What's the deal with buying single cans out of a multipack at a bottle shop? (Australia)
As per title. I very, very rarely drink, and I generally just want to buy a single of something for a rare treat, however most beers/ciders/etc are sold in multipacks.
The pricing on the shelf is usually per-pack only, yet sometimes I see random products with single cans/bottles missing, and sometimes random products will have a little section of unpackaged singles, despite not having a separate price showing.
Is it generally OK to split an unopened 4- or 6-pack, or is that as weird and inappropriate as doing the equivalent in a supermarket? What even are the rules around this?
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These items are usually marked “not for individual sale“. I’m pretty sure what you are witnessing is people just stealing things. (At least some of the time, But smaller stores do break those “not for individual sell” rules too).
If you’re not sure, just asking an employee.
I've never seen "Not for individual sale" on alcohol.
Fair enough.
You just haven't looked hard enough.
If it is in a closed packb and no price is listed individually, then it is likely not for sale individually. You certainly should not be opening something to take one out.
That notice is not a legal restriction, nor a rule to stop stores from breaking up multi-packs. What it's there for is to alert buyers and cashiers that the barcode printed on each unit contains the product code for the multi-pack. If stores want to sell individual units, they just have to re-label them, or at least not scan the barcode.
The store in which I used to work sells individual bottles of beer, or build-your-own 6-packs. The liquor department manager just puts a slash through the barcodes with a black marker, so they won't scan on the registers.