Stopping the Flow of Irish Money to the North

bobbbb

K-9 wrote: »

Grand, depreciation, extra wear and tear, extra mileage which makes your car worth less than if you stayed local, do that every week and your car is worth less, STRESS and extra STRESS stuck in traffic jams, kids seeing you stressed out etc.

If the money is very little getting you there, then petrol/diesel must be very little here? Yes?

Superquinn closed in Dundalk. That was sad to see.

I dont think anyone goes every week. maybe once a month. All those trips to the local supermarket saved too. Probably evens out on the car dont you think.

Stress my ass. Stress is knowing you're being ridden up the ass and taking it.

Carlow52

bobbbb wrote: »

Stress my ass. Stress is knowing you're being ridden up the ass and taking it.

Is there a prize for the best phrase thus far?

Seamus Heaney, on his 70th birthday might even approve.

Carlow52

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0412/breaking21.htm

<<Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has lifted most of the delivery restrictions it previously applied to shoppers in Ireland.

Since last week, the company is shipping electronics and a wide variety of other goods to Irish customers for the first time in three years.

etc
The company says it will now take back old electrical equipment on a like-for-like basis, free of charge. Irish customers are being advised to bring such used products to one of four recycling centres in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny.
etc>>

The prices on the amazon.co.uk site list British Vat at 15 per cent but Irish customers get charged the Irish rate of 21.5 per cent at checkout.

means that there is still a 6.5% margin re going to North, at least till end 2009 when UK VAT goes back up

K-9

amacachi wrote: »

How much extra would you devalue an 8 year old car which was travelling 40 minutes along a motorway-standard road once a week instead of over speed bumps and through potholes 3/4 times a week?
As I said, for people travelling from further away it can be treated as a day out, so most people aren't in a crazy hurry to get there and back and don't get all that stressed about a bit of traffic.

The petrol probably costs around the same each side of the border now, but from where I am it's about a fiver's worth of petrol to get there and back if ya know the way to go. Even with more expensive petrol once ya buy a big box of nappies you've more than made the money back.


Yep, sad to see. They admitted themselves though that they were having it tough there for a long time, no-one I know can work out how they managed to stay open for the last 4/5 years.

Suppose it depends on the car and the distance!

The stress and traffic jams would do it for me.

Plus I hate trolley rage!

colrow

There's a sort of reverse scam mentioned in the Irish Times today, towards the back of the paper, Some woman bought clothes for her daughter in a store in belfast and they cost €87, they didn't fit so she took them back to a local store in Kerry and got refunded €133.

Sounds too good to be true eh !

Carlow52

colrow wrote: »

There's a sort of reverse scam mentioned in the Irish Times today, towards the back of the paper, Some woman bought clothes for her daughter in a store in belfast and they cost €87, they didn't fit so she took them back to a local store in Kerry and got refunded €133.

Sounds too good to be true eh !

Another cute kerry hoorer: aka as theft.

From the stores perspective they should have asked for valid receipt

anonymous_joe

bobbbb wrote: »

From Dublin to Newry.
€20 return in Petrol in a 1.6 litre car.
€3 for the toll bridge.

Takes less than an hour to get there, Learned the back roads .

Buying food - I need that, not because i just want it.
Do a month or 2 months shopping at a time. Save roughly 50%.
I wont be spending anything, bar on milk and fruit, petrol in the south anymore.

Anything else i decide to buy here, i'll check the price up North too now.
If it makes sense to go up then i'll get it on my next shopping trip up north.

And Im not short of money at all - i just hate being ripped off.
So how are people who really are short of money going to react?

You're not being ripped off.

Goods cost more here because we've a high rate of VAT and higher wages. Every worked up North is being paid less than their equivalent down here. Shops don't have a choice but to pay the minimum wage, do they? :rolleyes:

bobbbb

anonymous_joe wrote: »

You're not being ripped off.

Goods cost more here because we've a high rate of VAT and higher wages. Every worked up North is being paid less than their equivalent down here. Shops don't have a choice but to pay the minimum wage, do they? :rolleyes:

I beg to differ.
I am being ripped off here and i have been ripped off for many years now.
Please dont insult our intelligence here.
People are well aware of higher costs here.
Those costs do not make up for the difference in prices. Not by a long way. Its not my fault if you cant get your own costs down. Dont tell me i have to make up for your lack of business sense out of my pocket. I wont. Sort out your own costs and stop trying to pass the buck. I'll sort out mine.

Why dont you give me a breakdown of what the difference on say an LCD TV and surround sound that im going to get is regarding those costs. Bearing in mind that it takes 10 minutes to buy these 2 items.

