The most common question we get from first-time visitors is some version of: how much will this cost me? It's a fair question, and the honest answer is that it depends on how much you fill. That sounds evasive but it's actually the whole point. Refill pricing by weight means you pay for the product and nothing else.
What 'priced by weight' means in practice ¶
When you bring a container to a refill bar, the process is: weigh the empty container, fill it with product, weigh it again, subtract the first number from the second, and charge you for the difference. The price per 100ml or 100g is displayed above each dispenser. You can fill 50ml or 500ml. There is no minimum and no fixed size. This is different from buying a 500ml bottle at a supermarket where you pay for the bottle, the label, the cap, and the logistics of getting that specific format to the shelf.
How to compare refill prices with supermarket prices ¶
The easiest comparison is to check the price per 100ml on a supermarket product (it's usually printed small on the shelf label) and compare it to the refill bar price. At ReCircle, washing-up liquid is 18p per 100ml. A well-known supermarket own-brand is typically around 22-28p per 100ml when you account for the packaging. The gap is not enormous, but it adds up over a year of regular use, and you're not paying for plastic you'll throw away.
What to bring and how to prepare ¶
Any clean container works. Glass jars, old shampoo bottles, clip-top bottles, tins. Give it a rinse and let it dry before you come in. If you're not sure how much to fill, start small. A 200ml fill of shampoo lasts most people about three to four weeks. A 500ml fill of washing-up liquid lasts a household of two roughly six weeks. You can always come back for more, and there's no pressure to fill a large amount on your first visit.
The one thing that trips people up ¶
Occasionally someone brings a container that still has product in it. We can't weigh that accurately, so we ask that containers are empty and clean before you arrive. If you're switching from a product you haven't finished, the community swap shelf near the door is a good place to leave the remainder for someone else to use.
Refill pricing is simpler than it sounds once you've done it once. If you have questions before your first visit, the questions people actually ask page covers most of them, or you can email us at hello@recircle-19838.com.