Some shops in Italy have started to charge €10 each time a customer tries clothes and shoes without buying them.

The idea is to combat online shopping, shop-owners insist, saying that too many customers are turning up at shops to try clothes and shoes, walk out without buying anything and then making their purchases of the same items via online shopping.

As many customers have discovered, buying items from shops costs more than buying the same items online. And, although many companies offer free return services of items that do not fit, some customers have now found a new way take make sure that the items they need are the size that suits them best.

So many turn up in shops to try the items, walk out with nothing and rush to their computer to buy the items via online shopping.

Shop owners in Italy have now started to charge €10 to customers wanting to try on shoes and clothes. If the customer buys the item, then the €10 “deposit” will be deducted from the final price or from a future purchase by the same client.

The system is in place in Milan, Sicily and Trento, but it is likely that it will become more widespread in the coming months.

Shop owners have to place a sign indicating that customers will be asked to pay €10 for trying items on sale, or tell them verbally when they express the wish to try any items.