lidl have no shame

bagels

tv on their website now:
in northern ireland £74.99
in the republic €129.99
an exchange rate of 57.5p = €1
absolutely outrageous!

rubadub

The managers in lidl should be ashamed if they were stupid enough to charge the same prices across all countries. Only a complete idiot would run a company's pricing policies based on xe.com

Resi12

bagels wrote: »

tv on their website now:
in northern ireland £74.99
in the republic €129.99
an exchange rate of 57.5p = €1
absolutely outrageous!

NI is the UK so it will have different VAT, TAX and of course Currency!
Just because it's from NI doesn't mean it has to be the exact amount in pounds that it is converted to Euro.

Cabaal

bagels wrote: »

tv on their website now:
in northern ireland £74.99
in the republic €129.99
an exchange rate of 57.5p = €1
absolutely outrageous!

bagels, its extremely clear you have no understanding of vat rates etc between Rep Of Ireland and the UK,

Do some research and then actually make an informed post instead of relying on xe.com for your basic currency exchange rates with no counting for different wage and VAT rates.

Sonic_exyouth

Average industrial Wage in the UK = £24 388, or €28,282.36
Average Industrial Wage in Ireland = €35,000

Both these figures are pre-recession, but the recession has hit both the UK and Ireland.

Minimum wage in the UK = £5.73 (€6.64) per hour for over 21s, and £4.77 (€5.53) for those under.
Minimum wage in Ireland = €8.65 for those over 18 and €6.06 for those under.

So, unless you want the country en masse to take a 20% pay cut, you're really just going to have to travel up north for that TV you so much want

darc

Yes its terrible - look at these prices

The Dart Board is €34.99 here which works out at approx £29.75 including 21.5% VAT.
In Northern Ireland its £29.99 @ 15% VAT.

The universal remote is €9.99 here - approx. £8.50 whereas in NI its £8.99


Poor Northerners are getting ripped off. - They'll be forming queues in Dundalk before we know it.:p

jimmmy

bagels wrote: »

tv on their website now:
in northern ireland £74.99
in the republic €129.99
an exchange rate of 57.5p = €1
absolutely outrageous!

I notice a lot of lidl stuff is priced unfairly. I do not bother shopping much there now, the quality is not up to it. Buy cheap, buy twice.

jhart

agree with jimmmy partly on this one (see also my post on 20% increase), some brands are good quality but pricing is not really transparent.

Minced meat has a lower price today of 3.15 Euro down from 3.20 Euro but yes, it was originally 2.89 Euro end of last year....

bagels

rubadub wrote: »

The managers in lidl should be ashamed if they were stupid enough to charge the same prices across all countries. Only a complete idiot would run a company's pricing policies based on xe.com

ppp would greatly reduce the price differential but apparently whats actually at play here is the rip-off culture;
still, if you're content with the constant rip-off practices of multi-nationals then thats your prerogative;
i choose to draw attention to their antics and boycott the product.

bagels

Resi12 wrote: »

NI is the UK so it will have different VAT, TAX and of course Currency!
Just because it's from NI doesn't mean it has to be the exact amount in pounds that it is converted to Euro.

regardless of the variance in overheads, ppp should still greatly reduce the price differential in this instance;
you and 'rubadub' seem to assume that i'm suggesting that the price in the republic should be set at parity or even the appropriate exchange rate of the day/week;
what i'm arguing is that when the difference in overheads and the relative exchange rate is taken into consideration, then the price in the republic should be a lot less;
there is no justification for a 74% mark up, with the exception of 'what the market will bear';
if shoppers are content to bear rip-off prices then fair enough;
i'm not and thats why i posted in the 'rip-off ireland' forum;
when i encounter opposition of the type illustrated by posters such as 'cabaal' then i wonder whats their agenda?

bagels

Cabaal wrote: »

bagels, its extremely clear you have no understanding of vat rates etc between Rep Of Ireland and the UK,

Do some research and then actually make an informed post instead of relying on xe.com for your basic currency exchange rates with no counting for different wage and VAT rates.

you have zero knowledge of my comprehension of business matters nor the sources of my research, be it empirical or otherwise;
indeed your own response merely plagiarises those of the two former posters, which doesn't portray an in-depth knowledge of economics on your part;
note that i don't declare that "its extremely clear you have no understanding of vat rates etc between Rep Of Ireland and the UK". nor do i communicate any such assumption regarding you;
instead, i'm granting you the benefit of the doubt;
however, a rudimentary knowledge of PPP is necessary in order to debate the matter i've raised in my opening post;
a word to the wise, for a moderator, your tone is anything but moderate in this instance!

bagels

Sonic_exyouth wrote: »

Average industrial Wage in the UK = £24 388, or €28,282.36
Average Industrial Wage in Ireland = €35,000

Both these figures are pre-recession, but the recession has hit both the UK and Ireland.

