Shopping in the north?

lisajane

Just how much cheaper are they?

There's a bus that is leaving for a shopping trip to newry a week saturday and i am half thinking of going. But just wondering, is there much of a difference with prices? Oh and would they accept the euro?

Lorelei

Most shops in Newry if not all do accept Euro.
Even without the VAT difference the North was cheaper years ago.
There is a vat difference of 6.5% on most goods if not more.
Alcohol is much cheaper once again due to tax differences as are babies articles. Clothing is generally cheaper as well.
However with a bus you may find that the bulk of purchases to make decent savings is not possible. Having said that the difference when buying 2 bottles of booze will cover the bus trip, in all likelihood. Treat it as a day out and a trial.

Macall75

Lorelei wrote: »

Most shops in Newry if not all do accept Euro.
Even without the VAT difference the North was cheaper years ago.
There is a vat difference of 6.5% on most goods if not more.
Alcohol is much cheaper once again due to tax differences as are babies articles. Clothing is generally cheaper as well.
However with a bus you may find that the bulk of purchases to make decent savings is not possible. Having said that the difference when buying 2 bottles of booze will cover the bus trip, in all likelihood. Treat it as a day out and a trial.

yes the majority of shops will accept euros,some are giving euro for pound,iam from newry and its bunged every day with southern shoppers,i honestly dont blame you,s ,the alcohol is much cheaper,sainsburys is a goldmine at min,thk they were dng 1 litre bottle of vodka for 12quid last week,u will not regret coming up

MarysCross

If you know what you want and phone about retailers in the North most will deliver for free. Paying over the phone or on delivery. Save you the trip.

'Booze' certainly cheaper!

Our man in Havana

MarysCross wrote: »

If you know what you want and phone about retailers in the North most will deliver for free. Paying over the phone or on delivery. Save you the trip.

'Booze' certainly cheaper!

I am sure the customs and excise will love to know who these shops are. They are breaking the law delivering south of the border.

Lorelei

Rubish, it is within the EU of course they can deliver down here. Buyer must declare purchase to Irish reveneu if goods over certain value and pay difference in any on VAT same as someone bringing anything back from an EU country.

The supply of goods to consumers in another EU country is a key point for the EU.

jahalpin

Lorelei wrote: »

Rubish, it is within the EU of course they can deliver down here. Buyer must declare purchase to Irish reveneu if goods over certain value and pay difference in any on VAT same as someone bringing anything back from an EU country.

The supply of goods to consumers in another EU country is a key point for the EU.

For most items, you don't have to pay the difference in VAT etc if you bringing goods from another EU country, however, alcohol and tobacco are an exception to this rule.

You are allowed bring a limited amount of alcohol and tobacco between EU countries for "personal use" without duty and VAT being payayble to the Revenue. You must bring the items accross the border yourself and a third-party is not permitted to do this

dreamers75

48 cans of magners is €44

Down south its €92

furiousox

Everything is cheaper, ranging from a few cents on some items to hundreds of euro on larger items.
You've nothing to lose.

rubadub

There is an entire section on the north in bargain alerts.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1206

Lorelei wrote: »

Rubish, it is within the EU of course they can deliver down here.

Rubbish is right... The self righteousness in some of these threads is amazing...

furiousox wrote: »

Everything is cheaper, ranging from a few cents on some items to hundreds of euro on larger items.
You've nothing to lose.

That is some blanket statement! petrol for one is dearer, and I expect you could pay over the odds for many things, presume nothing.

There's a bus that is leaving for a shopping trip

You have to work it all out. My brother travels up north with work so had no reason to lie to me about things, many exaggerate savings and times etc, he tells me the REAL time it takes to drive up there. Time is money, some people could have saved a lot of hassle by working a few hours saturday overtime instead of going up north, that is the main cost I see omitted in peoples stories.

I got a PS3 for €250 in powercity today, the RRP in the UK is £250, I was getting a rate of 88/1 during the week on my CC (do not this XE rate, another way people fool themselves), so it would need to be £220 to match my €250. Cheapest listed on this site is £225
http://www.compareconsoleprices.co.uk/playstation_3.html


A mate got a LG plasma in powercity which was cheaper than any UK online sites I checked, not sure about store prices.

Sometimes people use China in threads as an example why it is unfair to compare 2 countries. I love cashew nuts in chinese cooking and I was in China and was in a large supermarket and was shocked to see they costed about 1.5 times what they do here, they had several types too, not some one off small expensive packet. Several other things were more expensive there.

furiousox

rubadub wrote: »

That is some blanket statement! petrol for one is dearer, and I expect you could pay over the odds for many things, presume nothing.

Sorry yeah, l should quantify that by saying l meant groceries and (most) electronics

Dj Stiggie

Macall75 wrote: »

yes the majority of shops will accept euros,some are giving euro for pound

What shops are these? Any that sell drink? Or well known clothes or electrical shops?

Terrontress

Clothes shops yes, drink no. Maybe even Debenhams. But it is built in to their margin. Better to forget this gimmick and just go on standard exchange rate on your credit card. Take out sterling from an ATM or bring it up with you and you'll lose out with all that you don't change back. As for euro for pound, no way these retailers gladly drop 12%.

