# Where can you go to find a bodyweight scale **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836 "2010-04-21T07:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/1 "2010-04-21T07:23:24Z")
I want to check to see what I weigh now to see what it is vs a few years ago, and don’t have a bathroom scale (which is good, it shows I’m not obsessive about this stuff. yay me). I know I can go to a doctors office, but I don’t want to spend $60+ on a visit just to use the scale. I suppose I could go to a gym and spend $5 on a day pass, then use the scale there. I don’t know of any friends who have a bathroom scale I can use. Some department stores have scales at the entrance, you pay $0.25-.50 to use it. But I don’t know which ones. Maybe a GNC or store like that will have a scale that takes quarters. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/2 "2010-04-21T07:26:00Z")
Weirdest of places, but there’s actually one of those pay-per-weighs at a mall near here. Right by the food court in front of the movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/3 "2010-04-21T07:33:56Z")
Can’t you just pick up a cheap bathroom scale for $20 or so? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/4 "2010-04-21T08:59:10Z")
None of my doctors has ever charged me to weigh myself on their scales. I used to stop by the office now and then and just ask to use theirs. Then my insurance sent me an extremely accurate scale, so now I use that. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/5 "2010-04-21T09:20:26Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Can’t you just pick up a cheap bathroom scale for $20 or so? Yeah, but I only need to use it once. So I’d rather spend $0.50 than $20. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/6 "2010-04-21T12:57:13Z")
I think every grocery store I’ve ever been in had a free bodyweight scale just inside the front door. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/7 "2010-04-21T13:03:40Z")
Do places that sell them (WalMart) have display models out? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/8 "2010-04-21T14:05:57Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I think every grocery store I’ve ever been in had a free bodyweight scale just inside the front door. Weird- I don’t think I’ve ever seen one at a grocery store in my life. If you have a primary care provider, I’d think they would let you in for a one-time weighing without charging you a co-pay. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/9 "2010-04-21T14:49:50Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Weird- I don’t think I’ve ever seen one at a grocery store in my life. How strange! Maybe people scales in grocery stores is a southern thing. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/10 "2010-04-21T14:58:00Z")
How about going to a local playground with thirty or forty bags of sugar. Load sugar sacks on one side of the seesaw, and you sit on the other. Add/subtract sugar until you know your weight! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/11 "2010-04-21T15:15:32Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > How strange! Maybe people scales in grocery stores is a southern thing. One hesitates to speculate why. Perhaps the store itself has a weight limit? (I always assume all those “pictures of lumbering fat people from the waist down” stock footage things from the news are shot here in the South.) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/12 "2010-04-21T15:49:22Z")
Your doctor would seriously consider charging you to use his scales? Okay, that’s just odd. If I was you, I’d call them and ask, maybe they’re feeling generous today. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/13 "2010-04-21T15:57:59Z")
Your regular doctor’s office would most likely let you use their scale if you asked nicely. The local pharmacy here has one. I don’t know if the big chain pharmacies do. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/14 "2010-04-21T16:25:05Z")
Wii fit? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/15 "2010-04-21T17:33:10Z")
Carnival season is coming up . . . try the “Guess your weight” guy? I think I’d try Walmart or similar and see if the ones in the store are usable. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/16 "2010-04-21T17:33:32Z")
Places such as Bed Bath and Beyond often have functional display scales. Otherwise, how well do you know your neighbors? They probably have a bathroom scale. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/17 "2010-04-21T17:45:27Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Otherwise, how well do you know your neighbors? They probably have a bathroom scale. _Knock, knock_ “Hi. I live down the street and I’d like to get weighed.” _SLAM_ “Fuckin lisping perverts!” ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/18 "2010-04-21T18:13:28Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > How strange! Maybe people scales in grocery stores is a southern thing. No, I remember them when I was a kid in Michigan. They had them in grocery stores near the door and often pharmacies too. You would put a coin in a slot at the top. But that was back when the drugstore bathrooms also had dry soap in a grinder thing (you’d turn a knob and soap would come out the bottom in powder) and cotten linen towel roller things like [this](http://www.pwshygiene.co.uk/images/dryer2.jpg). They had those well into the 1970s. Later, I remember the grocery store scale was sitched for a novelty one that gave you a fortune along with your weight. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/19 "2010-04-21T18:53:04Z")
Aside from the gym, mall, or GNC, I believe one of the theaters that the spouse and I go to has a coin-operated scale. Bonus - you’ll get your fortune and personalized, winning lottery ticket numbers too! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836/20 "2010-04-21T18:58:12Z")
Veterinarian. Petsmart has scaled that can weigh huge dogs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-go-to-find-a-bodyweight-scale/536836.md?page=2)