Shopping in Northern Ireland

Sasso

Boulevard Outlet. Banbridge. Jack Jones were taking euro for pound in cash.
Didn't have euros cash on me so paid by Revolut.

Sasso

Sasso wrote: »

Boulevard Outlet. Banbridge. Jack Jones were taking euro for pound in cash.
Didn't have euros cash on me so paid by Revolut.

Is that place still open? It's usually a ghost town any time i visit.

Must look up the website to see what shops are there these days.

Charles Babbage

Watch out for the small print though



€ for £*
*Valentine's day items only

horse7

Hadn't been there for years, when up 2 weeks ago. It's a nice day out. They have built a huge Tesco near the shopping mall, and a MC Donald's , which is handy. Clarke's, M&S etc, it's all on the website. No bargains when we were there. Attached on to Tesco is a high home store and more type shop, enjoy.

Thanks guys- I might pay it a visit mid-week when it's quiet and bring a few yoyo's so see what the appetite is to take them.

CBCB

was in Banbridge outlets at the weekend. Didn't find any great bargains.
The Asics outlet in Kildare Village is cheaper.

Some great bargains in Tesco for booze though. 12 cans of 330 ml Punk IPA for £13. 1 ltre Smirnoff £17

smashey

CBCB wrote: »

was in Banbridge outlets at the weekend. Didn't find any great bargains.
The Asics outlet in Kildare Village is cheaper.

Some great bargains in Tesco for booze though. 12 cans of 330 ml Punk IPA for £13. 1 ltre Smirnoff £17

I was there last week and got some good bargains in the Skechers shop and Mountain Warehouse

Waternotsoda

I have to go to Enniskillen tomorrow. Never been. I was thinking of doing some shopping in my spare time. What's the best place for parking? What are tthe shopping centres /stores like?

When paying should I use my debit visa(Tapping) or credit card?

Dors1976

Waternotsoda wrote: »

When paying should I use my debit visa(Tapping) or credit card?

In my opinion its better to use cash.

With tap you have to pay the exchange rate the bank charges you on top of the item. If that makes sense.

I don't use a credit card up north so can't advise.

horse7

check out the revolut forum.

Sasso

horse7 wrote: »

check out the revolut forum.

Second that

votecounts

Waternotsoda wrote: »

I have to go to Enniskillen tomorrow. Never been. I was thinking of doing some shopping in my spare time. What's the best place for parking? What are tthe shopping centres /stores like?

When paying should I use my debit visa(Tapping) or credit card?

ASDA and TESCO inthe town both have free parking while there is free parking bu the quays, Parked in all three and all are grand and close to shopping. Centres are grand

5500

Anyone been in the Quays recently and know if they are taking euros or not in Sainsburys ect?

paska

5500 wrote: »

Anyone been in the Quays recently and know if they are taking euros or not in Sainsburys ect?

I suspect every shop in the North takes euro.

muffler

paska wrote: »

I suspect every shop in the North takes euro.

Nope

admcfad

Sainsbury's are taking Euro notes at the tills.
They do have a Bureau de change but their rate isn't great.

Hogzy

admcfad wrote: »

Sainsbury's are taking Euro notes at the tills.
They do have a Bureau de change but their rate isn't great.

What exchange rate to they give you in the shop? Are you better off paying revolut?

Darc19

Hogzy wrote: »

What exchange rate to they give you in the shop? Are you better off paying revolut?

The market / interbank rate is €1.1332 per £1

Revolut are €1.14 (weekend 0.5% above interbank)

Visa are €1.138 + Bank fee of between 1% & 1.75%

At a guess, an in-store exchange will be about €1.15-€1.18 per £1

muffler

Yesterday morning I paid for an item online (£300) and my credit card rate worked out at €1.13. An hour later I drove down the road to Strabane and went into the Bureau de Change and bought a small amount of sterling and their rate was just slightly over €1.16.

I was always led to believe that the CC's were more expensive but based on yesterday's experience I think I might just pay by card in the future or withdraw cash from an ATM instead

admcfad

Hogzy wrote: »

What exchange rate to they give you in the shop? Are you better off paying revolut?

I always use Revolut. But I keep an eye on the rates offered by the Bureau for cash and I have noticed that they are not giving a fair exchange rate as they would have done 18 months ago. I feel that they are cashing in on the current fall in sterling and not passing on the full benefit of the current exchange rates.

Darc19

muffler wrote: »

Yesterday morning I paid for an item online (£300) and my credit card rate worked out at €1.13. An hour later I drove down the road to Strabane and went into the Bureau de Change and bought a small amount of sterling and their rate was just slightly over €1.16.

Are you sure it was €1.13 and not 87p/€1?

A lot of people make this error.

Considering the interbank rate was €1.133/£1, it would be impossible to get a rate better than this unless it was an error.