Sony 32in HD 1080p Digital LCD TV KDL32W4000

South €1198
North €925

Sony HT-IS100 Black Home Theatre Upgrade Kit

South €698
North €543

---

Total
South €1896
North €1468

Total Saving = €428

So saving of €428 from the same shop North of the border, for 2 items im just ordering and having delivered.


http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/0870560/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Televisions|12160649.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/0851204/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Home+audio|12160571/c_3/3|cat_12160571|Home+cinema+speaker+systems|12160574.htm

and

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0870560/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Televisions|12160649.htm

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0851204/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Home+audio|12160571/c_3/3|cat_12160571|Home+cinema+speaker+systems|12160574.htm

ntlbell

people really need to work out what ripped off really means.

this is ripped off.

SONY BRAVIA NEW BOXED 500E

you take it home and inside the box is a toaster.

That's getting ripped off.

SONY BRAVIA 500E

bring it home and it's a sony bravia != rip off

they ask a price you choose to pay or not it's not a rip off

christ.

K-9

bobbbb wrote: »

I beg to differ.
I am being ripped off here and i have been ripped off for many years now.

Ripped off by some.

bobbbb wrote:

Please dont insult our intelligence here.
People are well aware of higher costs here.
Those costs do not make up for the difference in prices. Not by a long way. Its not my fault if you cant get your own costs down. Dont tell me i have to make up for your lack of business sense out of my pocket. I wont. Sort out your own costs and stop trying to pass the buck. I'll sort out mine.

Why dont you give me a breakdown of what the difference on say an LCD TV and surround sound that im going to get is regarding those costs. Bearing in mind that it takes 10 minutes to buy these 2 items.

Sony 32in HD 1080p Digital LCD TV KDL32W4000

South €1198
North €925

Sony HT-IS100 Black Home Theatre Upgrade Kit

South €698
North €543

---

Total
South €1896
North €1468

Total Saving = €428

So saving of €428 from the same shop North of the border, for 2 items im just ordering and having delivered.


http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/0870560/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Televisions|12160649.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/0851204/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Home+audio|12160571/c_3/3|cat_12160571|Home+cinema+speaker+systems|12160574.htm

and

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0870560/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Televisions|12160649.htm

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0851204/c_1/1|category_root|Home+entertainment+and+sat+nav|12160455/c_2/2|cat_12160455|Home+audio|12160571/c_3/3|cat_12160571|Home+cinema+speaker+systems|12160574.htm

Actually the first price is about 23% cheaper. VAT is 6.5% of that, the wage of the person taking the money, the person in the stockroom getting it for you and the person giving it to you is higher, Rent could well be higher though we don't know plus what exchange rate are you using?

The second one the same. With Argos I'd do a search online with other shops and see can I get it cheaper.

It seems you think you are being ripped off, but going on that example, you probably aren't.

jcbh

We need the tax revenue to stay in the South otherwise will will all end up have to pay more tax in the next budgets. What the government should do to slow down cross boarder shopping is put roadblocks 27*7 on the boarder, stop and search every car, truck and lorry. They will create tailbacks for 5-10 miles on every major cross point. They will not be able to confiscate anything but the delays this will cause will pi^% people off noend. Keep this up for a few months and people will soon get fed up and stop at home.

mikemac

And what if you're going on Bus Eireann to visit someone or for work.
People deserve to be delayed?

Are you going to stop the trains too?

The border is huge with hundreds of crossings. If you checkpoint one road, people go to the next

What you'll spend on overtime will negate any savings, rubbish solution

K-9

mikemac wrote: »

And what if you're going on Bus Eireann to visit someone or for work.
People deserve to be delayed?

Are you going to stop the trains too?

It's been done before.

"Hi, this is P. O'Neill"

jcbh

the curent estimate this years is 1 billion will be spent across the border raising to 1.6 or 1.8 billion next year if current trends continue. You may think you are getting a great deal now but in the long run with more and more people being made unemployed, taxes increasing we all will end up worse off in the long run. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You may not like the idea of slowing down cross boarder travel but something needs to be done to slow down the current stampede.

ntlbell

jcbh wrote: »

t but something needs to be done to slow down the current stampede.

The shops could always try dropping their prices

re-negotiing rents/esb is down etc

just a thought

mental i know!

Dotsie~tmp

I'm planning a cross-border beer raid on Sunday week. Last one saved me 500 blips. Anyone know of an offy that i can phone ahead to so they can have 500 or so cans ready on a pallet for me? I don't like the looks i get driving 4 trolly worth of Guinness/Jameson outa Sainsburys at 9AM. PM me.

K-9

ntlbell wrote: »

The shops could always try dropping their prices

re-negotiing rents/esb is down etc

just a thought

mental i know!

