Why can people not understand the Price disparity north/south re: debenhams

Jaysoose

The gf's mum works in debenhams blanch and was telling me today that nearly every customer is whinging on about the sterling prices on the goods, people trying to pay in sterling then getting stroppy when they cant etc.

Why cant people educate themselves on this whole thing? she actually had someone walk away from the till without paying in a strop today over this, the customer obviously thought they were right etc but jesus christ is it so hard to understand the higher vat rate, higher wages, higher costs and the fact that the stock was bought months ago at a worse sterling rate??

Im not defending debenhams as they oviously stick a bit on for themselves but walking out of a shop in a huff because they wouldnt give you an exchange rate you liked is ridculous.

Just thought i would vent.

mikemac

I'm no expert on how the price is broken down. And I'm sure someone will start quoting figures and how the difference isn't justified, it's been 100 times before in this forum. I just don't know

But I do think the customer is a fool is they think ranting at sales and customer service staff is going to have any effect on price.
Price is set by head office and at best, only the store management has the power to do anything.

It's like going to a pub and shouting at the teenage lounge staff if the price of a pint is high! And I've been in that sitation many times

Fools who try to pay in sterling deserve to laughed at

jim_bob

and if it was the other way round do you think debenhams would take so long to change the price???

Chardee MacDennis

They're a business not a charity. Grow up and don't shop there if you think their margin is too high. This country is full of whingers really!

Jaysoose

jim_bob wrote: »

and if it was the other way round do you think debenhams would take so long to change the price???

Nobody is defending debenhams here.

Mr. Presentable

Jaysoose wrote: »

The gf's mum works in debenhams blanch and was telling me today that nearly every customer is whinging on about the sterling prices on the goods, people trying to pay in sterling then getting stroppy when they cant etc.

Why cant people educate themselves on this whole thing? she actually had someone walk away from the till without paying in a strop today over this, the customer obviously thought they were right etc but jesus christ is it so hard to understand the higher vat rate, higher wages, higher costs and the fact that the stock was bought months ago at a worse sterling rate??

Im not defending debenhams as they oviously stick a bit on for themselves but walking out of a shop in a huff because they wouldnt give you an exchange rate you liked is ridculous.

Just thought i would vent.

Your points are good, except, the stores in Ireland don't buy their good seperately from the rest of the group.

That and the fact that I priced a coat at £150.00 that was €280.00 here. Are they taking all of the extra costs out on my coat?!!!!!


The problem would be alleviated if they had the intelligence not to show the Stg price.

Helix

BastardPrince wrote: »

This country is full of whingers really!

there arent enough whingers in this country who'll do something about it

thats our problem

Chardee MacDennis

Helix wrote: »

there arent enough whingers in this country who'll do something about it

thats our problem

Exaclty I wouldn't mind it if people actually walked the walk!

Jaysoose

BastardPrince wrote: »

Exaclty I wouldn't mind it if people actually walked the walk!

Its simply a case of DONT SHOP THERE and if enough people do this then th epenny should drop.

Scottie99

nipplenuts wrote: »

The problem would be alleviated if they had the intelligence not to show the Stg price.

+1

parsi

Some of the Debenhams'sprices are very dodgy,

I was looking (under duress) at their Star Wars toys. The UK> Eur rate was very poor. However and more to the point , the original UK price was shocking high and was thus avoidable.

darc

Debenhams are considered expensive in the UK. Then they add insult to injury by using a 1.55 - 1.6 exchange over here.

But it no good complaining to shop staff - they have no blame in this rip off.

Simply don't shop in Debenhams until they charge more reasonable prices. I've seen local shop in Newbridge charging 30% less than debenhams for identical item.


Good news is it is likely that Oasis, Karen Millen & Coast will announce € for £ pricing for the spring season. If it happens (I'm fairly sure of it) then others will have to follow.

Jaysoose

darc wrote: »

Debenhams are considered expensive in the UK. Then they add insult to injury by using a 1.55 - 1.6 exchange over here.

