Would you pay for a bag after spending £1000+ ?
Posted by Distinct-Run-7124@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 423 comments
I work for a major mobile phone retailer in the UK and we’ve just been told we’ll be charging customers 25p for paper bags.
I get the environmental side of things, but this doesn’t sit right with me. We regularly sell devices over £1000 on 36 month contracts, and at the end we’re expected to ask if they want a bag for an extra 25p? It just feels cheap.
You wouldn’t buy something expensive and then get charged for a basic bag. Imagine buying a Rolex and being told the bag costs extra.
Plastic bag charges make sense, but paper bags in this kind of setting feels more like squeezing extra money out of customers.
Am I overreacting or does this seem a bit off?
SorryNotSorryMatey@reddit
It’s annoying as it’s nearly impossible to buy anything from a supermarket that isn’t wrapped in plastic.
I don’t mind paying but the double standards is ridiculous
hhfugrr3@reddit
Sainsbury's really pissed me off a few years ago when they got rid of the free little plastic bags for fresh fruit and veg claiming it was important to reduce plastic use while simultaneously wrapping 90% of their produce in single use plastic anyway.
FlippingGerman@reddit
Tesco reduced their bakery cookie paper bags by a tiny proportion - and said so loudly upon it - and at the same time changed their basic egg boxes to plastic. Wankers.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
Tesco does not sell eggs in plastic containers. Where did you get that from?
Source: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250802613
FlippingGerman@reddit
I don’t claim that, only that they used to. I got it from..my eyes?
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
You're saying that they changed their egg containers to plastic at the point at which they were boasting about reducing plastic in cookie bags, then changed back to cardboard?
This literally didn't happen.
FlippingGerman@reddit
I dunno what you think is going to happen here. I allege something, and obviously can’t go back and prove it. You claim it didn’t happen. What next?
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
You made the claim so it's on you to prove that it happened.
phatboi23@reddit
thankfully they've kept them going.
as i want just 2 jacket spuds :D
Splodge89@reddit
Yes!!!!! They got rid of the bags, then stopped doing anywhere near as much loose veg. They don’t do loose carrots anymore in our store, you have to buy ready bagged
Lonely-Speed9943@reddit
All the bigger Sainsbury's have loose carrots.
Splodge89@reddit
Ours doesn’t, and it isn’t a small store. Doesn’t have parsnips or potatoes loose either.
But it does have sprouts. Who the hell is buying loose sprouts without a bag to put them in!!!
Lonely-Speed9943@reddit
Must be a local reason for it, ours has plenty of loose veg alongside packaged versions and isn't a particularly big store.
Spifffyy@reddit
Hmmm… I wonder if it’s because sales went down after they stopped providing bags? 🤔
Splodge89@reddit
Probably yes. Although supermarkets hate loose veg anyway - it’s mostly sold below cost. Especially as there’s a lot of waste with loose fruit and veg.
No_Macaroon_1627@reddit
Nah, it's because pre-bagged fruit and veg has higher margins the loose version, and waste is lower on the pre-bagged, meaning more profit. Loose fruit and veg get handled more by the customer, which makes them prone to getting spoiled/reduced before sale.
Supermarkets would rather oversell fruit and veg to customers as that shifts the food waste to the consumer, which lowers the supermarkets costs. If supermarkets could get away without any customer complaints, they would stop selling all loose fruit and vegetables.
Chunkylover0053@reddit
just your local sainsburys, ours still have them - well at least they did monday when i grabbed a couple in the fresh produce row.
hhfugrr3@reddit
Out of interest, roughly where in the UK are you? They made a big deal about getting rid of them years ago.
Chunkylover0053@reddit
taken 10 mins ago.
hhfugrr3@reddit
Fair dos. I guess the valiant people of Hertfordshire said, "no, you will not rob me of my little plastic bags that I put my fresh fruit and veg in". Good for you guys.
Chunkylover0053@reddit
north herts
Taken_Abroad_Book@reddit
Sure they have those reusable net things for loose fruit and veg.
Sure, you're supposed to buy it then go back to fill it.... But there's nothing that says you can't just take and use one 🤷
Super_Shallot2351@reddit
90%? Are you sure?
hhfugrr3@reddit
It could be hyperbole or perhaps I've gone out and conducted a study to assess precisely how much plastic sainsburys use. I guess we'll just never know.
OneArmJack@reddit
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
No you didn't.
pintsizedblonde2@reddit
Whereas I can do without them and it drives me crazy that they use them so much when I get a delivery from them. They even use them on fish and meat that's already sealed in plastic.
SoggyWotsits@reddit
At least the thin plastic wrap is recyclable now. I have a bread bag full of it already! Or in my area at least, maybe not everywhere.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
It has always been recyclable. But it has never made financial or environmental sense to recycle it. It still doesn't. You should just put it in the bin.
SoggyWotsits@reddit
Ok, I’ll ignore the leaflets I got saying it’s now recyclable in my area, and to bag it up for recycling.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
Did you even read what I said?
SoggyWotsits@reddit
I did. Techniques change, and this is a new thing in my area. If the council want it recycled, I’ll recycle it.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
You are arguing against a point that I didn't make.
Bigtallanddopey@reddit
Not to mention that if you do a click and collect or delivery, all the meat items are individually bagged in plastic bags. No reason for it at all, as all the products are packaged.
ASCII_Princess@reddit
One benefit to the US war is that plastic manufacturing costs have skyrocketed. Maybe that will encourage the supermarkets to look at cardboard and paper more.
pajamakitten@reddit
They try to guilt us when they are easily the worst offenders. Even the pallets their lose veg comes in on are covered in a tonne of plastic wrapping that customers never see.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
It’s very annoying, half the stuff doesn’t need all the damn plastic
AndrewP1992@reddit
The whole point of the charge was to reduce single use plastic bags. Companies now use this as a guise to make a profit on branded paper bags
chefduncan2026@reddit
This..it's no longer a single use plastic bag charge, it's a bag charge
SorbetOk1165@reddit
I’d say it’s even worse than that.
It’s a
We’ll charge you 25p for the pleasure of you getting to advertise for us.
Because the bag will be branded it won’t be a generic brown paper bag.
LambonaHam@reddit
This is why I try to use the wrong bags at stores. Tesco gets an ASDA bag. ASDA gets an M&S bag.
Major-Credit-2442@reddit
I still have a Lidl bag that I use whatever store I use. It is like 13 years old now and is so insanely strong. I must have used it over 100 times now and sometimes with quite a lot of weight in it, maybe 20kg. Now it’s almost a mission to see how long I’ll be able to use it for and if it’ll outlast me.
amlamba@reddit
Or worse Aldi at Waitrose. Those pompous folk look at it as if it's a sick bag.
Upstairs-Quail5709@reddit
And likewise many wealthy shoppers put Aldi shop in Waitrose bags so the neighbours don't think they shop at Aldi/ Lidl......
BrokenZX81@reddit
Nobody gives a shit apart from you.
TheOrchidsAreAlright@reddit
Really? I never noticed anyone at Waitrose caring what bag I used. I don't think the check out staff are quite that invested in the brand tbh
Upstairs-Quail5709@reddit
Me too, and if I am in Asda etc and need to buy a bag, I always turn it inside out.
StatisticianEarly109@reddit
Doesn’t this just actually help them? Why would you need to advertise Tesco to people already in a Tesco?
ThatThingInTheCorner@reddit
Harrods gets a Lidl bag.
Kharenis@reddit
I have a Belgian Carrefour bag that I use most of the time. 😎
OutrageousRhubarb853@reddit
My Dutch Jumbo bag approves
ThorTDL@reddit
And my Dutch Hema one 😂
CallSignificant7999@reddit
As do my New World & Pak N Save bags!
Blue_Frog_766@reddit
As does my collection of El Corte Inglés bags!
R2-Scotia@reddit
I used to use Albert Hein hamster ones in the USA
Blue_Frog_766@reddit
I have a plastic carrier bag from the Middle East, covered in Arabic writing. I love whipping that out in M&S!
jdcintra@reddit
I do that so they can't try and say I took a bag without paying
Ieatsand97@reddit
Plus its doesn’t look like you stole it when you don’t scan it at the self checkout.
JustHadleyyy@reddit
This is my kind of petty 😂😂👏
Iasc123@reddit
Lidl gets an Aldi bag.
ddmf@reddit
I'd love to use the M&S bags everywhere else but those paper ones they have don't last long.
