KEEP YOUR TOWN IN BUSINEES BY KEEPING YOUR BUSINESS IN TOWN.

markesmith

The indigenous working class in this country are going to have a hard time of it. It's the same in the UK, Labour admitted as much in a recent report:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/nov/04/whohasfailedthewhiteworki (quotes The Economist also).

The problem is not foreign people coming in and working their asses off to send money home. For the love of crimony, isn't that what we have done in the past? You have to admire people who will do that.

But Irish people, with no trade, little education, a specialised skill that they've been working at for years, etc. They're the ones that will suffer. The foreigners who work so hard will move on to the next hunting ground - that's just nature.

The government needs to heed this, or it will face a far right-wing party or a charismatic Mussolini-type leader that rallies the Irish working class into a populist, corporatist-type state.

And if that happens, then the government, and the companies who appear to run a cozy price discrimination cartel experiment on our little island, will be to blame.

dh0661

hellboy99 wrote: »

unreal, stupid and petty is all i can say

I think Shelflife is right, it's the principle of buying a coffee elsewhere that's bugging him.

JordanDC

It has been proven that there should only be a difference of 10-15% max when buying your groceries in the UK or Ireland. Many stores are keeping afloat from their irish operations, we are the ones being ripped off here. The difference here is just over and beyond, and what has been going on for the last few years simply could not last. The bubble has burst and its simply a re-adjustment to the way things should be (except for the job losses)

Shelflife

Thank you dh0661, it is the principal of the matter, i try in general to give work where possible to those that support me.

jayoose "on your obviously overpriced coffee" how did you come up with that as its the same cost per unit as the other shop?

hellboy
"That's no excuse, if he done a bad job for you then fair enough, but to not employ him again because he wouldn't buy your coffee is ridiculous."

its the principal not the €1.50 why go somewhere else when you can support the person whos supporting you?

"I'd give him the coffee for free, unreal, stupid and petty is all i can say"

i prob would have but as i said before HE DIDNT GIVE ME THE CHANCE !!!!

Shelflife

Shelflife wrote: »

its the principal not the €1.50

The end of the day, he kept his business local, which brings me to my next point.

Rod & Reel wrote: »

So yes do your patriotic duty and stay close to home.

Is it ok then for people in small rural/urban areas that would have ie. the likes of corner shops, Spar, Mace etc.. and medium size stores like Londis, Supervalu etc... to travel to the big towns and shop in the bigger stores like Dunnes, Tesco etc..., or are you just agaisnt people crossing the border ?

Jaysoose

Shelflife wrote: »

Thank you dh0661, it is the principal of the matter, i try in general to give work where possible to those that support me.

jayoose "on your obviously overpriced coffee" how did you come up with that as its the same cost per unit as the other shop?

hellboy
"That's no excuse, if he done a bad job for you then fair enough, but to not employ him again because he wouldn't buy your coffee is ridiculous."

its the principal not the €1.50 why go somewhere else when you can support the person whos supporting you?

"I'd give him the coffee for free, unreal, stupid and petty is all i can say"

i prob would have but as i said before HE DIDNT GIVE ME THE CHANCE !!!!

What a load of codswallop, you still have not answered the question about did he do a good job? Principles are great and all but over €1.50 i think you need to get out of your small town a bit more and get some perspective.

You needed work done and employed a man to do it end of, could he be friends with the other shopkeeper? could he have wanted to stretch his legs during his break?...You could answer yes to any of these questions which would explain his reasoning for leaving your shop. For you to take it as a slap in the face that he didnt buy a Poxy €1.50 coffee and then Bad mouth the guy on here is a strange attitude in the least.

foggy_lad

there was probably a busty blond working in the other shop and chatting to her was preferable to listening to you harping on about how your coffee is just as cheap because it is in bigger cups!

as i said earlier , i didnt get the chance to as he gave his custom elsewhere.

he probably got fed-up waiting to be offfered a coffee

or maybe you paid him so little he could only afford a smaller coffee

exact same coffee. 8oz cup for €1 in other shop, 12oz cup for €1.50 with me.

i jusr thought it odd that he would bring his business elsewhere when i was supporting him.

or maybe he wanted a small coffee and would only have wasted half of it if he had bought your coffee?

at the end of the day if you came across to him as you do here word will spread and you had better do some DIY courses as you will not be able to get any tradsmen to work for you.

if he was working here he would have got his dinner if he looked hungry!