But it no good complaining to shop staff - they have no blame in this rip off.

Simply don't shop in Debenhams until they charge more reasonable prices. I've seen local shop in Newbridge charging 30% less than debenhams for identical item.


Good news is it is likely that Oasis, Karen Millen & Coast will announce € for £ pricing for the spring season. If it happens (I'm fairly sure of it) then others will have to follow.

Bingo bongo bango....my main point is that people would rather throw some childish wobbler at the till to somebody who only works part time because they reckon they should be getting .95 of an exchange when in reality they do not have a clue how and why the prices are calculated in this manner. Debenhams are no doubt expensive and the prices they charge are really only idicative of the flagrant abuse of customers by the irish retail sector for the past five - ten years.

rubadub

nipplenuts wrote: »

The problem would be alleviated if they had the intelligence not to show the Stg price.

The problem is people with no intelligence, why should the intelligent people who do understand the differences have to suffer and for these retards.

i.e. dual pricing results in lower prices for people on both sides, due to economies of scale. They just get one label printed up, they can sell it in € or £ zones, so can freely move merchandise around without the added cost of relabelling. Dual pricing should result in a lower priced product.

Hellrazer

The only way to stop this rip off from UK retailers is to vote with your feet or contact head office and complain about the price difference.

Last Thursday I went to buy a Table and chairs from a well known UK hardware chain.

The price in the UK was £299.00,price here was €450.00
I rang head office in the UK,told them I was going to Newry to buy the same item on Saturday and that I would no longer use this chain of stores in the Republic and they dropped the price by €70.00.

So they can obviously drop their prices at the drop of a hat if a customer complains to the right people.

RiverWilde

Hellrazer wrote: »

So they can obviously drop their prices at the drop of a hat.

This is my problem with retailers in the south. On the one had you have govt. banging on about patriotism - the hell with that! Shops in the south are going to do alot of price cutting to get me back in the doors.

My family and I were in Enniskillen on Saturday and my wife went into Argos looking for something for me, she won't tell me what it is. Anyway I do know it costs €99.99 in the south. More than double the price in the north.

Riv

Phototoxin

Patriotism my 4R$€ ! Not patriotic when Harneygets her hair done for €370 abroad is it ?

Simply don't shop in Debenhams until they charge more reasonable prices. I've seen local shop in Newbridge charging 30% less than debenhams for identical item.

But people in Ireland prefer to do it an whine and feel hard done by. Its either how they get off or how they like to live.
I dont understand it. Just go UP THE NORTH!

_Whimsical_

Firstly I don't agree with complaining to or abusing shop floor staff at ALL.

These Euro to Sterling price increases are not 100% justifiable as some posters claim.The NCA did a survey in June revealing that there was a price differencial of 31% on a basket of identical goods in Tesco North and South of the boarder when all excises and taxes were excluded.Since then the currency exchange rates have changed by 12% which means the differencial will have widened substansially.That's just one example.

If these large chain stores are siphoning off any unjustifiable percentage for themselves in this economic climate then it is a percentage too much(often 30% too much!!!).If we pay more per item we have less to spend elsewhere.Our quality of life will suffer and so will retail employment rates. The only people we do any favour to by not complaining are fat cat bosses of chain groups like Arcadia, Tesco and Debenhams etc.What is unpatriotic is to sit back, say nothing and watch our own economy and country suffer to make a minority of greedy people even more wealthy.

shifers

I think dead right for people to protest at the till and refuse to purchase. Though I would personally make my complaint to the manager and then leave the item unpurchased.

I don't expect the shops to take sterling, but i recently saw an item in Debenhams for £55, which "converted" to €83... Just makes me feel like they think we're some kind of idiots who will pay anything they ask. Anyway, I won't shop there, nor in Oasis who are equally bad for the made up prices.

gerrycollins

Hellrazer wrote: »

The only way to stop this rip off from UK retailers is to vote with your feet or contact head office and complain about the price difference.