Iceland bags are the best "normal plastic" ones by a mile.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Their £1.50 ones are quality though and pretty. Up there with Ikea bags. Even got the double handles for hand or shoulder carrying.
ddmf@reddit
IKEA bags are amazing, I have a stash safely hidden somewhere...
Telephonic77@reddit
Does that not mean you're just advertising those supermarkets to new people that don't already shop at them instead?
Steve8557@reddit
Huge if true
xsorr@reddit
Until you need to get your free replacement from them!
APiousCultist@reddit
I admire the idea but isn't bringing your ASDA bag to other stores advertising it far more than using it in a store full of other ASDA shoppers ever could? Just gotta hope it evens out to them losing an equal amount of advertising through shopping there with a Waitrose bag.
GoldenKettle24@reddit
I was visiting relatives in rural Norfolk, went to Sainsburys with my Tesco bags. I got stopped twice by people in the car park asking me where the Tesco was located.
Creative_Cat7177@reddit
I wish I could say that I do that intentionally!
ASY_Freddy@reddit
Absolute mad lad
Major-Credit-2442@reddit
One other thing that is very common now that annoys me is being asked if I want to donate to charity when going to pay. The only reason they do it is to reduce their tax bill.
drplokta@reddit
Just turn the bag inside out.
EmeraldJunkie@reddit
Or just bring your own bag to begin with?
idlewildgirl@reddit
I carry a little reusable bag in my backpack that folds up small.
FreddiesNightmare65@reddit
Done that before. If I have to pay for it, I'm not advertising for your business
PJP2810@reddit
Icu easier with a classic plastic bag than a paper bag, also probably more likely to tear if you're messed around flipping it inside out
FranzFerdinand51@reddit
I’m sorry why do you care what the bag says? It’s a temporary device to carry things, not an accessory. Who cares if it’s free ad for the company you spent money at?
KatAstrophie-@reddit
It should be free. A gesture of goodwill, if you will, when you’ve spent that much and are carrying their brand/logo about. It would actually cost them less if they didn’t print their logos on the bag and just have plain ones.
FranzFerdinand51@reddit
They are mandated by law to charge for single use plastic bags. Either way, I still dont know why you actually care what brand the bag youre carrying displays. What difference does it make to your life?
KatAstrophie-@reddit
They are not mandated to print their brands on them and they can charge 5p. I object to paying to advertise for someone else for free, that’s all. It’s also my opinion and my objection, I don’t know what difference it makes to your life?
jamesckelsall@reddit
Not in England they can't. The single-use plastic bag charge was initially required to be at least 5p, but that later increased to 10p.
CrimsonKaiserRyu@reddit
Just seems like a very bizarre thing to get yourself worked up over.
KatAstrophie-@reddit
I’m not worked up about it. If you took any ounce of notice, you’d probably see I’m actually answering OP’s question.
FranzFerdinand51@reddit
Doesn't make a single difference to my life either way, I was just curious why say it does.
SorbetOk1165@reddit
It’s more about the principle than what the bag says.
If I’ve forgotten to bring a bag and I need to pay for a plastic one, it’s fair enough. My mistake for not bringing a bag & I have no issue what it says.
Also bag charge is only mandatory for plastic bags, but a lot of places now have switched to paper bags but still want to charge you for them.
They will probably argue that paper bags cost more than the plastic ones, but part of that cost will be the printing of the companies logo onto the bags, and that’s where I start to care what the bag says.
ConduciveMammal@reddit
Even more worse, the prices seem to inflate with everything else, my Tesco charges 40p for them now’s
StatisticianUsual471@reddit
Its a 25p thief magnet
wildcharmander1992@reddit
Yeah Poundland are the worst for it
You want a bag? That's £3
No no I'll have your basic bag for life
That's our cheapest
So the most expensive thing I'm buying is the bag? Yeah no bye.
b1gb00tych33ks@reddit
Maybe just bring a bag
heroics-delta8s@reddit
Well I for one have never seen a tax introduced for one thing then get expanded out of all recognition. Shocked.
mellowmcaree18@reddit
It's a bag tax.
Major-Credit-2442@reddit
Well it did reduce the use on single use plastic bags enormously.
libdemparamilitarywi@reddit
Shops aren't allowed to profit from the charges, any proceeds have to be donated to environmental causes.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities#donating-the-proceeds
hhfugrr3@reddit
As others have said this doesn't apply to paper bags, but it also only applies to *single use* plastic bags, which, I suspect, is why so many shops are now calling their single use plastic bags "bags for life".
doesanyonelse@reddit
I’m in Scotland but sure there’s a thing where you can bring them in and swap them for a new one hence why they get away with calling it a “bag for life” (just not the same bag).
That said I’ve never seen or known of anyone doing this.
fgalv@reddit
I asked in an Aldi to swap a bag for a new one and they looked at me like I’d grown a second head (they did swap it though, eventually)
Bikertov@reddit
I've had that too
In fact, they tried to say they didn't do that anymore, until I got the manager and pointed out the message on the bag that literally said they would replace it free of charge.
Martipar@reddit
Once you’ve deducted reasonable costs, it’s expected that you’ll donate all proceeds to good causes, particularly environmental causes.
Expected is not the same as required. They are free to profit from it.
HelloLucrehulk@reddit
"Once you’ve deducted reasonable costs, it’s expected that you’ll donate all proceeds to good causes, particularly environmental causes."
The link doesn't say that though.
Splodge89@reddit
And reasonably costs can be dreamt up easily enough.
the95th@reddit
“We license our logo from our holding company in the cayman isles. It costs us £1.5bn per year”
Shinjukin@reddit
That is the loophole that fucks me off the most. They really should do something about licensing from associated parties.
Tiny-Sandwich@reddit
My old company used to do this with IT equipment.
£250 per month for a basic HP laptop. £100 per month for a 21" monitor.
I had the same laptop for 7 years while I was there - that one laptop "cost" my company £21,000 that went to our parent company.
It was £10 per month for a fucking phone case.
the95th@reddit
Starbucks is the absolute worst for this
They paid 40ish million in brand licencing to their parent company, on paper it loses money every year to avoid paying tax in the U.K.
DaveChild@reddit
And "expected" isn't a requirement.
LongsandsBeach@reddit
Only for single use plastic bags.
Funny then that most supermarkets now only sell 'bags for life'.
glasgowgeg@reddit
If you're in England, for the rest of the UK it's single use bags of any material.
Tiny-Sandwich@reddit
And Morrisons charge 60 fucking pence for them. Even the paper ones.
Cam2910@reddit
Only counts for plastic bags. They don't have to charge for paper bags (in england) so don't have to donate it to charity.
carguy143@reddit
Does that count for bags for life, too? Pretty much everywhere round here now offers just the bags for life at a quid now.
Cam2910@reddit
It's the same except they don't have the option to give them away for free like they do with paper bags. Multiple use plastic bags have to be initially charged (10p+) for and replaced for free when worn out. Then they don't have to record/report on the sale of those.
WISJG@reddit
Saying "it's expected" in guidance doesn't create a legal obligation.
Of course they can keep the money.
glasgowgeg@reddit
It's expected ≠ you're not allowed to
heroics-delta8s@reddit
Expected is a word with no legal enforcement.
Dando_Calrisian@reddit
And I'm sure the bag police are out in force closely monitoring the situation
beeg0d@reddit
In England there is nothing in the law that bans profiting of plastic bags in fact you own link says "Once you’ve deducted reasonable costs, it’s expected that you’ll donate all proceeds to good".
Expected and Required are 2 different things.
bluiska2@reddit
Yeah... Good luck proving that
Defiant-Morning4442@reddit
Exactly 💯
Martipar@reddit
They used it to make a profit on plastic bags too. Even at the time i was annoyed in the wording of the law "it is expected that companies will donate the proceeds to environmental charities".
Not "required", "expected". It's always been a way for companies to make extra profits.
Weewoes@reddit
Mamas and papas charged me 30p for a paper bag just big enough for the kids small board books I bought and im just thinking like, im never going to use this again, it wouldnt hold up in the rain etc why am I being charged so much for it? Charged for plastic, makes sense, charged for something that should last a long time fair enough, but a paper bag that will go to mush in the rain? Why am I being charged for this when I just spent near £40 on kids books and an electronic toy lol
bobble173@reddit
Something people haven't pointed out is that asda have shrunk their "bags for life" requiring you to use more and so creating more plastic waste. Disgusting!
cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit
The last time I went in my local Warhammer shop they only had tote bags for two fucking quid!
