> listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. Bounty paper towels, shelf price $10.99, rang up at $15.50

I'm sure the US obsession with not putting the actual price (tax included) on the shelf helps a lot with this. I would notice quite quickly if a store would systematically overcharge me in Europe. It'd be much harder in the US where I expect the price on the shelf to not match the price at checkout.

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venturecruelty a day ago | parent [-]

Those prices aren't because of tax; even the highest sales tax wouldn't cause $10.99 paper towels to ring up as $15.50.

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dotancohen a day ago | parent [-]

Yes, but the US consumers are conditioned to see one price and pay a higher price. You and I might see +40% and think "that's too high a percentage". Others see +something and think "just like every other time". If they even look - I'm sure these items are often in a cart with many other items.

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pwg a day ago | parent | next [-]

The stores get away with it because even when ignoring the fact that tax is added after, few of the shoppers in these stores will remember the shelf price for a basket of 20+ items from the store. They might remember one or two, but they won't remember (and therefore will not notice) enough of the shelf prices to notice the systematic overcharge at the register. In reality, a good number of the shoppers likely don't remember any of the prices from the shelf tags, and will not be mentally summing up what the final price should be, so those shoppers won't notice the discrepancy at all.

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JumpCrisscross a day ago | parent [-]

> stores get away with it because even when ignoring the fact that tax is added after, few of the shoppers in these stores will remember the shelf price for a basket of 20+ items from the store

We don't bother remembering it because we're in a high-enough trust society where that burden shouldn't be necessary.

	▲	dotancohen 20 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Were. You were in a high-enough trust society. As evidenced by this investigation.

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venturecruelty a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I'm pretty sure the problem is "companies try to screw over poor people", and not "the sticker price doesn't include the tax".