Shopping in Northern Ireland

I was in Newry for the first time yesterday and thought it was crap tbh. Myself and my girlfriend spent our entire time rushing from Newry to The Outlet to Banbridge and back again (several times). Traffic was thankfully not a problem and it took just a few minutes to go between them. We found that the shops are well used to people from ROI travelling up and have adapted their business strategies as such. So this €1 = £1 lark is a joke, as they have just increased their prices in the shop. We could clearly see in many 1 to 1 shops that only people from ROI were shopping there and their prices (despite the glaring banners all around the shop attempting to instill financial benefits) were not that attractive at all. Don't get me wrong there are bargains to be had, but my partner and I had Euro cash on us and found that most of the shops were offering appalling conversion rates. Fat Face in the outlet for example was (just yesterday) charging €1.34 for £1. So before buying anything we went to the Bureau de Change in the Buttercrane centre and got 93p for our euro before heading back out to the Outlet. We also found that there was a lot of rubbish in the shops too.

I am not denying that there are bargains to be had, I could see that there were but I think we need to be more careful about making a trip up North. I would recommend you make sure that what you want to buy is available first, and possibly reserving items before you leave, bring sterling (or use cards). I went up to buy a TV and came back without anything. They have a 10 week waiting list for some TVs and many were simply not available. Also Currys exchange rate in the shop is 85p!! (was there yesterday). Then again Newry isn't that big of a place, and in all fairness over the last few weeks has had to service locals and half of Dublin (if not the country) so understandably this is going to impact the shopping experiences for everyone. They are simply not able to keep up with the levels of demand.

In summary...
Know what you want and that is is available before you head up
Know the shop's conversion rate (phone ahead on the way) if you are using Euro
If you are not using Euro, know where you can get your cash changed without them taking half of it. (I got 93p per euro in Buttercrane SC BdC), other places offered me far less, well below 90p.
Don't let marketing ploys suck you in to thinking you are getting a bargain just because you spent a few hours in the car.

All in all I think you will make a saving by travelling up North but plan ahead and give yourself limits on what you think is a good deal on certain items. The way I look at it, your time spent travelling, fuel, etc all amount to something and if you don't take this on board on just head up there without any prior research you could end up regretting it.

consultech wrote: »

Really dissappointed with my latest shopping outing up north - Well moreso with my own planning and execution:

Booked a night in the Radisson SAS in Belfast for me/missus for Sunday 28th, lookin to shop all day yesterday as I didn't fancy the circus that Newry potentially could've been, and saw it all there last time too.

Was aware that most of the banks were not open to exchange money having taken a load of Euro cash up north to get the 97p that M&S quoted me last wednesday, only to find them offering 88p(!!!!) - To be sure I had called on 2 seperate occasions to get a total conversion amount on a €:£ sum. So I went to the post office and got 89.8p or something as a last resort, as i didn't want to take the same out of the wall again in Sterling at 92p or so, and have to carry it all around. Would've used C Card but it was maxed, and not paid off yet due to my own laziness.

What ensued was a really frustrating half day (spent first 2.5 hours trying to find a camera that Jessops told me they had in stock via phone, only to disappoint me in person - No luck) of trapesing through the crowds around streets I didn't know, and didn't really have that great a set of shops. Didn't get anywhere near as much as I wanted to, but a good few changes of clothes nonetheless.

Ended up stopping in Sainsbury's in Sprucefield at 9pm and trying to eek out whatever value I could on stuff like Miller x 15's 2-for-£15 deal. Got 150 bottles! The bill was £215/€240, which is actually worse than the deal I got in PO, unusually enough for Sainsburys (offering 89.5p when spot rate is 97p is a bit ).

Ah well - learning experience n all that - Still made a killing n suppose I only really lost out on £50-60 in the For-Ex.

I think you have learnt a valuable lesson. Always pay with a credit card or use sterling cash. Accepting euro is all about robbing the freestaters blind as they are often too lazy to use a foreign currency. They are being made pay dearly for their laziness.

Bond-007 wrote: »

I think you have learnt a valuable lesson. Always pay with a credit card or use sterling cash. Accepting euro is all about robbing the freestaters blind as they are often too lazy to use a foreign currency. They are being made pay dearly for their laziness.

Agree 100%

Keith C wrote: »

I just cringed reading your post, your cc is maxed out, you spent €240 in order to feel like you got a bargain on buying 150 bottles miller which works out €1.60 a bottle!!
you admit it was a worse deal then you got in PO.
Throw in hotel & petrol cost & your trip to save a fortune backfired (& you didnt get the camera you wanted)
and we're meant to be in a recession

Perhaps I didn't give you the lines clearly enough to read between:

- Credit Card has a limit of €400 (a relic), which was used on hotel, nice romantic meal on Sunday night, presents prior to travelling north.
- €240 was total bill in Sainsburys. Miller was £75 for 150 bottles. You obviously need this forum badly if you think anyone would pay €1.60 a bottle up north. I probably won't have to even think about an off licence until Easter. Got a lot more shopping for the £140 balance.
- I paid for shopping in Sainsbury's in £, as I was savvy enough to be able to do the maths on the .5p difference there and then.
- I'll get the camera online, delivered, for about 40% what I'd pay for it on Grafton st.
- Petrol was 35 quid return. Per time, I saved more than that taking a dump yesterday morning.

I'm gonna have to insist on your head being out of your smart arse for any discussion going forward.

Keith C wrote: »

Well that post makes it more clear, for your camera use pixmania.com, can get 48 hour delivery & if you are a member of pigsback.com you get piggy points for buying on pixmania (make sure you use pixmania link on pigsback) you can then use your pigsback vouchers for restaurant vouchers etc...

Kudos on your magnanimity in the face of my cattyness. I'm in work for a few hours today after three 5-hour night sleeps back to back!

Will check your tips out!

EDIT: Pixmania looks pretty pricey compared to some of the online UK-based retailers, or same with physical stores (i.e. Jessops) up north.

DublinWriter wrote: »

I'd say so.

The Golden Rule now seems to be arrive no later than 9am.

Or arrive late if you are just doing groceries. EK was quietening around 6pm yesterday, my guess is that this is because all the smaller shops Curries etc. close at 6pm.