Makro promotion 1 to 7 September, where the large price excludes VAT

The cover reads GELDIG VAN DINSDAG 1 T/M MAANDAG 7 SEPTEMBER and the flyer runs to six pages. The large red 29.99 on the front is not what you pay, because a smaller line underneath reads 32.69 incl. Makro is a wholesaler and prints its prices without VAT.

What you need to know

A six-page promotional flyer whose cover states the dates plainly: from Tuesday 1 September to Monday 7 September. The front page carries frozen scallop meat in an 800 gram bag, an original price of 34.99 struck through, a promotional 29.99, and a smaller line to the lower right reading 32.69 incl. The footer calls the chain DE VOORDELIGSTE GROOTHANDEL.

The relationship between those two prices is the first thing to understand about this flyer. Multiply 29.99 by 1,09 and you get exactly 32.69, which means the large figure excludes VAT and food carries the reduced 9% rate. Non-food carries 21%, so the same large figure has to be multiplied by 1,21 instead. Anyone used to supermarket flyers will read the big number as the amount they pay, and at a wholesaler that under-reads every line on every page.

Turned into your own method it is two steps. Decide whether the item is food or non-food, multiply the large figure by 1,09 or 1,21, and you have what actually leaves your card. Then divide that VAT-inclusive figure by the pack weight or count, which is the only form comparable to a supermarket shelf price. On the front page that gives 32.69 over 0,8 kilos, or EUR 40,86 a kilo, and that number appears nowhere on the flyer itself.

The promotional period runs Tuesday 1 September to Monday 7 September.
The flyer runs to six pages in total.
The front-page item is frozen scallop meat in an 800 gram bag.
That item shows an original 34.99, a promotional 29.99, and a noted 32.69 incl.
The footer describes the chain as DE VOORDELIGSTE GROOTHANDEL, a wholesaler.
Dutch food carries 9% VAT while non-food carries 21%.

Hokimi tip: store 1,09 and 1,21 in your phone's calculator before you walk in. Every shelf label in a wholesaler is quoted before VAT, and that conversion is the step people get wrong doing it in their head.

Retailer: Makro, a wholesaler quoting prices before VAT
Valid: Tuesday through the following Monday, seven days
Pages: Six pages
From: EUR 32.69 including VAT for the front-page bag