Shopping up North

faceman

With the this year's budget Ive done me sums and ive never thought Id say it but this year Im going to go up "de Nerth" to do my Christmas shopping. some basic searches online comparing prices north and south shows some shocking price differences!

One colleague told me how they saved €900 buying a sofa up north from the same chain of furniture shops!

I have to admit, ive resisted any inclinations to shop over the border as i still believe there are bargains in Ireland if you shop and bargain hard enough.

Does anyone else do this regularly and could you recommend where I should be going etc? Should I aim for Belfast or are there closer shopping areas (e.g. Newry) that I should aim for?

I know this isnt really a consumer issue but I wasnt sure where else to put it!

afatbollix

theres a thread about this in the bargan alert section

Gillo

And another one here now!!!!

An interesting point I heard raised a number of weeks back is how it's damaging the exchequer (amongst other things), in that the VAT you pay goes to the UK government and not the Irish government. That said when theres a good saving to be made and your back is against the wall who cares who gets the VAT?

KhanTheMan

Im heading up just as a form of protest to the new VAT rates

I hear there are great deals on the Euro. Anyone know where?

Guy:Incognito

KhanTheMan wrote: »

I hear there are great deals on the Euro. Anyone know where?

The bank?

Outside of that I'm sure there are a few guys in a pub offloading 50's for 20c in the €.:)

tSubh Dearg

One of my work collegues saw a deal in a Belfast shopping centre offering a pound for a euro exchange rate.

I want to say it was the Victoria something centre but I honestly can't remember.

eth0_

I would seriously doubt that. They'd be losing an absolute fortune.

Curvy Vixen

faceman wrote: »

With the this year's budget Ive done me sums and ive never thought Id say it but this year Im going to go up "de Nerth" to do my Christmas shopping. some basic searches online comparing prices north and south shows some shocking price differences!

One colleague told me how they saved €900 buying a sofa up north from the same chain of furniture shops!

I have to admit, ive resisted any inclinations to shop over the border as i still believe there are bargains in Ireland if you shop and bargain hard enough.

Does anyone else do this regularly and could you recommend where I should be going etc? Should I aim for Belfast or are there closer shopping areas (e.g. Newry) that I should aim for?

I know this isnt really a consumer issue but I wasnt sure where else to put it!

Depends on what you want to buy?

We used to go to Newry but now head further on to the Sprucefield Centre cos it has a great Sainsbury's as well as a pile of other shops. 10 mins on and Boucher Rd and the surrounding area also has a great selection but what sort of stuff will you be looking for?

Sizzler

The wine guy on Moncrieff was saying today that the 50c extra per bottle increase as a result of the budget will have an even bigger impact in "real" terms in the shops & restaurants because of the way businesses make up their margins. He estimated that it could add a few euro in shops and a bit more again in restaurants :eek:

Fook that. Head up north. Wine is 20-25% cheaper from my recent experiences and thats taking the lazy option and only looking in Sainsburys, I'm sure there are places that are even cheaper again

darc

Sizzler wrote: »

The wine guy on Moncrieff was saying today that the 50c extra per bottle increase as a result of the budget will have an even bigger impact in "real" terms in the shops & restaurants because of the way businesses make up their margins. He estimated that it could add a few euro in shops and a bit more again in restaurants :eek:

Fook that. Head up north. Wine is 20-25% cheaper from my recent experiences and thats taking the lazy option and only looking in Sainsburys, I'm sure there are places that are even cheaper again

Retailers work on a 20 - 25% margin on wines (rent & wages need to be paid!) So the average bottle will rise by 75c whether its a 4.99 bottle of plonk or a €30 bottle of bordeaux.

Duty increase = 50c retailer margin increase 12c, VAT 13c = 75c

Bargains can be had up north on everyday bottles of wine due to supermarket purchasing power, importer promotions & loss leaders, but as you move intot he better quality @ €15 - €20 the saving are much lower as this price range is not used as a loss leader.

Run_to_da_hills

Stekelly wrote: »

The bank?

Outside of that I'm sure there are a few guys in a pub offloading 50's for 20c in the €.:)

Now that the state is running the banks I wouldn't be surprised if they start hikie up a commission on stirling to discourage people travelling up north. Most shops in border areas take Euro.

Tipsy Mac

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Now that the state is running the banks I wouldn't be surprised if they start hikie up a commission on stirling to discourage people travelling up north. Most shops in border areas take Euro.

Yes wouldn't be surprised.

Last time I was in Belfast a couple of the shops I was in asked me if I wanted to pay in Euro or Sterling with my credit card, they basically totalled it up in either currency. Now I am not sure whether they would work off a bad rate or not, I do know however that the banks charge a 1.75 % foreign currency transaction fee as it is.

KhanTheMan

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Now that the state is running the banks I wouldn't be surprised if they start hikie up a commission on stirling to discourage people travelling up north. Most shops in border areas take Euro.

Im sure if this extrat charge was impacting their business then all shops up north would start to take Euro.

The govt should either do something about the price differential by reducing vat or something, not increasing it.

Sizzler

darc wrote: »

Retailers work on a 20 - 25% margin on wines (rent & wages need to be paid!) So the average bottle will rise by 75c whether its a 4.99 bottle of plonk or a €30 bottle of bordeaux.

Duty increase = 50c retailer margin increase 12c, VAT 13c = 75c

Pint of beer in my local pre-euro changeover was £2.60 which should have equalled €3.30, actual changeover price was €3.60.

So forgive me if I reserve judgment on the way retailers will apply the duty increase on wines.

Saruman

eth0_ wrote: »

I would seriously doubt that. They'd be losing an absolute fortune.

This is actually true, there were a few shops with this sort of thing in bargain alerts. One of them was some sort of toy shop just over the border in Newry i think. This was months ago now.

bmaxi

Margaret Thatcher, sorry, Mary Harney (an easy mistake to make), when posed the "rip off Ireland" question, advised everybody to shop around. Can't blame them now when they do. Somebody suggested earlier that the State were now running the banks. Thankfully this is not the case, the bankers are bad enough but imagine the collossal f***-up the Civil servants would make of it.

KhanTheMan

I shopped around today (in Newry). Thanks for the tip Mary Hearney. And thanks for pushing me over the edge Brian Lenihan with your increase in VAT.

And fuc* you Brian Lenihan. I gave you my number 2 vote and the rest of the family gave you their no 1 votes. Guess how many of them are going to vote for you in future? NONE. In fact they are going to tick all the way down the nos and leave you til last .

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/travellers/within_eu/index_en.htm

And thanks for the advice here guys.

I was flabbergasted to say the least. Almost a 40% difference in the prices i would have paid for the same goods here incl what it cost me in petrol. I costed them at tesco.ie and tesco.com. Then made a shopping list at tesco.ie and printed it out. And ended up doing the shopping in Sainsburys in Newry.