The hidden price tag detail that will cost you money at Kmart

Kmart shoppers are furious over blue ‘inflation’ stickers jacking up the price of items on shelves in Australia.

Customers took to Facebook to express their displeasure after noticing that the stickers added a dollar or two to each item’s reference price.

Standing out against the store’s trademark white labels, the blue stickers cover the original price so people aren’t surprised at checkout.

But people are still upset despite the retailer’s efforts to clarify the price increases.

The stickers are placed over the price in some cases, in other cases the label is torn to add the new price

‘Kmart is raising the prices of their clothes. They’re doing this with a lot of their stuff. Take back the original price and re-price it with the higher price,” one person complained.

Another confirmed that it was ‘usually $1 or $2’ and mainly ‘on clothes’.

But others disagreed, saying that the business needs to make money and that people will pay if they really want or need whatever they have added to their basket.

It’s called inflation. That’s life. You’ll be right,’ said one.

A Kmart spokesperson told customers that product pricing sometimes needs to be “re-evaluated,” but the company aims to keep items “affordable.”

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Kmart for comment.

This isn’t the first time customers have been outraged by the store’s price tags in recent months.

One noticed a price difference on two pairs of the same shorts, but inadvertently discovered a money-saving trick in the process.

The buyer, Jess, bought the blue culotte shorts from the store earlier this year for $15 and liked the product so much that she went back to buy another pair, but they were $17.

‘I don’t know why they would have gone up, they are exactly the same shorts. A little disappointed,” she wrote on Facebook.

Eagle-eyed shoppers saw a clue: the labels read ’22S’ (summer of 2022) or ’23S’ (summer of 23). Those with the latter will be priced to take into account the inflation rate, which currently stands at 7.3 percent.

A few months ago, Kmart shopper Jess bought a pair of blue shorts for $15 (pictured).

But when she went back to the store recently to buy a second pair, she noticed that the price had risen to $17. After sharing images of the tags on Facebook, a shopper pointed out the difference in the ’22S’ and ’23S’ code and its meaning.

“May be the same shorts, but the cheapest pair is part of the summer 2022 collection and the other pair is from summer 2023. That’s what 22S and 23S mean,” the customer wrote.

‘It’s called inflation, they have the same bills/expenses as everyone else, they can’t stop raising the price, it’s not like it’s a huge amount. That’s pretty reasonable for a pair of shorts,” one person wrote.

“The cost of everything has gone up a lot this year: shipping costs during Covid skyrocketed, interest rates go up on a monthly basis. You will notice increases in most things in the future,” said another.

Another added: ‘My kids’ baby formula went up $4, from $38 to $42. If you’re not happy with the price increase, don’t buy them. Everything is going up. Have you been living under a rock?’

A Kmart spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that prices need to rise from time to time amid recession and inflation (pictured: Kmart shorts)

A Kmart spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that prices need to increase “from time to time” to account for inflation.

“At Kmart we put our customers first and set our prices accordingly to make everyday life accessible to everyone,” the spokesperson said.

‘From time to time, prices need to be re-evaluated according to the associated costs of doing business. Our everyday low prices mean any product price increases will always be marginal to our customers.”