# If a retailer is not showing unit pricing SI 639 2002 who do you report it to?



## ajapale (18 Feb 2008)

Under consumer protection leglislation retrailers are obliged to display unit prices in most cases. The following is from the citizens advice webpage:



> *Unit pricing*
> 
> Unit pricing is a useful tool for comparing prices.
> 
> ...


I have come accross some daft application of the regulations recently.

1)Sam McCauley (chemists chain) have a pack of three NUK (250ml) babies bottles and instead of displaying the price per bottle they display the price per litre!

2)Boots the Chemist sell huggies nappies in packs of 64 and instead of displaying the price per nappy they display the price per kilo!

Has anyone else come up with similar examples?


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## BillK (18 Feb 2008)

*Re: Unit Pricing: Some daft examples!*

Mrs K bought some sausages in Tesco the other day which were only priced per sausage - she had to specify how many she wanted rather than a particular weight.
I suppose this could have advantages, but I had never heard of that method of pricing before.


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## rmelly (19 Feb 2008)

*Re: Unit Pricing: Some daft examples!*

I would have said each of these is fine as long as all similar products follow the same approach to allow valid comparison. The idea is you don't need to make additional calculations where the quantities/sizes differ.

Take the following example for cans of soup:

3 pack of Soup X, 500 ml x 3, costs EUR 2.25
2 pack of Soup Y, 750 ml x 2, costs EUR 2.00

Which is better value? What good is a price per can here if the units are not of comparable size?

Whereas a price per liter would be useful here.


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## ajapale (9 Apr 2009)

*Re: Unit Pricing: Some daft examples!*

If a retailer is not showing unit pricing who do you report the matter to?

In the case of nappies (yes nappies again!) the standard display shows the unit price but the special offer display just shows the price per box.

Huggies (and Pampers) seem to have really odd numbers of nappies in a box and also very odd price points. If you have a calculator then the prices can vary from about 18c to 30c. This goes for Dunnes, Tesco, SQ and Supervalue.

Very often the large boxes represent worse value thant the small packs.


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## sam h (9 Apr 2009)

*Re: Unit Pricing*

This is a real bug bear for me also.  I do most of my shopping in Tesco & I notice toilet paper could be priced as per roll or per kg or per sheet.

Eggs (don't think they do a price per egg) - it's cheaper to buy 6 medium eggs than 12.


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## z107 (24 Nov 2009)

> If a retailer is not showing unit pricing who do you report the matter to?


The retailer.
They can then remedy the situation.


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## Brendan Burgess (24 Nov 2009)

The National Consumer Agency



> *How to contact us*
> 
> *The quickest way to get an answer to your query is to call **our Consumer helpline on* *Lo-call 1890 432 432
> *
> ...


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## ajapale (27 Nov 2009)

Thanks Brendan,

Make a consumer complaint  Call our helpline:* 1890 432 432* or *(01) 402 5555* 

from their website:


> *Unit pricing*
> 
> Some products are covered by "unit pricing" rules. Many products sold by groceries, supermarkets and shops are sold by weight, volume or measure, and unit pricing means you must display not only the product's actual selling price, but its unit price too.
> The unit price is the price for a given quantity of the product (e.g. the price for a litre or kilo of the product).
> ...


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## mercman (27 Nov 2009)

What is a consumer supposed to do when no prices are displayed at all. Butcher Shops in the west of Ireland have this knack of having no prices on a vast range of their meat products, which is very annoying. Very hard to do price comparisons when two butcher shops have no prices displayed.


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## ajapale (25 Apr 2012)

Are butchers exempt from the unit pricing regulation? Like mercman I often see 10 chicken fillets for €10 with no reference to the weight or average weight.


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## GDUFFY (25 Apr 2012)

I used to have to price rolls of Sellotape in the unit price and the price per metre.


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## JamesMorgan (25 Apr 2012)

ajapale said:


> Are butchers exempt from the unit pricing regulation? Like mercman I often see 10 chicken fillets for €10 with no reference to the weight or average weight.



