VAT went up 2% but how much did prices increase?

suicide_circus

So on 1st of January last, the highest rate of VAT went up 2% form 21% - 23% but I'm wondering how much prices have increased in real terms.

Is it my imagination or have some retailers engaged in serious rounding up? A quick example would be a 100g bar of butlers chocolate in a certain shop, I used to buy it for €2, now it's €2.25....I'm not maths whizz but that is a lot more than 2%.

This happened when the € came in too . And these days with retailers crying out for business, some of them take their chance to shaft the Irish consumer once again.

FatherLen

i would say it probably rose by about 15 cent?

Mr Benevolent

About three fiddy, obviously. Magnet rounded up a €45 bill to €48.83 when it should've gone up to €45.90. Grasping bastards.

AnonoBoy

Regardless of item or shop involved everything went up by 57 cent.

At least that's what the calculator I got in a Christmas cracker is telling me.

force eleven

Petrol has gone up by about 10c since Christmas. VAT and weak Euro. Can't see it going down either, especially if the US of A has a pop at Iran soon.

bleg

about three fiddy

HMV jacked up loads of their prices. Their DVD offer for the months leading up to January was 2 for 12 euro. The same titles are now 2 for 14.

ixoy

Deleted User wrote: »

HMV jacked up loads of their prices. Their DVD offer for the months leading up to January was 2 for 12 euro. The same titles are now 2 for 14.

The Grafton Street store makes a point of saying that the VAT increases will be charged at the till and are not reflected on the prices on display.

Fear Uladh

Tesco is very expensive now.

Asda in the North shall be getting a lot more business from me anyway.

ixoy

ixoy wrote: »

The Grafton Street store makes a point of saying that the VAT increases will be charged at the till and are not reflected on the prices on display.

Same in Galway but a number of Blu-Rays I've had my eye on for the past while all went up in price in the days before New Years. The minimum increase was 2 euro and this wasn't a case of new stock coming in at a higher price but existing stick being repriced.

smash

Sandwich deal in my local sandwich bar was €5, now €6. And that's supposed to be even exempt from the VAT increase because it's hospitality. They just upped their prices for the sake of it.

suicide_circus

smash wrote: »

Sandwich deal in my local sandwich bar was €5, now €6. And that's supposed to be even exempt from the VAT increase because it's hospitality. They just upped their prices for the sake of it.

In fact VAT for hospitality sector recently went DOWN.
Dont shop there again and tell them why!

Nothingbetter2d

force eleven wrote: »

Petrol has gone up by about 10c since Christmas. VAT and weak Euro. Can't see it going down either, especially if the US of A has a pop at Iran soon.

if they do have a pop at Iran the price of glass should plummet and there could end up being plenty after the nukes melt the desert sands in Iran

fishy fishy

dont shop in those stores then. Shop in the cheaper stores - they won't be long dropping their prices then.

Yes this sounds exactly like what happened when the euro came in - everything was "rounded up" and then an extra amount was also added on.

this wise - don' get screwed (again,)

smash

suicide_circus wrote: »

In fact VAT for hospitality sector recently went DOWN.
Dont shop there again and tell them why!

I know that, that's why I said it. I keep going to the shop next door now.

Bigcheeze

Confab wrote: »

About three fiddy, obviously. Magnet rounded up a €45 bill to €48.83 when it should've gone up to €45.90. Grasping bastards.

€45.74 actually.

keano_afc

fishy fishy wrote: »

dont shop in those stores then. Shop in the cheaper stores - they won't be long dropping their prices then.

Yes this sounds exactly like what happened when the euro came in - everything was "rounded up" and then an extra amount was also added on.

this wise - don' get screwed (again,)

This. Lidl and Aldi have frozen their prices not to include the VAT increase. I do my shopping there. I shop around for petrol and visit the north occasionally for the bigger stores like Argos.

IM0

does anyone in the thread so far know about the impack of inflation on prices too, it will be on the rise and affecting everything costing more.

