check this out for rip off ireland

Jm2000

Take a look at this price list my friend gets every week after enquiring about opening up a shop, but has since retired, the food show here is just a small selection available through Dublin, UK & Holland, with free delivery if at least 2 pallets are ordered, if it doesn't make much since look at the seedless grapes @ €9 for a 5kg box, now my local shop sells grapes for €5.50 per kilo that's €27.50 per box a profit of nearly €20, now I'm not saying the shop is making all the profit but somewhere along the line something is going wrong!!

Seedless Grapes 5kg Red/GreenSA€9
Cooking Apples IR 18kg€5
Apples all sorts x100 FR€15
fyffes pineapples x6/x8/x9€9
fyffes bananas 40lb €22
fyffes bananas 18lb€12
Leeks 5kg VIDEAU NL€3
Parsnips 20kg unwashed€8
Parsnips 10kg washed€5
Carrots 20kg IR unwashed C2€5
Carrots 10kg washed IR€3
Cabbage York x10 IR €4
Cauliflower x6 IE€5
Celery sticks x14 IE€6
Onions monie gold 19,1kg 75/105 NL €7.80
Red onions 10kg 60/80 "monie" NL €4.80
Peeled garlic 1kg CN€3.50
Chicory 5kg NL€8
Courgettes M ES€5
Potato Rooster/Record/Kirr Pink IE 20kg€3.50
Potato Rooster/Record/Kirr Pink IE 10kg€2
Jolly Roger Chipper Potato 25kg UK €5
Brussel sprouts 10kg IE€5
Broccoli 8kg IE €9
Mushroom 6lb IR€4
Cucumbers sealed x14 50+ ES €5
Tomatoes 6kg IR €6
Tomatoes A 47/57 medium VIDEAU NL€5
Tomatoes plum A 47/57 NL €9.50
Tomatoes cherry vine 3kg VIDEAU NL€10
Lollo rossa-Frisee-Oakleaf lettuce x12 VIDEAU NL€9
Iceberglettuce x12 ES€5.50
Butterhead lettuce x12 IE€4
Melons Cantaloup/Galiax6 BR€9
Mangetout-Finebeans-Sugarsnaps 2kg ZW €9.50
Chillies Green/Yellow3kg NL €7
White cabbage 25kg 9/10 NL €8.50
Peppers Red/Yellow/Green/Orange 5kg 80/100 VIDEAU NL €7
Chinese leaves x8 VIDEAU NL €6.50

3DataModem

Quick ... open a shop and become a millionaire!

BrianD

The shop keeper also has to factor in his overheads and storage of the product. The price list also doesn't indicate if this is just bulk pricing or whether there is packaging charges as well i.e. to put the produce into standard packages for the consumer.

You also have to remember that fruit and veg have a short shelf life. If you don't sell it in a few days it has to be binned. Most retailers factor in this wastage in their pricing.

jor el

Jm2000 wrote: »

look at the seedless grapes @ €9 for a 5kg box, now my local shop sells grapes for €5.50 per kilo that's €27.50 per box a profit of nearly €20, now I'm not saying the shop is making all the profit but somewhere along the line something is going wrong!!

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Sales price - cost price does not equal profit. You need to pay wages, tax, rates, rent, mortgage, electricity, heating, storage, cleaning, and any other bill you can think of. Get off your high horse, and take a dose of reality.

Batiste

They should not get away with that :mad:

TheInquisitor

Take away VAT and he's probably making E20 margin which is 50% on sales. Pretty standard to be honest. Clothes retailers make 60-70% margin on sales

mathepac

TheInquisitor wrote: »

Take away VAT and he's probably making E20 margin which is 50% on sales. ...

There is no VAT.

TheInquisitor

You are indeed correct Sir! My Mistake!!

My only other point is that local shop isn't buying them in by the pallet so obviously a middle man supplier is making some of the profit

Jm2000

jor el wrote: »

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Sales price - cost price does not equal profit. You need to pay wages, tax, rates, rent, mortgage, electricity, heating, storage, cleaning, and any other bill you can think of. Get off your high horse, and take a dose of reality.

That's the kind of transparency people don't see, when they go into a shop, all those over heads? ,that's what we are paying for! now here's is a solution, setup a direct charge coop. say 50 like minded people group together & order in bulk direct for the supplier & i there isn't vat on fruit & veg.

Shelflife

correct no vat , but the wastage on fruit and veg is high, not many centras or similar shops would be in a position to buy two pallets of fruit and veg, the waste on that amount would be huge.

op id suggest you do a small bit of homework before you start shouting rip off.

Jm2000

Shelflife wrote: »

correct no vat , but the wastage on fruit and veg is high, not many centras or similar shops would be in a position to buy two pallets of fruit and veg, the waste on that amount would be huge.

op id suggest you do a small bit of homework before you start shouting rip off.

I did do my homework & your right about the waste the shop i used to buy from had a guy call twice a week for 2 big bins of gone off food, now there people starving in Africa & shops are buying so much food that it has to overcharge the rest of us to cover there profit margin, its crazy!!

MOH

I can buy two price-flashed 2 litre bottles of Coke for 3 quid in the supermarket, but my local shop is charging 1.50 for 500ml bottle. They're charging me 12 quid for 4 litres, oh my god, it's a ripoff.

Basically, buying stuff in bulk quantities is cheap.

