What's the deal with buying single cans out of a multipack at a bottle shop? (Australia)

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Is there a reason why you ask this here and not just ask the staff at the shop?

Stuff like that can differ from shop to shop. So better ask the person who knows the answer.

I used to work at Dan Murphy's and you can definitely just buy one can or bottle, and they won't mind you breaking up the pack. Smaller bottle-o's may prefer you didn't though, so I would ask before breaking apart a pack.

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 once tried to do this in some country on vacation and was told that's not how it works. I'm german. It definitely works like this here. You just rip out one bottle or can and put it in your shopping cart. It will say so very clearly on the packaging if you're not allowed to do it. But it's not like this in every country. Maybe just ask staff.

In the US, it’s usually clear which you can split if you’re at a beer distributor. There’s usually a 6-pack price and a per bottle price (sometimes you do have to look around for the tags).

Many grocery stores have a section specifically for singles, often with a “make your own 6 pack” that is cheaper than 6 singles.

Often you can get larger cans (24ish oz) that are explicitly sold as singles (pounders, tall boys, lots of slang for these). These are typically the cheap stuff like Bud light or Foster’s

The loose cans they sell come from the pre packed boxes anyway, I've had them tell me to grab one out of the box when I've been short one for a 6 pack, usually they take the box off so either a customer has grabbed one to buy or someone's stolen one or both.

Where I live, they will often have a label on the pack that says whether it can be "divided" or not. I agree though that it's a grey area until you see packs that have already been opened. For example, I wouldn't take just one yoghurt, and I would never open up a pack that had glass bottles, so it seems unique to plastic and cans.

An employee probably dropped or otherwise damaged one or more from a multi-pack. Rather than mark off a whole six pack, they'll write off just the damaged ones and sell the rest individually. This is also why there's no label on the shelf.

Source: used to work in a liquor store.

I've had mixed luck buying from split packs, admittedly not of alcohol but yes of mixers or long life milk. Sometimes they pass at the checkout without issues, sometimes it bounces which means you need to leave it or buy the full pack. I'm talking about Sydney btw

Just go for it. If you're not allowed, they'll tell you and you can select something else.

I was quite impressed recently when I was in a vintage cellars (coles owned) and they had a sustainable 4 or 6 pack multi option. Basically, a way to hold them all together and allow pik n mix, but not plastic.