If it says a gbp to eur rate of 87p, then the eur to gbp rate is €1.15. (or €1.1494 to be precise)

Darc19

muffler wrote: »

Yesterday morning I paid for an item online (£300) and my credit card rate worked out at €1.13. An hour later I drove down the road to Strabane and went into the Bureau de Change and bought a small amount of sterling and their rate was just slightly over €1.16.

Are you sure it was €1.13 and not 87p/€1?

A lot of people make this error.

Considering the interbank rate was €1.133/£1, it would be impossible to get a rate better than this unless it was an error.

If it says a gbp to eur rate of 87p, then the eur to gbp rate is €1.15. (or €1.1494 to be precise)


Edit - if online purchase was Friday morning, the interbank rate was hovering at €1.136 until about 2pm when it moved back to 1.133.

Quackster

muffler wrote: »

Yesterday morning I paid for an item online (£300) and my credit card rate worked out at €1.13. An hour later I drove down the road to Strabane and went into the Bureau de Change and bought a small amount of sterling and their rate was just slightly over €1.16.

I was always led to believe that the CC's were more expensive but based on yesterday's experience I think I might just pay by card in the future or withdraw cash from an ATM instead

Was that using a credit card from a bog standard bank? When you make an FX transaction on these cards, the pending transaction that appears is just an estimate based on the MasterCard/Visa FX rate on the day of the transaction and doesn't include the bank fees.

The FX rate you actually get will be the MC/Visa rate on the day the transaction is finalised so may be higher or lower. Also, the bank fees will be applied at this stage so the effective FX rate you're getting will be significantly worse.

muffler

muffler wrote: »

Yesterday morning I paid for an item online (£300) and my credit card rate worked out at €1.13. An hour later I drove down the road to Strabane and went into the Bureau de Change and bought a small amount of sterling and their rate was just slightly over €1.16.

I was always led to believe that the CC's were more expensive but based on yesterday's experience I think I might just pay by card in the future or withdraw cash from an ATM instead

CC rate always cheaper in my experience - at least mine is.

muffler

Darc19 wrote: »

Are you sure it was €1.13 and not 87p/€1?

The cost of the item was £299.99 and €338.71 is the charge showing on my CC account so that equates to £1 = €1.129 or €1.13 as stated above.

Quackster wrote: »

Was that using a credit card from a bog standard bank?

Avant card.

Quackster wrote: »

When you make an FX transaction on these cards, the pending transaction that appears is just an estimate based on the MasterCard/Visa FX rate on the day of the transaction and doesn't include the bank fees.

The €338.71 is showing as pending but based on past experience this usually ends up as the actual amount charged.

Quackster

muffler wrote: »

The cost of the item was £299.99 and €338.71 is the charge showing on my CC account so that equates to £1 = €1.129 or €1.13 as stated above.


Avant card.


The €338.71 is showing as pending but based on past experience this usually ends up as the actual amount charged.

Well the Avant Card FX fee is 2.65% on top of the MasterCard rate so this should be better than any Bureau de Change I would reckon. You'd save that 2.65% if you used Curve with your credit card (or indeed Revolut) instead.

Darc19

muffler wrote: »

The cost of the item was £299.99 and €338.71 is the charge showing on my CC account so that equates to £1 = €1.129 or €1.13 as stated above.


Avant card.


The €338.71 is showing as pending but based on past experience this usually ends up as the actual amount charged.

It's either a minor error or the retailer had a set rate programmed in @1.13 as interbank rate did not drop below 1.1318 Thursday or Friday. Visa rate was 1.1357 for Fri https://www.visa.ie/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

Bank commission is now shown as a separate charge as per eu regs, So possibly you'll see their 2.65% fee as a charge in itself.

Overall, I find using cards is best value esp as you don't end up with a pocketful of blighty coin

muffler

Just to update the thread as the actual charge is now registered on my CC account. item purchased in Argos cost £299.99. Initially a payment of €338.71 was showing on the statement as "pending". That figure has now changed to €341.31 but there is also the separate foreign currency charge of €9.04 making a grand total of €350.35 :eek:

How does a man get one of these Revolut cards?

Atlantic Dawn

Revolut referrals in this thread...
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057997843&page=9

punisher5112

muffler wrote: »

Just to update the thread as the actual charge is now registered on my CC account. item purchased in Argos cost £299.99. Initially a payment of €338.71 was showing on the statement as "pending". That figure has now changed to €341.31 but there is also the separate foreign currency charge of €9.04 making a grand total of €350.35 :eek:

How does a man get one of these Revolut cards?

It'll be your best decision....

You will get a card and free credit once you top up...

I found it great in UK and online.

Sainsbury's spirits at the weekend:

Ha'penny Dublin gin: £22.50 (normally €35, bought 2)
Monkey shoulder whiskey: £22 (normally €40+)
Plymouth gin: £20 (normally €35+)

They have a couple of deals on their own brand spirits also, picked up a bottle of rum for £16 also. Bottles of yellowtail shiraz and campo viejo rioja were £6 each as well.