Last Thursday I went to buy a Table and chairs from a well known UK hardware chain.

The price in the UK was £299.00,price here was €450.00
I rang head office in the UK,told them I was going to Newry to buy the same item on Saturday and that I would no longer use this chain of stores in the Republic and they dropped the price by €70.00.

So they can obviously drop their prices at the drop of a hat if a customer complains to the right people.

this is what annoys me, no offence OP, but the company still would have made the sale no matter where you shopped so why should they bother listening. you were just proactive

you got lucky that they did what they did, also unless we all start calling nothing will happen

Jaysoose

gerrycollins wrote: »

this is what annoys me, no offence OP, but the company still would have made the sale no matter where you shopped so why should they bother listening. you were just proactive

you got lucky that they did what they did, also unless we all start calling nothing will happen

You need to read the thread a bit better:

1. i wasnt buying from debenhams
2. I never defended the prices once and said they are over the odds
3. I was pointing out the fact that screaming at somebody that works part time looking for .96 exchange rate when people dont understand basic business costs etc is moronic.

Jaysoose

chilly wrote: »

Firstly I don't agree with complaining to or abusing shop floor staff at ALL.

These Euro to Sterling price increases are not 100% justifiable as some posters claim.The NCA did a survey in June revealing that there was a price differencial of 31% on a basket of identical goods in Tesco North and South of the boarder when all excises and taxes were excluded.Since then the currency exchange rates have changed by 12% which means the differencial will have widened substansially.That's just one example.

If these large chain stores are siphoning off any unjustifiable percentage for themselves in this economic climate then it is a percentage too much(often 30% too much!!!).If we pay more per item we have less to spend elsewhere.Our quality of life will suffer and so will retail employment rates. The only people we do any favour to by not complaining are fat cat bosses of chain groups like Arcadia, Tesco and Debenhams etc.What is unpatriotic is to sit back, say nothing and watch our own economy and country suffer to make a minority of greedy people even more wealthy.

I have not seen anybody say this on this thread once, read through and you will see this.

Jaysoose

shifers wrote: »

I think dead right for people to protest at the till and refuse to purchase. Though I would personally make my complaint to the manager and then leave the item unpurchased.

I don't expect the shops to take sterling, but i recently saw an item in Debenhams for £55, which "converted" to €83... Just makes me feel like they think we're some kind of idiots who will pay anything they ask. Anyway, I won't shop there, nor in Oasis who are equally bad for the made up prices.

What woud you expect to happen? they are not gonna drop the price as they are unable to do so. Why wait in line with a dual priced item knowing you are going to complain and then feel all self righteous and walk out? We know its crap but then some people just like complaining and stamping their feet it appears.

Hookey

Until 3 months ago I worked at the head office of a large UK retailer (I ran the online dept), with stores here in Ireland. There's a very simple reason why the Irish Euro price is so much higher than Sterling, and this applies to pretty much all retailers other than grocery; accountants. The finance dept will typically adjust its exchange rate every 3 or even 6 months (usually in line with reforecasting), because its too much hassle to do it more frequently, so lots of UK-owned chains are still working on an exchange rate from as far back as May or June when the rate was much higher. When I left we were still working to about 1.5 euro. Add in their own high street woes, and they will keep the rate for as long as they can because frankly they're going to gouge all the profit they can right now.

However, now its reaching rioting in the supermarkets stage in Newry etc. I'd expect to see most of them adjust their rates in the new year (its making their Irish stores uneconomic and screwing up store and ops targets). It will still be more expensive in the Republic due to VAT and distribution costs (although that's a pretty spurious cost if they operate in NI), but quite a lot closer. This is already starting to happen in the supermarkets and with some of the online sites (looks at Dabs Ireland and the UK and its pretty close).