321654

Rod & Reel wrote: »

Do your Patriotic Duty


its an auful pity brian lennon came out and said that phrase.

If Bono came out and said we'd all be saying oh yeah he's rite we need to look after are own.

we do need to look after our own.

There is a massive unemployment rise but there is also a massive work force still in this country. 9/1 or so working.

So yes do your patriotic duty and stay close to home.

Ha ha. Cross the border. Look at the prices and then come back and say that again with a straight face.

Rod & Reel

ok ok ok. went up to newry yesterday just to see the craic.
went to dunnes had lunch in o'briens went to the offie and then had a look around.

Dunnes i didnt see that much of a price difference. i didnt go to sainsburys as i was just havin a goo at the irish difference.

O Briens i thou was dearer, maybe im wrong. 22 Pounds for a bite for 2 adults and 2 kids.

offie prices amazed me. a bottle of jack daniels i like a good drop of that stuff. 18 pounds so i think thats about 20 euros r so. i pay 30.11 euros in my local. so yes i bought 3 bottles. so i got a free one at south price. also they were selling 20 cans heineken 12 pound i think cant rem off hand but it was cheaper. bud the same 10 pound for 20 bottles. but yes there is always a but, when i got home to have a beer i noticed it was 5% in both the heine and the bud. the heini was from eygpt i think and i dont where the bud was intended for. the extra .7% in the taste is not nice so i think in the long run it wasnt worth it. but thats me.

would i go again. no i didnt think for what i bought made that much of a difference.

321654

Rod & Reel wrote: »

ok ok ok. went up to newry yesterday just to see the craic.
went to dunnes had lunch in o'briens went to the offie and then had a look around.

Dunnes i didnt see that much of a price difference. i didnt go to sainsburys as i was just havin a goo at the irish difference.

O Briens i thou was dearer, maybe im wrong. 22 Pounds for a bite for 2 adults and 2 kids.

offie prices amazed me. a bottle of jack daniels i like a good drop of that stuff. 18 pounds so i think thats about 20 euros r so. i pay 30.11 euros in my local. so yes i bought 3 bottles. so i got a free one at south price. also they were selling 20 cans heineken 12 pound i think cant rem off hand but it was cheaper. bud the same 10 pound for 20 bottles. but yes there is always a but, when i got home to have a beer i noticed it was 5% in both the heine and the bud. the heini was from eygpt i think and i dont where the bud was intended for. the extra .7% in the taste is not nice so i think in the long run it wasnt worth it. but thats me.

would i go again. no i didnt think for what i bought made that much of a difference.

You dont even have to go up north to see the difference in prices in Dunnes. Its on the tags down here.

You can also go to the argos website. Just change the link between .ie and .co.uk and instanly see how much you are being ripped off by.

You should go up you do a month or 2 months shopping. Thats how the big savings are made.

foggy_lad

321654 wrote: »

You dont even have to go up north to see the difference in prices in Dunnes. Its on the tags down here.

You can also go to the argos website. Just change the link between .ie and .co.uk and instanly see how much you are being ripped off by.

You should go up you do a month or 2 months shopping. Thats how the big savings are made.

heatons in Carlow have recently started tearing the sterling prices off the labels on their stock but that wont make any difference in most people's eyes as trying to hide the sterling price is worse than having a hugh difference.

johnnyskeleton

Rod & Reel wrote: »

ok ok ok. went up to newry yesterday just to see the craic.
went to dunnes had lunch in o'briens went to the offie and then had a look around.

Dunnes i didnt see that much of a price difference. i didnt go to sainsburys as i was just havin a goo at the irish difference.

O Briens i thou was dearer, maybe im wrong. 22 Pounds for a bite for 2 adults and 2 kids.

offie prices amazed me. a bottle of jack daniels i like a good drop of that stuff. 18 pounds so i think thats about 20 euros r so. i pay 30.11 euros in my local. so yes i bought 3 bottles. so i got a free one at south price. also they were selling 20 cans heineken 12 pound i think cant rem off hand but it was cheaper. bud the same 10 pound for 20 bottles. but yes there is always a but, when i got home to have a beer i noticed it was 5% in both the heine and the bud. the heini was from eygpt i think and i dont where the bud was intended for. the extra .7% in the taste is not nice so i think in the long run it wasnt worth it. but thats me.

would i go again. no i didnt think for what i bought made that much of a difference.

