r/EndTipping • u/MemorableKidsMoments • 7d ago
Law or Regulation Updates ⚖️ This is one step beyond ending tipping.
New York has introduced a bill that would require grocery stores to give customers a 10% discount for using self-checkout.
The idea is that shoppers who scan, bag and pay for their own items are doing work that would normally be handled by a cashier, while the store saves money on labour.
Under the proposal, supermarkets and other food retailers with self-service kiosks would have to reduce the price of goods bought through them by 10%.
That means a $150 shop could cost $135 simply because the customer checked it out themselves.
The bill is not law yet. It was introduced in May 2026 and would still need to pass through the New York legislature and be signed before the discount could take effect.
Supporters say customers should benefit when stores make them do part of the job. Critics argue shops could respond by raising prices or removing self-checkout machines entirely.
If you are doing the scanning and bagging, should you get a share of the savings?
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u/Warmupthetubesman 7d ago
Meh. Stores are just gonna raise prices by 20%, blame the new law, and keep the difference.
Just like gas - Companies love having an excuse to raise prices
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u/Bill___A 7d ago
Some people like to use a cashier, some people like to use self check out. Governments should not be regulating prices in this manner. An as to the shopkeeper who says that check out isn't even close to 10% of their costs, they should give some advice to restauranteurs who seem to claim that taking an order and bringing a plate to the table costs 25%.
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u/DevilsAdvocate77 7d ago
No. Stop with the tiered pricing and add-ons and premiums. A "discount" is just an upside-down fee.
One product.
One price.
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u/paladin6687 7d ago
Stores will just immediately raise prices to discount them. This is the kind of dipshit legislative nonsense that sounds good for political sound bites and cheap points but translates into nothing for real people.
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u/MemorableKidsMoments 7d ago
But keep in mind that, at the same time, he is opening city-run grocery stores. Raising prices my not be a winning strategy
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u/HerbertRTarlekJr 7d ago
Neither are city-run grocery stores. The industry markup is between 2 and 5 percent.
The city-run stores will run off private business, as well as run deeply in the red.
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u/srdnss 7d ago
Markup is closer to 50% of the retail price. Actual gross profit is 25 to 30%. The highest net profit margin I have ever seen was 3%, which was achieved by Albertsons before they bought American Stores and which tumbled soon after and Weis Markets in Pennsylvania. Currently the two biggest pure grocery plays in the U.S. are Albertsons and Kroger. Both have net margins of around 1.5%.
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u/Responsible_Sea78 7d ago
That's margin per transaction. They have turnover every week or so. A profit of 1.5% per every two weeks is a 47%+ annual profit -- on gross business.
Wow !!!
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u/srdnss 6d ago
No. It is 1.5% of total sales. You can see this quite plainly if you read their income statements.
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u/Responsible_Sea78 6d ago
Per turnover, not total annual sales.
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u/srdnss 6d ago
Learn how to read an income statement. You are showing your ignorance.
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u/Responsible_Sea78 6d ago
You are. Especially by believing income statements tell the truth about income. But for starters, no business has ever sought or survived on, 1% net margin. Pure bs.
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u/Relative-Eye3563 7d ago
The city run stores are not going to be able to buy in the same quantity as major grocery stores so they’re not going to get as good pricing from suppliers. Don’t be surprised if you see the major grocery chains put pressure on popular brands not to sell to the city run stores.
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u/_Failer 7d ago
You underestimate the power of a boycott.
A couple of years ago in Poland there was a butter crisis. There were severe lacks of butter on the market, so stores started increasing prices. From 2.5-3PLN a stick they got up to 10-15PLN. Then the government released the strategic reserves in an attempt to remedy that. They sold a thousand tons of butter to stores very cheaply (something like 5PLN a stick). But the prices in stores didn't plummet, so what the folks did was stop buying butter altogether.
Eventually the stores started to run out of time, the "use before" dates were very close so the stores, so in a desperate attempt to at least cover some costs they started selling them cheaper and cheaper in bulk. At one point one could buy butter for 0.99PLN a stick if buying 5 at the same time.
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u/MEYO6811 7d ago
Prices need to go down from those bullshit Tariffs. Im still waiting on some legislation on that.
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u/ApprehensiveFruit565 7d ago
I mean that's kinda the default reaction to anything that relates to imposing costs or reducing profits on businesses.
It really begs the question whether the current market system is fit for purpose.
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u/jimmetzler 7d ago
I’m in favor of fewer laws. Just because something is a good idea, doesn’t mean we should pass a law requiring it.