Downtown_Bug_5877@reddit
Imagine a Warhammer shop overcharging for plastic crap!
Spifffyy@reddit
Also, the minimum charge is 5p. Anyone charging more than that for a plastic bag is doing the same thing.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
You think companies are making a profit by charging 10p?
highersense@reddit
They still manage to spare someone to hold all the bags to stop people not paying for them
OG-87@reddit
It was always a profit on bags anyways. I worked for a supermarket in 2004-2011 and they would have meetings with us about not using too many bags as they would only get a pallet full and they were expensive. Its a massive scam. It was also reported at that time that plastic bags took uo 0.00007 of uk landfill.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
The bag charge was introduced in 2015, so none of what you said is in any way relevant.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Maybe if you're in England. In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, it's single use bags regardless of material and always has been.
Feeling-Bluebird8413@reddit
Just don’t buy a bag then.
jon81uk@reddit
It’s still a charge for single use bags.
MightyG77@reddit
While I dont disagree that its just profiteering at this point, technically the charge is for single use bags. No mention of material the bag is made from.
Master-Trick2850@reddit
its 2026, the bag fee started in 2015
11 years is long enough for you to realise you need to bring your own bag or be happy to pay for one
DeapVally@reddit
This won't be a plastic bag though, so they don't need to charge. They want to charge.
If McDonald's can give me a paper bag for nowt, then so can a fucking phone shop. I'm paying a hell of a lot less for a couple of cheeky double cheeseburgers and fries as well!
TeHNeutral@reddit
Mcdonalds does charge for paper bags, go on the self checkout machines and you'll see there's a 10p paper bag charge
Ok-Flamingo2801@reddit
Pretty sure that's just for Scotland and Wales
glasgowgeg@reddit
This depends on where in the country you are. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have a legal requirement to charge for single-use bags regardless of material.
Only England applies it only to plastic.
user_deleted_life@reddit
The bag fee was for plastic bags and to reduce the amount of them that were being used. This is like Greggs charging you for the paper bag the sausage roll is put in
derpyfloofus@reddit
If Michael O’Leary was in charge they would.
They’d also charge you for the coffee cup and a storage fee if you aren’t at the collection point within 0.1 seconds after it’s ready.
Sharktistic@reddit
Don't forget the extra charge for a bag with handles!
Most_Art507@reddit
They do charge you, just not an extra charge, it's included in the price of the sausage roll
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
In my part of the UK they have changed for all bags from day 1. It's a bag charge, not a plastic bag charge. I think people are expecting it and they should know by now to bring a bag.
Grimdotdotdot@reddit
All the English downvoters apparently have no clue what happens in other parts of the UK.
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
Yeah can't seriously believe how many people are oblivious to other nations. They should consider themselves lucky paper bags are free
user_deleted_life@reddit
What part of the UK has it's own separate law
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
Wales and Scotland have their own laws. This includes the bag charge.
user_deleted_life@reddit
Source
drplokta@reddit
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7241/CBP-7241.pdf
user_deleted_life@reddit
Thankyou.
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
Just do some simple googling, they are separate nations.
Colleen987@reddit
Scotland, Northern Ireland - both parts of the UK with their own separate laws.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Lot of shops still give paper bags free. I got branded paper ones free with upmarket chocolate and books at weekend. Bag fee only applies to plastic ones but chains like Boots and M&S charge for paper too.
TooLittleGravitas@reddit
I noticed only today that both Lidl and Iceland now have paper bags instead of plastic (and charge for them).
I'm pretty used to remembering to bring my own bag these days, but if I forget no way am I paying 25p for a paper bag.
glasgowgeg@reddit
What part of the country are you in? In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland the law is to charge for single-use bags regardless of material.
Only England doesn't require retailers to charge for single-use paper bags.
TooLittleGravitas@reddit
My point was that until today (that I noticed) the cheap bags in Lidl and Iceland were plastic not paper. Plastic bags can be reused many times. Paper ones I only use as receptacles for paper recycling.
glasgowgeg@reddit
I was more addressing your "(and charge for them)" bit. Like I said, depending on where in the country you are, charging is a legal requirement, regardless of material.
Paper ones can also be reused too.
TooLittleGravitas@reddit
In the past, paper ones, where they were offered (Primark maybe?) were free. Some ideas for paper bag reuse?
Based on other comments the law still doesn't say paper ones must be charged for but IANL.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
The M&S ones are actually pretty solid - get multiple uses out of them. Good solid multi-layer thickness and decent handles. Better honestly than some of the other supermarket plastic ones. But then again they should be for 40p. Also quite good for storing things as hold a square shape really well. You can use instead of boxes on a shelf.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Which country of the UK do you live in?
Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have always required that all single use bags, regardless of material, be charged for.
TooLittleGravitas@reddit
Yes, I'm in England.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Ok, so the law doesn't require them to be charged for, but it allows them the option to.
If they have a system that charges for bags in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland already, it's probably easier to just voluntarily extend it to England too.
glasgowgeg@reddit
2011 in Wales, 2013 in Northern Ireland, and 2014 in Scotland.
Super_Shallot2351@reddit
For a paper bag? In a phone shop?
darybrain@reddit
Some shops started years before that following a Daily Mail campaign
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
/r/ThatHappened
haddock420@reddit
Was it really that late? I remember shops starting to charge for bags around 2006.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
Or grab an empty box
Disastrous_Yak_1990@reddit
Don’t be fucking daft, you know people aren’t going into a phone shop with a Christmas bag for life.
Peppy_Tomato@reddit
Paper bags are exempt from fees in England.
iamsarahb89@reddit
The mandate was for plastic bags and I work closely with a retailer that made huge difference to make the plastic bag charge go to charity as it was in the mindset that they didn’t want to profit from the law change to prevent plastic. Why would they charge for paper?
Ok-Selection1335@reddit
It seems excessive and piss taking quite frankly . But that's the consumer world we live in .profit over people the whole things a massive con .
Prestigious_Bass7194@reddit
Offer a 25p discount if it’s stressing you out that much
December126@reddit
You're not overreacting, it's not right. Also, it annoys me how phone shops and clothing shops etc still charge for bags, like yeah sure if I'm going grocery shopping I could bring a bag for life but like, if I'm buying brand new clothes or a new phone etc I want to put it in a bag to keep them clean and safe.
21sttimelucky@reddit
Why don't you just, you know, bring a bag with you? Didn't you know you would/may be buying something when you left the house and entered the shop?
What a weird take.
December126@reddit
It's different for clothes and expensive items, if I'm buying new clothes or an £1,000 phone I want to put them in a new, clean bag not just in some old bag I had at home.
21sttimelucky@reddit
But, why? You can wash your bags, or if you regularly get them dirty for some reason, have a dedicated 'dirty' bag.
Your phone will get dirtier out the box in a day or two, than the box in a bag.
And your clothes even more so.
It makes no sense to me. None.
No_Effective_4481@reddit
25p for a PAPER bag? I get the thing about reducing plastic waste, but we can all recycle paper easily enough, and most places charge 10p for plastic bags.
breadandfire@reddit
Morrisons also charge a lot for a paper bag, under the guise it's for charity.
Ok-Information4938@reddit
Ard you suggesting they are fraudulently not donating the net proceeds to charity?
The simplest explanation is that they want to reduce consumption of bags to hit ESG targets and that they are using a charitable charge to achieve that.
It's really unlikely to be a surreptitious revenue stream.
breadandfire@reddit
Let's say a paper bag is 50 p. How much does the charity get? How much does the supermarket charge for overheads (manufacturing, distribution, staff to sell the bag, storage.....?)
If 1 p goes to charity, it's still a "proceeds to charity"
This-Housing3634@reddit
Honestly I just steal the paper bags from the self scan
glasgowgeg@reddit
In order of most to least effective it's Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Recycle is the final option, because it's less effective than simply not taking a bag, or reusing a previous one.
No_Effective_4481@reddit
Paper bags are hardly the most reusable bags in the world either. 25p for one is still an absolute joke.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Carry plastic/canvas ones with you then.