YEP, cutting minimum wage too.

Things will be dearer here, even with all that. As retailers have pointed out, they are being ripped off on their highest cost, stock.

People think it's the retailer. Even that €1.50 loaf has higher costs in production, delivery etc. which are all passed onto the retailer, who passes it onto the.............

ntlbell

K-9 wrote: »

YEP, cutting minimum wage too.

Things will be dearer here, even with all that. As retailers have pointed out, they are being ripped off on their highest cost, stock.

People think it's the retailer. Even that €1.50 loaf has higher costs in production, delivery etc. which are all passed onto the retailer, who passes it onto the.............

The hard part will be for retailers that have shops in both

they're not going to compete with themselves it doesn't make sense.

i can see them pulling out of ROI before they do that on a serious level.

bobbbb

K-9 wrote: »

Ripped off by some.



Actually the first price is about 23% cheaper. VAT is 6.5% of that, the wage of the person taking the money, the person in the stockroom getting it for you and the person giving it to you is higher, Rent could well be higher though we don't know plus what exchange rate are you using?

The second one the same. With Argos I'd do a search online with other shops and see can I get it cheaper.

It seems you think you are being ripped off, but going on that example, you probably aren't.

So excluding VAT im paying 16.5% more here.
Better in my pocket than the retailers. I might as well keep the VAT difference too. Thats me looking after my own pennies.

Im would be paying 23% more because the retailers here cant be bothered sorting out their costs.
Im definitely being ripped off.

Retailers, just because you cant get organized to help yourselves, dont ask us to pay you more than we should. Its because of your own lack of action that you are suffering. Serves you right for being so lazy. Business is not just about pulling money out of peoples hands you know.

K-9

bobbbb wrote: »

So excluding VAT im paying 16.5% more here.
Better in my pocket than the retailers. I might as well keep the VAT difference too. Thats me looking after my own pennies.

Im would be paying 23% more because the retailers here cant be bothered sorting out their costs.
Im definitely being ripped off.

Retailers, just because you cant get organized to help yourselves, dont ask us to pay you more than we should. Its because of your own lack of action that you are suffering. Serves you right for being so lazy. Business is not just about pulling money out of peoples hands you know.

I'm not disagreeing. I think you could have probably picked a worse example because until recently anyway, Argos had a 1.50 exchange rate.

However, it is not the retailers ripping you off, well not all.

To be correct, it's the suppliers, staff, Govt., delivery companies etc. ripping you off!

teetotaller

I was shopping north last week and helped republic ( Irish exporter) - I bought Irish product whiskey - Jameson . I paid 2/3 of price I'd have to pay in Dublin.


I can understand, that prices in Republic of Ireland are higher, because we have higher tax rate (~4% higher ? than in N.I.?)
I can understand that goods in south are more expensive, cos employees in shops get more money in South than in North ( ~ 30%)

but I can't understand why differences are over 100% not only 34% ( it should be less actually, because not all 30% of higher prices are used for employees salaries)

Coca Cola S - 1,99 e N - 1,1e
Johnson baby wipes S - ~2,5e N - 2,7e for box of 6 packs
good brand juice S - 2,49e N - 0,99e
Cigarettes S - 7,4 e N - 4,4e
chicken legs S - 2,99e N - 1,65e
mineral water (cheap) S - 1,99e 5L N - 1,35e 8L
cosmetics 1/3 cheaper


LG 32"tv S - 649e N - 469e
nappies - half price
buggies - 40% cheaper
clothes - up to half price
toys - 30% cheaper or more.

If Irish shops loose all customers it will be only their ( irish owners) fault.
There are many many many possibilities to import cheaper goods and sell everything cheaper.

I went to shop with car parts 2 days ago , wanted to buy Lambda sensor for my friends car - 80 euro. I can get the same one from my country for 27 euro.

I know that in my country people earn less money than here, but nearly 200% difference is too much.

other example - car antenna switch ( to connect 2 types of cables) - Ireland 10euro
same one in my country 0,3 euro.

USB extension cable - Ireland - 12 euro , my country 0,2 euro...........
HDMI cable - Ireland 25 euro(cheapest one) my country - 7 euro.

etc etc
I can give hundreds of examples. Why prices here are so pumped ? so high ?

PeteHeat

Hi,

There are a few reasons for the high prices here many have already been pointed out, lets call them VAT and high overheads for business.

When you buy a television or similar goods (Not Food Items) online or N.I basically outside the State you are also undertaking to return those items should the retailer decide to provide after sales service.

When you buy the same goods locally you have legal protection should the goods prove to be defective, the local rip off retailer must build in a margin for after sales service.

Now we get to the manufacturers of the goods perhaps a question that should be asked is why do they have different prices for the South of Ireland and other E.U. countries ?

