Cost of Living - Shrinkflation is speeding up at an alarming rate

The other half got a pack of Morrison's custard donuts the other day.. £1! I remember not too long ago they were ~59p or 2 for £1!

However what really struck me was the fact they seem to have shrunk by about 1cm in diameter; the cardboard tray is the same size, but whereas they used to be squashed up against the sides of it, there's now a massive gap around them:

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Ayahuasca said:
Not just supermarkets with self-checkouts either. The wife works in a big city and she's seen people going into places like Greggs, picking up several items and just walking out with them. All sorts of people at it as well e.g. people in suits/business wear and even some in company uniforms.

People just don't care anymore because there are little to no consequences.
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When they are making record profits and not raising wages then why not. I don't see a problem any longer.

When now they hire parking companies to monitor the carparks and reduce the time you can park and shop.

I have e been sent invoices from car parking companies have constantly dispute them as unfair. I have come to a conclusion that if they play like that then I will too.

They want you in and out as fast as possible, also the hours of shops has reduced. Banks are another problem 10 am to 3pm Mon to Friday closes Saturday this annoys me.

I constantly get them to mail me the same card 5 or 6 times now. I no longer care about making their life easy. I now care about making my life easy and cheap.

So these big companies I don't care about, the small families that have not 1shop I feel sorry for.

So yer steal away from these companies, they deserve it.
 
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None of that is a good excuse for being a thief, for me it's more about maintaining some sort of morality than just doing it because I can get away with it. Also, you may think it only affects "the big company" but it doesn't, it can affect the minimum wage workers who work for these companies and their customers who bear the brunt of price increases to cover the millions stolen each week.

It's the same with a lot of things in life, I could take the easy option that only benefits me, or something that might give me short term pleasure etc, but once you start slipping it can spiral out of control.

Basically, do better. The only exceptions for me are people who are absolutely desperate, but even then it's a fine balance between it becoming a learned behaviour and being a lifelong thief and just doing it until you get back on your feet.

I constantly get them to mail me the same card 5 or 6 times now.
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That's just weird, too.
 
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Tram said:
When they are making record profits and not raising wages then why not. I don't see a problem any longer.

When now they hire parking companies to monitor the carparks and reduce the time you can park and shop.

I have e been sent invoices from car parking companies have constantly dispute them as unfair. I have come to a conclusion that if they play like that then I will too.

They want you in and out as fast as possible, also the hours of shops has reduced. Banks are another problem 10 am to 3pm Mon to Friday closes Saturday this annoys me.

I constantly get them to mail me the same card 5 or 6 times now. I no longer care about making their life easy. I now care about making my life easy and cheap.

So these big companies I don't care about, the small families that have not 1shop I feel sorry for.

So yer steal away from these companies, they deserve it.
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Complains about companies and how some of how they operate is "dodgy" then proceeds to use this as an excuse to be dodgy themselves. Just lol :cry:
 
Tram said:
When they are making record profits and not raising wages then why not. I don't see a problem any longer.

When now they hire parking companies to monitor the carparks and reduce the time you can park and shop.

I have e been sent invoices from car parking companies have constantly dispute them as unfair. I have come to a conclusion that if they play like that then I will too.

They want you in and out as fast as possible, also the hours of shops has reduced. Banks are another problem 10 am to 3pm Mon to Friday closes Saturday this annoys me.

I constantly get them to mail me the same card 5 or 6 times now. I no longer care about making their life easy. I now care about making my life easy and cheap.

So these big companies I don't care about, the small families that have not 1shop I feel sorry for.

So yer steal away from these companies, they deserve it.
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I would say some words but they are not forum friendly.

I’ll go with this, you need to get some professional help, this is not normal behaviour.

P.S. supermarkets have basically made record profits every year since the day they were originally incorporated. The point you miss is their profit margins are tiny and it’s one of, if not the most competitive sector in the U.K. and has been for decades. No one is making money hand over fist in this sector.

They literally need to make a ‘record profits’ each year just to stay afloat because the value of money erodes over time. £100 made this year doesn’t have as much value as £100 made last year. They need to make £103 profit this year just to make the same as last year but this gets portrayed as a ‘record profit’ because it’s £3 more. It’s total nonsensical economics.
 
Richie said:
Complains about companies and how some of how they operate is "dodgy" then proceeds to use this as an excuse to be dodgy themselves. Just lol :cry:
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Why not? The you need to take advantage of the system. The system steals from you so steal back.
 
