Newry = Boom Town *another northy shoppng spree*

Donkey Kong

I was in Newry on Sat morning. Another sourthern reg. But I will not be back. The place is a dump. Shops are small. People friendly but its a far cry from the 1st class world shops in the South. Wont be back for the Q's. Time is money.

20goto10

Jaysoose wrote: »

Im sorry but you are wrong, im from the North and am up home twice a month at least for the last 5 years. Goods are cheaper, vat has always been cheaper the cost is less, whats so hard to accept?.

Just because you are not informed dont try to force your opinion on me when i know its bull.

What has new york got to with shopping in newry??

I'm not giving my opinion I'm stating a fact. Maybe Newry is cheaper than the rest of the UK because I can tell you the rest of the UK is not cheap. Maybe it is now but it certainly wasn't as recent as the start of October when I was last over. And the fact that they have less VAT and excise duty makes my argument even stronger.

Defenestrate

You should see the looks on the faces of my mates visiting from the UK when they get charged €5+ for a pint over here!

mohenley

Hi, I was in Newry a few weeks back and it is way cheaper than the South!!

I got clothes there and they were cheaper. I also got a 40inch Sonly LCD telly which was £600 sterling. the equivalent one here is abou €1350!! The food is also cheaper.

Can i also point out that this is the same for the UK. I am from Scotland and the prices in the shops there are way cheaper.

I just don't understand why the prices are dearer in the South and I think its high time that this was addressed.

More amd more people are travelling to the North for shopping and i don't blame them in this climate for doing so.

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

I'm not giving my opinion I'm stating a fact. Maybe Newry is cheaper than the rest of the UK because I can tell you the rest of the UK is not cheap. Maybe it is now but it certainly wasn't as recent as the start of October when I was last over. And the fact that they have less VAT and excise duty makes my argument even stronger.

Listen buddy if you want to believe what you are writing then thats up to you, i know its nonsense and that is good enough for me.

thenightrider

20goto10 wrote: »

It makes sense unless you have special electronic ticker tape tags that show the exchange rate as it fluctuates on a daily basis.

Maybe there has been retailers ripping people off, but by and large whats going on is the exchage rate has changed.

The exchange rate has never been that bad to be makeing a profit of almost 200 euro ya when the rate wasnt as good they would not be makeing that much but even with a bad rate they were still makeing 100 euro more then the shops up north

thenightrider

Defenestrate wrote: »

You should see the looks on the faces of my mates visiting from the UK when they get charged €5+ for a pint over here!

you should have seen my fase when i was in a nightclub in england and got change from 5 for 2 pints and 2 blue wkd's was in a pub in town here and it cost me 6.35 for 1 pint bottle of blumers :eek:

The_Conductor

20goto10 wrote: »

And the fact that they have less VAT and excise duty makes my argument even stronger.

Could you explain. I thought it was your argument that the North/UK was not cheaper than the Republic?

While the currency issue is strongly in favour of shoppers from the south at present- traditionally people from a large area around the border went to Newry, Omagh, Eniskillen, or Derry to get their groceries. However this traffic was largely limited to people living in the border counties.

With the exchange rate the way it is- most local bus companies as far south as Cork and Kerry are organising EUR20 return fairs every Saturday for people to get their groceries- and even here on adverts.ie you will find people with vans willing to travel to the North to collect groceries.

Traditionally- the vast differences between here and the north were tax and duty driven (aka tobacco, alcohol and fuel would have been the most significantly cheaper items)- this is no longer the case. With the indexing of fuel prices in the UK- its aprox. 12% cheaper to buy diesel here, and it was up to 20% cheaper to buy petrol (before we put another 8c on in the budget). Fuel is just about the only commodity that is markedly cheaper south of the border (its almost amusing looking at the long queues of yellow plates at the stations south of the border- the inverse of every single car along the quays in Newry being a southern plate.

The reasons for the price differentials were several:

Much lower minimum wage in the UK
Lower local taxes
Lower VAT and duties
Greater purchasing power from larger multiples.
To offset against this- sterling was quite strong- but insufficient to wipe out the differential.

