Retailers need to take note of pricing of goods rules: CSNA
Shops can and often do make an honest mistake about the prices they display
Print7 April 2025
Retailers need to remind themselves of the rules relating to pricing of goods and what remedies and obligations we encounter in serving the public, notes Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association (CSNA).
The following is an extract from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) advices.
Wrongly marked prices
Shops can and often do make an honest mistake about the prices they display.
A common example would be where some price indications are wrong and the marked price is lower than the price charged at the till.
In such circumstances the customer has the choice whether to purchase the item at the higher price, or decline the purchase. There is no obligation on the shop to offer the item at the lower price.
While it is desirable that the matter is satisfactorily resolved with the consumer, they still have the option of making a complaint to the CCPC in relation to the misleading price.
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. Where a product is sold loose by weight (e.g., loose mince, loose sweets), only the unit price can be displayed.
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). For some goods the unit of quantity is different, for example the unit of quantity for wine is 75cl.
The unit price is calculated using the total cost of the good including all taxes and charges. If the Re-Turn deposit return scheme applies, the deposit is not included when calculating the unit price.
Under the law you have to display both the selling price and the unit price on or near to the item. In practice this would be on the same shelf-edge label, with the selling price in the larger font and the unit price underneath.
Exemptions to unit pricing
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 item rather than by weight. Another example is products such as legs of lamb or cuts of meat, where the weight varies but a fixed price is charged.
- Pre-packaged products not greater than 50 grams or 50 millilitres, such as small packets of sweets, crisps and popcorn.
- Where the selling price has been reduced from the usual price on account of its damaged condition or the danger of its deterioration.
- A multi-pack of different products, such as a Christmas hamper.
- Food sold in restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, or other outlets where the food can be eaten on the premises. Note that where such businesses sell regular grocery items, these are subject to the unit price requirements.
CSNA highlighted that if your shop doesn’t have equipment for printing shelf-edge labels or for point-of-sale scanning, you only have to display the selling price.
If you sell from a stall or other mobile sales unit, you are also exempt from having to show unit prices, apart from products you sell in bulk, it added.
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