No_Effective_4481@reddit
That still doesn't change the fact that 25p for a paper bag is bloody ridiculous and this is a hypothetical question which doesn't affect my shopping habits. I have a big rucksack and a messenger bag I use for everything.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Why do you care about something that doesn't even affect you then?
No_Effective_4481@reddit
I also care about lots of other things that don't directly affect me, its called being a normal human being with a functioning brain, and having opinions.
glasgowgeg@reddit
It doesn't affect me, so I don't whinge about the flat.
TeHNeutral@reddit
Aren't paper bags also really bad for the environment? The production step anyway
No_Effective_4481@reddit
Apparently so, but they biodegrade whereas most plastic bags hang around in the environment an awful lot longer and cause more long term damage.
LordAnubis12@reddit
Eh, recycling still takes energy. I get paper is better but would rather it charged to stop unnecessary packaging.
lordrothermere@reddit
1000 squid for a phone?
25p for a paper bag doesn't really address the elephant in the room.
jon81uk@reddit
Plastic bags use four times as much energy as plastic to produce them, they aren’t much better. Far better to bring your own reusable bag when making a purchase.
Shot_Net3794@reddit
Lecturing people doesn't win them over
SeaIntelligent4504@reddit
So why are you doing it?
ZombieDisastrous4450@reddit
I would say , Im not buying unless u give me a bag
at that price Ive said it before.
IDC I would walk out
depresseddreamer@reddit
When I worked retail I would just give away the bags for free. Is 25p, it’s not going to hurt the companies profits especially if people are already spending that much money!
SecretMessage5714@reddit
To be honest with you I had the same thing happen in the EE shop and told them to stuff the phone. Went to John lewis and bought it there and they gave me a free bag.
FunGuyUK83@reddit
I was recently in a record shop and sent £100+ on some new LP's. I was given a tote bag for free!
InboundDreams@reddit
Im selling bags for 5 bucks if anyone wants them i have all stores in uk covered and all stores in the states, own your now while stocks last!
Careful_Ferret_7039@reddit
Just reduce the price of the item by 25p. Then add 25p for the bag.
Detonator242@reddit
Buying something expensive has no bearing at all on whether a bag should be charged at 25p. Is your issue that you are charging for a bag or that the price discrepancy makes it pointless (illogical)? Maybe figure that out first.
Old_Opportunity9494@reddit
back in the day before moulded plugs became a thing you could spend several hundred pounds on a fridge freezer or washing machine etc and it didnt come with a 25p plug , you had to buy it seperatley and put it on yourself
never made sense to me even as a child
personally if a shop charged me 25p for a paper bag after i spend anywhere near £1000 id think twice about going back , a bag can be free advertising and a courtesy to encourage you back , let the store take the 10p hit and loose the extra profit they want )
SheepRememver@reddit
Yes. Pay for a bag or supply your own.
Upstairs-Quail5709@reddit
It's the law. And don't forget it might be a "secret shopper" (company or local council)....
Simmo2222@reddit
I thought this post was about cocaine.
Top_Independence4067@reddit
Nah you're right, charge £100 and I'll gladly take the bag.
cari-strat@reddit
"Would you like a bag?"
"No thankyou, I've got enough to carry already!"
DeepPanWingman@reddit
It really fucking annoys me that the tons and tons and tons of pointless plastic built into the shop's supply chains is fine, but me needing a single bag to take it all home? No, you're killing the planet and you need to pay 40p. That 40p is unnoticeable on even a small shop these days, and I just nick the bag anyway because fuck them and their multi million pound profits that could go towards solving the actual problem.
25p on a paper bag to put the £1000 phone in? Get fucked. Paper bags aren't part of the charging for carrier bags thing, it's just another chance to rip us off at every step. I'd genuinely consider cancelling the whole sale because of it.
It's not even the cost. I can afford 25p but I object to being taken for a mug and/or openly fleeced.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
It's not pointless. Why would they spend money on something that is pointless?
DeepPanWingman@reddit
Plastic wrapped bananas? Individually wrapped snack cakes within a larger bag? Plastic film around sealed cardboard boxes? To name just 3.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
Yes, those all have very clear purposes.
franki-pinks@reddit
Just give the bags to customers. That’s what I did when I worked at singhs back in 2001 and he wanted me to charge customers 10p for a bag.
Sad-Rent-9633@reddit
Thats what I did, unless they were a nob head
goodmythicalmickey@reddit
I did that at Co Op too
Coat-Trick@reddit
More should do this
louwyatt@reddit
It's all good until you get fired for it.
Frequent_Sympathy856@reddit
I would charge for a bag or not, dependant on the customers attitude to me.
Sir_Madfly@reddit
At the chain I work at, they monitor if staff aren't charging for bags and you'll get in trouble for it.
Sad-Rent-9633@reddit
I used to just give people bags for free in retail, i didn't really give a shit about the job though
Responsible-Age8664@reddit
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13359431/Britains-supermarkets-bags-life-checkouts-profits-planet.html
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
I think most customers will just roll their eyes, assume it is a government thing and walk on.
Highdraulixs@reddit
You have way too much faith in the general public.
Working in retail, a lot of customers certainly won't just roll their eyes. They'll take it out on you.
darybrain@reddit
WH Smith have been charging for bag well before it was a legal requirement as they jumped on a Daily Mail campaign. The amount of times I saw a customer go ballistic at the cashier for having to pay 1p for the bag was both funny and very annoying.
Like if you can't afford the additional penny then perhaps you shouldn't be shopping at an overpriced newsagent and stationary place. I felt sorry for the person behind the till many times.
TeHNeutral@reddit
Marks and sparks had it years before for some kind of fish ecology fund
TachiH@reddit
They should take it out on the company though, 25p for a paper bag is extortionate. Obviously you don't make the choices so not your fault but to a lot of people customer facing staff are the face of the company.
ofjune-x@reddit
In my experience customers never want to escalate their complaints to managers or head office, they just want to moan and berate the staff serving them. I usually offer to call a manager over for them or show them where they can give feedback higher up but they suddenly change their tune.
Techy_Ben@reddit
"You, I called YOU. YOU are my company, YOU are ruining my life. YOU need to sort it!"
Ask caller who they need? "YOU, I got given YOUR NuMBeR!!!"
Eventually get the caller to read their paperwork, they called the wrong number and went through to our external office switchboard.
Yes, I've worked in retail.
Thrilltwo@reddit
Yeah, I worked at M&S during the period that plastic bag charges started, half the customers looked like they were about to smack me when they heard they would be charged 5p extra
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
I've learnt never to over-estimate them but thankfully my job usually at a remove. Being called a lick-spittle minion of a corrupt and totalitatian government was a highlight of a 30min rant once. I am sorry to hear your experiences different.
Honestly though a paper bag for a £1k purchase worries me - I lived in "sunny Glasgow" for a while. Paper disintegrates in the rain. A mobile is the type of thing that going in the handbag or pocket asap.
hungryhippo53@reddit
Back when Primark were basically the only store that used paper bags, it was a regular sight in a rainstorm to see someone's massive Primark bag disintegrating on the middle of Argyle St
Disastrous_Yak_1990@reddit
Let me guess. It’s entitled millennials that are doing that isn’t it?
Isn’t it?
That’s what Facebook says.
Splodge89@reddit
That’s what the boomers on Facebook say anyway. They still think millennial means teenager. In reality millennials are in their 40’s…
Disastrous_Yak_1990@reddit
Wow, other people really didn’t get this sarcasm.
Shot_Net3794@reddit
For being a UK subreddit, people have no sense of sarcasm here
mark_b@reddit
Sarcasm needs to be funny as well. You can't just say something wrong and expect people to laugh with you. British people have great intuition for when sarcasm is funny and when it just falls flat, that's the part people from other countries find hard to understand.
pajamakitten@reddit
Not even specific to retail. I work in a hospital lab and we cannot give results directly to patients under any circumstances, we can only give them to doctors, nurses etc. I probably get sworn at once a week by a member of the public I have to tell that to, as if they think I take great joy at withholding their results from them.
PoshWanksAreSublime@reddit
I bought a Rolex a couple of weekends ago. Not only did I not have to pay for a bag, but I was given a second plain unbranded bag for the Rolex branded bag to go into.
JustQuestioningCosas@reddit
For me an equal question would be “do you really care about spending an extra 25p when you’ve spend £1000”. It’s not worth worrying about such tiny things, life is way too short. Allow yourself to let this go and move on.
