Coles has quietly lifted the price on an item all shoppers need
Customers of the major supermarket chain have complained a decision to increase prices on an everyday item is “Un Australian”.


News.com.au
October 14, 2026

Coles has increased the price of its shopping bags.

In a move that will frustrate shoppers, Coles has lifted the price of paper bags by 5c cents to 30c a bag.   

The cost of larger chipper bags has also gone from $4 to $4.20.

The increases come after Coles Group reported a $1.09bn profit after tax for the 2025-26 financial year.

Coles’ online flat fee for bags remains unchanged at $2.

Woolworths and Aldi paper shopping bags remain at 25c.

Shopping bags have increased by 5 cents per bag.

Frustrated shoppers took to social media, saying Coles must be doing it tough.

One person said it was “an Un Australian act”.

“Guess I gotta use my paper bags more sparingly,” said another.


One commenter said “they need to refuse entry unless got your shopping bags, help us out to remember to bring our own bags”.

“And ya walkout of the store and the freaking handles rip and ya shopping now on the carpark,” said another.   

Others said the move wasn’t a big deal.

“People crying over bags is pathetic,” one said.

“Deal with it or bring your own, it’s not hard,” said another.

In a brief statement, a Coles spokesperson said prices were changing on selected bags.

“We know value remains important to our customers, and we’ve worked to keep these increases as low as possible,” the spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, from time to time, prices of individual products may need to increase due to changes in costs such as materials and transport.


“Customers can continue to bring their own reusable bags when shopping at Coles, and we encourage them to reuse bags wherever possible.”

Prior to 2018, the major supermarkets gave away single-use plastic bags for free to shoppers.

But in a move dubbed as more environmentally friendly, Aldi, Coles and Woolworths swapped from single-use plastic to reusable paper bags, which came at a cost for shoppers.