Shopping in Northern Ireland

There is no excuse for lot's of things like why is it cheaper to send a registered letter to the UK from Eire than it is to send one within Ireland!

I only copped this the other day but it's insane!

The cost base for Irish retailers is different but these costs do not account for all the difference. Lack of competition is the real reason.

Morgans wrote: »

I think most consumers appreciate why prices are different in different countries. Of course, Lenihan even mentioned irish petrol as one of the factors bringing people across the border. While a simple price for price comparison inflates the amount Irish consumers are being ripped-off, it is clear from the response to the northern Ireland challenge by retailers shows that consumers werent getting great value in the ROI previously.

Rather than being in true competition with each other, large retailers were happy to price match more or less and not rock the boat. With most not even to present Irish consumers with an online presence which would facilitate price comparisons.

Those defending the retailers as if they were always doing their best for the irish consumer simply dont have a leg to stand on. Irish people understand the reasons/excuses for larger prices in ROI but greed was/is clearly one of them.

We are not defending retailers as such.
Just trying to help avoid the masses making stupid price comparisons on the face of it. I mean I have heard of people ringing say Harvey Normans in Dublin and demanding they match a price in the North or they won't buy it from them. I mean you may as well use the same comparison with a TV that is cheaper in Taiwan.

If a TV is 300 pounds up north and 600e down here then what I and others who know what they are talking about say is that the real price down here should be around the 400-450e mark. Unfortunately people look at the sterling price and think we are somehow entitled to it. We are being ripped off to an extent no doubt just bot by anything like the full price difference.

Because we have to pay workers more? Higher Vat? A much smaller market?
There are a million reasons why you can't realistically expect ROI retailers to match the North completely. Lets lower wages and Vat here first, otherwise, followong what you are aying to its logical conclusion, in the future you will be going North for certain items out of necessity rather tha out of thriftiness.

My Taiwan analogy makes perfect sense, some costs are purely related to the country, not the distance. We have to be clear here, our prices need to reduce but the North will aways be cheaper unless we fancy changing policy, particularly the minimum/average wage.

noodler wrote: »

Because we have to pay workers more? Higher Vat? A much smaller market?
There are a million reasons why you can't realistically expect ROI retailers to match the North completely. Lets lower wages and Vat here first, otherwise, followong what you are aying to its logical conclusion, in the future you will be going North for certain items out of necessity rather tha out of thriftiness.

My Taiwan analogy makes perfect sense, some costs are purely related to the country, not the distance. We have to be clear here, our prices need to reduce but the North will aways be cheaper unless we fancy changing policy, particularly the minimum/average wage.

Not really sure what you are getting upset at. I have already made the point that most consumers understand why ROI prices are higher.

Where were the Supervalu deals before the northern ireland phenomenon, where was tesco matching sterling for euro (on clothing only of course) before the northern ireland phenomenon.

You mentioned Harvey Norman in a previous post. Possibly one of the highest profile example of a retailer treating consumers like fools and not being competitive. Again, why no website comparable to harveynorman.com where you can buy online?

Finally, the price of goods in taiwan, chad, botswana or romania does not matter to irish consumers.

They are not a 90 minute drive from Ireland's capital city. And remember, the northern irish phenomenon, and this thread, has been driven by essentially a monthly grocery shop.

The logical conclusion is that retailers in ROI will need to compete to such a level that Irish consumer dont give up a full day out of their weekend to shop. When people were told to shop around it was expected that lidl or aldi would benefit, but they obviously didnt cater for many irish consumers needs.

But of course, they are completely strapped to the bone at the moment, and If the irish continue to the shop in the north, there will eventually come a time when no-one will sell food and other necessities in ROI. Nonsense.

noodler wrote: »

If a TV is 300 pounds up north and 600e down here then what I and others who know what they are talking about say is that the real price down here should be around the 400-450e mark. Unfortunately people look at the sterling price and think we are somehow entitled to it. We are being ripped off to an extent no doubt just bot by anything like the full price difference.

If a TV is £300 up north, the retailer is making maybe £60 margin (20%). At €450 in Ireland if the retailer is buying from the manufacturer at a similar price, the margin would be around 40%. The margin is the retailers income. Do Irish retailers need to make twice as much on each item?

Of course, if the sale price is €600, then the margin is around 80%, and that certainly is greed.

Zynks wrote: »

If a TV is £300 up north, the retailer is making maybe £60 margin (20%). At €450 in Ireland if the retailer is buying from the manufacturer at a similar price, the margin would be around 40%. The margin is the retailers income. Do Irish retailers need to make twice as much on each item?

Of course, if the sale price is €600, then the margin is around 80%, and that certainly is greed.