.

Sage'sMama

jcbh wrote: »

We need the tax revenue to stay in the South otherwise will will all end up have to pay more tax in the next budgets. What the government should do to slow down cross boarder shopping is put roadblocks 27*7 on the boarder, stop and search every car, truck and lorry. They will create tailbacks for 5-10 miles on every major cross point. They will not be able to confiscate anything but the delays this will cause will pi^% people off noend. Keep this up for a few months and people will soon get fed up and stop at home.

Yeah we need all the lost tax to stay in the south to pay for bankers and politicians lavish lifestyles cos it sure as hell is not being spent on the roads,the schools ,the hospitals etc......

We shop in the north not only because it's cheaper but because we are p**sed off!!!

Tipsy Mac

jcbh wrote: »

the curent estimate this years is 1 billion will be spent across the border raising to 1.6 or 1.8 billion next year if current trends continue. You may think you are getting a great deal now but in the long run with more and more people being made unemployed, taxes increasing we all will end up worse off in the long run. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You may not like the idea of slowing down cross boarder travel but something needs to be done to slow down the current stampede.

We would have to pull out of the EU to implement these trade controls, last time I checked our government was supportive of the EU and the common market. If you don't shop in the north you will pay high taxes the same as the person who does shop in the north but you won't have any of the savings they have :cool:

lmimmfn

Sage'sMama wrote: »

Yeah we need all the lost tax to stay in the south to pay for bankers and politicians lavish lifestyles cos it sure as hell is not being spent on the roads,the schools ,the hospitals etc......

We shop in the north not only because it's cheaper but because we are p**sed off!!!

agreed, and may as well enjoy the savings now before we're all rightly f****d again in december and the year afterwards + we get to endure all the wage cuts that employers have to implement to stay competitive + lose even more employment due to the sterling downfall. I mean if you were to set up a company now in ireland or the uk, where would you put it? in a country where we have crap infrastructure, high minimum wage, high taxes or in the uk where employment is now cheaper than here, and has a much better infrastructure

Koloman

bobbbb wrote: »

Whats left in my pocket will justify it.

**** it, i think im going to start thinking about going abroad for good now too.

I'd love to know where you would go! The situation in most western countries is similar. A lot of people threaten this "well I'm off out of this country" nonsense instead of pulling together to get us out of the mire.

China and India are two of the few countries that will experience growth this year so I presume that's where you would go? Well good luck living on the average Chinese or Indian wage.

K-9

Sage'sMama wrote: »

Yeah we need all the lost tax to stay in the south to pay for bankers and politicians lavish lifestyles cos it sure as hell is not being spent on the roads,the schools ,the hospitals etc......

No sirree, definitely not. Not on teachers, guards, motorways, dual carriageways etc.

But sure the solution is not spending money in the State.

lmimmfn

Koloman wrote: »

A lot of people threaten this "well I'm off out of this country" nonsense instead of pulling together to get us out of the mire.

Sorry but theres no such thing as pulling together in this, the country is going down the tubes, fast, we're being taxed to the hilt to pay for the lavish lifestyles of the bankers.
Its every man for themselves, you do the best you can with the cash you have in the hope that you'll make it through this( which means saving every single cent you can whether shopping up north, bringing sandwiches into work instead of using the canteen, or whatever ), the last thing on most people minds is whether our 'surviving' is going to affect other folk indirectly, especially in the private sector when we dont know if we'll make it through the recession ourselves

gurramok

K-9 wrote: »

No sirree, definitely not. Not on teachers, guards, motorways, dual carriageways etc.

Bur sure the solution is not spending money in the State.

I understand where the poster is coming from especially in anger and frustration.

Why should we spend money in ROI that is wasted on an overpaid public service?

Having an accountable govt that we can trust to tackle difficult issues would be a start. I too go up north every month for basics and for example on a few occasions i heard our overpaid Taoiseach declare that he deserved that pay rise, it pissed me off further so it justified my position to shop in NI.

But deep down i know, in the long term, i am helping the public(especially the poor) down here to get cheaper prices in the shops here by shopping elsewhere.

Koloman

Sage'sMama wrote: »

Yeah we need all the lost tax to stay in the south to pay for bankers and politicians lavish lifestyles cos it sure as hell is not being spent on the roads,the schools ,the hospitals etc......

We shop in the north not only because it's cheaper but because we are p**sed off!!!

Then why don't we all just rejoin the UK again? At least it would be cheaper!

You also seem to forget that a lot of the money you hand over in VAT etc.. up North goes towards the lavish pensions of the British bankers! Remember Fred Goodwin and his cronies? You are just substituting Irish bankers for British ones.