Today I purchased book from Dymocks - just a regular size. I presented my loyalty card when paying. I was handed the book so I asked for a paper bag and was told that it would be 20 cents. This is for a plain, simple brown paper bag for a loyal customer. Am I the only one that finds this a bit cheapskate?
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Hi @JohnWW, welcome to the community.
Many retailers have started to charge for shopping bags which they supply to their customers. Whether this is the supermarkets, department type stores or specialist retailers. We are finding that more and more are.
I suspect that Dymocks has decided to also join other retailers in charging for shopping bags. These single use paper bags aren’t free for Dymocks to purchase, so I expect that they are charging those who don’t bring their own and require a bag to take their purchase home.
If one looks on the other foot, if they don’t charge a customer for a store provided paper bag, should they provide customers that bring their own bags a discount of 20c? This possibly gives an answer to why it is reasonable to charge a customer for bags provided by a retailer.
It is also worth noting that many consumers have become accustomed to bringing their own bags when shopping, so Dymocks is catering only for those which didn’t…by charging a small amount for the privilege of providing a single use paper bag.
Dymocks approach is consistent with the new rules recently agreed by industry and government whereby packaging waste is minimised where possible. Paying for a single use paper bag is one of the strategies to achieve this outcome. It is likely that many more retailers will be charging for single use bags provided to customers in the future. Consumers will need to take their own multiple use bags if they don’t want to be hit with such charges.
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These bags are unnecessary to cover one book. The tendancy is to remove it and bin it when home. The local chemist also used to put our script into a paper bag, but I decline as I have a cloth bag I can put it in, otherwise the paper just goes into the recycling at home.
The supermarkets are charging for bags, even paper bags. It just adds to the recycling load as people treat them as single use, rather than re-using. It costs the business to provide bags and other things like spoons, straws, even more now that single use plastics are being phased out. The alternatives are usually dearer.
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One wonders what sort of book you bought that you needed a brown paper bag to put it in.
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I’d not grumble over the 20c. While I carry my own bags, there are several expensive hard covers in the book case that deserve looking after, fly covers included. I’ve yet to include an additional paper bag to protect such purchases from other items in the shopping bag.
If it was one of the “abc… for Dummies” texts, perhaps two paper bags might be wise, just in case the first one fails. 
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Great! They should charge $1. We should always bring our own bags.
Supermarkets, charge $1.
Of course it is disgraceful profiteering . Those bags cost the business a cent or two at the most and perhaps a cent or two more if they are printed with the company name and logo which is advertising . I would seriously consider looking for a less rapacious bookshop .
Dymocks outlets are part of a franchise chain. It may help others to note which individual outlet/store this observation relates to.
Others may find their Dymocks outlets are the same or bag for free. Our Newsagent will bag a $10 magazine in a printed paper bag with no added cost.
