Sunday Business Post

Victor

Note the bit at the bottom.

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-801096547-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews.asp

Cross-border sales soar in 'euro for pound' deal
11/01/04 00:00
By Susan Mitchell

A number of local retailers in Strabane, Co Tyrone, are considering the introduction of a euro-for-pound pricing structure, following the success of local super market owner Gary McLoughlin.

The proprietor of Better Deals began selling products on a euro-for-pound (sterling) basis last June. Since then, turnover at the 8,000 square foot supermarket has trebled and McLoughlin is considering expanding into retail sites in Donegal.

According to the 39-year- old businessman, about 80 per cent of his customers come from the Republic. Customers from the Republic save an average of 50 per cent on a typical shopping basket by shopping at B etter D eals, McLoughlin claimed.

McLoughlin said: "The Irish government promised that the introduction of the euro would not impact on prices, but it is obvious that it has. Retailers are absolutely coining it across the border."

He dismissed claims made by many retailers in the Republic that Vat, insurance and electricity bills are to blame for higher prices south of the border.

"That doesn't explain the massive profit margins," said McLoughlin. "We were selling large tins of Roses chocolates for €9.99 over Christmas.They cost over €20 at Dunnes Stores in Letterkenny."

Prices also compare favourably with Tesco. Tesco charges €1.59 for Bramble Hill cranberry juice, €2.25 for Lyons tea bags (80) and €1.35 for Jacobs Polo biscuits. Better Deals charges €1.09, €2.25 and 59 cent respectively.

"The difference is phenomenal. Large sup er market chains are buying those products in for less than I am and yet I still made a profit on those sales," said McLoughlin.

The majority of his customers come from Donegal and Letterkenny, but Better Deals has also attracted customers from Sligo and Galway. Many Northern Irish shoppers convert sterling into euro before shopping at the supermarket, which enables them to make savings of about 30 per cent.

McLoughlin plans to open a supermarket in Donegal this year. He is confident this will prove a success. He said: "My profit margins are not huge, but the shop is always full and sales are strong. I don't see why it cannot be done across the border."

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-782442547-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews.asp

Major mark-ups continue despite weak dollar
11/01/04 00:00
By Susan Mitchell and Catherine O'Mahony

Are consumers paying over the odds for products purchased in Ireland?

With the dollar at a record low against sterling and the euro,the US has become a bargain basement destination for European shoppers.

At close of business last Friday, €1 was worth $1.28. Visitors from the eurozone now pay €78 for a $100 item in the United States compared to about €95 little over ayear ago.

Similarly, visitors from Britain pay stg»55 for a $100 item in the US, compared with about stg»62 at the end of 2002.

While the most egregious examples of rip-off Ireland lie in goods that are priced in US dollars, the cheap dollar is not solely to blame for the price differential.

Consumers can purchase a Polo Ralph Lauren baseball cap for €24 ($32) in Macy's, New York. That same product costs €35 at BrownThomas.

However, a Gant jacket that is priced at €1,200 in Brown Thomas was sourced for $340 (e267) at a shop in Greenwich Village, NewYork.

Mark-ups are also prevalent in cosmetics and beauty products. The Nue Blue Eriu beauty emporium on South William Street in Dublin 2 charges €510 for a product from the exclusive La Prairie skincare range. Its Cellular Radiance Cream costs €421 in New York.

Consumers in the US also enjoy sig nificantly lower prices on electronic goods. A Sony digital camcorder, priced at €799 at Sony Centre outlets in Dublin, is available for $665 (e530) in the US. That represents a price differential of €269 - effectively a 50 per cent difference.

Last week The Sunday Business Post revealed the massive price difference between the cost of the iPod in Ireland compared to the US. American consumers who purchase that product over the internet can avoid sales tax and pay just $299.

Liam Donohoe of Apple Ireland said Irish consumers are penalised by high value added tax (Vat) rates. "The cheap dollar and Vat on the iPod go some way to explaining the difference" in price, said Donohoe,who added that sales tax in New York is just over 8 per cent.

Many of the accessories for the iPod are also significantly cheaper in the US.

The iPod Belkin autocharger costs €24 ($29.95) in the US. Spectra on Grafton Street charges consumers €70. That represents a €46 price differential - a mark-up of just under 100 per cent.

Vat is also having an impact on Ireland's ability to compete with other leading European cities.

While some brands, such as Bang & Olufsen and Louis Vuitton, appear to have standardised their prices, other leading brands have not.

A Philips television was sourced for 10 per cent less in Frankfurt than it costs in Dublin.

Similarly, the PalmTungsten T3 is significantly cheaper in Paris than it is in Dublin.