So, 5 bottles of spirits and 2 bottles of wine came to £114, or roughly €128.

Ohmeha

Jack Daniels 1 litre currently GBP 20.00 in Tesco

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

Thinking of taking a trip to Newry for Christmas Shopping. Anyone been? Is it worth it? I have a Revolut for Online shopping.

I know the exchange rate has weakened for us but do shops up there still offer parity?

Thanks

reubenreuben

Mariam Strong Gazelle wrote: »

Thinking of taking a trip to Newry for Christmas Shopping. Anyone been? Is it worth it? I have a Revolut for Online shopping.

I know the exchange rate has weakened for us but do shops up there still offer parity?

Thanks

Not sure about parity but booze is still a lot cheaper. Tesco's had 1l Bailey's for £12, buy 6 wines get 25% off, get 4 Ales for £6(exact ales are 10 euros here)

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

reubenreuben wrote: »

Not sure about parity but booze is still a lot cheaper. Tesco's had 1l Bailey's for £12, buy 6 wines get 25% off, get 4 Ales for £6(exact ales are 10 euros here)

Thanks very much for the reply.

allthedoyles

If you're travelling from Kerry or Wexford , I couldn't see it worthwhile.
You get the best of Irish beer in Aldi /Lidl for 1.79e a bottle. Irish Country Cream for 6.79e and a bottle of lovely bourbon whiskey for 14.50.
Fuel, tolls,eating out ,parking, it would be had value for money in my opinion.
Maybe if you get into somewhere like Savage & Whitten you might save a few bob.

Technique

I agree. I'm in Derry five days a week, but buy all my beer in Aldi or Lidl in Letterkenny. I've bought branded spirits in the north, but I wouldn't go out of my way to travel to do it.

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

Not looking for alcohol, to be honest I love browsing the Sainsbury's, boring I know, to see stuff we don't get here.

Also the card shop is very reasonable and you get the Granny Grandad Auntie stuff plus 5 cards for a pound, as we have a few of Sagittarius babies in the family.

Though the sister said they have Moet for about €25 a bottle if you buy 6 and she might want it for gifting, she says it's double that down here.

Glenn220390

Tesco.com at the moment is £25 off £70 for new customers using code XXHTFL at checkout. valid on orders up until 18/12

I have created a new account and used a random NI address and made my order for click and collect for Banbridge store. Code worked fine and discount applied.

All items I've ordered are already heavily discounted compared to my local Tesco

bladespin

Mariam Strong Gazelle wrote: »

Not looking for alcohol, to be honest I love browsing the Sainsbury's, boring I know, to see stuff we don't get here.

This used to be my fave, all the special biscuit and chocolate collections we never had here but in the past couple of years I've noticed there's no difference anymore, that and sweets seem to be quite a bit more expensive in the North.

Mariam Strong Gazelle wrote: »

Though the sister said they have Moet for about €25 a bottle if you buy 6 and she might want it for gifting, she says it's double that down here.

They are, huge savings still to be had on drinks, especially the Branded ones.

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

bladespin wrote: »

This used to be my fave, all the special biscuit and chocolate collections we never had here but in the past couple of years I've noticed there's no difference anymore, that and sweets seem to be quite a bit more expensive in the North.




They are, huge savings still to be had on drinks, especially the Branded ones.

We didn't make it in the end. I see sterling has dropped to 82p to the Euro which is huge difference from Summer.

I love browsing the food in Sainsburys, I'd love to go to Asda in Belfast but we have never made it. It's the novelty more so.

Geuze

Although GBP had risen from 90p back in Oct to 83-84p, thanks to Brexit being sort of settled, the pound has fallen sharply in the last week or so.

18-Feb = 83p
19-Mar = 93p

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-gbp.en.html

Geuze

The 92.985p today is the lowest in ten years against the euro.

Geuze

Geuze wrote: »

The 92.985p today is the lowest in ten years against the euro.

I wouldn’t go to NI even if it was parity-would like to support ROI and all that our great retailers and workers are doing- but I’ll certainly buy STG cash if parity to use again when this blows over

Quackster

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I wouldn’t go to NI even if it was parity-would like to support ROI and all that our great retailers and workers are doing- but I’ll certainly buy STG cash if parity to use again when this blows over

No need to buy sterling cash when you can buy sterling in Revolut whenever. You can even set it to automatically convert when the exchange-rate hits a desirable point.

Geuze

Back at 91 pence again.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-gbp.en.html

Geuze

Geuze wrote: »

Back at 91 pence again.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-gbp.en.html

Over 92 pence today.

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

Will it hit parity by the end of the year?

Geuze

GBP close to ten year low today, at 92.29 pence.

Ten year low is 92.985pence.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/html/eurofxref-graph-gbp.en.html

afro man

Just a quick query anybody driven up north recently just wondering if any covid checkpoints in place