Why is the price on the shelves for drinks often different from what I actually pay in supermarkets in Germany?

Why is the price on the shelves for drinks often different from what I actually pay in supermarkets in Germany? - Shelves with various bottles of lemonades in supermarket

I have used supermarkets in Germany (REWE, etc). But I found that whenever I purchase a bottled drink the price described on the selves was different from what I actually paid.

For example in one case, one bottled juice was shown 0.95 on the shelf, but the actual price I paid was 1.10.

At first I thought it is just my misunderstanding, but it sounds the same thing happend in most cases (or maybe always).

I also wondered it is due to VAT and the price at the shelf doesn't include it. But 0.95 * 1.19 = 1.13, not 1.10.

So what is happening here? Is this something like a credit card charge or an entrance charge?

For your information I always used Amex or VISA to make a payment, and buy only one bottled drink which costs about 0.8 to 1.6 on the shelf price.



Best Answer

Prices in supermarkets in Germany always already include VAT. What you've been paying extra is called "Pfand": basically a deposit for the bottle, which can be reused or recycled. You can return the empty bottle in the supermarket to get that money back.




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Why is the price on the shelves for drinks often different from what I actually pay in supermarkets in Germany? - Assorted colorful boxes of tasty sweet cookies placed on shelves with prices in supermarket
Why is the price on the shelves for drinks often different from what I actually pay in supermarkets in Germany? - Shelves with various milk boxes
Why is the price on the shelves for drinks often different from what I actually pay in supermarkets in Germany? - Collection of eyeglasses on shelves in store





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Answer 2

Here's a picture of the logo which is printed on recyclable bottles/cans which carry a deposit (typically €0.25):

enter image description here

Considering the amount you paid (€0.15), the juice you bought was in a refillable bottle of 0.5L or more.

If you don't want to be charged the deposit when you purchase your drink, look for single-use bottles/cans (i.e. PET bottles, aluminum cans or Tetra-packs) which don't have the icon.

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