Of course if the pound continues to crash then all bets are off. There's very little the UK can do to strengthen the pound without putting interest rates up (which would be a disaster for other reasons), so Ireland will continue to look expensive - that's just the downside of having a strong currency. Don't knock it, at least Newry's only a short drive away.

_Whimsical_

Jaysoose wrote: »

Why cant people educate themselves on this whole thing? she actually had someone walk away from the till without paying in a strop today over this, the customer obviously thought they were right etc but jesus christ is it so hard to understand the higher vat rate, higher wages, higher costs and the fact that the stock was bought months ago at a worse sterling rate??

Im not defending debenhams as they oviously stick a bit on for themselves but walking out of a shop in a huff because they wouldnt give you an exchange rate you liked is ridculous.

Just thought i would vent.

Your first paragraph does actually sound like a defence of the position.Perhaps you were bemoaning a lack of education on the issue of supermarket etiquette.

As it happens I was refering to several posts I've read throughout boards when I wrote that,not just yours.

Also hassling staff is ridiculous but politely making your point and walking away when you realise you're being ripped off is what people need to do if things are to change.

Jaysoose

chilly wrote: »

Your first paragraph does actually sound like a defence of the position.Perhaps you were bemoaning a lack of education on the issue of supermarket etiquette.

As it happens I was refering to several posts I've read throughout boards when I wrote that,not just yours.

Also hassling staff is ridiculous but politely making your point and walking away when you realise you're being ripped off is what people need to do if things are to change.

My first paragraph show reasons why the price would be different, the second states "im not defending debenhams as they obviously stick something on for themselves" People looking for .95 exchange in irish shops are morons...end of.

Cant comment on other threads or posters and it isnt clear that you are talking about othe threads...Anyway we all know its a ripoff but then dont buy it. It seems irish people love to be on the high horse wasting everybodies time complaining (really badly) to people that have no control over the price.

soc

I just can't bring myself to buy anything from Debenhams... seeing the discrepancies between the UK and EURO price is an eye-opener. The only thing I use Debenhams for is window-shopping. I take my money somewhere else.

I don't believe in people getting stropping with sales staff...

The way I see it, if you have a problem with the price either:
a) ask if that's the lowest price they can offer the good to you
b) or simply DON'T SHOP THERE

Hellrazer

gerrycollins wrote: »

. you were just proactive.....

you got lucky that they did what they did, also unless we all start calling nothing will happen

Thats the point Im trying to make.The UK retailers have enough room with their price differences to actually give discounts if a customer complains hard enough.

Personally I got so pi$$ed off with this item in particular that I went out of my way to make a complaint about the price difference to the head office and it got me somewhere.

Irish people have a habit of giving out about everything but doing nothing about it and until that mentality changes we are all going to continue being ripped off by UK chainstores who pull the prices out of their arses just because they know that they will sell them at that price here in the Republic.

Jaysoose

Hellrazer wrote: »

Thats the point Im trying to make.The UK retailers have enough room with their price differences to actually give discounts if a customer complains hard enough.

Personally I got so pi$$ed off with this item in particular that I went out of my way to make a complaint about the price difference to the head office and it got me somewhere.

Irish people have a habit of giving out about everything but doing nothing about it and until that mentality changes we are all going to continue being ripped off by UK chainstores who pull the prices out of their arses just because they know that they will sell them at that price here in the Republic.

Basically you complained effectively and saw little point roaring at somebody behind a till....good for you, if people complained like this then something would be done but then throwing a hissy fit in a shop is more common unfortunately and managment are not gonna do anything about it as nothing comes of it.

trellheim

There at least is some point here.

If I advertise a product for 20 quid sterling and also 25 quid euro, both labels on the product , I then shouldn't refuse if someone hands me an english 20 and says "there you go squire"

Sofiztikated

If I advertise a product for 20 quid sterling and also 25 quid euro, both labels on the product , I then shouldn't refuse if someone hands me an english 20 and says "there you go squire"

Rubbish. What is the currency here? Its euro. If you are given sterling, you'll have to change it, pay commission on top of that to the banks, and then you end up with even less than €20, generally on this amount it would end up being around €19.30.

