Opinion: people who take advantage of shop pricing errors are wrong

It’s just not that clever to fill your trolley with a price-glitched product, and here’s why…

There’s a good news story that appears almost every month and it really, really winds me up.

“Price glitch sees shoppers stock up on hair cream”; “shoppers riot as pricing error sees beer selling for just 50p”; “Mum buys 60 Arctic Rolls thanks to pricing error”

These news stories are always pitched as plucky shoppers taking on the might of the shopping giant.

The angle is almost always ‘at least these shoppers are getting one over on the big retailers’ and illustrated with a picture of one such plucky shopper with a trolley full of pizza or dog worming medication or shampoo – whatever product has been accidentally marked down to a ridiculously low value.

But I don’t think that’s as good as these news stories suggest. In fact, I think that chasing such deals is wrong.

I know, I know, I sound cantankerous but I have some genuine issues with such trigger-happy bargain hunting. Here are my main gripes.

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1. No one needs that much butter

Whenever a pricing glitch is reported in the papers, you’ll see a case study who managed to take advantage of the error to ‘bag themselves a bargain’.

Except that it’s never a bargain really, it’s almost always a grinning shopper with a trolley piled high with Flora that they managed to buy for just a few pence each.

Congratulations shopper, but what do you honestly intend to do with all that?

A few years ago there was a pricing error on Terry’s Chocolate Oranges at a major supermarket.

Now buying a few of those at a knockdown price is understandable – everyone likes a Chocolate Orange and you may as well get one for your mum too. But a trolley-full of chocolate? Not exactly winning at life, are you?

I know it’s boring to repeat this but things are only a bargain if you need them. Buying a trolley full of butter or Chocolate Oranges or cat litter doesn’t make you a savvy shopper; it makes you someone whose cupboards are full of butter or chocolate.

People who take advantage of shop price mistakes are wrong (image: Shutterstock)

2. You’re stopping other people from benefitting

Price glitches are usually swiftly reported online and the hoards of bargain hunters descend upon the supermarket in question and clear the aisles within hours.

But that means that other shoppers, the ones who don’t regularly trawl the web looking for price glitches, don’t get to benefit from the error.

Not only that, they don’t get to buy the item they potentially needed.

3. It’s kind of theft

Okay, it’s not theft theft to buy an item when it’s been inadvertently marked down. However, if you know that the price is wrong but you still buy it then it’s not 100% honest either.

And that gets worse depending on what you’re trying to buy. It’s one thing buying some chocolate that’s been priced wrongly but what if the accidental deal means a TV has been marked down by several hundred pounds?

In 2009, a website inadvertently sold a 52-inch TV for $9.99 when it was meant to be priced at $16,666.

I cannot be the only one that things buying it at the incorrect price is straightforward stealing?

It’s digital looting, plain and simple. Unsurprisingly, the retailer in that instance did not honour the sales – but that doesn’t make it any better for the shopper who tried to buy them.

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4. You probably won’t get it

All the really big price glitches, the ones where new iPads are offered for £50 or TVs for a tenner or 11 billion loyalty points when you buy a Twix – these errors are unlikely to be honoured.

If you buy them online then you’re probably just wasting your time, most retailers have enough disclaimers that they don’t have to sell you the item you purchased if they don’t want to.

5. Sometimes it’s marketing

As a consumer affairs journalist I often get sent information on so-called price glitches, usually via deal websites.

These deals often come when sales are low, when shops are quiet or when a retailer wants customers through its doors instead of its competitors.

At least when it’s intentional it’s not theft, but it’s important to look carefully at whether you’re getting a deal or being manipulated.

6. It won’t save you money

If you’re going to a specific supermarket to take advantage of the pricing error then you could save some cash on chocolate oranges, sure.

But you’re likely to do some other shopping while you’re there.

Not only does spending money on stuff you don’t need emphatically not save you money – even if they are priced wrongly – but shopping at the wrong supermarket can cost you a fortune.

The website Mysupermarket.co.uk allows customers to compare the price of their shopping in a number of different supermarkets.

The average shopper can save more than £10 on their big weekly shop simply by doing it in the cheapest place.

But if you go charging off after a bargain, spend money you wouldn’t otherwise on a ‘deal’ and also pay more for your shopping overall then I don’t think that makes you a savvy shopper.

What do you think? Am I getting wound up over a genuine issue or should we all enjoy occasionally sticking it to the supermarkets by taking advantage of their errors?

Have your say in our poll and share your views in the comments below.