Candy Lab Dublin

fussyonion

I just came across a Facebook page for a place called Candy Lab, a shop in Temple Bar that specialises in American sweets and crisps/drinks and chocolate.

I was absolutely gobsmacked to see the prices they're charging.

€5.99 for a pouch of M&M's, €5.49 for a bag of Cheetos!?
Are they for real?

I know it's all imported but do they really think they're going to remain in business if they carry on passing these huge mark-ups onto customers?
Has anyone been into this place?

Are all the stuff so expensively priced?

SimonQuinlank

They do lots of other stuff too,I usually get some mint M&M's or a Butterfinger bar if I'm going to see something in the IFI.Both of those would be in or around the €2 mark.

They have a mix n match thing where you can pick from hundreds of individual sweets and have them bottled and packed with your own personal wrapper.Was €3 for a small bottle,and €8 or €9 for the biggest size.Got the €3 and my little cousin loved it.

Really nice staff working there too,couldn't be more helpful.

DesperateDan

It's literally posted from America to a small store, of course there's a premium mark-up. I would wager most mid-size towns up and down the country have sweet shops that specialize in American stuff. People will buy because it's unusual or impossible to get elsewhere.

I buy my pop tarts there - €6 for a pack works out at 75c per tart, I can handle that, particularly as pop tarts are not available in any supermarkets any more (apart from the horrible strawberry ones in the odd place).

sandin

Can the OP please explain where the rip off is?????

A shop is specialising inn hard to find specialist products that they import in small quantities and charge a premium for doing so. They do not hide their prices, they do not force you to go into their store and for many they provide a great service in the same way some shops in London, New York and Boston did many years ago with tayto Crisps (£1 in 1990 in Greenford), barrys tea, galtee sausages etc.

ScouseMouse

fussyonion wrote: »

I just came across a Facebook page for a place called Candy Lab, a shop in Temple Bar that specialises in American sweets and crisps/drinks and chocolate.

I was absolutely gobsmacked to see the prices they're charging.

€5.99 for a pouch of M&M's, €5.49 for a bag of Cheetos!?
Are they for real?

I know it's all imported but do they really think they're going to remain in business if they carry on passing these huge mark-ups onto customers?
Has anyone been into this place?

Are all the stuff so expensively priced?

Then bypass the shop completely !

If you can do it cheaper, do so. You will make a fortune.

Jump on the next Aerlingus at 500 quid, buy up what you can, pay the luggage charges and then set up a shop, pay the usual charges, rates, esb, rent etc etc etc.

When you are up and running, post here. I expect you to be much cheaper and not a ripoff:rolleyes:

Hersheys

I love that shop. I don't visit often. Only as a treat when I want a gift for someone or have a craving I otherwise cannot satisfy! It's a bit on the expensive side but nobody is forcing me to buy anything there...

Koptain Liverpool

skibum

It's the only place I have found in Ireland selling "Flamin hot Cheetos", they are expensive when they have them in stock, but I'm happy to be able to get a bag or two when ever I'm in the area.

Greenmachine

Definetly an expensive place. Some of their products such as "Nik Naks" and "Reese cups" are available much cheaper in Spar & Londis etc across the city.
Remember that place opening up, it was originally called "happy pills" and opened around the time of the "legal high" ban. My guess is they were forced to change their name.

brian_gall85

Catering for the munchies as well as the high, makes very good business sense.

SparkySpitfire

I work in one of these specialist sweet shops (not Candylab) and at least once a week you'll get someone going "€3.50 for a Wonka Bar?! That's ridiculous" (The big old fashioned ones, not the new ones)
Yes it's expensive! It's a novelty gift! You're paying for the brand name! If you want chocolate go to Spar and get a Mars bar :mad:
And the American stuff, obviously it's expensive, it's imported! If you want cheap sweets go to the €2 shop! What do people expect?

I highly doubt these people that feel it's okay to give out to me about the prices my manager sets would also go into somewhere like the Harvey Nichols food store and give out about the prices to their staff?!

They sell the exact same stuff (for a higher price than us) but no one goes around giving out because you know when you walk into Harvey Nichols it's going to cost you!

Same goes for the specialist sweet shops, they're not rip-offs, they're just pricey! If you can find the stuff cheaper we'd love to know about it!

[/rant]

BetterThanThou

They do remain in business, and do rather well, I believe. Not everything is too expensive, while I haven't been in Candy Lab many times and don't remember their prices too well, most of these shops have cheaper options, some(or most?) of their chocolate bars are around 2 euro, cans of imported soda 1.50, considering a bar of chocolate or a can of coke costs a euro or more out of most shops, the mark up is not unreasonable at all when you consider it has to be imported.

Greenmachine

BetterThanThou wrote: »

They do remain in business, and do rather well, I believe. Not everything is too expensive, while I haven't been in Candy Lab many times and don't remember their prices too well, most of these shops have cheaper options, some(or most?) of their chocolate bars are around 2 euro, cans of imported soda 1.50, considering a bar of chocolate or a can of coke costs a euro or more out of most shops, the mark up is not unreasonable at all when you consider it has to be imported.

Bananas are imported but you wouldn't catch me paying €3 for one.

jack presley

Greenmachine wrote: »

Bananas are imported but you wouldn't catch me paying €3 for one.

If bananas were a niche product and only about 20 were sold a week, I'm sure the price would be above €3

TheVoodoo

Greenmachine wrote: »

Bananas are imported but you wouldn't catch me paying €3 for one.

Bananas account for 40% of the UK and Ireland fresh fruit trade, with close to 60,000 tons of one particular type of banana consumed per annum.


60,000 tons worth of bulk prices does not compare to 1 or 2 boxes sent by post.


It's a niche product, with a small market and little turnover on specific products in comparison to mass-imports.

Fighting Irish

another day another thread in rip off ireland about something that isn't a rip off

Fighting Irish

Greenmachine wrote: »

Bananas are imported but you wouldn't catch me paying €3 for one.

lol

Amalgam

[drool]That giant Reese's slab bar that they sell..[/drool]

fussyonion

Fighting Irish wrote: »

another day another thread in rip off ireland about something that isn't a rip off

In MY opinion it is.

Fighting Irish

fussyonion wrote: »

In MY opinion it is.

if you can't find the same products as conveniently in a bricks and mortar shop for cheaper, then it's not a rip off

rip offs aren't about opinions

MrBizzles

Amazon sell all the American sweets & foods. Free delivery for purchases over £20 & €25. It is expensive but thats the price you pay for imported goods. I dont agree with it and i would like to meet the people that are paying £8 for some lucky charms but thats how it is

brian_gall85

Lets look at it this way, how much do you think that the Irish downunder would pay for a bag of Tayto or some Dairy Milk?

rubadub

brian_gall85 wrote: »

Lets look at it this way, how much do you think that the Irish downunder would pay for a bag of Tayto or some Dairy Milk?

http://www.tasteireland.com.au/tayto/

http://www.tasteireland.com.au/chocolate/

As said its just a novelty item.

beakerjoe

fussyonion wrote: »

I just came across a Facebook page for a place called Candy Lab, a shop in Temple Bar that specialises in American sweets and crisps/drinks and chocolate.

I was absolutely gobsmacked to see the prices they're charging.

€5.99 for a pouch of M&M's, €5.49 for a bag of Cheetos!?
Are they for real?

I know it's all imported but do they really think they're going to remain in business if they carry on passing these huge mark-ups onto customers?
Has anyone been into this place?

Are all the stuff so expensively priced?

This reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer starts over charging people to ride Stampy

.ak

Twinkies, that is all.