Cost of living: Viral TikTok exposes Coles, Woolworths $43 Schick razors

An Australian woman has gone viral after revealing the insane price of an everyday staple being sold at our biggest supermarkets.

In her clip, which has attracted tens of thousands of likes and comments, TikTok user @beep___yen revealed that Woolworths and Coles were selling an eight-pack of Schick Hydro 5 Sensitive razor blades for $43.

The TikTokker also put the eye-watering price tag into perspective in the video, explaining that: “There are people in Australia right now who will literally have to work two hours to be able to afford a pack of eight razors”.

“And this isn’t just because the cost of everything is going up,” she continued.

“Because you can buy the same pack of razors online from the Shaver Shop for $10.”

To be clear, the Shaver Shop’s $10 razor pack isn’t the exact same product as those sold at Woolies and Coles – it is flogging Schick’s Hydro 5 Sense Hydrate with Coconut Oil for $9.50, compared with the grocery giants’ $43 Schick Hydro 5 Sensitive razor blades.

It is also understood the Shaver Shop’s product was discontinued by Schick some time ago and is usually sold for $39, before being reduced on sale to the current $9.50 price.

Woolworths hasn’t stocked Schick’s Hydro 5 Sense Hydrate with Coconut Oil for around 12 months, but sells a range of shaving blades, starting with packs that offer a unit price of 22 cents per blade head.

But it hasn’t stopped furious TikTok users from branding the $43 price tag a “joke”.

“And the staff still get minimum wage …” one TikTok user posted.

“I’ve already cut way back on buying from them. They are increasing prices way too often. Cheese went from $7 to $10 to $12 within three weeks,” another said.

“Crazy they aren’t being investigated,” another said, with another adding: “I’ve stopped buying anything that’s not 40 per cent off or half price from Coles or WW.”

A Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au in a statement that “each week, different retailers offer different specials”.

“At Woolworths, we offer specials on 6000 products every week to help our customers’ shop go further,” the statement reads.

“While this product isn’t on special in our stores at the moment, it will likely be on special at another time.”

The debate comes as Compare the Market’s Household Budget Barometer recently revealed the true impact of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, with 26.3 per cent of Australian adults admitting that their savings are going backwards.

Half aren’t able to save as much as they usually do because they’re dipping into their savings to cover everyday costs, and 61 per cent of Australian households are only just getting by as prices soar across the board.

Compare the Market’s general manager of money Stephen Zeller said the report held a mirror to a nation dealing with surging inflationary pressures and cash rate rises.

“There has been unprecedented financial change in the last 12 months and unfortunately the turmoil doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon,” Mr Zeller said.

The cost of groceries was the biggest concern for Australians, with two-thirds of those surveyed anxious about their trip to the supermarket.

Rising electricity prices are also keeping Aussies up at night, as well as the cost of fuel, but despite rising costs, almost half of Australians said they hadn’t shopped around for a better deal to try and save during the past 12 months.

“A lot of people are spending more than they need to without realising it or wrongly assume that researching alternatives will take too much time,” Mr Zeller said.

“Lower income earners were less likely to shop around for better deals, despite standing to gain more from the process than people with larger pay packets to spend.

“What could be small change for some households could make a world of difference for people doing it tough.”

Earlier this year, a brutal analysis from the Australian Institute revealed excessive corporate profits – and not Australian wages – were behind the skyrocketing cost of living.

“ABS data shows that without excess price hikes through the pandemic, inflation would likely be within the RBA target band, and hence there would be no need for the … extreme, back-to-back interest rate rises that are crushing households and mortgage holders, fuelling the cost-of-living crisis,” Dr Jim Stanford from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work said.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said what was occurring was a “greed-price spiral”.

“Qantas has joined Coles and Woolworths, as well as the Commonwealth Bank, in posting eye-watering profits. Inflation is being fed by these companies putting up prices far more than they need to,” she said.

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“Wage growth is clearly not contributing to inflation. Any wage rises in 2022 and early 2023 have been eaten up by price rises and interest rate rises.

“Real wages are going backwards … More needs to be done to get wages moving.”

News.com.au contacted Coles for comment.

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