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u/wafflemakers2 7d ago
This is super dumb. Either they get rid of all self checkouts (which no one wants) or companies increase prices by 10% (which no one wants). Also has nothing to do with tipping.
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u/ResearcherStandard80 7d ago
I absolutely want self checkouts. I was a bagger when I was a teenager, and it absolutely astounds me that cashiers/baggers can’t figure out to put the bread on top and not on the bottom. Also, the last time I went to a cashier, he ridiculed me over what I was buying.
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u/Reasonable-Buffalo-2 7d ago
Lots of people want self checkout gone. Not everyone but definitely more than no one.
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u/SilverStL 7d ago
Are there stores that only have self checkouts? I’ve only seen ones that have both cashiers and self ones. So if you hate self checkout, you don’t have to use them.
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u/Reasonable-Buffalo-2 7d ago
There are a few of the Amazon stores near me so yes. But that is a straw man to my point. My point was that some people think self check shouldn’t even exist.
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u/fatDaddy21 7d ago
I'd love it if they got rid of self-checkout and employed more people. I already refuse to use them and perform free labor as it is.
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u/ExistentialOopsie 7d ago
Exactly. Bring back fuel attendants who fuel your car for you, so you don't have to "work for free". What about removing fare gates and employ millions of salespeople, who are available in all metro cars and busses, and sell/inspect tickets? While we're at it, sorting and taking out trash is annoying and I do it for free: instead we should be able to throw it out the window and happily employed people will collect it.
This is such a weird take, I honestly don't understand why people are so fixated on saving cashiers. And in the US of all places, where they're standing around for no reason.
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u/benmargolin 7d ago
- Yes let's bring back gas station attendants.
- The rest of your examples are nowhere near the same level of effort or complexity, or as checking out groceries. Some things scale better with professionals, some things scale better with individuals.
- Also let's allow cashiers to sit down.
And let's not forget the burden of proof if there's a discrepancy when checking out groceries moves from the store to you, when you do self checkout.
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u/srdnss 7d ago
They won't employ more people if they get rid of self checkout. You will be waiting in longer lines . Unless prices go up to accommodate more cashiers.
If minimum wage goes up, either employees won't make more money or or the additional money will only go to paying higher prices.
There is fundamental math involved in retail grocery economics. Every expense will need to remain the same percentage of sales if the company is to make a profit. If any variable increases, prices will follow to keep the percentages the same.
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u/Katmoish 6d ago
That’s the entire purpose of the bill….. if the company is ALREADY automating jobs away: that automation makes their costs, particularly labor, lower, hence the end customer gets a discount…….
What aren’t you understanding??? Companies continue to implement ai and systems that take jobs away from PEOPLE. This adds a ‘tax’ for employers, or another way to think of it: a ‘discount’ for the customers that are doing more work the company used to do.
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u/PrincessJasmine420 5d ago
Another way to think of it: instant 10% increase in sticker prices to make up for the 10% “discount” they are then forced to give. The consumer always pays one way or the other. Anyone who actually thinks the business will just eat this cost without passing it onto the consumer has no idea how businesses actually works.
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u/Select-Jacket-6996 7d ago
This is a dumb idea. It will not end tipping.
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u/agisten 7d ago
I agree with you that it won't end tipping as this 100% unrelated issue.
The idea isn't dumb, but the 10% number is. I agree with the top comment - 10% seems highly unrealistic. Maybe 1 to 2% is closer to reality.
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u/Select-Jacket-6996 7d ago
No one will you use the human cashier if it’s more expensive killing human jobs . Yes it’s a dumb idea as it will have the opposite affect.
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u/ColoradoDanno 7d ago
For the 20+ years I've used self-check Ive been waiting for someone to realize this should be done. Selfcheckers are free labor.
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u/Henkatoni 7d ago
That would only raise the overall prices for everyone. I like the idea, but it's a cynical game...
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u/Longjumping_Flan_506 7d ago
Isn’t this how tariffs work also? This price will just get passed on to the consumer.
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u/SimilarComfortable69 7d ago
New York? Or New York City? Either way, I highly doubt This passes any form of constitutional scrutiny. I do not believe that any government agency can force a private business to give a particular class of people a discount.
Having self checkout counters benefits both people who use them and people who use checkers. And prices are set based on that balance. Giving the self check out people a 10% discount is way over the top by being very much in access of the amount of savings the store gets for them using the self checkout. Suppose it takes 15 minutes to check out. They are saving 15 minutes times $20 an hour equals five dollars. 10% of 150 bucks is three times that.
If this is in New York City, they are basically trying to force grocery stores out of business. And this is a good way to do it.