In fact often the reverse is true and retailers here may have a lower margin. Anecdotal evidence suggests that where retailers try to source cheaper suppliers in the north, view are told to use the dearer southern suppliers only.

tregan wrote: »

hi there,

want to try asda instead of sainsburys in the quays for my next grocery shop and looking at asda store locations and looks like kilkeel would be the nearest to me - i'm in north co. dublin. does anybody know what this store is like i.e. big / small or would i be better going to another branch ?

thanks for responses

Asda eniskillen is big
way cheaper than sainsburys also

Cathooo wrote: »

For weeks now I've been trying to buy a reasonably priced tv unit and a large bookcase for my sitting room. Have picked out a few nices ones in Woodies, Atlantic (even ordered online with atlantic), looked in Argos too. Nothing we picked has been in stock, I have never been given a date to when it will be in stock and no staff member seems to bothered about keeping my custom.

A trip to Ikea up north is my only option at this stage and I've picked out some nice furniture at a reasonable price up there. Now to get a van, time and I'm away!

Make sure you phone Ikea to check stock before you go. Do not use the online checker as it is unreliable.

Noodler. You said earlier that you werent defending retailers. I think we can dismiss that idea as nonsense now. You are doing nothing but defend them. While different economists will come up with different results, the ERSI is an independent body with no axe to grind, and one of the main think-tanks used by the irish govt (FWIW) The question is not why prices in the ROI are dearer than in the North - my first contribution here argued that people understood that - but why prices in the ROI are vastly more than the 6-7% that the ERSI suggest they should be. Of course, if the multiples broke down their profits by country and region all would be clear. I wonder why they wont.

We all have these stories, but I'll give a good example of the differential. I was looking for a coffee machine as a present for my parents this time last year. Checked Debenhams.co.uk (£140 or approx €160 at the time) - they understandably i suppose, wouldnt deliver to Dublin but could deliver to Newry where I could collect it from their store. Decided to check Debenhams in Henry St for the same machine on the same day (€279). So, again you can defend the approx 75% price increase on VAT, wages, rents etc in dublin, or you can face up to the reality that you are defending the greed of retailers, which Irish consumers are now thankfully voting with their feet against.

Morgans wrote: »

Noodler. You said earlier that you werent defending retailers. I think we can dismiss that idea as nonsense now. You are doing nothing but defend them. While different economists will come up with different results, the ERSI is an independent body with no axe to grind, and one of the main think-tanks used by the irish govt (FWIW) The question is not why prices in the ROI are dearer than in the North - my first contribution here argued that people understood that - but why prices in the ROI are vastly more than the 6-7% that the ERSI suggest they should be. Of course, if the multiples broke down their profits by country and region all would be clear. I wonder why they wont.

We all have these stories, but I'll give a good example of the differential. I was looking for a coffee machine as a present for my parents this time last year. Checked Debenhams.co.uk (£140 or approx €160 at the time) - they understandably i suppose, wouldnt deliver to Dublin but could deliver to Newry where I could collect it from their store. Decided to check Debenhams in Henry St for the same machine on the same day (€279). So, again you can defend the approx 75% price increase on VAT, wages, rents etc in dublin, or you can face up to the reality that you are defending the greed of retailers, which Irish consumers are now thankfully voting with their feet against.

Nobody has said the ESRI are biased, but what they do is put sample amount of data into a statistical software package like Stata and see if they get any estimates. There is simply no way to say for sure that 6-7% is the accurate and it seems extremely small given that does account for VAT alone. Don't be ridiculous, I am only defending them against shortsightedness from people who see a a TV in the North for 200e and feel it is their right to get it for 200e down South. Consistently mentionsing they ARE ripping us off hardly defends them, does it?

mickoneill30 wrote: »

The VAT difference takes up most of the ERSI difference. I don't see how the higher rents, smaller market, higher wages can fit into the remaining half percent. Or do they say 6 - 7% after you account for VAT?

With that said though it is still too pricey down here. Any time I've gone up north it was to save 30% to 40%.

Exactly.

amacachi wrote: »

The Republic of Ireland is a smaller marker than Northern Ireland?

Doh, the NI is part of the UK. Shops in the UK don't set different prices for NI in the same way Argos doesn't set different prices between Dublin and Cork. The NI is able to take advantage as being part of the UK market.

Hi,
I was supposed to be going to Enniskillen on Monday but may have to postpone it until Tuesday if the Teachers strike goes on (couldn't cope with ASDAs being mobbed with the kids off school!). Anyways, I'm wondering if anyone knows where would the best place be to go and buy an external hard drive while I'm there?
Thanks!!

I normally go to Sainsburys in Newry once a month and travel from Navan which only takes about 45 minutes when I leave after work (5 o'clock) on a weekday.
Yesterday I decided to head further north to Lisburn to see how it compared to Sainsbuys in Newry. There is no comparison.The shop is alot bigger, better laid out,shelves well stocked and no queues at the till.
Even though it's about a half hour further on from Newry it was well worth it.
For the first time in a while I got everything on my shopping list.

Rant over......