Multipack Items

[Greedyfly]

Am I right in thinking that it is NOT illegal to split and sell multipack items singley as long as you price the item clearly?

Thanks

GF

[fiction-factory]

I can't see how it can be illegal to resell anything

[fiction-factory]

(apart from obvious exceptions like reselling alcohol to teenagers)

[murraymints]

sometimes things have "multipack not for resale" written on them..tins of juice is one I recall seeing...

[Canary42]

A few years ago I was in a supermarket checkout queue where the cashier refused to let a woman have a tin of baked beans broken out from a multi-pack (even though someone else had obviously broekn the pack and left the single tin on the shelf). She called the supervisor who supported her and told the woman to go back and select a single tin (I was incensed at the time and very tempted to say to the supervisor "No you go and get a single tin" but felt the customer might have been embarrassed by my interference).

[Greedyfly]

I've also seen the 'not to be sold separately' but after some googling I am convinced this is a business requesting them item not to be sold separately but it isn't legally enforceable. Just checking I don't have the wrong end of the stick.

[gingejbee]

Sometimes items in multipacks are not fully labelled (no weight or ingredients on each item, for example)....so these shouldn't be sold individually.

[woofgang]

the other thing that may be missing on a multipack is the best before or use by date.

[Maydup]

The only thing I can think of is to do with allegens and ingredients. If its a food item and these are are listed on the outer packaging but not in the individual items, it would not be legal to split them and sell them separately. Especially since the new allegen regulations of 2014.

[TheChair]

As gingejbee says, some multi-packs contain the statutory information only on the outer wrapper. I've certainly seen yoghurt packs like this, where each individual tub has only the brand name and flavour. Under those circumstances, selling the tub without the wrapper that lists the ingredients, weight, and sell and/or use by dates would most certainly be illegal.

[EDDIE51]

I used to run the bar at our local community centre and I always bought multipack crisps to sell over the bar. It meant I could sell a pack of crisps for 30p instead of the £1 a pub would have charged. No one ever complained .
I am sure it is just the manufacturer who does not want people splitting multi packs as it means lower profits. It is not illegal as fa as I know.

[gingejbee]

EDDIE...read the earlier answers....!

[Buenchico]

There are two separate issues here:

When a manufacturer sells a product to a retailer he is entitled to include a condition that multi-packs must not be split for resale. However the only redress he has if the retailer fails to comply with that condition is to refuse to sell further multi-packs to him. Given that there's usually a middle man (i.e. a wholesaler) involved in the process, that's clearly impractical anyway.

However some multi-packs are sold with the list of product ingredients (including, for example, allergens) only on the outer packaging and not on the individual products. Where that occurs (and where there is also a statutory duty to declare the product ingredients) then any retailer who splits the packs must ensure that additional labelling is applied to the individual products, in order to comply with the statutory labelling requirements.

There's a relevant FAQ on the Birmingham Trading Standards website:
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=SystemAdmin%2FCFPageLayout&cid=1223092622766&;packedargs=website%3D4&pagename=BCC%2FCommon%2FWrapper%2FCFWrapper&rendermode=live

[MTbowels]

Oh dear, seems that everyone may have missed the most important point here. A tin or whatever removed from a shrink wrapped multipack has one key thing missing: a barcode.

No matter how they try or how unhelpful a supermarket cashier is being, they cannot scan a product with no barcode. It's a simple as that. Whilst individual packs in a multipack do indeed omit key information such as ingredients, allergens and weight, they have nothing to do with the saleability of the product and these omissions are red-herrings.

The price a supermarket values a product can vary terrifically depending on whether it was bought in as part of a multipack or as a single container. Sometimes the wholesale purchase price can vary between the two by 1000% or more (yes, I did say thousand percent) when promotions and other methods are agreed between the supermarket buyer and the manufacturer.

Because of this, supermarkets are in no rush to sell you an unbarcoded product despite the fact that the profit on that item can be massive compared to an identical barcoded item.

Finally, no it's not illegal to sell multipack items singly regardless if the store use scanners only or rings up the item on the till. It's just easier not to as it can create problems in stocktaking etc.

Incidentally, most goods-inwards managers at supermarkets are forbidden from accepting deliveries if the product fails to have a barcode.

[EDDIE51]

No bar codes when selling crisps over the 'bar' so no problem. Used to do it with ice cream as well. So much cheaper!

[Buenchico]

MTB:
Not everything is sold where bar codes are used. For example, you'll find cans of Coke and Mars bars (ex multi-packs) sold in sandwich shops, from burger vans, from seaside stalls and over the bars of sports and social clubs, as well as from the many corner shops that don't use EPOS systems. None of them use bar codes.

It's probably such retail sales (rather than those from supermarkets) which GF's question refers to.

[MTbowels]

Buenchico, I fail to see the relevance of the fact that not everything is sold where bar codes are used. Utilisation of bar codes is indeed subject to the retailer possessing EPOS equipment.

Nevertheless, manufacturers will by default assume that EPOS equipment is employed at the point of sale. Barcodes are therefore printed on all products intended for single item sales ensuring that sales are not impeded through technical difficulties. This is common sense.

If the outlet does not have EPOS equipment it does not mean that the barcode serves no useful purpose as typically it can be used for stocktaking purposes. Remarkably, there are many retail chains who choose not to install EPOS equipment yet use hand held scanners for stocktaking purposes.

[baza]

A local kebab shop buys multipack cans of pop at ASDA half a mile away and sells them at 60p each, not a bad profit.

[gingejbee]

MTB: Your assertion that items in a multipack do not have bar-codes is incorrect. It depends on the product/size/manufacturer...some products are bar-coded (and have ingredients and weight), whereas some products are not bar-coded. (Example - I have opened a multi-pack Kit-Kat Chunky. All bars are fully labelled, including bar-codes).
So, oh dear, it seems that your "red-herrings" argument is rather a red-herring itself.
(Talking of herrings...tins of John West tuna from a multipack are also bar-coded...just checked).

[B00]

MT's comments are sound, and are largely correct.

As a checkout girl (girl??) I find it deeply annoying when a customer takes it upon themselves to open a multipack as the product is usually missing it's barcode and therefore can't be scanned. We're also then left with a rogue single item and a pummeled, battered 4pack (or 6, or 8, etc) that can't be sold either.

[murraymints]

end up in staff canteen boo ?? when a saturday girl in Littlewoods all the spoiled produce ended up as our lunch ! it was known for some rather tasty steak pies to have broken crusts and unsaleable..pure accident of course !