Paying a little attention can mean a lot of free groceries.

The Scanning Code of Practice, SCOP for short, is a code of conduct that all the major chains (and not just grocery stores) subscribe to. It basically states that:

If a product at the check-out scans higher than the price tag, you get that item for free.

Yes, FREE! Well, unless it’s over ten bucks and then they just take $10 off. Also if you’re buying multiples of the item in question, only the first one is free, and then you will pay the tagged (lower) price for the remaining ones.

Here’s a real-life example. This honey was marked at $4.99 in the aisle. It scanned at check-out for $5.49. So I got the honey for $0.00!





How to win with the Scanning Code

Basically you need to do just 2 things:

Know the price of everything you’re buying (yes of course I memorize the price of everything in my cart, no joke).

Catch the error(s) and, of course, speak up.

First of all, I don’t like to check for scanning errors while I’m in the check-out lane because then the cashier has to get on the phone and wait 2 minutes for some guy in the fruit department to call back while everyone else in line is shooting mental daggers at you. As I mention in my Price Matching guide, you don’t want to be a dick at the grocery store.

What I recommend is once you’ve paid, check your receipt carefully and head over to Customer Service to deal with any discrepancies. At that point, you won’t cause any pain when they make the same phone call to the fruit department guy. If a customer service desk is a frill your store doesn’t have, I suppose your only choice is to call attention to errors with the cashier.

Sometimes the customer service person/cashier will say something along the lines of: “Oh yeah that was wrong, let me fix it” and they will try to give you the item for the lower price. Make sure you say: “This is a scanning error, so this is free,” and they will properly refund all your money so you will get it for free. I don’t know why the occasional employee will try to scam you out of the free-ness, I’m just saying it sometimes happens so be prepared to be bold.

Now, I’m a bit bolder than most so to expedite my refund I will actually go back into the aisle (with my cart and bagged food) and find the price tag for the purchase in question, take it right off the shelf, and bring that directly to Customer Service. It saves everyone time, but I’m also a (very) familiar face as you can imagine.

And if you feel weird about bringing these errors to attention, remember this: the scanning code exists to protect you. It is to prevent the store from inadvertently cheating you at the register. And when you get that item for free, their computer system flags it so that someone quickly remedies the problem, whether it is a mistake in the aisle or a mistake in the pricing system.

Ok, so you want to be a SCOP Pro?

If you’ve read this far, well, you’re in luck because I’m going to share with you some additional pointers on how to be a pro at the scanning code.

But please let me brag a bit first. I love to find scanning errors – it is satisfying for me in many ways: free things (duh!); validation that my aging memory is still sharp; making the assistant manager of customer service angry (this man is my nemesis, more about him in a moment).

One time I had a 7-week scanning error streak, man that was awesome. Another time my nemesis literally shouted at me “NO MORE FREE SPINACH FOR YOU!” after 5 weeks of the store simply not changing their spinach price tag to match the new price. Hey buddy, it’s your fault, not mine.

Ok, so here’s what you need to know:

Conversions, numbers, math!



Know how to convert pounds to kilograms. You will find a lot of scanning errors in the produce section but since everything is labeled in pounds and then calculated in kilograms at check-out, most people get thoroughly confused and never notice. 1kg = 2.2lbs, so you should have an idea of what that means. If those expensive peppers at $3.99/lb ring in over $8.80/kg, well you know you’ve got an error. Also the per kilo price is listed in tiny type on the price tag, you just have to dig for it.

Customer scanners

In my store there are 2 scanning machines for customers to check the prices of items. This is exactly like going to the cashier, so if for some reason you think the price of something is wrong (see below), check it on these scanners first. And if it does scan in wrong, boom, free stuff! You still have to buy it, and go to customer service and do the whole routine, but you are at least prepared for it (and also totally elated like me, right?)

Notice and hunt for errors

Sometimes things at the store just look a bit off. One time I passed a display for pie filling marked on sale for $3.49 and later in the aisle I saw the same pie filling for $4.19. Well one of them was obviously wrong. So I took a can to the scanner mentioned above, and it scanned in at $4.19. Free pie filling! (I’m not even sure I was making a pie, not the point). To be clear, if it had scanned in at $3.49, then it’s not free.

Another time I noticed a really really good deal on sunscreen. Since the display was sitting beside the scanner I check them. And they were wrong. So I took one of each type. And at check-out feigned an “Oh my gosh, those prices can’t be right!” (this was before I started going to customer service for all my errors). Anyway the cashier tried to explain to me that I only get 1 sunscreen for free, but I very calmly re-explained to her that since each item was a unique SKU (remember they are were all different) they were of course ALL FREE *mic drop*! And of course I have avoided that cashier ever since (another pro tip from my Price Matching guide).

Understand the price tags

At my store the price tags have much more than the price on them. And what I noticed was that sale tags indicate the date when a sale price expires. But sometimes these tags are still on the shelf post expiration. Maybe, like me, you have a hunch that something is in error, but if you see a sale that’s expired, you (probably) are about to get something for free.

Check out my Facebook page to always be in the loop when I post more tips like this.