Argos Ireland -v- UK

eirebhoy

I've just been looking at the Argos UK website and saw a huge difference in price compared to Ireland. If you look in your Argos catalogue, pick an item out and type the cat. number into the Argos UK website and you will see the difference.

For example, a leather sofa is €1,699.99 (cat. no 636/3222) in Ireland but in the UK it's £849.99. When I use the currency converter to exchange to Euro I get €1,227.36. That is just under a €500 difference between the UK and Ireland.

This is a disgrace and they shouldn't be getting away with it. Even other items for the same price in the UK are different in Ireland which means they aren't even using a fixed exchange rate.

bloggs

yip, and the UK one won't ship here either :mad:

spongebob

and the Argos furniture is disgusting cheap sh1te made from crap quality chipboard. Most of it arrives damaged or with missing bits.

Compare their toasters and kettles willya ?

M

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Muck
Compare their toasters and kettles willya ?

I just picked out a kettle and toaster at random.

Toastec 4 slice toaster - Irl = €67.50 - UK = £28.25 (€40.76)

Rowenta Cosmos KE401 kettle - Irl = €49.95 - UK =£29.95 (€43.22)

sceptre

Originally posted by Muck
and the Argos furniture is disgusting cheap sh1te made from crap quality chipboard. Most of it arrives damaged or with missing bits.

It's still the same "disgusting cheap sh1te made from crap quality chipboard" in both markets though.

Interesting price differences on the kitchen appliances though.

Paddy20

Lets not forget that the Irish VAT is a lot higher than that charged on goods in the UK!.

Also, Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe in which to live. Why, becaue our government has no idea on how too govern properly for the benefit of our citizens.

Therefore, most Irish citizens only have themselves to blame for the high cost of living by voting in the same politial parties as their parents and their parents, parents.

If the vast majority of people gave as much real consideration to which political party they vote for, as they give to which football team they support, we might live in a more equitable fairer society.

Just my 2cs worth.

P.

John R

Irish VAT is not that much higher than UK VAT, 21% as opposed to 17.5%

Those 2 items before VAT:
Toaster: UK: €34.84, IRL: €55.78
Kettle: UK: €36.94, IRL: €41.28

Still a big difference.

Argos have increased their prices alot since they opened up here, they are now about the most expensive chain for electrical goods, add to that the nasty business of the price fixing of childrens toys they were caught out for. All round a bad lot.

michaelpwilson

Argos may not be the Mae West on price for all items, but it can still give other suppliers a run for their money. I bought a Creative Inspire 2.1 speaker set from Argos three days ago for €64.99. The same speaker set could be found in Dixons around the corner for €89.99. So they can still be competitive* - a €25 saving is considerable.

Michael

* Mind you, that wouldn't be difficult with Dixons, who can be total rip-off merchants

Doodah7

I find the most useful thing about Argos is that the catalogue sets out a good range of what is available for what you want to buy i.e. if you want to buy a toaster, you can see all the 'features' of each one and then choose.

You can then shop around for the best price.

Still I have picked up some bargains in there and sure don't the knacks love 'em.

bloggs

Originally posted by michaelpwilson
Argos may not be the Mae West on price for all items, but it can still give other suppliers a run for their money. I bought a Creative Inspire 2.1 speaker set from Argos three days ago for €64.99. The same speaker set could be found in Dixons around the corner for €89.99. So they can still be competitive* - a €25 saving is considerable.

Michael

* Mind you, that wouldn't be difficult with Dixons, who can be total rip-off merchants

The mad thing is that Dixons, Currys and Argos, are all run by the same company.

damnyanks

And PC World

sceptre

I didn't realise Argos was as well. Are they all part of GUS then (GUS being the owners of Argos)?

John R

No they aren't. Argos is owned by GUS http://www.gusplc.com a seperate company from the others mentioned, they are all part of the Dixons group http://www.dixons-group-plc.co.uk/

Of the two of them I would rather shop at Argos (reasonable prices permitting) as they have much better customer service. The amount of crap I had to deal with when returning faulty product at PC world was unbelievable and I have heard many others say the same about Dixons as well.

oneweb

John's right (got there before me, too!) An example that Dixons is a rip off is a Belkin 8-gang surge protected socket. around €55 in Argos, exactly the same model in Dixons was €96!!! And it wasn't a mistake 'cos it was that price for quite a while.

