No way, Waitrose is incredibly expensive everywhere I lived compared to Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Asda. Up there with M&S. But I guess it also depends on your typical basket...
Stick to the Essential lines and it's fine. The quality is also better than the generic fake brand crap that Tesco sell and it's the same price or better. Waitrose essential baked beans for example are waaaay better than any others.