Down South- we have cartels who can charge what they want in the knowledge their competitors will simply match their prices
Higher rates
Higher VAT and duty (with the exception of duty on fuel- which is the second lowest in the EU15)
Traditionally a weaker currency (which was about the only thing stopping an exodus to the border every Saturday morning).

There always was a differential- its still there, but for different reasons now, and a lot more in our favour than it used be.

RichMc70

We are self-made victims in that we have accepted living in 'The Rip-Off Republic' for years now. It's only now that people are feeling squeezed that they're making the effort to take advantage of the savings by shopping up north.

Shopping in the north has been cheaper for at least 4 years and getting cheaper by the year. IMO The stores up north don't seem to be engaged in the same price fixing cartel that we have endured without question. Hopefully we'll see a bit more competition between the big boys now, although they'll still remain more expensive.

I'd accept that factors such as Vat, exchange rates, wages, living costs etc are all higher in the south however I do not accept that it should justify price differences of 30%-40% that you can save by crossing the border.

Kashkai

Jaysoose wrote: »

We drive so quickly on the M1 as we are trying to get away from the mental drivers from the south. Seriously who indicates right when they are going through a roundabout!!!!!

See there's your problem- you go ROUND a roundabout not through it! Sheesh, Nordies, lunatics one and all :D

My experience of buying up north is via de interweb when I bought a 46 inch lcd, a/v amp and speakers from Richersounds in Belfast. It cost me approximately 50% of what I would have paid down here, plus the staff and service were excellent. None of the attitude and couldn't care less approach that you get from sales people in the republic. I don't know if I'd fancy the slog up to Newry with the traffic, parking, trudging around shops etc. But I'll definitely buy from the likes of Richersounds over the net. Now if only Asda, Tescos etc in the north would deliver down here................

Wertz

20goto10 wrote: »

Stuff was not cheaper before the favourable exchange rates. I've been to the UK many many times it its been far from cheap over the past few years.

Yeah Newry is a short trip away but New York isn't, and its the same Bull coming out of people. I've a brother in the states and 3 or 4 years ago everything over there was more expensive too.

By all means shop in the UK while its cheaper. But get your facts straight as to whats going on.

You're talking nonsense. I live along the border, have done all my life...been doing my big monthly shops in newry for almost 3 yrs now, back when XE rates were not anywhere near as favourable. Even back then it was worth the few quid in petrol for the savings, the free parking and more pleasant shop staff.
The recent changes in £STG have only made it all the more cheap and cheap enough to make it worth coming from further afield than within 60 miles of the border.

That said, there was a point back about a 7-8 yrs ago where they were coming from the North to border towns to do their shopping (that was solely due to currency)...it didn't last long. Prior to that, going back about 20 years, it was almost the same situation we have now with people going in their droves to Ni border towns to shop...except that back then the customs still had control of the border and could seize items for non-payment of duty.
Someone needs to get their facts straighjt in this thread, that's for sure...

A Dub in Glasgo

20goto10 wrote: »

I'm not giving my opinion I'm stating a fact. Maybe Newry is cheaper than the rest of the UK because I can tell you the rest of the UK is not cheap. Maybe it is now but it certainly wasn't as recent as the start of October when I was last over. And the fact that they have less VAT and excise duty makes my argument even stronger.

I have lived in Glasgow for 15 years and for as long as I can remember, stuff in Glasgow has been much cheaper than the equivalent in Dublin.

20goto10

Right let me put it another way. People need to compare like with like. We live in the Euroland and even within that we have differences but its a good starting point. There's no doubt depending where you go you can find stuff cheaper due to our high VAT and import/excise duty costs. But it hardly shows that retailers are ripping us off. You also need to remember we have astronomical wages here compared with other Euroland countries.

