Why are we such an easy target for profiteering ?

hallelujajordan

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0511/1224246256045.html?digest=1

Tesco profit margin in Ireland is more than 1.5 times that of its parent company !

We have all known it for ages but why is it that we continue to let the retailers take us for a ride in ireland. . . ?

Sleepy

Because we've been over-paid and had too much access to cheap credit for the last decade or so.

Add in the hectic pace of life we've adopted in the pursuit of an over-priced home in the commuter belt and you have a nation of people who are so time-poor that they're rather price insensitive because of the time-cost of shopping around for large purchases and prepared to pay for convenience when it comes to smaller purchases (e.g. whatever supermarket is on the way home from work / the creche etc.)

Now, you'd assume that in the current climate this would start to reverse as people are taking home less from their jobs due to pay-cuts, increased taxation, slower business (for the self-employed) or even redundancy and it will happen to an extent. However, when you factor in our government's bumbling handling of the current recession and lack of leadership for the average Joe to follow when it comes to reducing their spending significantly, you get a nation that's still easy to rip-off because they either don't realise just how bad things are, are part of an employment sector that's cushioned from economic reality or are simply even more impoverished when it comes to time because they now have to do the work of their former colleagues who've been let go on top of their own in unpaid overtime.

harsea8

What I don't understand is that, if Tesco are ripping us off so much and profiteering from the Irish market as we constantly hear in the press, why are the prices in Superquinn and Dunnes similar so similar to prices in Tescos for the same item. Surely, if Tesco is ripping us off, then those supermarkets must be as well or their prices would be significantly cheaper (note Dunnes was only 0.5% cheaper as quoted in the OP's linked article, and that was before the latest round of cuts)?

Boskowski

Because it's the Irish seem to have accepted being taken for a ride from the retailers/trade/state a long time ago?

It's the first thing that struck me when I came to this country quite a few years ago. How expensive everything is, how little value for money you get with regards to almost everything and how little everyone cares. 'Ah sure, that's just what it costs', Ah sure, what can you do?', 'Ah well, fair play to him'.

And I'm not coming from a low-cost country myself...

hallelujajordan

realcam wrote: »

Because it's the Irish seem to have accepted being taken for a ride from the retailers/trade/state a long time ago?

It's the first thing that struck me when I came to this country quite a few years ago. How expensive everything is, how little value for money you get with regards to almost everything and how little everyone cares. 'Ah sure, that's just what it costs', Ah sure, what can you do?', 'Ah well, fair play to him'.

And I'm not coming from a low-cost country myself...

Yes, and from a retailers perspective the right price is always the maximum price the consumer is willing to pay. . It's time we sent the retailers a very strong message that we are no longer willing to pay over the odds to support inflated Irish profit margins. .

Zynks

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Yes, and from a retailers perspective the right price is always the maximum price the consumer is willing to pay. . It's time we sent the retailers a very strong message that we are no longer willing to pay over the odds to support inflated Irish profit margins. .

Thus shopping up North is ultimately patriotic.

The bottom line is that:
- Your employer pays you as little as they can without loosing you (and it is becoming easier to squeeze you on that)
- Businesses sell as expensive as they can get away with (that is getting harder)
- The government will tax you as much as they can, and they are doing exactly that. They are currently working on an air tax - aka carbon tax, though it is the oxygen that you "consume".

You, as an individual, are the prime target. If it depends on the guys mentioned above you will be left with no money to spare, just the bear minimum to keep going. Wise up!

Rant over - just waiting to see my May paycheck :mad:

serfboard

Sleepy wrote: »

Because we've been over-paid and had too much access to cheap credit for the last decade or so.

Add in the hectic pace of life we've adopted in the pursuit of an over-priced home in the commuter belt and you have a nation of people who are so time-poor that they're rather price insensitive because of the time-cost of shopping around for large purchases and prepared to pay for convenience when it comes to smaller purchases (e.g. whatever supermarket is on the way home from work / the creche etc.)

Spot on. In a previous life I used to work for a supplier to the retail industry, and we regularly had copies of ShelfLife and CheckOut magazines lying about. I remember reading a survey in one of them and it said that the top priority for Irish consumers was not price but convenience. Up until now, we have been prepared (and able) to pay for that convenience.

jimmycrackcorm

serfboard wrote: »

Spot on. In a previous life I used to work for a supplier to the retail industry, and we regularly had copies of ShelfLife and CheckOut magazines lying about. I remember reading a survey in one of them and it said that the top priority for Irish consumers was not price but convenience. Up until now, we have been prepared (and able) to pay for that convenience.