McGuirks Golf charges €399 for the TaylorMade R580XD. But golfers can purchase the same club for €100 less in Barcelona.

The Sunday Business Post aims to publish a monthly survey of European and US price comparisons, which will inform consumers about the brands whose prices are standardised and those that are not.

Readers can send examples to susan@sbpost.ie

Mainstream American broadsheet newpaper $0.25 (€0.20)
Sunday Business Post €1.65(?)

Victor

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-370111041-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews.asp

Rip-off Ireland set to continue apace in 2004
04/01/04 00:00
By Sean Mac Carthaigh

Consumers can expect no respite from "rip-off Ireland" in the early months of 2004, with retailers, petrol stations, banks and government agencies all continuing to gouge where they should cut prices.

A series of inquiries by The Sunday Business Post this weekend confir med what many citizens have suspected for many months: there is systematic overpricing across a huge range of goods and services in Ireland.

Ironically, the rip-off syndrome has reached its latest peak just as Ireland takes over the presidency of the European Union.

At the EU ceremony in Dublin on New Year's Day, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Tanaiste Mary Harney vowed to make the European economy the most competitive in the world.

The most shocking examples of rip-off Ireland lie in goods that are priced in US dollars.This time last year, the dollar and the euro were at parity; today, the euro is worth $1.25. This huge jump has exposed the extent to which consumers in Ireland are being taken for a ride.

A barrel of crude oil, which is priced in dollars, costs the same as it did last January.

This means that a litre of petrol at the pumps paid for in euro should cost 20 per cent less. Instead,the oil companies have pocketed the currency gain.

A basic model Dell laptop computer costs the equivalent of €843 on the company's US website. The same model, but on the Irish version of the Dell website, costs €1,366 - a difference of €523.

A pair of Levi's 501 jeans that cost €36 in the United States cost €69 in Dublin.

A Sony digital camcorder priced at €530 in the US costs €800 in Ireland.

And even Nike running shoes, at €80 in the US, are priced at €145 in Dublin.

Thousands of Irish consumers have effectively given up on their own retailers, flying instead to New York to make their euro stretch further.

Meanwhile, Irish banks continue to overcharge their customers. Credit card interest rates are the highest in Europe.

Fixed rate mortgages have riseninrecent weeks on the presumption that ECB rates were set to rise.The ECB, conscious of the rising euro, may in fact cut rates; instead of passing this on to the fixed-rate customer, Irish banks will likely delay passing on the savings.

The EU authorities permit Irish banks to avoid competition; there is still no eurozone cheque clearing system, and high transfer of payment charges prohibit customers from holding credit cards in other eurozone banks.

And as Irish consumers approach this year's spring cleaning, there is still no catalyst for real competition in the homeware sector. Ikea has indicated its interest in opening in the Republic, but vested interests have barred its arrival.

Aside from anti-competitive regulation, the government also stands accused of contributing to the rip-off itself, for authorising hikes in bus and train fares, ESB and VHI bills, tolls, TV licences, passports, and other stealth taxes.

The government also continues to impose VRT, which is regarded by many as anticompetitive and anti-European, on Irish car-buyers.

Fine Gael, which last year launched the ripoff.ie website, said this weekend it would step up its "name-and-shame" campaign against retailers and government agencies.

"Our research shows there are massive mark-ups on everything from soft drinks in pubs to music CDs," said Phil Hogan TD, Fine Gael's spokesman for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

"The latest round of currency changes should indicate a lot of imported products being cheaper than they are retailing at presently," he said.

mike65

All of the above may explain why I'm seriously thinking of buying 4 alloy wheels from the states for $336!

Mike.

Ripwave

Originally posted by Victor
Mainstream American broadsheet newpaper $0.25 (€0.20)
Sunday Business Post €1.65(?)

That American "newspaper" has a lot more advertising than news between the covers.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

Ripwave

Originally posted by Victor
Mainstream American broadsheet newpaper $0.25 (€0.20)
Sunday Business Post €1.65(?)

I just checked, and the daily New York Times costs $1, not $0.25. The Sunday edition costs more.

Agent Smith

sad isnt it....



/me rushes off to fing a € for £ off licence

Mossy Monk

enough in this thread to make me sick :mad: :mad:

BluE-WinG

/me logs onto a few US websites to pick up some deals --

Never support the Ripoff merchants in Ireland - They will learn when people stop buying from them.

star gazer

origianlly posted by Blue-Wing
Never support the Ripoff merchants in Ireland - They will learn when people stop buying from them.

but then how would we read about all the rip offs?

Economies of scale are a big factor in newspapers, if the business post was selling a million copies they could probably cahrge a euro.