Its the exchange rate they based and projected the prices on that are way off, as someone already said, it could be up to 6 months old.

If you walked into a shop in England, and asked if you could pay for something in Euro, you'll either be politely told no, OR stared at until you walked away in shame.

I totally agree with the OP.

Don't rant and rave at the floor staff about "How much cheaper this is in the North, I could buy 12 for the price of this one, and save the price of college tutition for my half witted son to go on to be a doctor." Floor staff more often than not DON'T CARE! They are just there to earn minimum wage, go home on time, and do their shopping in the North.

Complain in the right place, then something more productive may happen, as with Hellrazer. Complain to floor staff and you'll either be politely told no, or stared at until you walk off in embarrasement, AND give them fuel to bitch about in their own time about this See You Next Tuesday that had a foaming fit and almost swallowed their own tongue.

Oh how quickly this country has gone from boasting about how much everyone was spending on anything to boasting about penny pinching.

trellheim

Your argument in this respect holds water if the product only has a label for 25 euro. In this case it is labelled twice, once in sterling, once in euro.

They are offering the product for sale for that amount of sterling, not me.

Now if there was a big sign at the entrance saying "Ignore all the Sterling Signs, we do not propose to honour these sales offers" fair enough.

rubadub

trellheim wrote: »

Your argument in this respect holds water if the product only has a label for 25 euro. In this case it is labelled twice, once in sterling, once in euro.

once again... why should people who do understand the differences have to suffer and for these retards.

i.e. dual pricing results in lower prices for people on both sides, due to economies of scale. They just get one label printed up, they can sell it in € or £ zones, so can freely move merchandise around without the added cost of relabelling. Dual pricing should result in a lower priced product.

trellheim wrote: »

They are offering the product for sale for that amount of sterling

They are not, go to the counter and they will tell you so, they can refuse the euro price too BTW.

trellheim wrote: »

Now if there was a big sign at the entrance saying "Ignore all the Sterling Signs, we do not propose to honour these sales offers"

I would be disgusted to see a shop having to waste money on signage for morons who cannot get their head around the fact stuff varies in price in different countries. That sign will be paid for by everybody, I do not want the cost of producing a sign for idiots included in my products. It is also an insult to (most) peoples intelligence.

It would be like going to a specialist newsagent in Japan and trying to pay for todays Irish Times in euro at the quoted euro price, you would be laughed out of the shop, and rightly so.

shifers

Jaysoose wrote: »

What woud you expect to happen? they are not gonna drop the price as they are unable to do so. Why wait in line with a dual priced item knowing you are going to complain and then feel all self righteous and walk out? We know its crap but then some people just like complaining and stamping their feet it appears.

Guess I just like stamping my feet then. :-) I'm thinking bigger picture, if enough people say to staff - I would buy this, but your pricing is ridiculous and frankly, insulting, I would hope it would sink in... Though this may all lead to the British multiples leaving Ireland (80s all over again), leading to jobs losses. Bit of a vicious circle, so I don't really know...

boopolo

Why cant people educate themselves on this whole thing?

The ones who complain are the educated ones. They do so in the hope that the staff will relay their feedback to management.

The excuses the compay tells their staff to give to customers is a pack of lies. I feel sorry for the staff.

Taking account of the higher costs in Dublin compared to Belfast, the average price of goods should be no more than 5% more in Dublin. Fact. London has on average the same overheads as Dublin, so the prices should be the same. Read here

When the Euro was only worth 75p the labels corresponded closely to the exchange rate. At that time the UK companies were making more profit here than in most uk stores. Now that their sales in the UK are in freefall, they see Ireland suckers as way to re-coup those loses.

