are actually quite competitive ???]

PS As a newbie, please tell me if this belongs elsewhere / not on this site at all!

Pink.

Hi optique,

Welcome to the boards.

Not really sure if this should be posted here or not, but I'm going to have a think and see if I can come up with anything.

Pink

condyk

You're assuming everything has a 'correct price'. It all depends on mark up rather than final price ... and probably your whole shop total rather than just isolated products. If shop A employs few staff, has long lines of people waiting, pays staff badly, offers terrible working conditions, no car parking, and is located in an out of the way industrial estate but charges half price of shop B for olive oil, does that mean the other place is overcharging? Of course not!! If the first place has a margin of 50% on it's products and shop B only 15%, which place is overcharging? You have to compare like with like ... and product with product ... and consider the big picture: things like car parking, time taken to be served, hassle of shopping arounsd, etc. Different supermarkets generally appeal to different people and offer different things. If you don't want to pay X amount for something, go somewhere else!

freeak

You're assuming everything has a 'correct price'. It all depends on mark up rather than final price ... and probably your whole shop total rather than just isolated products. If shop A employs few staff, has long lines of people waiting, pays staff badly, offers terrible working conditions, no car parking, and is located in an out of the way industrial estate but charges half price of shop B for olive oil, does that mean the other place is overcharging? Of course not!! If the first place has a margin of 50% on it's products and shop B only 15%, which place is overcharging? You have to compare like with like ... and product with product ... and consider the big picture: things like car parking, time taken to be served, hassle of shopping arounsd, etc. Different supermarkets generally appeal to different people and offer different things. If you don't want to pay X amount for something, go somewhere else!

My LIDL (maidstone) is in the centre of town, has lots of parking that is free, sainsburys in town is not. I don't know about LIDL rate of pay but ALDI pays better than mainstream supermarkets. The queues are fine as they move quickly.

Lucie_2

It all comes down to the age-old law of supply & demand! If people want something, they will buy it, so the supermarkets charge accordingly.
Yes, it is cheaper to buy your veg from the greengrocer, bread from the baker, meat from the butcher etc, but most people prefer the convenience of going to one place to do their shopping, rather than traipsing all over town. Supermarkets rely on our laziness these days.

condyk

My LIDL (maidstone) is in the centre of town, has lots of parking that is free, sainsburys in town is not. I don't know about LIDL rate of pay but ALDI pays better than mainstream supermarkets. The queues are fine as they move quickly.

The Lidl near me is the same ... I didn't mean anything about Lidl. That wasn't my point at all. The only reasons I rarely shop there includes that they don't have the choice I want, esp. in terms of organics, they don't do home delivery and they don't have small baskets at the door: you either have to have trolley or find an empty box! Price isn't a huge issue for me. Convenience and choice are more important. Lidl is cool if that's what some people want.

My point is that doing a comparision and saying shop A is a rip off and shop b isn't, without considering the bigger picture, is pointless.

sarahmoo

Just to comment on optique's post....I quite agree that sometimes supermarkets can overcharge....but there are so many different qualities of say olive oil that it is impossible to compare on price alone.
Yes peppermint tea is cheaper in Aldi but often its out of stock whereas Asda do their own brand quite cheaply always in stock, and often with a buy two for £1.50 offer...

Still an interesting post tho x

johnllew

One advantage of Tesco (and to a lesser extent, Asda), is that they will happily redeem coupons even if you don't buy the goods. We regularly save 1/3 of our grocery bills with coupons. They also take credit cards.

wolvesinwales

Packet of plasters , 29p in Wilkos, £1.79 in Spar

Choccyholic

HIPP have repackaged their Follow-On Infant Milk. The product seems to be the same and Tescos sold the old packets for £5.58, along with Boots, Sainsburys, Waitrose etc. Babies R Us was £6.58.
With these newly printed boxes Tescos have upped thier price to £6.69! (if I remember right). I've seen this price in two stores. First time I saw the price hike I asked customer services to see about reducing the price again, even showed them a Sainsburys reciept with it on from the week before. Nothing happened, and that was 2 weeks ago. What happened to their price promises they advertise? ??? PANTS >:( >:( >:( >:(
I've since found it for the 'normal' price in Waitrose and Sainsburys and have been stocking up.

George_Bray

Having a nearby branch of Lidl must be my no. 1 money saving measure.

I rate 90% of their products extremely highly - low price and high quality, whether for foods, beer or their twice-weekly clothing and hardware specials.

If Lidl closed, my cost of living would increase markedly.