This is a great thread. Guy condemns people for shopping in the North and not doing their patriotic duty, then goes up and goes, wow, it's really cheap up here. Crucially though, he decides not to go again. Is it because of his patriotism? Does he say "Well, even though I get 3 bottles for the price of 2, I want to support my local offie"? Does he hell? No, on purely price orientated criteria he decides that the savings aren't worth it.

Typical Irish hypocrisy, castigating people for doing what you yourself do i.e. look after number one. This country is going to hell in a handbasket, and to be honest I'm not all that cut up about it. The way I see it, every other Irish person, bar friends and immediate family, are trying to get one over on each other all the time, and are prepared to say or do anything to that end.

Rod & Reel

johnny only reason i went up was to find out more about my argument. of course i bought 3 4 2 on the jds. but did i think it was worth going to buy again? no. petrol alone would wipe out my profit on the jd. and i didnt see anything else that i had an interest in which i couldnt get down south.

and i know the country is fuc***. so the reason i posted this thread was to see if we could as a nation come together and get out of this mess. but as u have read it turned from a business thread into a fiasco about a 1.50 cup of coffee. so we as a nation are fuc*** and im near a point of not caring.

it started off with a good few decent arguments for all and then it turned into a petty argument over a cup of coffee. a bit like the dial, all talking bull**** in the end. at least i went to find ouit a little more about what i was talking about.

What really amazes me is that between here on the boards, other forums, media, government and word of mouth all on about the price differences and savings to be made up the north nothing is been done by businesses here in the south to bring trade back, instead they seem that they would rather go out of business before they give a bargin, it's just baffling

Superquinn may of still been around was it not for high prices, my local Dunnes and Tesco's are like a ghost ship most days and instead of them lowering prices to bring back custom they put people on a 3 - 4 day week and look for voluntary redundancies because their not making money, is it any wonder the country is in a mess :rolleyes:

richiepoorman

My daughter is havig her first communion in may, so we've been looking around locally (Westmeath) for the dress, shoes, veil etc. Most of the local shops are charging upwards of €250 for the dress alone....wtf? She'll wear for half an hour in the church and maybe another couple of hours after for family photos and a meal (don't start me on the price of a communion dinner!!!) and that will be that.

I can go up north to Monsoon or Marks and Sparks and get the dress et al for a fraction of that, in fact for about €100 equiv.

I would love to have the convenience of shopping locally and getting what I want at a price I'm willing to pay and can afford - who's ripping who off?!

Local businesses need to wake up and smell the coffee - and quite frankly the government should be pulling out all the stops to help them. We are only a small part of all of this - but the bottom line is affordability.

shaca

I work in a small corner shop and I have to say that they are feeling the pinch. I have seen the order book and the wholesale prices and to be honest they are not making a killing on what they are selling. I believe we have to start at the very beginning to get the prices of things reduced. The people manufacturing the items need to reduce their prices, the wholesalers really need to reduce their prices(I have seen order books for wholesalers up north and there is a big diffeence). The shops will then be able to reduce their prices to keep the consumer happy.

time lord

shaca wrote: »

I work in a small corner shop and I have to say that they are feeling the pinch. I have seen the order book and the wholesale prices and to be honest they are not making a killing on what they are selling. I believe we have to start at the very beginning to get the prices of things reduced. The people manufacturing the items need to reduce their prices, the wholesalers really need to reduce their prices(I have seen order books for wholesalers up north and there is a big diffeence). The shops will then be able to reduce their prices to keep the consumer happy.

There a few and more every week; supermarkets and shops using U.K. based suppliers. The corner shops can also do this and save the shopper a fortune. Who ever lets themselves be ripped off deserve it. As for unpatriotic, how many party election posters are bought outside the Republic? But maybe they are right. The more crooked you are as a politician the more the pubic vote for you. One tipp man and one Mayo woman spring to mind. The people get what they deserve. Rant over thanks for reading.

meglome

I would consider myself patriotic but since I was being ridden without my permission I decided that was extremely unpatriotic so **** em. I'm buying food on Moore's Street and Lidl/Aldi otherwise I'm buying online and up the North. When the penny drops and I'm charged a fair price for my goods, doesn't need to be the same price or anything, I'll start shopping down here again.

namloc1980

I would rather buy locally if at all possible and I do for groceries and most day to day items. Unfortunately for electronics and non-grocery goods Ireland is just way too expensive. Some examples:

I was looking to buy some surround speakers an AV amp unit for my home cinema setup. I identified the amp and speakers I wanted and I eventually bought them online from the UK - €420 for the amp and €240 for the speakers = €660. This included postage and delivered to my door by courier within 2 days of ordering! I firstly priced it up at home. I went to Harvey Norman...they were looking for over €1,100 for the set (the identical items) and this was the best price they could offer (and a 2 week wait for delivery to boot!!) I went to a few local electronic stores and the best I could get after much haggling was €550 for the amp and €420 for the speakers. I saved €310 by buying outside the country. I don't mind paying a premium to buy at home but a 47% premium??

Recently bought a new house phone. Exact same model was £79.99 on argos.co.uk and €124.99 on argos.ie. Some local stores had it for €130+!! Got it off ebay for £80.

cnocbui

We were in the market for a new TV. Decided on a Panasonic plasma model that is intended for the UK market. I asked 5 local shops for a price, saying I could get a good price from a Uk retailer, and they all said they would have to get it in and quoted me about 33% on average more than I could get it from the UK.

I really would have liked to support a local merchant, a bit of a premium would have been acceptable, but not €700 - that's even taking into account the £120 delivery cost.

So of course I bought it from the UK.

Those who are being unpatriotic are not the consumers who rightfully seek value for their Euro, but the Irish distributors who are adding their undeserved and unconscionable whack on to the cost of all imports.

Skopzz

Rod & Reel wrote: »

So yes do your patriotic duty and stay close to home.

But prices are a rip-off down here!

Take for example, baby care products:
How can you expect young couples with children to pay exorborent costs for childcare products that are up to 30% cheaper in the north? The prices are way too high here so consumers have the right to shop elsewhere.

fakefurbabe

Skopzz wrote: »

But prices are a rip-off down here!

Take for example, baby care products:
How can you expect young couples with children to pay exorborent costs for childcare products that are up to 30% cheaper in the north? The prices are way too high here so consumers have the right to shop elsewhere.

I'm sorry, I'm not planning on having anymore, but wtf? You would have to be certifiable to do your 'baby' shopping down here. Cots, prams, nappies, milk, food, wipes etc need I go on........?

Orion

When local retailers for larger items start charging more realistic prices then I'll shop local. It's accepted that it costs 10-15% more to do business in the Republic (wage costs, VAT etc) but there's no excuse for 80-200% markups. If the price difference was the 10-15% I wouldn't even look North.

Here's an example - I was looking to get a little electronic toy for my niece that I got for my kids just before Christmas. I went in to Toymaster on Jervis St and it was the handsome price of €40. I bought it in Toys 'R Us in Sprucefield for £4.99 just before Christmas! And it's now £4.88 on their website. At the exchange rate on the day that was a 710% difference!

On that pre-Christmas trip I did all my drink shopping for the festive season. I spent £250 in Sainsburys (not all drink but a fair whack of it). £28 of that was for 2 bottles of Russian Standard Vodka - litre bottles (that's 28 total - 14 each). They cost €29 each in my local Supervalu. The saving on those two bottles alone paid for the petrol.

I'm not about to head to Newry or Sprucefield for my weekly shopping. But I'm getting bunkbeds for my kids shortly and I'm heading North to do it. Large items like that are worth the trip financially and I don't feel any guilt about it. I don't mind paying a fair price - but I don't accept the huge markups that too many retailers are charging down here for no good reason.

Skopzz

fakefurbabe wrote: »

I'm sorry, I'm not planning on having anymore, but wtf? You would have to be certifiable to do your 'baby' shopping down here. Cots, prams, nappies, milk, food, wipes etc need I go on........?

I have no children myself but I can only imagine how difficult it must be for young couples to afford the outrageous costs for Baby Care products down here.

Really, the only way to get a price reduction here is to continue shopping up north. Retailers arent cutting their prices. There was too much greed by shops during the economic years and the prices went absolutely out of control.

Digi_Tilmitt

If everyone in every country went along with this thinly disguised "arbitrarily only buy the products made in your own country" idea, then world trade would collapse and the benefits of comparative advantage would disappear, which would be seen in higher prices for everyone everywhere as goods would not be manufactured optimally.

The world economy is vulnerable enough as it is without wild protectionism like this being thrown into the mess.