21sttimelucky@reddit
Same people complain when they then get charged while buying a cheap item too.
There's an easy, free solution. If you plan on buying something that requires a bag to carry it in, bring a bag. If you aren't planning this purchase (at £1000 no less), the vast majority of people probably shouldn't be buying it then. I am sure there's 'deal of a lifetime' exceptions people can reel off, but again - at that point why do you care about 25p?
JustQuestioningCosas@reddit
Right? The whole point of charging was to encourage people to bring their own bags and reduce waste. Either way, it’s 25p when you have £1k to spend on a luxury item. I’d say OP is doing pretty well in life and there is no point worrying about this.
Super_Shallot2351@reddit
"Do you really care about fleecing customers for 25p when you've just sold a £1000 item."
Same logic.
21sttimelucky@reddit
Reverse logic doesn't apply really. It absolutely is worth it for the shop.
Let's assume pure profit, for sake of conversation.
Let's assume an average of 8 bags sold a day (probably location dependent and obviously an average with more on weekends and less on some week days). Modern shops don't have many closed days. Call it 355 trading days (probably more). Thats 0.25x8x355. Thats £710 a year. Probably more than the profit on a £1000 phone (minus VAT it's already down to £800 before accounting for who gets how much).
Say a chain has ten shops, that's £7100 grand a year turnover.
While you can absolutely argue it's not essential to charge this, it absolutely is understandable why a shop might do this. It's just good capitalism (which you may or may not be a fan of, but it's the system the UK uses).
JustQuestioningCosas@reddit
Exactly my point, flip reverse that logic and embrace happiness. Don’t let 25p ruin your day. It’s so little when you’re lucky enough to have £1k to spend on a phone.
DeapVally@reddit
Do I care about spending it when I'm ordering takeaway? Not really. It's a minor inconvenience. And I'm not spending that much for them to eat the cost. Do I care about it when I'm spending a cool G? Yeah. 'Cus it's fucking cheeky!
techbear72@reddit
What I would do is tell you I’m not paying for the bag and will also note not buy the item but instead go elsewhere for it.
But I’m not time constrained, whereas most people are and will probably just pay the 25p.
I’m sure your company has done studies and found that people like me are so incredibly rare that the anger they’re causing won’t lose them money but will instead just be taken out on you, the employee, who they don’t care about.
21sttimelucky@reddit
In my experience, people still make the purchase.
They say 'well, give me that bag for free or I walk'. The shop staff, who doesn't care about the store's profits, but does care about their job and or disciplinary record (and you bet there's shops who will initiate this, especially the ones who can afford to let it go most), will say 'I don't get a say, sorry. I have to charge you for the bag, regardless of my opinion'
Then the customer makes some remark that it is outrageous, outrageous! And puts their card in the machine.
Most staff (OP apparently excluded) will then probably go in the back and tell their colleagues that they had another one. Very occasionally the staff will let the bag go, but if there's other customers around, it's not worth the hassle of setting the precedent and having the same conversation another ten times that day.
techbear72@reddit
Indeed. As I said, "most people ... will probably just pay the 25p".
Intelligent-Iguana@reddit
I'd do the same, if the company are being that greedy to charge for a paper bag, what else are they skimping on?
Bksudbjdua@reddit
I think it's BS, but what can you do
RealLongwayround@reddit
No, I wouldn’t pay for a bag.
I am an adult. I own a bag.
21sttimelucky@reddit
Right?
Who leaves their house going 'today I will buy something that costs £1000. I won't need something to carry it in.'
Or going to the shop for food. Makes zero sense. Misjudged how many bags you need? Happens, buy an additional one. Occasionally find yourself shopping on the way home and didn't plan for it? Well, you probably aren't buying much (you know, because you didn't plan this), fair enough, buy a bag. But again, who leaves their house going 'I will be buying 15-30 items of food, some of which are easily broken in a few minutes. I don't need to take a bag with me?'
No one, should be the answer. But then you leave the house and have the misfortune of meeting people...
DonC1305@reddit
On the one hand, if I'm spending that amount then the 25p is pretty insignificant. On the other, if I'm spending that amount then the least I could get is a free bag.
Own-Aardvark-4394@reddit
It’s 40p at M&S although the checkout people never charge it through unless you get the fancy £1 bahs
bars_and_plates@reddit
The environmental argument for bag charges is complete nonsense because the amount of plastic used is trivial.
The issue is scrotes throwing them away and having them float about in the street and ending up in a river.
The plastic bags which go into my bag cupboard and then become bin bags have absolutely zero environmental impact whatsoever.
Each bag uses probably an order of magnitude less resources to produce than e.g. the plastic tray a pack of chicken comes in.
And a thousand times less than the actual chicken, and maybe a million times less than a smartphone. Total guesses but we are talking triviality in comparison.
Ornery-Air-6968@reddit
It's the principle of it that feels off. You're right that the plastic bag charge had a clear environmental goal, but slapping a fee on a paper bag for a high-value item just feels like a sneaky profit grab. It's especially grating when so much of what we buy is already smothered in unnecessary plastic packaging anyway. That kind of double standard is what makes customers feel nickel-and-dimed.
TSotP@reddit
I totally agree with you.
Also, if I had just bought a Rolex and they asked for 25p for a bag, they would have just lost a customer. As I would return it before they had even finished asking.
Redline_independent@reddit
No i would not bc i am probably going to go strate home and set it up and swich over
For that time i will carry it or put it in one of my many pocets (i normaly have a mimum of 4 that could hold an exsta phone but with 2 jumpers and a jacket i could be on 11 so no way am i going to pay for a bag
Mundo7@reddit
Why the fuck are you wearing 2 jumpers?!
Redline_independent@reddit
I am a biker, and the wind chill gets to me unless it is a heatwave, so I put another jumper on.
If I am at home, I take it off with my jacket, but when out shopping, I wear it because it is easier than carrying it.
In the depths of winter I have been known to wear: 1 fleece 1 long sleeve 1 hoodie 1 jumper I normally wear 1 bike jacket
nickdaniels92@reddit
It's wrong either way, but I wonder if these are branded, and if so that's even worse as you'd be paying for their advertising. Scummy move. Primark also introduced a charge for paper bags last May.
Calafioriturnedmegay@reddit
So I get to the till, you hit me up with the bag charge. I tell you to cancel the whole order. What you going to do?
glasgowgeg@reddit
The staff will still get paid, you'll need to go elsewhere to buy the same thing (and be prompted to pay for a bag again).
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Do sales staff get commission? If they don't then it's really no skin of their noses if you do.
Calafioriturnedmegay@reddit
Fair comment, but do you think they will cancel the sale or forget to scan the bag?
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Think it depends how much you've annoyed them. You are the one that is going home without a phone. Now you need to go to another shop, renegotiate, fill in more paperwork and hope you find a clerk with a different attitude to bag policy. Or order online and accept the delay. If you want to do all that over 25p for what is probably not much margin for the shop rather than the company - are you going to change your contract to another supplier too? Also depends if there are cameras on staff and what the line from management is. It's unfair to ask someone to risk their employment to save you 25p.
Calafioriturnedmegay@reddit
All valid points. How much you stand on principle is always a personal choice. I believe in becoming the change I want to see. If I'm unhappy with the way I'm treated, 25p might as well be £250. It makes no difference in monetary value.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
But targetting the right person is also a principle. Inconveniencing yourself and the company is one thing. Trying to get a sales assistant into potential trouble by putting pressure on them to do something against store policy is where I'd draw line. Being a "karen" and asking to speak to store management would be justified though as they have the legitimate clout to give the exemption.
glasgowgeg@reddit
Legal requirement, so yes you would.
_blacknails@reddit
Put the bag charge is for plastic bags, not paper.
SassyKardashian@reddit
That was not the kind of bag I thought you meant after the weekend I had.
TheLightStalker@reddit
This has got to be EE. Cheapskates all the way to the top.
ZestyBeer@reddit
This is why I carry a foldaway carry bag in my pocket. Cost me nothing and saved me plenty.
But this is nothing but corporate greed and squeezing the last remnants of juice out of a fourth-pressed general public.
Kizzieuk@reddit
I always take bags with me but no longer buy clothes or fabrics in places where they charge you for bags.