You can't just say oh stuff is much cheaper = we're being ripped off. Now it may be true that some places are a rip off in Ireland. Especially bars in Dublin even compared with other bars throughout the Republic. And anyone who says "I paid €6 for a pint, what a rip off" does not have the right to complain. If you were being ripped off and you knew it why did you pay it? Therein lies the problem I think. btw, €5 for a pint of beer would now be considered cheap in most major Euro cities.

Anyway, I know this thread is about Newry so I'll leave now. Just get annoyed when I see people bitching about rip off Ireland.

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

Right let me put it another way. People need to compare like with like. We live in the Euroland and even within that we have differences but its a good starting point. There's no doubt depending where you go you can find stuff cheaper due to our high VAT and import/excise duty costs. But it hardly shows that retailers are ripping us off. You also need to remember we have astronomical wages here compared with other Euroland countries.

You can't just say oh stuff is much cheaper = we're being ripped off. Now it may be true that some places are a rip off in Ireland. Especially bars in Dublin even compared with other bars throughout the Republic. And anyone who says "I paid €6 for a pint, what a rip off" does not have the right to complain. If you were being ripped off and you knew it why did you pay it? Therein lies the problem I think. btw, €5 for a pint of beer would now be considered cheap in most major Euro cities.

Anyway, I know this thread is about Newry so I'll leave now. Just get annoyed when I see people bitching about rip off Ireland.

Why do you get annoyed? are you shopkeeper/publican.???

Its a fact that ireland is the rip off capital of europe, wether you like people saying it or not is irrelevant. Our goverment encourages cartel like behaviour and we the consumer get ripped off.

20goto10

Jaysoose wrote: »

Why do you get annoyed? are you shopkeeper/publican.???

Its a fact that ireland is the rip off capital of europe, wether you like people saying it or not is irrelevant. Our goverment encourages cartel like behaviour and we the consumer get ripped off.

No I'm not connected to retail. I've just travelled a lot and would consider myself experienced when it comes to comparing prices with other countries.


Its not a fact. Its a fact that Irish people moan about it just like they moan about the weather. Not one person has shown proof of cartel style rip offs in Ireland. The National Consumer Assiciation have looked into it and its just not happening. For sure we have high VAT and excise duty (some of which is in place for a very good reason - cigarettes and alcohol). Does that constitute a cartel style rip off campaign by the retailers?

deffin

20goto10 wrote: »

No I'm not connected to retail. I've just travelled a lot and would consider myself experienced when it comes to comparing prices with other countries.


Its not a fact. Its a fact that Irish people moan about it just like they moan about the weather. Not one person has shown proof of cartel style rip offs in Ireland. The National Consumer Assiciation have looked into it and its just not happening. For sure we have high VAT and excise duty (some of which is in place for a very good reason - cigarettes and alcohol). Does that constitute a cartel style rip off campaign by the retailers?

This is definately Mary Coughlan in disguise.!! No one else could possibly come up with this argument.

The_Conductor

20goto10 wrote: »

Its not a fact. Its a fact that Irish people moan about it just like they moan about the weather. Not one person has shown proof of cartel style rip offs in Ireland. The National Consumer Assiciation have looked into it and its just not happening. For sure we have high VAT and excise duty (some of which is in place for a very good reason - cigarettes and alcohol). Does that constitute a cartel style rip off campaign by the retailers?

It could be very easily argued that price matching (as advised by Dunnes, Superquinn, Tesco and Centra) could constitute cartel behaviour (look at the shelf prices when you go shopping and see the *Price Matched* stickers with the prices in the different multiples. If thats not cartel type behaviour- what is it?)

Certainly- people moan about the weather. We can't change the weather though. We can change what we pay for our groceries- by loading up in Newry, Omagh, Derry, Sprucefield etc. Its a practice which has been rampant in the border counties for over 20 years- but of late with the depreciation in the value of sterling- its now rife all over the country. I've been to Sprucefield in the past forthnight and gotten groceries (as opposed to Newry- its easy to get parking and a lot more pleasant, not to mention the different shops). Its a 120 mile trip for me. Its definitely worth while.