Tram said:
When they are making record profits and not raising wages then why not. I don't see a problem any longer.
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Shock as businesses want to make as much profit as possible :confused:

Also surprise when continually raising wages of supermarket staff (who are on or near minimum wage), directly increases food prices contributing to food inflation (and therefore you can see why supermarkets are reluctant to do it) :confused:

Tram said:
Why not? The you need to take advantage of the system. The system steals from you so steal back.
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Even if "the system" was stealing from me (pro tip: it's not), then becoming a criminal myself isn't something that I find acceptable
 
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Tram said:
I constantly get them to mail me the same card 5 or 6 times now. I no longer care about making their life easy. I now care about making my life easy and cheap.
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So doing something completely pointless, multiple times, somehow 'makes your life easier'?
 
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Tram said:
Why not? The you need to take advantage of the system. The system steals from you so steal back.
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Requesting they send you multiple copies of the same card needlessly is "taking advantage of the system"?

Jesus wept. It's like some people don't realise that, by causing a company excess expenditure, they pass this onto their entire customer base thereby making everyone's life more expensive. But that's ok as long as you "stick it to the man"? :rolleyes:
 
Richie said:
Requesting they send you multiple copies of the same card needlessly is "taking advantage of the system"?

Jesus wept. It's like some people don't realise that, by causing a company excess expenditure, they pass this onto their entire customer base thereby making everyone's life more expensive. But that's ok as long as you "stick it to the man"? :rolleyes:
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If it saves me money then it is fine. I am sick of companies taking advantage. It ready depends on what angle you are looking at it from.

We live in a country where everyone is screwing everyone.
 
You’ve given zero examples of this actually happening.

Your supermarket example is particularly pathetic because they don’t actually make much profit at all. Single digit % profit margins are tiny, supermarkets mostly make below 5% profit and next to nothing on fresh food because it’s so competitive.
 
Diddums said:
Normally I'd shame those people but honestly the way things are going I'm not surprised. Whilst supermarkets are posting record profits, they're stiffing us with their loyalty cards, higher prices and smaller product sizes.

I really wish someone would do a deep dive in to the supermarket's costs to see if there's a genuine justification for their shameless greed. My perception is that they're just doing it for profit and I'd like to be proven wrong as that would indicate bigger problems.
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I kind of get it, but the problem is it isnt a victimless crime, and its clearly so widespread now that it likely is actually contributing to shop inflation levels. The boss of COOP even said it made some stores unprofitable which were previously profitable and had to close them. So the impact is on jobs, wages, and prices. The more people shoplift, the more the impact grows. It also isnt just food, not even just food and alcohol, apparently according to the iplayer episode I watched its becoming wide spread for young females to shop lift make up and other similar products. Its baffling at this point self checkouts havent been EOL'd but also clear they not the sole problem as well. I think the main issue is that there is pretty much almost no chance of being prosecuted and its not even treated seriously as a crime if below £200, although thankfully that law is in the process of getting reverted.

It does highlight though that the country is not all what some think it is in terms of financial comfort as I expect the starting point is going to be poverty, the people interviewed all said at least initially it was out of need, but when they realised how easy it is, it then became a hobby.
 
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Tram said:
If it saves me money then it is fine. I am sick of companies taking advantage. It ready depends on what angle you are looking at it from.
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You're going to have to run me through how getting a bank to send you multiple cards saves you money :confused:


Tram said:
We live in a country where everyone is screwing everyone.
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Well, damn, you got me convinced :rolleyes:
 
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would be interesting to know the supermarket expenditure for increased security(pence in the pound I spend) - the tablets at self checkout, AI systems for monitoring aisle 'walkers' for suspicious behaviour,
and in JS the fencing barricade to herd traffic flow.
it's like HMRC , do the expense of fraud teams outweigh the cost of goods lost, the cost of the deterrent, like nukes.
(as long as the Parliamentary bodies are now controlling MP expenses though - control on the hoi-paloi )


supermarkets in the UK low margin, yes, but it's the volume that counts, and we get the quality of food we are prepared to pay for in the UK, not withstanding strawberries all year round and out of season veg.
(on margins Beeb had an interesting expose on 'top' watch brands who sell for twenty times the cost of manufacture , new-comer chris ward brand is 3x and they still cover R&D and marketting)

e:
Haggisman said:
The other half got a pack of Morrison's custard donuts the other day.. £1! I remember not too long ago they were ~59p or 2 for £1!
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at least in JS now, they removed their internal bakeries and de-skilled the workforce - so it's frankly easy to reject their offerings/doughnuts & co
 
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