$5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee Charged in Australian Gluten-Free Grocery

$5 “just looking” fee is being charged at an Australian store for people who look but do not buy.
$5 ‘Just Looking’ Fee Charged in Australian Gluten-Free Grocery
A screenshot of Imgur shows the notice. (Screenshot taken by The Epoch Times)
Jack Phillips
3/26/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

A specialty food store in Australia will charge customers $5 for shopping without buying.

The fee is intended to curb “showrooming,” which entails a customer going into a store to look at the price of an item before buying it online, according to the Consumerist.  

A photo of the store’s new policy was posted on Reddit recently. It reads that anyone who is “just looking” will have to pay the fee.

“There has been high volume of people who use this store as a reference and then purchase goods elsewhere,” the note adds. “These people are unaware our prices are almost the same as the other stores plus we have products simply not available anywhere else.”

It says that the fee “is in line” with shoe, electronic, and clothing stores that also face the same problem.

Adelaidenow.com.au reported that the store is Brisbane-based Celiac Supplies, which sells gluten-free products.

Georgina, the owner of the store and who did not give her full name, told the website that she spent hours every week giving advice to people who left without buying something. She said at as many as 60 people per week would go into the store, ask questions, and then leave.

“I’ve had a gut full of working and not getting paid,'' Georgina was quoted as saying. ”I’m not here to dispense a charity service for Coles and Woolworths to make more money.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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