Living_Board_9169@reddit
I’ll admit, I don’t even like the plastic bag charge. If I’ve forgotten to bring one, I’ll just pickup a new bag and wait to be challenged before acknowledging it’s new. The 5p (that’s now 50p) is such an infuriating thing to me
Firstly it represents just further lack of good customer service in this country, which is a pet peeve. We used to get a bag courtesy because it’s obvious you’ll need something to carry away all the stuff you’ve just bought. Now you even get price gouged there too because sure, why not? If they kept it to 5p so I knew it was a minimum being forced, that’s one thing. Raising it to stupid prices because you’ve got the opportunity is not on
Secondly it represents such performative politics, which is another pet peeve. Work anywhere with a warehouse and watch them use meters and meters of plastic wrap on their pallets to keep goods on there. Look at farmers using meters and meters of plastic to wrap hay. Look at the products themselves, cling film boxes containing cling filmed food. Even bananas and whatnot have to come wrapped. But I want a plastic bag once a month when I forget or didn’t bring enough? Literally murdering seals
Thirdly they could’ve just banned the damn things and forced paper bags, true improvement to the environment without forcing consumer spending
So no I wouldn’t pay for a bag. I’d just carry it or put it in my pocket
Mr-Incy@reddit
If you are paying over £1000 for a phone, and then the subsequent monthly contract fee, paying an extra 25p for a bag shouldn't be a huge issue.
Charging for single use bags has been around for a long time now, so most people wouldn't be surprised if they get told the bag is extra.
As for comparing a mobile phone to something like a Rolex, that is a bit of a stretch given the cheapest, brand new, Rolex is around £5000.
Super_Shallot2351@reddit
Doesn't seem like a stretch to me. Both expensive items.
By the same logic, if you're selling expensive items on expensive contracts, you can swallow the cost of the paper bags. Shouldn't be a huge issue.
firthy@reddit
And you cannot just walk in and buy that...
Splodge89@reddit
There’s quite a few Rolex shops and jewellers that stock Rolexes. They’re not the super high end ones but they do have stock to take away that day
Home_Assistantt@reddit
Yes you can. Although some watches require additional purchases. There are some Rolex’s or other expensive watches that you walk in and buy and away that day. Even at an AD
Interesting-Bit725@reddit
Good lord, who cares? But anything that encourages reduced waste is fine by me.
jonathing@reddit
I dropped into a supermarket to buy some Easter eggs while walking back from a really shitty medical appointment last week. Because I'd not planned to go in I had no bags so asked for some 10p polythene ones just to carry the eggs home in. They would only sell me £1 bag-for-life type bags so I may have been a little more unkind than necessary.
Suspicious_Ball_4121@reddit
Ah yes! I'd like a bag please for 25p emblazened with a giant advert.
Walking through the town centre advertising your business.
Then get mugged before I make to the car, because it's obvious it may have a valuabe item inside.
I get the environmental thing. I truly do, but give me a plain paper bag. Or just pop into my one from Oxfam.
LemmysCodPiece@reddit
No. I always take my back pack and spare shopping bags.
Reeelfantasy@reddit
I was once pissed off that sports direct charges me a bloody £2 bag when I bought £40 worth of clothing. They didn’t tell me in advance tho and I realised after I checked the receipt. They trick you.
srmarmalade@reddit
I often see Mike Ashley's helicopter picking him up in the morning so your purchase wasn't in vain.
Home_Assistantt@reddit
If you bought two £20 items and didn’t realise when being charged £42 that an extra charge was included, thats on you. Its not a trick
Reeelfantasy@reddit
You’re assuming I remember the exact amount when I bought them last summer? It was not happened today but the total was around 40ish. The staff didn’t tell me it’s a £2 bag and I thought it’s one of those 30p. The trick is they put you in a position where you feel embarrassed to say no—since I already say yes. Plus you want to pay and leave not argue over why and why so. Does it mean I forgot? Hell no and even since I don’t buy a bag!
Home_Assistantt@reddit
You feel embarrassed to not pay for something you don’t want
You’re sounding more and more like a victim now
NO ONE is trying to trick you. At any point before or after laying you could have said ,” I don’t want the bag please” and they’d have had to refund you.
You being unable to say so says more about you than them.
Grow some balls or carry on being “taken advantage of”
Man-I-Love-Fajitas@reddit
And as we know, 20+20 is the only way to get 40
Home_Assistantt@reddit
I was making it easy to understand for the idiot crybaby
Most non idiot customers know what they’ll be paying when they get to a till.
Back in your box
Man-I-Love-Fajitas@reddit
lol I just don't know what the point of your comment was. OP only said they spent £40, nothing more, and you said it's their fault for not realising 20+20 does not equal 42. And now you've called them a cry baby!
Go to bed and try again tomorrow.
Shot_Net3794@reddit
That bag cost £2 but being nice costs nothing
Home_Assistantt@reddit
Not sure where you thought I wasn’t being nice.
In a show you not being. I e, but that wasn’t required at all
Not sure if you’re a keyboard warrior or just offended cos you can be
Shot_Net3794@reddit
I am a keyboard warrior, I even have a shield to protect me from attacks by other users
Farscape_rocked@reddit
I worked for currys for a few years not long ago. I never charged for a bag and either nobody noticed or nobody cared.
Ochib@reddit
I regularly buy Lego from the Lego shop and they never charge for a bag
SoftNightVibes@reddit
I’m not paying for another bag, I’m grown, I’ve got my own.
cbren88@reddit
Based on the post title I thought this was absolute something else entirely.
directory-adv-uk@reddit
Imagine dropping a grand on a phone and being told the bag is extra. It’s like going to a fancy steakhouse and being charged for the napkin. Proper 'nickel and diming' that, makes the brand look incredibly cheap.
LastPlot@reddit
If the bag is unbranded then okay. If it's branded it's mad capitalism!
notouttolunch@reddit
It's an interesting question because I always get my telephones online. They arrive in the curious shipping bag which is made of plastic. The price in the shop is the same as the price online and the delivery is included.
I do have to say I was never really a big fan of this plastic bag charge and I dislike the way that I now can't actually get a good plastic bag. My Sainsbury's bags for life are 17 years old this year, but the new replacements which cost significantly more are worse than the bags they used to have at the end of the till!
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
No they aren't.
notouttolunch@reddit
Yes they are.
Crash_Revenge@reddit
I’m sure the courier charged the phone provider / retailer for the shipping bag as part of the service. DPD, DHL, et al are not handing those out for free. The contract for shipping is with the retailer, they pay for it, regardless if they then charge you a fee for that. That’s why if a shipped item goes missing, the claim is for the retailer to make with the courier, not for the customer. Similar if you’re returning an item and the retailer provided you with a courier bag or label, if that goes missing in shipping, it’s the retailer that has to take it up with the counter.
notouttolunch@reddit
But as the end user, I didn't get a supplemental charge on top of the retail price.
Not sure what your point is.
Crash_Revenge@reddit
My point is that with a delivery the retailer is paying for the plastic bag, therefore paying the plastic bag fee. If you go into a shop and get a plastic bag, you pay the plastic bag fee.
notouttolunch@reddit
That was my original point. What is your point?
PJP2810@reddit
But the whole point here is about the customer's experience...so whether the seller is paying for the bag or not is irrelevant.
The seller isn't paying for the bag in the shop, the customer would have to. So, from the customer's perspective, they either get it delivered in a plastic bag for free which goes in the bin or have to pay for a paper bag with the shops logo on it which may get reused/recycled or may just end up in a general waste bin
Dalarielus@reddit
For a plastic bag? I'd politely decline and stuff my purchase into my backpack.
For a paper bag? The charge was introduced to combat plastic waste. A charge on paper bags is a bit of a scummy tactic. I'd probably exercise my right to cancel and wander down the street to a competitor, purely out of spite xD
Aggravating_Ad5632@reddit
I went into a camera shop in Stevenage with the intention to spend just under £1700 on a lens and a flash. As the shopkeeper was putting the sale through he asked me if I wanted batteries for the flash. I said "that's very kind," to which he replied "oh, no - they'll be £4.99."
I bought the lens and flash in Hitchin instead.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
/r/ThatHappened
marsarefromspiders@reddit
I begrudge paying £40+ for a charger. Something you literally need for your phone to work.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
That's not a thing.
JobAnxious2005@reddit
36month contracts?! Is that the norm now? Oooof
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
No.