MarysCross

Bond-007 wrote: »

I am sure the customs and excise will love to know who these shops are. They are breaking the law delivering south of the border.

You obviously have no idea how the common market operates Mr...

rubadub

MarysCross wrote: »

You obviously have no idea how the common market operates Mr...

Please enlighten us with your wisdom...

CamperMan

Bond-007 wrote: »

I am sure the customs and excise will love to know who these shops are. They are breaking the law delivering south of the border.

how can that be?? you can buy anything from any country and have it delivered to your address.

rubadub

CamperMan wrote: »

how can that be?? you can buy anything from any country and have it delivered to your address.

At last a resonable questioning, unlike the other 2 smug posters, though it has already been posted in post 7.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1878.html

Alcohol and Tobacco Products being brought into Ireland from another EC country without payment of duties must be transported and accompanied by you, i.e. cannot be shipped/posted to this country.

Duty-Paid and Tax-Paid Goods
(i) General

No additional duty or tax will be charged on goods bought duty and tax paid (e.g. in shops, supermarkets etc.) in another EC country. However, see below for Alcohol and Tobacco Products.

(ii) Alcohol and Tobacco Products

In the case of alcohol and tobacco products:

they must be for your personal use,
you must retain your receipts as proof that you have paid duty and taxes, and
you must personally transport and accompany the goods on arrival.
Where your purchases of the specific products listed below are equivalent to, or less than, the quantities shown in the table they will, generally speaking, be regarded as for personal use.

Maximum quantity and list of goods allowed as personal use Maximum Quantity Goods
800 Cigarettes
400 Cigarillos
200 Cigars
1kg Smoking Tobacco
10 litres Spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka, etc.)
20 litres Intermediate Products - Alcoholic drinks not exceeding 22% vol. (e.g. port, sherry, some liqueurs, etc.)
90 litres Wine (of which only 60 litres can be sparkling)
110 litres Beer

It should be noted that until 31 December 2009 there are specific limits on the amount of tobacco products you can bring into Ireland for your personal use that have been purchased in the following EC countries.

Estonia - 200 cigarettes or 250g smoking tobacco*
Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, - 200 cigarettes*
* If you have tobacco products over these specific limits you must declare them to a Customs Officer in the Red Channel and pay the appropriate duties and taxes.

Our man in Havana

CamperMan wrote: »

how can that be?? you can buy anything from any country and have it delivered to your address.

Except alcohol and tobacco. These may not be delivered south of the border without excise duty being paid to the Republic's exchequer.

There is an exemption for reasonable amounts transported personally across the border.

CamperMan

Bond-007 wrote: »

Except alcohol and tobacco. These may not be delivered south of the border without excise duty being paid to the Republic's exchequer.

There is an exemption for reasonable amounts transported personally across the border.

sounds about right.. I just thought the poster that mentioned delivery was refering to normal items like TV's, cameras, clothing, etc.

granturismo

furiousox wrote: »

Everything is cheaper, ranging from a few cents on some items to hundreds of euro on larger items. You've nothing to lose.

This may not be the case with some products. Check local prices and compare them to Sainsburys, ASDA etc on their own website or http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/.

Depending on what you want, where you're travelling from it may not be worth your while. Spirits are definately much cheaper, wine is cheaper as well but not by the same margin. Razor blades for example, were much cheaper up north 12 months ago - even though the exchange rate hasnt changed significantly over 12 months, today Sainsbury's charge a few pence more that Tesco's down south.

Check out prices before you go.

Lorelei

If you buy goods from anothe EU country and import it into another EU country you are not breaking the law. You may have to pay duty (as in tobacco, alcohol etc).
My comment "rubbish" was in answer the the claim that anyone "exporting" i.e. sending goods from NI to the Republic was breaking the law. Its called free movement.
Even if there was a law being broken it would in all likelihood not be the exporter but rather the importer who broke the law.
Sorry about being "smug" but I buy both private and business from the UK, NI. Germany and Holland. I may just possibly have a slight idea what I am talking about.

Ghandee

Bond-007 wrote: »

I am sure the customs and excise will love to know who these shops are. They are breaking the law delivering south of the border.

Eh, Bond if this is the case then I for one am breaking the law on a daily basis.
I am a sales rep for a company based in Ciunty Derry.
I live in Kildare.
Sales area is "Leinster"

I pulled in almost 500,000 in STERLING last year for them.

Customer tells me what they want, I call office, courier delivers next day VAT FREE!

(obviously you need to be registered for vat to avail of the free vat)

Our man in Havana

I am only referring to ALCOHOL and TOBACCO. Read the thread properly ffs!

Skopzz

I know a private courier who takes Alcohol and Tobacco orders by delivering them from the north. He charges a reasonable postage rate on these too. All you do is give him a magazine list of orders and pay the delivery/courier charge and expect your orders to arrive the next morning.

Our man in Havana

Skopzz wrote: »

I know a private courier who takes Alcohol and Tobacco orders by delivering them from the north. He charges a reasonable postage rate on these too. All you do is give him a magazine list of orders and pay the delivery/courier charge and expect your orders to arrive the next morning.

Naughty.