The argument is not that Irish VAT and Excise rates either constitute or indeed even contribute to cartel behaviour south of the border- as attested by trading statements from Tesco and M&S who give a breakdown of their profits- the Irish Republic is incredibly profitable for them to operate in- as the mainstream supermarkets do *not* compete on price. This is why Aldi and Lidl are so incredibly popular here, and getting more popular by the day.

You can look at individual goods and do a price comparison with the same goods south of the Border- for example 2 * 12 pack of cans of coca cola in Sainsbury's Sprucefield for £6 versus EUR14.86 in Tesco Maynooth. Were you to make a long list of identical goods- you would find similar trends.

Its all well and good to argue that prices are high in the Republic because of our unusually high minimum wage and the cost of doing business- no-one is arguing that this is not the case- what we are arguing is that it does not make any sense for consumers to not make use of the differential for their own benefits. If we are uncompetitive (as we obviously are) instead of bleating about how unpatriotic it is to shop in Newry (as the Dublin Chamber of Commerce are on record as having done)- it makes far more sense to tackle the roots of that uncompetitiveness and reduce prices, which is what the consumers want.

Btw- the National Consumers Association has taken court cases for cartel behaviour on a number of occasions- most notably in the fuel sector. There is very little will to pursue this course of action however- as the fines under Irish law are not commensurate to the actions of the retailers (the punishment does not fit the crime).

Its all well and good Mary Coughlan standing up in the Dail and telling people to shop around- how can we when the retailers have a policy of "price matching"? The only sane way of shopping around is by driving to Newry, Omagh, Eniskillen, Derry, Sprucefield or where-ever........ Mary is only too well aware of this- as evidenced by some interviews she gave on RTE radio when given her first Ministerial appointment some years ago. She did it herself.

Jaysoose

deffin wrote: »

This is definately Mary Coughlan in disguise.!! No one else could possibly come up with this argument.

Im starting to think this guy is a troll, for somebody who claims to have travelled and is very 'experienced in comparing euro zones' or something he is very naive and im not gonna feed the troll anymore.:p

lottodrink

creggy wrote: »

I bought a pair a of jeans for £30 in topman in Newry 2 weeks ago. My friend got the same pair in Blanchardstown SC yesterday for €50

Think I'll be heading up there.. £30 is €35.90 saving €14 that might come in handy:)

20goto10

smccarrick wrote: »

It could be very easily argued that price matching (as advised by Dunnes, Superquinn, Tesco and Centra) could constitute cartel behaviour (look at the shelf prices when you go shopping and see the *Price Matched* stickers with the prices in the different multiples. If thats not cartel type behaviour- what is it?)

Here's a perfect example of peoples ignorance of how things work. Tesco are absolutely massive. The likes of Dunnes and Superquinn cannot hope to out do Tesco prices. To add to that the suppliers of the goods on the shelves will sell at a cheaper price to the rest. Why? Because they're massive and its good business even at the lower price. When I see Dunnes matching prices with Lidl and Tesco etc I think good on them, I don't think bast@rds are ripping me off. Wait till Superquinn and Dunnes are sold off to Asda and god knows who else. Then you'll see strategic ripping off of the Irish by the hands of the Brits. People should be careful what they wish for.

Gnar

Has anybody ventured beyond Newry to BannBridge maybe?just wary of the traffic and parking.Any other comparable placs to do the shopping than newry.I will be heading up from Dublin.

Thanks.

The_Conductor

Gnar wrote: »

Has anybody ventured beyond Newry to BannBridge maybe?just wary of the traffic and parking.Any other comparable placs to do the shopping than newry.I will be heading up from Dublin.

Thanks.

Sprucefield?

Gnar

Excuse my ignorance but im not very familiar with the area where is that

The_Conductor

Gnar wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but im not very familiar with the area where is that

Keep heading up the A1 towards Belfast and its before you hit Belfast- link to their website here

Mr Benevolent

Tesco are absolutely massive. The likes of Dunnes and Superquinn cannot hope to out do Tesco prices.