Jaysoose

shifers wrote: »

Guess I just like stamping my feet then. :-) I'm thinking bigger picture, if enough people say to staff - I would buy this, but your pricing is ridiculous and frankly, insulting, I would hope it would sink in... Though this may all lead to the British multiples leaving Ireland (80s all over again), leading to jobs losses. Bit of a vicious circle, so I don't really know...

Wow, the price of goods is insulting to you? do you walk into mcdonalds and think 'the price of a big mac is a real slap in the face to me'!!

Listen roaring at somebody who is just trying to get through the work day without anybody hassling them is not gonna get anywhere and the only conversation between staff about it will be like so

employee 1. "did you see your one i had some banging on about the sterling again today, really stroppy cnut they were as if its my fault"

Manager. "Friggin getting it all day from muppets screamin about .96 exchange, anyway see you tommorow"

Nothing will come of complaining to shop staff and its a really ineffective way to get your point across as they will forget about it five minutes later as they will still be busy dealing with rational people.

Jaysoose

boopolo wrote: »

The ones who complain are the educated ones. They do so in the hope that the staff will relay their feedback to management.

The excuses the compay tells their staff to give to customers is a pack of lies. I feel sorry for the staff.

Taking account of the higher costs in Dublin compared to Belfast, the average price of goods should be no more than 5% more in Dublin. Fact. London has on average the same overheads as Dublin, so the prices should be the same. Read here

When the Euro was only worth 75p the labels corresponded closely to the exchange rate. At that time the UK companies were making more profit here than in most uk stores. Now that their sales in the UK are in freefall, they see Ireland suckers as way to re-coup those loses.

Moaning on a shop floor is not effective complaining, escalating your complaint to the highest level possible in an articulate and clear manner is.

To be fair any report produced by a state body is to be taken with a pinch of salt at the moment. But if this sort of thing brings the prices down then happy days for everybody.

listermint

People who complain to floor staff are more over making a show of themselves and love to hear their own voice.

Floor staff are there just to do their working day and go home. They DONT set pricing and CANT effect company policy.

So in essence DONT make a show of yourself, DONT shop there, DO contact the relevant higher department that can affect company policy.

Chances are most normal people in the long queue behind your are saying "what an ar**ho**" or "that woman is a right b***h"

So your pointless stance at standing in the queue knowing full well your heading to the teller to complain makes you look more of a fool. Cop on.

egan007

Jaysoose wrote: »

The gf's mum works in debenhams blanch and was telling me today that nearly every customer is whinging on about the sterling prices on the goods, people trying to pay in sterling then getting stroppy when they cant etc.

Why cant people educate themselves on this whole thing? she actually had someone walk away from the till without paying in a strop today over this, the customer obviously thought they were right etc but jesus christ is it so hard to understand the higher vat rate, higher wages, higher costs and the fact that the stock was bought months ago at a worse sterling rate??

Im not defending debenhams as they oviously stick a bit on for themselves but walking out of a shop in a huff because they wouldnt give you an exchange rate you liked is ridculous.

Just thought i would vent.

Explain it to me again....I'm as thick as a plank.

I'm off to Newry - take that regression. i'll show this eegonomic climate.

I'm sick of this climate change issue.

bobzee

I agree with the original poster in that people here do not stop to think about the differences in the costs of doing business here and in the North.

However my reponse to anybody complaining about UK stores ripping us off is simple, 'Shop in an Irish store'. I know people are going to bang on here about how Irish stores have been ripping us off too. However I know people in the retail sector here and in order for them to compete with the UK high street stores, their margins have to be extremely tight. They simply do not have the same economies of scale or purchasing power that the UK chains do.

I for one have always shopped in an Irish owned store when I can, and I think more people may start to when they see how UK stores have been ripping us off.

Of course most people's answer is to travel north to shop, fair enough its a freedom of choice thing. However I dont want to hear to same people whinging when lots of their friends/relations are losing their jobs here because the retail sector, and all dependant businesses are closing.

Jaysoose

egan007 wrote: »

Explain it to me again....I'm as thick as a plank.

