Monday, April 20, 2009

SHOULD ITEM PRICING BE DISCONTINUED -- share your thoughts

COUNTY LEGISLATOR ABINANTI WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU SUPPORT CONTINUATION OF ITEM PRICING...
I support Tom's position on this consumer protection matter---think that retail stores should mark prices on each item.

County Considers Fee in Lieu of Item Pricing

The Board of Legislators is considering changing the County’s consumer protection law that requires retail stores to mark a price on each item in addition to having a shelf label at its meeting on Monday, April 27, 2009.

The proposed change would permit some stores to avoid having to put a price on individual items. These stores would be required to pay a fee and, in some cases, install scanners in their stores for use by the public. For example, retail stores over 30,000 square feet would be required to install 3 scanners. Stores under 1,500 square feet would be exempt from the scanner requirement, but customers will be able to have their item scanned upon request.

Proponents say the change will reduce costs to businesses and still protect consumers.

Those who want to preserve item pricing say scanners are not viable substitutes for prices on individual items. Eliminating prices on individual items will require shoppers to rely on shelf labels and a limited number of scanners, and will make it more difficult for shoppers to compare prices within and between stores and to catch checkout pricing errors.

I have concerns about the proposed changes to a law that has served Westchester consumers well for the past 34 years. I would like to hear from consumers.



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Please share your thoughts by clicking on one of the links below.

I find having the price on the item that I am purchasing useful. The practice should continue.

I do not care if the price is on the item. The price on the shelf is enough.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

shop outside the county

hal samis said...

Another initiative to tackle unemployment.

Coming to a blog near you:

Supermarkets and retail stores have openings for clerks to price and label items for sale.

If you believe in the free lunch school of economics, you will ignore that item pricing increases labor costs (someone has to do the pricing) which will in turn be passed on to consumers.

The equivalent in local Government is the alternate universe which is glimpsed when the Town Board passes a Town Budget after holding public hearings on the proposed budget:

the public can see the unit pricing sticker go on (the cost of the various line items) and then after the store closes for the night (the budget is passed), the Town Board then changes all the prices (budget transfers).

from "Stop the World, I want to get off", 'I've been l-u-m-b-e-r-e-d, lumbered and I never want to get lumbered again'.

Anonymous said...

Wait - here's an opportunity for another Feiner First for Greenburgh.
Allow the discontinuance of unit pricing for any item with a scannable barcode. The require stores to provide shoppers with bar code scanners as the shoppers enter the store. (Of course everyone will have to promise to return the scanners as they leave, but we trust people.After all, we trust folks to tell TDYCC if they qualify for "scholarships" and GHA trusts people to tell the truth about the incomes....)
This program is both "green" by eliminating the nasty individual paper stickers thus saving thousands of trees and reducing the use of solvents to remove difficult stickers once the items are brought home. The program is also of significant benefit to the differently-abled. The scanners could include software to allow them to "speak" prices.
Don't miss this opportunity for another Feiner idea - who cares what cost you pass along to the running dog capitalists who run the economy?