Pricing

Generally a pharmacy can determine their own prices to sell products at, and it is the customer's decision as to whether they are willing to pay that price. The only minimum pricing regulations in retail outlets in the UK are usually related to alcohol so are unlikely to affect the majority of pharmacies.

A pharmacy that offers goods for sale must have their prices clearly indicated, unambiguous, easily identifiable and inclusive of VAT. The prices must be close to the product so that the customer could not be confused, being displayed on the products themselves, a ticket or the shelf strips. In the event that the pharmacy has a retail area of more than 280m² the unit price of a product must also be displayed, e.g. 50p per 100g. Pharmacies of a larger area are more likely to display the same product in multiple sizes and displaying this additional information on the pricing ticket helps customers to distinguish the difference in pricing. If the window display contains items that are on sale within the pharmacy the prices of the products must be displayed.

Incorrect prices

A customer's legal rights within a shop with regard to prices are often dependent on whether they have paid for an item or not. If a customer sees a product incorrectly priced on a shelf and takes it to the till to pay for it, they do not have the legal right to be sold the product at that price as long as they are made aware that the price is a mistake. This is because they are being given the choice as to whether they want to purchase at the alternative price. However, if the customer does buy an item for more than the item was advertised for at the time, the shop should refund the difference between what the customer paid and what was advertised. The customer may need some evidence of where they saw the advertised price. If on the other hand, the customer has purchased an item at a lower cost than was advertised, the customer does not have to pay this back as this is considered a legally binding contract. They are only legally required to pay more if the correct price was actually discussed at the time of the sale.

If a pharmacy fails to display prices or displays prices incorrectly they may be investigated by trading standards and subject to legal action such as a fine. If a pricing mistake has been made, remedied once found and it is a one-off occurrence trading standards may not wish to pursue further. However, if the pharmacy fails to correct errors once they have been made aware they could be accused of deliberately trying to mislead customers. If investigated the pharmacy will be asked to provide evidence of their price checking procedures and it is, therefore, all employees' responsibility to ensure that prices displayed are correct at all times and changed where appropriate in line with any promotions.