I'm off to Newry - take that regression. i'll show this eegonomic climate.

I'm sick of this climate change issue.

Sjit guvnor you cant be think as a plank if your heading to newry, just spend spend spend.

boopolo

Jaysoose wrote: »

To be fair any report produced by a state body is to be taken with a pinch of salt at the moment. But if this sort of thing brings the prices down then happy days for everybody.

And what? You beleive these companies when they they say the opposite to this report.
They have been saying that its so expensive to do business here and yet the stores here are (were) making big profits from their Irish branches. They compare Dublin vs. say Manchester or Belfast. They never actually mention that it is more expensive to have a shop in London than in Dublin.

ch750536

That was fun.

Jaysoose

boopolo wrote: »

And what? You beleive these companies when they they say the opposite to this report.
They have been saying that its so expensive to do business here and yet the stores here are (were) making big profits from their Irish branches. They compare Dublin vs. say Manchester or Belfast. They never actually mention that it is more expensive to have a shop in London than in Dublin.

Hang on a second buddy i never defended the prices i gave valid reasons why they would be different so get off your high horse and stop preaching at me. If people dont like the prices then dont pay them...fu*k sake.

I believe neither the goverments hyperbole nor the marketing men so give over.

Heres a thought....were was this report for the past five years? the goverment of this country done nothing to help the consumer for the past 5-10 years and now we are expected to believe a report that has been generated that calls for price reductions etc its all very convienient in my eyes. The droves of people leaving the country to shop has finally made the goverment realise that we wont stand for it anymore.

This is my last post in this thread as it has run its course.

rubadub

boopolo wrote: »

Taking account of the higher costs in Dublin compared to Belfast, the average price of goods should be no more than 5% more in Dublin. Fact. London has on average the same overheads as Dublin, so the prices should be the same.

"fact" according to one survey, which is probably very simplistic as usual, like most peoples ideas of why stuff should be the same price here

The study looked at retail business costs to determine how their cost base compared with retailers in other jurisdictions.

I wonder what costs and other factors were taken into account.

In comparing Dublin and Belfast, the study found that while operating costs in Dublin were on average 25% higher than Belfast. But the study said operating costs accounted for only 20% to 25% of the total cost of a retail good, so such costs could only justify a 5% to 6% price difference between Dublin and Belfast.

Sounds like these are preVAT/duty prices, and also presuming the goods cost the retailer the EXACT same to buy and have delivered etc, bit of a stupid and pointless exercise TBH.

Seems strange that we do not have UK shopkeepers all selling up and opening shops here if they really are onto such a winner here.

Boskowski

I don't know. It sure isn't very intelligent and not very effective either screaming at the young one behind the till but she's the one I'm interacting with so why not tell her. If she hears that 5 times a day - and I'm sure she will - she will tell her supervisor and the supervisor will tell her manager etc.

I don't give a **** about accountants and how they operate. I bet if it was to their disadvantage they'd be changing the rates like a shot.

And I don't care about this VAT rate rubbish talk either. The rate is 21.5% here and 15% there. For a 100 Pound (105 Euro) item the difference is just over a fiver, why the hell does the 100 pound item cost 159 Euro in the Irish outlet?

Since I came to this country I always found that retail prices are pretty steep here compared to mainland Europe and at first I put it down to lack of competition since everybody told me how this is such a small country blablabla. But after a while it seemed to me that there was no real intention to compete as it was all very cushy and worked out just fine for the retailers. This held up as long as the next door neighbours (UK) exchange rate and price levels didn't put any pressure on the retailers but those days are gone and with internet purchases on the rise we actually have some competition now. Also I think the Irish consumers are becoming more clever as they have increasingly more options and the retailers will simply have to live with that.

As competition is the motor of capitalism and capitalism is our undisputed world religion these days this surely must be a good thing, right?

Corruptedmorals

trellheim wrote: »

There at least is some point here.