WinkyNurdo@reddit
If I’ve paid a grand for something then it’s definitely going on the card. Another 25p doesn’t hurt. I believe that disposable bags should be charged for, whether they’re plastic or paper. Plastic bags should be phased out completely or be compostable. Ultimately it leads to less of them being used. Really we all need to get into the habit of having a tote bag or whatever on us as much as possible when we’re out shopping.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
What does your method of payment have to do with any of this?
Exxtraa@reddit
Remember when it was to curb plastic bags and the money would supposedly be ring fenced for charity too.
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
It still is.
physx_rt@reddit
No, I usually have a bag on me anyway, so I shouldn't need one.
Back to the point, the reason for having the 25p fee is to reduce waste and therefore I think there should be no exceptions, no matter how much you spend on the device.
You either pay 25p or bring your own bag. Period.
It does feel petty, yes, but that's how you achieve the objective.
Zaruz@reddit
But this is for a paper bag? The point of the charge was to reduce plastic waste which doesn't degrade.
Charging for a paper bag is just pinching extra pennies. No doubt the store will be raking in marketing about how they're saving the planet by moving to paper bags, whilst making sure their customers are the ones paying for it.
physx_rt@reddit
Well, at least this way they reduce all the waste, not just plastic. After all, paper bags also require energy and materials to manufacture.
Dadbodposterboy@reddit
If they wanted to reduce the waste, they wouldn't print the bags. Production of ink and then the printing process would have a relatively big environmental impact
Acceptable-Split6348@reddit
And then you'd complain that they don't have bags.
DeapVally@reddit
And is very easy to recycle, which is the whole point of the charge. To stop shit that can't be recycled. Not for retailers to pass their costs onto customers. Who gives a fuck what they coat the retailers, customer service, dude! Doing it well costs money. Happy customers come back.
isaytruisms@reddit
I disagree with everyone in here. The point isn't to charge people for bags, it's to discourage them from getting a bag when we all have a cupboard full of plastic bags at home.
If customers want a bag, they can bring one from home. If they don't want to pay for a bag, they can carry a small box I'm sure. Don't sweat it. Most people will hopefully just say "no thanks, I don't need one"
thehappyonionpeel@reddit
Then hit us with, would you like to round up for our charity!
In this case simply not getting the bag. May even distrust company
AdThat328@reddit
It's 25p...they just spent £1,000 why would 25p be an issue?
KatVanWall@reddit
Ngl I read the title and assumed you were talking about cocaine
MrTubek@reddit
You see it from the pov of the person who is earning living wage.
From the corpo perspective if each year they sell 10mil contracts and each person pays for the bag that's another £2,5 million of the profit. Or pretty much 98 minimum wage employees
riseows@reddit
3 for 100
Chuffing_Knackered@reddit
I don't want the bag, I don't wanna be walking around with a bag that says [Insert Mobile Phone Provider Here] on it. Probably just get some chancer robbing you.
I uograde every 18 months and get my upgrade delivered to the store to save all the other bullshit problems with couriers stealing phones too. I'm leaving with that phone in it's original box in an Asda bag.
Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit
Who's putting a £1000 phone in a paper bag ? I'm carrying that like it's a bar of gold.
DeapVally@reddit
There's many parts of the country where carrying one of those out in the open would be a bad idea as well lol. People have been stabbed for a lot less. It's always best not to advertise you're carrying a large value item.
Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit
Well to be fair I'd never spend that much on a phone myself. It'd be in a pocket.
Tall_Stick5608@reddit
A phone contract is a few pounds of profit per month, a Rolex is 2k profit to the AD minimum. It’s not the same thing. Yes people should pay for bags especially for more day to day casual purchases.
Specialist-Web7854@reddit
Aside from during lockdown when the supermarket insisted on delivering in bags, I can’t remember the last time I got a bag in a shop. I just assumed everyone had a couple of reusable bags stuffed in their pockets these days. A decent tote with a shoulder strap is easier to carry anyway.
boredsittingonthebus@reddit
My local Morrisons hardly ever has the paper bags, but they'll happily charge 60p for a plastic bag!
The government charge normalised us paying for a bag, and then the price just crept up and up stealthily. They say the bags are reusable, but the handles on them snap off after a few uses.
At the srlf-setvice tills, you have to find a member of staff to give you a bag, and then they make sure you've scanned it. I overheard a customer asking why they're not at the entrance of the self-checkouts, and the reply was that management said too man6 people weren't scanning them. The management knows it's a cheeky wee extra big of profit.
dreadwitch@reddit
I wouldn't pay for a bag after spending £10.
secondincomm@reddit
Id probably say to the staff that I just paid ridiculous price for something do they feel like throwing the bag in for free lol
Id feel like your taking the piss a bit
Latter-Corner8977@reddit
Does the company want to cover the 25p bag tax, or do they want to pass it on to the customer.
Of course they want to pass it on to the customer.
Greatgrowler@reddit
The company is obliged to pass it on to the customer.
Latter-Corner8977@reddit
If it’s an obligation under law then I don’t see any problem at all.
Dadbodposterboy@reddit
It isn't an obligation under law for paper bags
NotThatNeurotic@reddit
A fancy paper bag from Apple? Yes. Anything else no.
Real-Box-7144@reddit
Anything I’ve bought that considered a luxury purchase they’ve never charged for the bag.
audigex@reddit
Pisstake charging for paper bags, that's not environmental it's just stingy
hassan_26@reddit
I love my local corner shop boss man. I'd go there to buy a single 4pint milk and not only does he give me a free plastic bag but also bags it for me!! You're number one Abdul!
shnu62@reddit
I’d tell you where to stick that bag.
pintofstellae@reddit
and what is that going to change?
Threetreethee@reddit
The worst thing is that bags seems to have got more expensive while getting smaller
Blatant rip off
Teamhuw1@reddit
Unwrapped food do not incur a bag charge. Throw in a kipper or halbert with that £1000 phone and you are good for a free bag!!
CrimsonKaiserRyu@reddit
If I wanted a bag I would pay for a bag. If I didn't want a bag then I wouldn't.
Saliiim@reddit
This would seriously wind me up.
Voltalox@reddit
Me whenever I go shopping and forget to take the millions of tote and plastic bags in the back seat of my car. At that point, I deserve to be charged 25p for a bag. 🤦♀️
Fr though, if you're going to a shop to buy a £1000+ phone maybe bring something to put it in. I wouldn't want it in a flimsy and branded carrier bag, I'd stuff that bad boy into my actual handbag or at least a tote bag I brought with me.
Also it's 25p, I would probably think it's a bit silly but I wouldn't be outraged about it.
double-happiness@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDLpKrTVJKc
WayOfTheMandalore@reddit
Tell them they can go to Tescos and pay 40p if they don’t want yours.
reverandglass@reddit
12 Months, free phone (which came with a charger), free leather case, free car charger and headset.
Just a remind of what we've lost.
Even at the end of my mobile days you could blag a bluetooth headset if you ask nicely, but that was 20 years ago now.
cheflifecdf@reddit
Absolutely not
PaleConference406@reddit
Those people haven't spent £1000, they've signed up to spend £1000 over 3 years.
SCWeak@reddit
So spending £1000? Got it.
PaleConference406@reddit
Spending someone else's £1000.
SCWeak@reddit
Ah ok, forgot I can sign up to a contract and then just not pay it because someone else will pay it for me.
Carriers hate this one weird trick.
firthy@reddit
And that is incomparable with a Rolex purchase!
Tofru@reddit
they'll actually be spending more due to interest, so not sure what your argument is here
Copatus@reddit
At first glance I thought this post was about Cocaine lol
theNikolai@reddit
So what's the big issue? It's optional. Let me decide whether I want it or not.
SpaTowner@reddit
If I’m buying something expensive, I really don’t want to advertise that on my walk back to the under-lit multi storey car park.
I carried my new laptop away from the shop in a co-op reusable bag.
DrBob2016@reddit
I'd walk out the store, they've lost a sale and a potential returning customer over 25p.
Fantastic-Being7349@reddit
To pay for paper! No Way!
kylerobbo92@reddit
If it’s the brand I think it is the ‘rope’ style handles are probably made from twisted plastic strands despite the bag being paper, maybe their justification for the 25p charge and to reduce plastic waste. This may explain why the charge is the same regardless of bag size as the handle size is the same on all bags.
WarmCauliflower88@reddit
You'll be amazed at how quickly that 25p charge goes away if you say "cool, I'll just return this then".