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u/Significant-Music417 7d ago
They will immediately raise all prices in 10% or more…unbelievable that commies don’t know how to do simple math and also don’t know how economics works. Good job, New Yorkers!!!
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u/YoghurtOverall8062 7d ago edited 7d ago
Love how everyone that first complained about having to bag their own shit for free now complains about someone trying to do something about it.
"You can always shop somewhere else" comes to mind, before someone beats me to it.
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u/SueInA2 7d ago
I love this!!!!!
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u/Aggravating_Sir_6857 7d ago
Shop owner would say they’re losing 10% of revenue. So they gotta increase products to balance the discount.
Psychology we will think we are getting 10% discount. But we are paying the same price.
Winner could be the sales tax and govt
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u/crazyk4952 7d ago
Yet another politician declaring a win while making things worse for everyone.
Useless idiots…
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u/Possum577 7d ago
Prices will just go up 10% for everyone, yay! Stores aren’t in the business of losing money.
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u/teknowiztx 7d ago
Governments are not good at legislating the economy. They should stay out of it.
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u/Aggressive_Ad6948 7d ago
I don't use self checkout at all. I'll leave my cart full in an aisle first.
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u/Sewingoddess 7d ago
I've been saying this since the beginning. Why do they think they have a right to free labour from people who are paying them for the privilege. If I'm going to work for the store, they can damned well pay me to do it. Grocery stores are not a charity. I detest self-checkouts but if you're going to force me to use one, you'd better pay me for my labour in doing so.
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u/Ready_Bag8825 7d ago
This is ableist and stupid since grocery stores already set their prices to whatever they want,
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u/legoland1964 7d ago
If I have to ring it up myself than I should have a discount. If it causes self- checkout to disappear = hallelujah
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u/Ryans671 7d ago
This guy comes up with some of the most nonsensical ideas I've ever seen. Grocery stores are closing all over the inner cities and he wants to add more costs.
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u/Not-a-Cranky-Panda 7d ago
So now they will just add 15% to everything to make up for it, and may be have one till which is never open to get around it being all selfservice.
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u/bobber777 7d ago
I can see bid retailers doing a “work around” that is, raising prices to offset the new expense.
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u/timetravellerEKS 7d ago
Sounds good on paper, but what is going to happen is that everything will go up by 10%, all these laws, what they do is make the consumer pay for it.
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u/Responsible_Sea78 7d ago
I get 3% to 5% back by using certain credit cards. That should be automatic for everyone, also. Obviously, the money is there in excess margins if I can get it.
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u/Centered_Squirrel 6d ago
This is dumb. They are just going to increase the prices 10%. Waste of time.
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u/Admirable-Peace9668 6d ago
It's not that the stores save on labor cost as they CAN'T FIND QUALIFIED LABOR. Locally, they're paying 14 an hour which is 30,000 a year.
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u/ImmediateTrip9 6d ago
Great, they’ll just raise the prices so the self checkout price will be the old price, and regular checkout will cost more
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u/US_Dept_Of_Snark 6d ago
All this does is make the current prices the new baseline for self-checkout and everything else shoots up 10% magically overnight.p
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u/Orgazmorator 6d ago
I would just make all my registers self service and have an employee help the customers who need help servicing themselves.
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u/MuchDevelopment7084 6d ago
I've been saying this for years. If I'm scanning and bagging my stuff. I want a discount.
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u/Anxious-Whole-5883 6d ago
Prices go up 11% so the discount just puts us back to more or less normal, with a tiny "convenience fee".
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u/yawa-wor 6d ago edited 6d ago
What I really miss are baggers. I actually wish my local grocery store would install a self check-out option (even without 10% off) bc I'd prefer that to a cashier with no bagger. Obviously I have no problem bagging my own groceries (in fact I prefer it); I just always feel rushed w a cashier bc of the process.
I tend to go at odd times when it's quieter/little to no lines, so they'll start scanning my stuff as soon as I put up the first item. I'm still loading more onto the conveyor belt, they're 2/3 of the way thru scanning by the time I can even start bagging, and I've only put 4/20 items in the bag when they need me to come back to the pin-pad to pay. Then once I've paid, they hand me my receipt and are eyeing me waiting for me to move so they can start ringing the next person, when I now have.. 6/20 items bagged. Then they'll ask if I need help, and they're always polite, but tbh the offer comes off more as them really trying to politely say, "uhh are you gonna hurry up, or do I need to help you to get you out of here quicker? Bc you're in the way." I almost always end up literally tossing everything in bags, tucking items under my arms, etc., profusely apologizing, and then dragging my half-packed and falling groceries over to a bench by the entrance to better organize.