True. But I was up in Sainsburys Lisburn yesterday, doing my shopping. On arriving home I made a careful comparison between Sainbury's and Tesco Ireland, item by item. The average saving I achieved was 26.2%. How can Sainsbury's, a company far bigger then Dunnes or Superquinn, achieve 26.2% savings over Tesco Ireland?

Logically The VAT difference is 4%. Where does the other 22.2% saving come from? 20goto10 is obviously either A) a staunch patriot An Irish retailer or C) a politician or political party member.

To say that there is no difference between NI and ROI in terms of prices is not only ignoring reality, it is a direct lie.

]Personally, I think it's option C)

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

Here's a perfect example of peoples ignorance of how things work. Tesco are absolutely massive. The likes of Dunnes and Superquinn cannot hope to out do Tesco prices. To add to that the suppliers of the goods on the shelves will sell at a cheaper price to the rest. Why? Because they're massive and its good business even at the lower price. When I see Dunnes matching prices with Lidl and Tesco etc I think good on them, I don't think bast@rds are ripping me off. Wait till Superquinn and Dunnes are sold off to Asda and god knows who else. Then you'll see strategic ripping off of the Irish by the hands of the Brits. People should be careful what they wish for.

Are you serious?

A british company comes in and the irish firms have to lower the price to something more realistic and you pat them on the back!!! the price should have been low enough were it was not competitive enough for the english firm to come in the first place. Dunnes have to price match as they have been obviously setting the standard price FAR TO HIGH in the first place.

So basically the customer should pay the irish firms HIGHER prices as opposed to the (your term) 'Brits' even though they are cheaper!

Yo must be a troll and are obviously trying to wind us up.

20goto10

Confab wrote: »

True. But I was up in Sainsburys Lisburn yesterday, doing my shopping. On arriving home I made a careful comparison between Sainbury's and Tesco Ireland, item by item. The average saving I achieved was 26.2%. How can Sainsbury's, a company far bigger then Dunnes or Superquinn, achieve 26.2% savings over Tesco Ireland?

Its not a fair comparison. We may be nearest neighbours/the same country but we are completely different in every single aspect which decides the price on the shelf.

I tried, people don't get it, fair enough.

Fair play to people for shopping around. I hope it will lower prices but to be honest its going to come with a price. The big one being Dunnes Stores and its just around the corner. Irish retailers simply cannot compete. We might as well stick the Queen on our Euros at this rate.

Jaysoose

Confab wrote: »

True. But I was up in Sainsburys Lisburn yesterday, doing my shopping. On arriving home I made a careful comparison between Sainbury's and Tesco Ireland, item by item. The average saving I achieved was 26.2%. How can Sainsbury's, a company far bigger then Dunnes or Superquinn, achieve 26.2% savings over Tesco Ireland?

Logically The VAT difference is 4%. Where does the other 22.2% saving come from? 20goto10 is obviously either A) a staunch patriot An Irish retailer or C) a politician or political party member.

To say that there is no difference between NI and ROI in terms of prices is not only ignoring reality, it is a direct lie.

])

I have to agree with your result, his ability to talk around a question when he obviously does not have a scoooby is amazing.

20goto10

Jaysoose wrote: »

Are you serious?

A british company comes in and the irish firms have to lower the price to something more realistic and you pat them on the back!!! the price should have been low enough were it was not competitive enough for the english firm to come in the first place. Dunnes have to price match as they have been obviously setting the standard price FAR TO HIGH in the first place.

Sorry you've misunderstood what I am saying. They have to lower their prices and make a loss on that item. Sometimes they can get onto the supplier and tell them they want the same deal as Tesco, but most of the time they just take the loss. And as a susequence you will often find they higher the price of something else to compensate....fueling the rip off conspiracy theory even more.

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

Sorry you've misunderstood what I am saying. They have to lower their prices and make a loss on that item. Sometimes they can get onto the supplier and tell them they want the same deal as Tesco, but most of the time they just take the loss. And as a susequence you will often find they higher the price of something else to compensate....fueling the rip off conspiracy theory even more.

you cant prove any of what your saying, nobody sells at a loss.