carrier bags

[Grugz]

Had an email from Iceland (the shop,not the country) telling me they are now legally obliged(from oct 5th) to charge 5p for a carrier bag!  Now my wife used to work in retail as a manager in various roles and always understood that carrier bag prices are factored into the shop (prices etc) as fixtures and fittings so effectively you are paying for something you've already paid for...

   anyone in retail clarify this?

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

It's a government related tax / compulsary charge to force recycling of bags. Been in force in Scotland for around a year now, and in NI and Wales for longer.

One of the most effective pieces of regulation I've seen - most folks now just take bags to the supermarket with them.

[ZenArcade]

Yep you get zapped for 5p or more everytime you visit the shop. Don't mind it at all. You eventually just bring a bag to the shop. Z

[Tiplodocus]

I feel a bit cheated because I'd been taking my own bags for years. I should get a refund for the 5p before the legislation.

Some shops are sticking the 5p into charity funds.  Which is nice.

[Grugz]

 I have found that in wh smiths they don't always ask you if you want one,i just wait til they finish serving me then ask for a bag (works better since ive had to walk with sticks cos they feel sorry for the old knackered bloke with no pockets big enough to carry a meg and a mag!)
  Tips, I have a carrier bag about me person all the time if I have a coat on (an inherited granddad trait) but sometimes will forget to stick it in me pocket before I go out...(usually a forbidden planet one but still using my worlds apart one from Liverpool which is still going strong after 2 years!)

[amines2058]

Living in Wales we have been paying for bags for years now, and you do find you adjust your habits to save and keep the bags and bring them out with you. (I always have an emergency stash in my car in case I forget!).
Although having been working on and off in England for the past 10 weeks my stash of bags has grown considerably and all of them are free!! Mwhaaa haa haaa (evil laugh!) 

[TordelBack]

It's been 15c a bag in RoI for so long now that hardly anyone uses them anymore - it's a mark of shameful stupidity to be caught without your own bag. In fact I don't even know if they're still that price. It's always a huge shock when I visit England and you get showered in plastic at every turn. You can always spot the paddies (and apparently taffies too) filling their pockets with free bags for that special store under the sink. Countryside is markedly improved, mind.

[sheridan]

I have found that in wh smiths they don't always ask you if you want one,i just wait til they finish serving me then ask for a bag (works better since ive had to walk with sticks cos they feel sorry for the old knackered bloke with no pockets big enough to carry a meg and a mag!)

Y'see, I find that walking with sticks is a reason not to have a carrier bag, as it gets in the way of the stick - I have a courier bag slung over my shoulder instead.

[Old Tankie]

Free plastic bags will still be available in England.

[Jim_Campbell]

Now my wife used to work in retail as a manager in various roles and always understood that carrier bag prices are factored into the shop (prices etc) as fixtures and fittings so effectively you are paying for something you've already paid for...

The cost of the staff is also used when calculating the price, but you don't get a discount when you use a self-service checkout...

Cheers

Jim

[Mikey]

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/picture/2015/may/09/stephen-collins-on-shopping-bags-cartoon#img-1

The money for bags in NI goes toward funding environmental projects as it happens.

[Old Tankie]

Now my wife used to work in retail as a manager in various roles and always understood that carrier bag prices are factored into the shop (prices etc) as fixtures and fittings so effectively you are paying for something you've already paid for...

The cost of the staff is also used when calculating the price, but you don't get a discount when you use a self-service checkout...

Cheers

Jim

No, but maybe you should.

[Jim_Campbell]

No, but maybe you should.

It doesn't work like that, which was basically my point. Lots of costs are factored into pricing and you don't get to break them out line-by-line as to which is applicable to you. Holding a license to sell alcohol has an annual cost that your supermarket will have to cover through sales — you don't get a discount if you're teetotal. Building costs have to be recouped over the life of the store and a store with a large carpark will have cost more in terms of land purchased, but I don't get a discount for not using a car. Even if the costs of carrier bags are factored in already, you don't get a discount for using your own bags.

Cheers

Jim

[IndigoPrime]

I've never really understood this policy. Perhaps 5p is enough to make some people care a bit more about bags, rather than using a million of them or chucking them away in the street. But shops will still be selling plastic bags for trash, which don't bio-degrade, for very low prices. And you can spend 15p or so on a 'bag for life', which will likely last under a year, and yet from an environmental standpoint 'cost' quite a bit to make.

It feels very much nibbling at the edges, not least when the government's just axed loads of subsidy for renewable energy, and is happily getting the Chinese to fund a French nuclear power station.

[Grugz]

tankie, I often wondered that meself, just the other week I went into a wh smiths and 4 staff who were obviously being paid to work were stood in an aisle talking... I had no choice other than use the self service as they had no intention of serving me. Surley they could put something in the self service machine that gives a discount as it would obviously know I was doing the staff's job while they were more interested in towie.
   Also, I have had Tesco carrier bags that do disintergrate over time .