It's not fair to say that Argos is a rip-off over other retailers. The only reason you might do is quite simply because you have a list of everything with prices right in front of you. If you were to do a comparison with stores such as Dixons, Currys, Smyths Toys, Roches Stores et al, you'd find that prices differ, but both upwards and downwards depending on each product. In fact, Argos often price-checks competitors.

Also, it's important to note that Argos is a convenience-based shopping environment and consequently you should expect to pay a little bit more for that convenience (ie, you see it in the catalogue without having to traipse around a big store, you can make sure it's in store and even reserve it).

As for the flat-pack furniture, you get what you pay for (as with any flat-pack). Plus, if you build it so the drawers go in upside-down or the sides don't join - you can't entirely blame the furniture can you? There's a tiny bit of knack that goes into them.

Anyway, it's not just Argos - it's all the English retailers who are guilty of higher prices. Just look at shops like the Jeans Scene, D2 and other clothing stores and you can often see the UK£ and IE€ beside each other with a big difference upon conversion. As a matter of fact, the Burton Group was accused not so long ago for it's excessive inflation of prices over here.

Sure, they might say VAT and transport are the main reasons, but don't forget - it's because people are willing to pay the high prices that they continue to rise, just as with Irish-based stores.



heh, guess what!

spongebob

Originally posted by oneweb
Also, it's important to note that Argos is a convenience-based shopping environment and consequently you should expect to pay a little bit more for that convenience (ie, you see it in the catalogue without having to traipse around a big store, you can make sure it's in store and even reserve it).

As for the flat-pack furniture, you get what you pay for (as with any flat-pack). Plus, if you build it so the drawers go in upside-down or the sides don't join - you can't entirely blame the furniture can you? There's a tiny bit of knack that goes into them.

2 Fair points about Argos there. Roches could easily have launced an Argos 'catalogue and convenience' retail model in Ireland themselves ....and done it years ago.

The smaller flat pack stuff (a locker say) would probably be OK but the larger flatpack stuff like Wardrobes is packed and handled (by the Van drivers) in a manner that ensures that it is HIGHLY unlikely to make it to the delivery address intact. Thats assuming all the bits are there too. It is disgusting rubbish. You cannot ebven see it in the store because they have the large furniture in a warehouse in Dublin.

Then it is a bitch trying to get them back to collect the stuff.

M

sceptre

Originally posted by John R
No they aren't. Argos is owned by GUS http://www.gusplc.com a seperate company from the others mentioned, they are all part of the Dixons group http://www.dixons-group-plc.co.uk/

Thanks. The little voice in my head told me that they weren't all owned by the same people.

Wook

Originally posted by Paddy20


Also, Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe in which to live. Why, becaue our government has no idea on how too govern properly for the benefit of our citizens.

Therefore, most Irish citizens only have themselves to blame for the high cost of living by voting in the same politial parties as their parents and their parents, parents.

If the vast majority of people gave as much real consideration to which political party they vote for, as they give to which football team they support, we might live in a more equitable fairer society.

Just my 2cs worth.

P.

Paddy for president !!!!

sovtek

Originally posted by oneweb


should expect to pay a little bit more for that convenience (ie, you see it in the catalogue without having to traipse around a big store, you can make sure it's in store and even reserve it).

Actually that's exactly why it should be CHEAPER. They don't have the overhead of a huge store, displays, floor staff...etc.

As for the flat-pack furniture, you get what you pay for (as with any flat-pack).

But you pay more for it (as someone has already pointed out) here than you do in the UK.
You can't blame people for having to pay high prices because there is virtually no choice in Ireland. You get real competition going, then you can blame people. Until then it is largely the government not doing anything about the situation (as well as facilitating it with every budget).

Anyway, it's not just Argos - it's all the English retailers who are guilty of higher prices.

Then why aren't the Competition Authority all over them. Get some other companies in here as well as encourage more small business.
Then close down anyone found to be price-fixing or profiteering.

gurramok

Originally posted by sovtek
You can't blame people for having to pay high prices because there is virtually no choice in Ireland. You get real competition going, then you can blame people. Until then it is largely the government not doing anything about the situation (as well as facilitating it with every budget).