This isn't environmental, it's just additional profit.
stowgood@reddit
Yes if I needed a bag. However I'd be a grown up and not need one. I certainly wouldn't waste my life moaning about it. Ironically I'm replying to this post.
Huge-Brick-3495@reddit
If I was daft enough to spend that much on a phone I would be daft enough to forget my bag for life, so yea I would pay for the bag. I imagine it would make me a target for mugging though as the shops name is on the bag.
Moist_gooch90@reddit
It's frustrating, my father in law visits us from abroad once a year. He likes going to Go Outdoors and buying decent outdoor jackets and every year he complains about having to pay extra for a bag. The first year he said if he were to spend that munch on an item of clothing in his country the staff would probably escort him and carry it out to the car for him.
The charge clearly does work though, I travel for work and there's definitely more litter/bags blowing around in other countries compared to the UK.
ReindeerWeary490@reddit
It seems odd. The charge is supposed to be for plastic bags. But most new mobile phones have a ton of packaging around them anyway. Does anybody really need an additional bag?
Adds9@reddit
If I just spent £1000, I’m not going to moan about 25p. Even if I hate that a lot of businesses are trying to profit from it.
becca413g@reddit
No, I want to stick it in my backpack not advertise it to potential opportunists!
lovesorangesoda636@reddit
Charging 25p for something which literally advertises the store is pushing it.
I'd just shove the phone in my handbag tbf.
DeadBallDescendant@reddit
If I'm buying something for a grand I wouldn't dare moan to a shop worker about paying 25p extra for something to put it in.
EconomicsAfraid7880@reddit
Anyone else love it when Just Eat charges a bag fee and you don't even get s fucking bag?
Not_Alpha_Centaurian@reddit
Well thats utterly stupid.
Is that supposed to encourage me to remember a bag when I come back for an upgrade in 5 years time? In the unlikely even i do remember it its probably just going to annoy me and encourage me to look elsewhere.
PaulaDeen21@reddit
It’s supposed to be a deterrent, appears to be working.
Home_Assistantt@reddit
Nope. I didn’t even lay 15p for a bag when I’d spent £30 last week for kids bits in Primark
The initial bag charge was for stopping plastic bags being bought and adding to landfill. That I get. People were encouraged with “a bag for life”. Have zero issue with that. And totally support it.
Primark now charge 15p for ANY size paper bag but say it’s not for profit when it totally is.
I nearly always have some sort of bag/rucksack with me so will always pass on a bag anyway.
Jacktheforkie@reddit
No I fuckin ain’t, I’ll put the box in my pocket
Dydey@reddit
I’ve found you get charged about double for a phone on contract if you go in store rather than buying online so I didn’t know you had to pay for the bag.
Paradroid888@reddit
I still buy some physical media, and try to support the few shops that still sell it. It really annoys me that they won't put a Blu-ray or CD in a little paper bag. I don't want a big plastic bag I just want something minimal that makes it clear I've paid for my item as I walk round town.
If I order from Amazon it comes in a thick cardboard envelope or jiffy bag.
No-Strike-4560@reddit
Why on earth do you need a bag for an item you can easily carry in one hand ?
WigglyBigPoppa@reddit
I'm told to charge for bags where I work. but I don't. paper bags are supposed to be free either way ...
that's a lie, if the customer is rude and being a nob, I will charge them 🤣
Fenpunx@reddit
A phone costs over a grand!? Fuck me.
ouzo84@reddit
Id honestly cancel my purchase and go elsewhere.
sockeyejo@reddit
I always carry my rucksack so decline the free paper bags unless it's for loose food as it's just one more thing to put straight into the recycling bin. If folk don't want the bag, they don't have to take it. Brick and mortar shops are under intense pressure and struggling to cope in the modern age. I might not agree but I understand why someone might have looked at the figures at decided this was a simple way to reduce one cost, especially looking at the price of utilities.
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
I mean they have been charging for paper and plastic bags for many many years now. I think it's expected that you pay for the bag or you bring your own. I would in no way expect a free bag just because the item I bought cost a lot of money.
handtoglandwombat@reddit
When McDonald’s ask if you want a bag, say no, they still give you one.
VolcanicBear@reddit
Tbh I get a bit pissy about having to pay for a paper bag either way, because that's not what the charge is supposed to be about. Or wasn't last time I cared enough to check.
I'll pay it, be annoyed for maybe 3 seconds and move on. I'm also not buying a phone from a physical shop though tbh.
bacon_cake@reddit
Eh, reduction of any useless packaging is a bonus, paper is better than plastic but it's not exactly great for the environment to produce tons of paper that goes into recycling after 20 minutes of use.
I carry a backpack everywhere now.
appeardeadpan@reddit
I’d just give them the bag, problem solved. Absolutely ridiculous to ask for money for a paper bag after selling an item / contract for that price
mmoonbelly@reddit
Overreacting. I wouldn’t change my mobile deal over a 25p bag
makefascistfearagain@reddit
I'm going to blow your mind: if you're not specifically charged for a bag you're already being charged for it. It's in the price.
Z1L0G@reddit
The whole point of the bag tax is to encourage people to re-use existing bags. A lot of people don’t give a shit though, don’t know if it’s because they’re thick, lazy or a bit of both. The bag tax should be a lot more, like £5.
Conscious-Pie-4794@reddit
I saw someone leaving Asda with 10 of those 40p bags... I really hope it was a one off and they forgot them because why would you waste £4 on bags each week
MidsummerMidnight@reddit
I don't care. £1000.25 lol
Embarrassed-Yak-8269@reddit
It’s just a thing . It’s not cheap . It’s the law . They have to charge . If you can afford £1000, you can afford £1000.25
Dull_Hawk9416@reddit
You should feel embarrassed. There is no law to charge for paper bags. Companies just do it to squeeze more money out of you
Embarrassed-Yak-8269@reddit
Embarrassed . Errr no . I stand corrected ( misread. not realising it was a paper bag) . However , since 2021 plastic bags have to have at least a 10p charge .
SCWeak@reddit
But it’s a paper bag…
Embarrassed-Yak-8269@reddit
Read my sentence previous to that one .
SCWeak@reddit
I read it. But then after saying that you again quoted an irrelevant law.
Since 2007 it’s been illegal to smoke indoors in public places.
Crash_Revenge@reddit
Maybe not in England.
nwindy317@reddit
Capitalism brother. Apparently it's great and the only system that works but I'm not so sure.
The_Turbine@reddit
It’s not your job to decide whether or not a customer should be charged. The company has decided they will levy a charge and you are employed to do as they request, your personal views don’t really matter here.
SHOWTIME_12@reddit
I used to work in retail and the big strong plastic bags were 30p each. If someone was buying two items and then wanted a plastic bag instead of the free paper one I’d charge them if I was being watched but more often than not I’d give it for free, especially if they were spending a lot. It would feel silly to say “here’s an extra 30p charge, even though you’re spending more than most people”. It was my own little rebellion against the company.
N64Andysaurus92@reddit
If you’ve just spent £1k on an overpriced piece of plastic and glass, what’s an extra 25p?
Any_Machine_1531@reddit
Just don’t charge them 🤷♂️
Excellent-Law-218@reddit
Arguably it's worse to pay for a bag for a cheap item since its a higher percentage of the purchase cost.
If they're made free, you're paying for them some other way anyway. Non issue for me.
Also find it ironic you use Rolex as an example of how to treat customers given some of the effort you have to exert to buy their more desirable models.
ThrowawayParsnip5@reddit
I used to work in a shoe shop years ago that charged 11p for a bag when the initial bag fees came in. Obviously most shops charged 10p at the time so it inevitably caused issues. You'd immediately get the, '11p for a bag???' responses, and I'd always want to reply, 'You've just dropped £200 on trainers, what's 11p to you??'
I'm still of that perspective. I don't care how expensive the item you're buying is - a bag costs pennies. Either bring your own bag or don't gripe over 25p (or whatever it is now).
afungalmirror@reddit
I'd say paying £1000 for a phone is what feels a bit off. Isn't that what the contract is for?
333333x@reddit
Even it's the £1000 is spread out over a few years its still £1000 for a phone.
TheCookieMonsterYum@reddit
Might be sim only contact.
Neddlings55@reddit
Would i pay 25p for one? Yes, but it better not be branded.
Do i think there should be a charge when buying a high end or expensive item? No.
shamone_mofo@reddit
Just like everything else we are being fleeced .
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