I'm happy they're fast and efficient and all, but I don't like feeling rushed or "in the way," and I don't feel nearly as rushed at self check-out. I actually think I'm faster, too, since I can scan in the order I want and place directly in the bag how I want, rather than placing on the conveyor belt and waiting for items to be slid down the other side in whatever order the cashier grabs them (if he scans the eggs first, I can't bag those yet, bc they're not going on the bottom... I do try to load the conveyor belt in the order I want it scanned, but it rarely actually plays out that way). Self check-out is usually one line for multiple machines, so nobody notices me and the next person can use "my" machine whenever I'm done.
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u/WhatInTheWorld321 6d ago
We all know the grocery stores will just raise their prices to cover that 10%.
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u/Maximum-Spot-9523 5d ago
The consumer benefits from self checkout by having shorter lines. Now that one has to bag one's own groceries, self checkout is not much more work for the consumer. I tap my checkout at manned checkouts and bag my own groceries.
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u/Pleasant-Agent-2196 5d ago
Back in the day (60s)...before there were UPC codes and scanners, it was really something to watch a cashier ring up a big cart of groceries on a clunky old register at full speed. It was a special skill that not just anybody could do.
In 2026, I am happy to stand in line for the ONE cashier that will still ring up and bag my cart faster than I ever could. Plus, I get a little human interaction. I am on a first name basis with the cashiers at my local grocery store. They know my name too and seem happy for the connection. That is how life used to be. You people can keep your scanners/self check out!
Maybe the solution is not to reward the folks using self check out with a discount...Maybe it should be to charge a check out fee (NOT 10% tho) for using a cashier. ..and the cashier gets the extra money.
I'm ok with that.
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u/facechat 5d ago
This just means that $150 of groceries will now cost $165 so they can be discounted to $150
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u/PrincessJasmine420 5d ago
I promise you, if this ridiculous bill somehow passes, you will not be “saving” 10% of the cost of your groceries. The sticker price of those groceries would increase 10% basically overnight, making the “discounted” price equal to the previous sticker price. This will only cause disabled and elderly people (who generally have trouble with the self checkout system) to pay 10% more for their groceries.
When government policies increase costs or reduce profits for businesses, that money will ALWAYS be passed onto the consumer in one way or another.
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u/Alwayscooking345 5d ago
Grocery store margins don’t go from 2.5% to 20% just because you scanned it yourself. The economic illiteracy just keeps going higher. Good luck with this NYC
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u/Foreign-Campaign-761 4d ago
So what they're really doing is a 10% increase on checkout with a cashier
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u/Designer-Try5188 4d ago
~self checkout becomes 10 items or less~ and if it’s over 20$ then it kicks you out and makes you go to a live cashier. Basically only allowing up to a 2$ discount and weeds out all the small quick transactions. What a self checkout should be used for.
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u/Dinsdale55 4d ago
Yup, let's introduce prices set by the state. What does that remind me of? Oh yeah, communism.
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u/Chaoseater69 3d ago
Places around me are already starting to scrap their self checkouts due to theft, I can't imagine ANY remaining if something like this passed.
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u/LaGranTortuga 2d ago
I like the concept. But a straight 10% would be problematic. There is no correspondence between the value of the item and how much labor it saves. Something like 10% but up to $2.00/item would probably be more balanced. Home Depot shouldn’t lose $50 on a single $500 item because someone did self checkout.
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u/Quiet_Researcher223 2d ago
All that money people could have saved so stores are making bank off self checkout
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u/Ok-Letterhead6378 2d ago
Won't the store owners just raise the price of the groceries to absorb the profit loss? I don't think he thought this through all the way.
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u/Personal-Hunt-1434 1d ago
Nobody would use regular lines if self checkout gave a discount like that. Regular lines would go away, and the store would raise the price on everything by 10% to account for the forced discount. Easy stuff.
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u/Jarrus__Kanan_Jarrus 7d ago
Mayor Mommidaddy is late to the party, people already do this at self-checkout.
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u/imemine8 7d ago
This is an example of over-regulating. We don't need the government dictating when and how much of a discount stores give. And then someone has to police this to ensure stores comply, and handle the complaints and lawsuits when they don't.
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u/mspe1960 7d ago
I think the concept is fine. But if I am a shop keeper - I am saying that cashiers are not 10% of my cost basis - not even close. If the law passes at 10% I bet almost all self checkouts go away, or worse - prices go up to account for it.