Then why aren't the Competition Authority all over them. Get some other companies in here as well as encourage more small business.
Then close down anyone found to be price-fixing or profiteering.

There is a place called northern ireland that is still part of uk (politics out of this one ) where you can shop to your hearts delight getting that cheaper furniture.
Argos in Newry is a good starting point
Also the internet is pretty good for getting stuff at their real\proper prices (sarcasm aside)

As for Competition Authority who have no real authority are a joke.
Something is rotten is the state of ireland and its called cartels

byte

Ah I didn't realise GUS owned Argos! Learn something new everyday! GUS are the group that also own Family Album and Kays catalogue shopping, also known to be on the expensive side.

HJ Simpson

Exactly I was shopping with her good self in several english owned girlie shops. OASIS MISS SELFISH etc the price difference you could nearly get a a plane ticket over from the u.k for the clothes. Definately more than the exchange rate.
HJS

bsmyth

Hi all,

I've just completed a comparison across a wide range (12,365) products on the Argos.ie and Argos.co.uk sites. Bottom-line: 25% more expensive in ireland (17% if we adjust for VAT) and if you want a large-screen Sony TV you can save over €1000!

Anyway the details are at: http://dejavu6.ucd.ie/2009/08/12/rip-off-republic-revisited/

Regards,
Barry

mcaul

Is this the longest ever gap in a thread being brought back up?

Original Thread August 03

New Post August 09

If there's one thing the thread tells people is argos have been overpricing in Ireland for YEARS

rubadub

bsmyth wrote: »

Anyway the details are at: http://dejavu6.ucd.ie/2009/08/12/rip-off-republic-revisited/

Regards,
Barry

The Irish market might be small, but Argos must be delighted with their profit margins in the Rip-off Republic!

And all the Irish owned stores must also be delighted with their profit margins. I have said numerous times that this is basic business practise, I have seen 6-7year old girls with "shops" in their front garden who understand about pricing at what the market will bear.

I would be more interested in the prices of argos vs. some Irish owned stores.

Aldito

I paid £79.99 for a Sony mp3 player listed as €224.99 here.

thebiglad

Irish Independent today - http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-shoppers-pay-more-for-argos-goods-than-in-the-uk-1861735.html

Must be a slow news day - hardly breaking news!!

Suprising though in same article positive findings for IKEA.

Bluefoam

I've just put my Argos catalogue in the bin... I knew they weren't cheap, but I don't like them taking the piss out of me!

celticbest

I don't think anybody is suprised by these findings, we've all know about this rip off for years. The problem was that nobody in the Republic complained about the high prices during the good times, were as high prices have always been top of the agenda in Britain.

I can say that I have always complained about the price difference & have as much as possible shopped up North to save money. I started shopping up North when you could get Pound for Pound in Newry and the savings were massive, even with the differnece between the Euro & Sterling there are still huge savings to be made.

People should always vote with there feet, I know I have!

bangersandmash

oneweb wrote: »

Also, it's important to note that Argos is a convenience-based shopping environment and consequently you should expect to pay a little bit more for that convenience (ie, you see it in the catalogue without having to traipse around a big store, you can make sure it's in store and even reserve it).

That's a bizarre way at looking at it. If anything Argos is very inconvenient because you're unable to inspect the majority of the items before your purchase. You would expect to pay a little less because Argos don't have to pay for the square footage to actually display their products. After all, after VAT and wages levels, rental costs are the prime reason used by chains for explaining the discrepancy between UK and Irish prices.

It's akin to saying that you should pay a premium for food in a take-away for the convenience of ordering directly at the till.

"Traipsing" through a store is hardly a significant inconvenience in return for seeing the quality of the goods that you're buying.

Genghis

bangersandmash wrote: »

That's a bizarre way at looking at it. If anything Argos is very inconvenient because you're unable to inspect the majority of the items before your purchase. You would expect to pay a little less because Argos don't have to pay for the square footage to actually display their products. After all, after VAT and wages levels, rental costs are the prime reason used by chains for explaining the discrepancy between UK and Irish prices.

+1. The convenience in the Argos model is with the business, not the customer. Warehousing is far more efficient and far less costly than retail display. The benefit for the customer is (or should be) cost-saving, not convenience.

Ken_Mac

Argos have been ripping us off in Ireland for a long. Take a look at this website to see how much:

http://www.cataloguecompare.com/