The very first exemption that you posted gives you the answer:

_There are certain exceptions to the unit pricing rule: 
Where the selling price is not related to the quantity of that product being offered for sale. Examples would be fruit such as melons or vegetables such as turnips which are often sold by a fixed price rather than by weight_

Also the two examples listed abide by the regulations as well.  It is clearly defined: _The unit price, however, tells you the price of a kg, litre, metre, square metre or cubic metre._  A unit is an SI unit, not one bottle in a package of three bottles.  It is hardly important provided that you can make a comparison between competing products.  If you are told that 10 chicken fillets cost €10, and 5 fillets cost €6, can you not make the comparison?


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## ajapale (19 May 2012)

JamesMorgan said:


> If you are told that 10 chicken fillets cost €10, and 5 fillets cost €6, can you not make the comparison?



You cant compare between shops if you dont have the per kilo price.

Butcher A could have big fillets, butcher B could have smaller ones.


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## sustanon (20 May 2012)

People should try being better at mental arithmetic. All the information is there, they're just too lazy to process it


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## ajapale (20 May 2012)

Fortunately the law, (SI 639 of 2002), sets down that unit *prices* *must be displayed on* or *close to the item*. So a proficiency in mental arithmetic (while useful) is not strictly necessary in this case.


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## ajapale (17 Nov 2012)

I have noticed that the pound shop style shop known as _*Dealz*_ does not do unit pricing. I dont think its fair that these shops can sell milk etc and not showing unit prices while ordinary decent retailers such as Dunnes, Tescos, Supervalue, Lidl and Aldi all have to invest much time and energy to be compliant with the regulations.

Often when you calculate the unit price in Dealz it transpires to be poor value and dearer than the supermarktes!


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## Complainer (18 Nov 2012)

Are the pound shops exempt from the regs, or are they chancing their arms? Have you considered reporting them to NCA?


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## Luternau (18 Nov 2012)

ajapale said:


> I have noticed that the pound shop style shop known as _*Dealz*_ does not do unit pricing. I dont think its fair that these shops can sell milk etc and not showing unit prices while ordinary decent retailers such as Dunnes, Tescos, Supervalue, Lidl and Aldi all have to invest much time and energy to be compliant with the regulations.
> 
> Often when you calculate the unit price in Dealz it transpires to be poor value and dearer than the supermarktes!



They have generic information displays along their shelf that indicate the price per kg based on weight. Example prce 1.49, product 100gm = 14.90 per kg, 1.49, product 200gm = 7.45 per kg. I cant recall if they had 150gm  as a weight  point. If not, its back to the mental arithmetic.
If this is not inline with legislation-then they are non compliant. However, my guess is, that there is a technicality that allows them to do this and remain compliant. It would not be the first time that there was a loophole in legislation/regulation that allowed people avoid the essense of the regulation. Building regs for example-often exempted/avoided/skirted, seldom breached!!!!


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## ajapale (18 Nov 2012)

[broken link removed] is an interesting blog on the business model behind Poundland/Dealz.
by Luke Griffiths  	         		        _ 			        Delivery Director
			        Bluefin Solutions_

The secrets of Poundland  08 Oct 2012 			Consumer Business, Consumer Products, Retail & Trade  		



> *Secrets of Poundland Dispatches*
> 
> [broken link removed]I recently watched   programme (available on 4OD at the time of writing). The premise was  the Poundland's use of pricing, packaging and in-your-face bargain  labelling was persuading us to by certain products that were in fact  more expensive per unit that in the local supermarket.
> The programme tried to make the point that the most vulnerable  sections of society, those on benefits or very low wages were being  exploited by these 'deals' as they had little choice but to shop with  these retailers. Whatever your thoughts on consumer choice, what was  clear was Poundland is not a fledgling underdog but a sophisticated  operator operating in a fragmented sector with plenty of profit still to  be made.
> ...


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## ajapale (18 Nov 2012)

And from moneysavingexpert.com
*The "Poundland Style" non Bargains - MoneySavingExpert.com*


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