91011

If anyone whatsoever thinks there is huge profit to be made in retailing in the current climate, please feel free to open a shop.

There are absolutely ZERO barriers to do this.

Nothing, nada zilch stands in your way.

There are THOUSANDS of empty shops around Ireland - if you present a good plan you'll even get your first 6 months rent free. You can even get short lets for a few months to try it out.


Go on try it - pleeeeeaseeeeee.

Then come back here and admit that its bloody difficult to make a living from it.

Thankfully I'll be out of retail after Christmas and concentrating on my other business - which sell into the UK & NI and make me a nice profit:D.

dudara

We don't discuss Rip Off topics in Consumer Issues. Moved instead to Rip Off Ireland

dudara

dolphin city

thats why I get my veg and fruit at lidl. Its a quarter of the price of dunnes or other Irish places even taking in factors like heading, light, storage, blah blah, . go to lidl and avoid getting ripped off.

coylemj

'Two pallets' minimum delivery for those prices probably implies whole pallets of one vegetable e.g. one pallet of cucumbers and one pallet of tomatoes, this would rule out these prices as applicable to all but the large supermarkets.

Virtually all small retailers buy from fuit and veg importers/distributors so there is an extra layer of profit and costs involved, thus those prices you're quoting are not applicable to the local corner shop at all.

davo10

Jm2000 wrote: »

That's the kind of transparency people don't see, when they go into a shop, all those over heads? ,that's what we are paying for! now here's is a solution, setup a direct charge coop. say 50 like minded people group together & order in bulk direct for the supplier & i there isn't vat on fruit & veg.

If you get 50 like minded people together to buy from a supplier, a certain degree of friendship/understanding is required, if one starts to undercut the others, they would be excluded from the group, in other words it would be what is termed a "cartel". Nice idea though.

Bruthal

davo10 wrote: »

If you get 50 like minded people together to buy from a supplier, a certain degree of friendship/understanding is required, if one starts to undercut the others, they would be excluded from the group, in other words it would be what is termed a "cartel". Nice idea though.

Some cartels eliminate rather than exclude:D

91011

The whoesale fruit & veg market in Dublin is open to the public - if you can use a box of tomatoes / box of grapes, just drop down and any of the stalls / units will be very happy to sell to you close enough to the prices stated in the OP

In fact up to a few years ago (ok a fair few years ago:D) the market prices for the top 20 fruit & veg were printed in the Irish Times business section.

Oryx

Only someone who has never tried to run a retail business would call the above a rip off. Its normal economics. As has been suggested, why dont you try it, if you think its easy? But before you plan the cruise youll take with your profit, please factor in:
Wastage/shrinkage which in fruit and veg could take a substantial % of your profit.
Rent, unless youre planning to sell from the boot of your car.
Wages. Cabbages dont stack themselves.
PRSI and PAYE to go with those wages.
Rates, calculated by the sq footage of your premises. A good few grand a year.
Water rates. Even if all you have is a tap.
Incidental costs, packaging, till stationery, cleaning products.
Advertising. You cant sell a dollar for 99c without telling someone.
Refuse charges. Which with pallets and boxes and waste veg, will be expensive.
Public liability insurance. In case someone slips on a banana.
Electricity. Shoppers wont buy in the dark.
Bank charges. They charge businesses to lodge money. Did you know that?
Accountants fees. Unless you are particularly tax savvy.
Repairs and maintenance. Things break, all the time.
Transport costs. Not everything has free delivery.
Security. Youd think noone would burgle a fruit and veg shop, but youd be surprised.

And lastly, youve got the worry of not having a regular paypacket, and hoping your sales figures for the next month will be enough to meet your outgoings.

If it was that easy we would all be retailers. Those are the reasons most are not.

Bruthal

Oryx wrote: »

Wages. Cabbages dont stack themselves.
.

Some cabbages actually take wages:)

91011

I'll try and put estimated costs based on a 600sq ft store (small) in a town such as Carlow

Wastage/shrinkage which in fruit and veg could take a substantial % of your profit. - 20% on average
Rent, unless youre planning to sell from the boot of your car. €20,000 per year
Wages. Cabbages dont stack themselves. 2 x part time 1 x full time €40,000 / year
PRSI and PAYE to go with those wages. €4000
Rates, calculated by the sq footage of your premises. A good few grand a year. €5000
Water rates. Even if all you have is a tap. Minimum €600 for basic useage.
Incidental costs, packaging, till stationery, cleaning products. about €3000 per year
Advertising. You cant sell a dollar for 99c without telling someone. about €5000 / year
Refuse charges. Which with pallets and boxes and waste veg, will be expensive. €1500 per year
Public liability insurance. In case someone slips on a banana. €3000 / year
Electricity. Shoppers wont buy in the dark. €1500 / year
Bank charges. They charge businesses to lodge money. Did you know that? about €1000 + interest on business loan €2000
Accountants fees. Unless you are particularly tax savvy. - If hes nice €4000
Repairs and maintenance. Things break, all the time. circa €1500
Transport costs. Not everything has free delivery. €1000
Security. Youd think no-one would burgle a fruit and veg shop, but youd be surprised. €1000


That's probably about the absolute minimum you will spend on a years trading in a small shop in a small town.

That a lot of apples you need to sell.

Bruthal

Definitely a difficult business to be in, i never was, but i dont think it takes much cop on to realise its very hard. Especially when you see the costs involved there.