If I advertise a product for 20 quid sterling and also 25 quid euro, both labels on the product , I then shouldn't refuse if someone hands me an english 20 and says "there you go squire"

Of course you shouldn't, if your tills are programmed to accept sterling. If they're not, like the tills in a lot of places, how exactly are you expected to do it?

The 'young one behind the till' is most likely not going to pass on complaints, that's not her job.

the groutch

the change in exchange rates has been very sudden, so fashion retailers haven't had proper time to adjust their prices accordingly
I expect alot of clothes retailers to narrow their exchange rates after the january sales to remain competitive (eg. £25 will be €35 instead of the current €39)

jahalpin

trellheim wrote: »

Your argument in this respect holds water if the product only has a label for 25 euro. In this case it is labelled twice, once in sterling, once in euro.

They are offering the product for sale for that amount of sterling, not me.

Now if there was a big sign at the entrance saying "Ignore all the Sterling Signs, we do not propose to honour these sales offers" fair enough.

They are offering the product in sterling in the United Kingdom, where it is the legal tender of the country.

The Republic of Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom, but is a SMALL independent country to the west of the island of Britain and to the south of the Provence of Northern Ireland.

The shops have absolutely no obligation to accept the current of a different country (We had the chance to be a part of the United Kingdom, but chose not to, so this is one of the consequences of that decision)

The costs involved in doing business in the Republic are far higher than in the UK (rent, rates, wages etc). As the ROI is a separate country, transport costs are higher as the hauliers have to cross an international border. The administration costs are also higher due to the smaller number of branches to absorb the costs involved in running a company. The very low populaiton density of the Republic also leads to increased transportation and distribution costs.


The sterling price is also based on the VAT charged in the UK

A lot of shops in the Republic, eg Easons, will accept sterling notes at the shops rate of exchange, which is reviewed every few months rather than daily. Items such as magazines have different VAT rules than in the UK so the price will always be higher here due to the VAT charged on these goods.

Boskowski

jahalpin wrote: »

The costs involved in doing business in the Republic are far higher than in the UK (rent, rates, wages etc). As the ROI is a separate country, transport costs are higher as the hauliers have to cross an international border. The administration costs are also higher due to the smaller number of branches to absorb the costs involved in running a company. The very low populaiton density of the Republic also leads to increased transportation and distribution costs.

Sorry, but I think this is bull**** and I'm sick listening to this. They simply charge much higher prices because they can, because people have been paying these prices without engaging their brains for much too long.

On rent, rates, wages etc. Are you simply parroting what the retailers organizations are coming up with all the time or can you actually back that up? Minimum wage is higher fair enough but only since the Sterling dropped before that it was pretty much the same. Rates? Ok, we have rates but the UK has much higher corporate tax rates. Rent? I don't know one would need some statistics on that but I find it hard to believe that in a 'small independent low population density' country rents on average are much higher than in a big industrialized high population density country like the UK. The VAT difference actually exists its 6.5% which is a little under a fiver for a product costing 100 Sterling. How come the same product costs 159 Euro here?

International border my arse. What's the difference between driving from Belfast to Dublin and driving from Dublin to Cork? F*ck all. I wasn't aware that you actually have to pay moneys for crossing this international border. I guess must be the waiting in the long queues at these really strict border checkpoints where they fleece your lorry for hours. Ludicrous.

With regards to the small country, smaller population, low density stuff. These companies made a conscious decision to set up branches in the ROI. They sure made cost analysis and viability studies on where to set up branches and where not. If it wasn't profitable they wouldn't have set them up. If it was profitable to sell at 1.5 Euro/1 Sterling rates when the Sterling actually was 1.5 Euro then I don't care what you say they are creaming the currency gain off the top now that 1 Euro is 1 Sterling.

Red Alert

Bear in mind too that most high street fashion outlets are adding 100% profit on the purchase price of the items they sell, compared to less than 10% in the case of the grocery trade. There's plenty of room for price reductions there even when operational costs are absorbed.