Minimum wage in the UK = £5.73 (€6.64) per hour for over 21s, and £4.77 (€5.53) for those under.
Minimum wage in Ireland = €8.65 for those over 18 and €6.06 for those under.

So, unless you want the country en masse to take a 20% pay cut, you're really just going to have to travel up north for that TV you so much want

thank you for the data, which i'll take as coming from a reputable source;
the euro values you've applied to the sterling sums are subject to very large fluctuations;
if the currency exchange rate was as low as £0.63p to the € then there would be some justification for the current excessive difference in the price of the item;
however, the € price of this item was set when the exchange rate was much higher than that of today, further compounding the insult;
if the currencies were at parity we would still be charged a sum far in excess of the differentials in vat, wages, etc;
a rip-off price;
unfortunately many irish people don't seem to be able to comprehend that;
perhaps they're happier deluding themselves that they're getting fair play and a bargain?
perhaps "the country en masse (should) take a 20% pay cut" because too many people seem prepared to pay over the odds?
maybe then they'd appreciate the value of their hard-earned minimum wage!
anyway, i don't want the telly;
i want PPP.

bagels

darc wrote: »

Yes its terrible - look at these prices

The Dart Board is €34.99 here which works out at approx £29.75 including 21.5% VAT.
In Northern Ireland its £29.99 @ 15% VAT.

The universal remote is €9.99 here - approx. £8.50 whereas in NI its £8.99


Poor Northerners are getting ripped off. - They'll be forming queues in Dundalk before we know it.:p

thank you;
your price comparisons reinforce my argument that, in regard to the telly, lidl is ripping us off;
shame on lidl, and its apologists.

rubadub

jimmmy wrote: »

I notice a lot of lidl stuff is priced unfairly. I do not bother shopping much there now, the quality is not up to it.

What do you mean by "unfairly"? is this comparing it to other countries again, or other shops?

I have a good memory for prices, I shop around. Lidl is "value for money" for somethings, tescos & dunnes for others, and I take into account quality in that, not just price. Many shops do this, have good discounts so people assume everything is "good value", if you don't know how to shop around you have yourself to blame. Including knowing the costs of travelling up north.

I get frozen fish and cold meats in lidl, chickens in dunnes, beer in tesco etc. Some things are grossly overpriced across all shops, smart managers, foolish shoppers who fall for it.

bagels wrote: »

there is no justification for a 74% mark up, with the exception of 'what the market will bear';
if shoppers are content to bear rip-off prices then fair enough;

Exactly, that is what I am getting at, pricing at what the market will bear is very basic sound business practise

bagels wrote: »

shame on lidl, and its apologists.

I am not apologising for good business practise. If they didn't maximise their profits then the colleges who educated their managers should be the ones apologising, for sending out morons into the industry.

Cormac2791

well theres somethingong when the star is 30/40p in england and €1.40 in ireland. cant be that much vat.

darc

bagels wrote: »

thank you;
your price comparisons reinforce my argument that, in regard to the telly, lidl is ripping us off;
shame on lidl, and its apologists.

Have you thought about checking with Lidl as to the reason for this - There may be a perfectly logical explanation as most of its "specials" are priced fairly.

What is possible is that the Irish version has a VHF receiver in it whereas the UK version doesn't. - All UK analogue chanels are broadcast on the UHF frequency whereas in Ireland RTE1 & 2 are broadcast in VHF except in Kippure (I think)
Requiring both a UHF & VHF receiver would add to the cost of manufacture especially if only a few of the TV's require this addition.

Basically, what I'm saying is that there can be other reasons for price discrepancy besides the over used rip-off cry and that if you pruchased one of these TV's in NI you could possibly find that you would not receive RTE 1 / 2 via an ariel receiver. - You would receive them via incoming signal of sky / NTL.

bagels

darc wrote: »

Have you thought about checking with Lidl as to the reason for this - There may be a perfectly logical explanation as most of its "specials" are priced fairly.

What is possible is that the Irish version has a VHF receiver in it whereas the UK version doesn't. - All UK analogue chanels are broadcast on the UHF frequency whereas in Ireland RTE1 & 2 are broadcast in VHF except in Kippure (I think)
Requiring both a UHF & VHF receiver would add to the cost of manufacture especially if only a few of the TV's require this addition.

Basically, what I'm saying is that there can be other reasons for price discrepancy besides the over used rip-off cry and that if you pruchased one of these TV's in NI you could possibly find that you would not receive RTE 1 / 2 via an ariel receiver. - You would receive them via incoming signal of sky / NTL.

i omitted to take the technical aspects into account;
thank you for bringing it to my attention;
i should have known better;

ch750536

I understand your pain Bagels, I really do, however, it is a different country with different economies of scale as well as all the other things pointed out.

I am over in the UK once a month and am paid in sterling, trust me, there are very few things that we are ripped off for in Ireland in comparison to the UK.