So true when you think how none of the Spar or Centra franchises are closing down.

jimmycrackcorm

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Yes, and from a retailers perspective the right price is always the maximum price the consumer is willing to pay. . It's time we sent the retailers a very strong message that we are no longer willing to pay over the odds to support inflated Irish profit margins. .

A friend who is a retailer had a customer come in and complain that an item was €75 cheaper up north. As he had 5% margin he decided to try source it cheaper from a northern supplier only to be told he could only deal with the supplier for the ROI who wouldn't budge on price. So instead he has started buying it at retail price in the north and adding the 5% margin on to that.

serfboard

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

So true when you think how none of the Spar or Centra franchises are closing down.

Good point. It appears that the squeeze is in the big supermarkets where people go for their weekly shop. Here, it seems people are either going up north or going to Aldi/Lidl.

For other types of goods people are also either going up north, or online.

For their convenience stuff, they're still going to the smaller shops, which have been (are?) charging a premium for that convenience.

Belfast

Because during the Boom to paraphrase Micheal O'Leary said" we became fat dumb and happy"

and we did not notice the political classes of Ireland bankrupting the country.

Mexico66

:)One of the reasons everything is so expensive in Ireland is that all the companies that import goods from the UK start off on the basis that the Euro/Sterling exchange rate is 0.65. Even though its currently around 0.89 and for several years it was 0.79.
Just go into any clothes retailer and before you peal off the euro price in order to find the sterling price, just divide the euro price by 0.65 and hey presto sterling price. Well they usually start with sterling, multiply price by 0.65 and then round up the price in euros.
Check it out!

harsea8

Mexico66 wrote: »

:)One of the reasons everything is so expensive in Ireland is that all the companies that import goods from the UK start off on the basis that the Euro/Sterling exchange rate is 0.65. Even though its currently around 0.89 and for several years it was 0.79.
Just go into any clothes retailer and before you peal off the euro price in order to find the sterling price, just divide the euro price by 0.65 and hey presto sterling price. Well they usually start with sterling, multiply price by 0.65 and then round up the price in euros.
Check it out!

I think you mean, they start off with sterling and multiply by ~1.5 and round up to the nearest Euro (which is the same, but in reverse). Anyway, you are spot on in terms of the exchange rate being well out of date. I also noticed back in Feb/Mar of this year that, in response to quite a lot of press about this, companies were removing or covering up the sterling value.

topper75

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

A friend who is a retailer had a customer come in and complain that an item was €75 cheaper up north. As he had 5% margin he decided to try source it cheaper from a northern supplier only to be told he could only deal with the supplier for the ROI who wouldn't budge on price. So instead he has started buying it at retail price in the north and adding the 5% margin on to that.

Mad story Jimmy.

It is clear that there is a tacit expectation in the distributor networks that RoI customers will pay more. So unsurprisingly, they charge more.

The government can't change this (price control is for commies).
The suppliers won't change this (not in their interest).
So who is it down to?.... yeah - us - consumers.

Sleepy

I recently won an item on eBay and was informed by the seller that he couldn't sell me to me because a different company held the license to sell the product in Ireland. Surprise, surprise, the item was twice the price on the other retailer's website.

ejmaztec

Sleepy wrote: »

I recently won an item on eBay and was informed by the seller that he couldn't sell me to me because a different company held the license to sell the product in Ireland. Surprise, surprise, the item was twice the price on the other retailer's website.

I think that sneaky distributor deals are common-place here. I wanted an energy saving heating pump that I couldn't find here. A UK website bragged about sending goods to all continents, so I asked them for a delivery quote. Their reply was "We don't deliver to Ireland". I did get the one that I wanted in the end, from a not so choosy UK supplier.

The vast majority of goods have always been more expensive in Ireland than in the UK, going back decades. I can't understand why people here generally think that the difference in prices is a recent thing.

bigeasyeah

Because we dont complain.

sneakyST

I bought a sofa a couple of weeks ago - it is €600 up North - they wanted €779 excluding €50 euro delivery in the Dublin shop... I asked for the North price - a few minutes later we settled on 700 including delivery.
Some can be budged.