Tiocfaidh Armani

smash wrote: »

Sandwich deal in my local sandwich bar was €5, now €6. And that's supposed to be even exempt from the VAT increase because it's hospitality. They just upped their prices for the sake of it.

I take it there's a tea coffee with that? Even still that's hardly a deal, eh? Tea costs nothing virtually so you're paying about €5 for a bleeding sandwich!

snubbleste

keano_afc wrote: »

This. Lidl and Aldi have frozen their prices not to include the VAT increase. I do my shopping there. I shop around for petrol and visit the north occasionally for the bigger stores like Argos.

So have Tesco according to their marketing blurb.
In reality, basic groceries in this country are vat-exempt.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Fear Uladh wrote: »

Tesco is very expensive now.

Asda in the North shall be getting a lot more business from me anyway.

Asda is no longer 'cheap' The weak Euro/Strong sterling means prices when converted arent a whole lot cheaper than in the Republic...so unless you plan on doing bulk buying then its totally not worth it. We done our 'christmas shop' in Asda and we probably ended up paying only a few euro less when you convert it and when you factor in the 34mile return journey and fuel cost it probably worked out more expensive.

Back on topic, shops have definitely rounded up their prices.

I have literally stopped spending any money except for essentials and its going to get worse. The governments idea to raise more revenue will back fire as people will spend even less this year and so their 2% increase in VAT will possibly end up bring in 5% + less revenue...Killing the goose with the golden egg ideology.

fishy fishy

keano_afc wrote: »

This. Lidl and Aldi have frozen their prices not to include the VAT increase. I do my shopping there. I shop around for petrol and visit the north occasionally for the bigger stores like Argos.

exact same as that.

ixoy

It shouldn't even be a 2% price increase in prices either - the increase is less than that on the total price. There's no excuse for increases like those mentioned here.

fishy fishy

ixoy wrote: »

It shouldn't even be a 2% price increase in prices either - the increase is less than that on the total price. There's no excuse for increases like those mentioned here.

yes, but we live in Ireland where people get ripped off every way that they can possibly, from the minute they wake up till they go to bed, it happens every time - hike the price, and add a few

one for you - three for me mentality.

go elsewhere if at all possible - who needs it - shop up north or abroad - and go to the cheaper supermarkets here.

starbelgrade

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

I take it there's a tea coffee with that? Even still that's hardly a deal, eh? Tea costs nothing virtually so you're paying about €5 for a bleeding sandwich!

A teabag costs virtually nothing, but sandwich shops, as with all retail outlets have huge overheads such as wages, insurance, rent etc. It costs a lot more for them to make a cup of tea than it does for you at home.

It also costs a lot more for them to make a sambo but if people think it's too much to pay, they should stop buying them & make their own.

starbelgrade

fishy fishy wrote: »

yes, but we live in Ireland where people get ripped off every way that they can possibly, from the minute they wake up till they go to bed, it happens every time - hike the price, and add a few

one for you - three for me mentality.

go elsewhere if at all possible - who needs it - shop up north or abroad - and go to the cheaper supermarkets here.

I honestly don't think that is the case. The cost of wages, rent & insurance is a lot higher than the UK, so we are never going to compete with them.

Having said that, the price difference between the supermarkets here & up North on essential items is not as big as some people make it out to be - certainly not enough to warrant the cost of a lot of people to travel to shop there.

On top of that, compared to the likes of Italy or even Germany, service industries like restaurants offer very decent value for money these days.

Degsy

starbelgrade wrote: »

A teabag costs virtually nothing, but sandwich shops, as with all retail outlets have huge overheads such as wages, insurance, rent etc. It costs a lot more for them to make a cup of tea than it does for you at home.

It also costs a lot more for them to make a sambo but if people think it's too much to pay, they should stop buying them & make their own.

Anybody who thinks a sandwich constitutes a meal deserves to be ripped off.

Worse gain is crap like Paninis,wraps and bagels..we'll be as unhealthy as the americans in less than a generation.

humanji

Who's talking about a meal? They're talking about a sandwich.