Dog poos on the floor in a public area and you are caught on CCTV, £50 fine (stealth tax)

ibuprofen

Cabaal wrote: »

bagels, its extremely clear you have no understanding of vat rates etc between Rep Of Ireland and the UK,

Do some research and then actually make an informed post instead of relying on xe.com for your basic currency exchange rates with no counting for different wage and VAT rates.

A bit harsh I think Cabaal.
The diff in vat is about 4% being 17.5% up north and 21.5% in ROI.
Making the price 117.5% as oppose to only 121.5% in ROI . Making app. €3 diff only


In northern Ireland £74.99 which at an exchange rate of 1.1824 as of today makes it only €88.68

in the republic it's €129.99... which is €41.31 extra Now that is a rip off!!! Can't see how anyone could say otherwise.


The markup,which is the extra price over and above the price in nI, is a shocking 46.6% extra and that is over and above the price and profit is nI.

Even taking in that the min wage in the nI = £5.73 and therefore (€6.775) and Minimum wage in Ireland = €8.65 ...a diff of €1.875
and the extra 4% vat which is €3 app. there is no way a markup of
46.6 % can be justified. It's an incredible ripoff.

GerardKeating

ibuprofen wrote: »

A bit harsh I think Cabaal.
The diff in vat is about 4% being 17.5% up north and 21.5% in ROI..

VAT up north is 15% not 17.5%

ibuprofen

GerardKeating wrote: »

VAT up north is 15% not 17.5%

Did that change in November ...........
Even so , just add add another €2 on. Won't make a dent in that mark up.

Genghis

An important point that no one has mentioned is that Lidl are currently running a 'One Country, One Price' campaign that is aimed primarily at Tesco and its attempts to bring UK prices to parts of the ROI. Gist of it is that Lidls prices in ROI are supposedly low across the country.

Both Tesco and Lidl are all-island retailers, and I think, in that context, i.e. attempting to shaft Tesco for splitting the island by price, they deserve all the criticism on this thread.

Its disingenuous at the very least to have two pricing models in Ireland and attack Tesco for having the same, particularly since it is Tesco that appears to be at least moving to one pricing model.

b4nd1t

who cares what prices Lidl are charging for non-food items in their stores. im confident that their pricing is some of the most competitive in ROI and i will certainly continue to shop with them until sainsburys heads south.

maxwell smart

Lidl are an all-island retailer, their northern operation is run from Lidl HQ in Newbridge. The slogan "one island - one price" is a bit of a smoke screen I think.
Regarding the costs of operating up North, the distribution centre in Nutt's Corner is run on exactly the same budget as the 3 in the Republic. Cost of trading is of course a difference between North and South, but....its interesting when you check out the UK Lidl website. The price of the specials there are quite often lower than those prices offered in NI, due to the price of the NI stuff being set in Newbridge. So even though we think we are being ripped off as compared to the NI prices, we are in fact being royally screwed as against the UK prices. People in the North are merely getting ripped off.
The stock for these specials are allocated from Lidl International and arrive in the RDC's a couple of weeks before the sales but prices are set in each territory. So it is a deliberate marking up of the margin for product sold here in the Republic. I sometimes wonder if the majority of people in Ireland realise just how big Lidl is, in Ireland for example they have a turnover of well over €1 billion (conservative).

Anyway, the conclusion is, yes they are ripping us off!!

I could go on and on about them....amazing company in many ways (both good and bad).

darc

maxwell smart wrote: »

Anyway, the conclusion is, yes they are ripping us off!!

I could go on and on about them....amazing company in many ways (both good and bad).

But when you compare most of their "specials" on their website between North & south, the prices are near identical, even a bit cheaper in stores south of the border.

On one specific item, namely the TV set, there was a substantial difference, therefore that leads me to think there is a specific reason for this consiodering it sticks out like a sore thumb.

So I don't think it fair to say they are ripping off when it is just a single item that has an inordinary higher price which is POSSIBLY caused by differences in specs as outlined above.

b4nd1t

there is also a government recycling levy on tv's which is more than up north. if it is a medium tv >20" then 5Eur will go to the government.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/environment/waste-management-and-recycling/recycling_waste_from_electrical_and_electronic_equipment

mossy2

ch750536 wrote: »

I understand your pain Bagels, I really do, however, it is a different country with different economies of scale as well as all the other things pointed out.

I am over in the UK once a month and am paid in sterling, trust me, there are very few things that we are ripped off for in Ireland in comparison to the UK.

Dog poos on the floor in a public area and you are caught on CCTV, £50 fine (stealth tax)

I think that £50 is about the correct fee to pay for the privilege of requiring the rest of your community to walk in your dog's sh1t. What's wrong with cleaning up after yourself?

b4nd1t

I couldnt agree more!! This is one stealth tax the would be more than welcome in Dublin.

snubbleste

bagels wrote: »

tv on their website now:
in northern ireland £74.99
in the republic €129.99
an exchange rate of 57.5p = €1
absolutely outrageous!

Lidl have excellent customer service
contact them and let us know what their reply is
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.service.c.hotline.index