Price Difference on Sat Nav

RiverWilde

504/0948 - That cat no. is from argos, for a Garmin Sat nav that seems to have been given rave reviews by those who bought it. I've never had a sat nav before but that one seems quite decent. I'm also very regularly in the north - what I'd like to know is why the hell I should buy it in the South for €142.40 when I can get the same device a quick jaunt up the road for £99?

Riv

Del2005

RiverWilde wrote: »

504/0948 - That cat no. is from argos, for a Garmin Sat nav that seems to have been given rave reviews by those who bought it. I've never had a sat nav before but that one seems quite decent. I'm also very regularly in the north - what I'd like to know is why the hell I should buy it in the South for €142.40 when I can get the same device a quick jaunt up the road for £99?

Riv

You don't have to buy anything anywhere. But unless you live close to the border then have you also factored in fuel and how much you value you own time to work out how much you save.

RiverWilde

Oh yes these costs are factored in ... I'm going to be up there in the near future anyway. The thing is that even with the exchange rate there is a massive gulf between £99 and €140.20. Yes this question has been done to death etc etc. It's just that business in the South makes it easy for me to spend outside of the jurisdiction.

Riv

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

What the issue? Of course you can buy it in the north. This is what many are doing. The price difference you're quoting in about right for any electonics at the monent.
Again, what's the question?

jor el

RiverWilde wrote: »

The thing is that even with the exchange rate there is a massive gulf between £99 and €140.20.

It's not just exchange rate, there's VAT and the cost of business. An Oireachtas report last year found that the difference in cost between NI and ROI should be 6%, excluding the VAT difference. There's currently a difference of 3.5% in VAT, so adding that to the 6% gives 9.5%. Convert the Sterling to Euro and you'd get about €113, making the Irish price about €124. So there's an extra hike up of about €15, or about 12%. A price hike yes, but not a massive gulf.

If you don't convert the currencies, and don't take cost differential into account, you can easily take an extreme view. We are being charged more here for goods and services, but it's not always as big as some would make out.

RiverWilde

Yes it does add up .... over the course of a month the savings to be had are tangible. As far as I'm concerned Argos in the south can keep their sat nav for €140.20 and so can any other southern retailer that cannot match NI prices.

Riv

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

RiverWilde wrote: »

Yes it does add up .... over the course of a month the savings to be had are tangible. As far as I'm concerned Argos in the south can keep their sat nav for €140.20 and so can any other southern retailer that cannot match NI prices.

Riv

Would you relax! They are not forcing you to do anything. :rolleyes:
Most other southern retailers would be about the same as Argos. Buy it in the North, who cares?

Del2005

RiverWilde wrote: »

Yes it does add up .... over the course of a month the savings to be had are tangible. As far as I'm concerned Argos in the south can keep their sat nav for €140.20 and so can any other southern retailer that cannot match NI prices.

Riv

How many are you planning on buying that you can make savings over a month?:p:D Most people only need 1 or 2 sat navs.

RiverWilde

Del2005 wrote: »

How many are you planning on buying that you can make savings over a month?:p:D Most people only need 1 or 2 sat navs.

12 - I'm going to line them across the dashboard - I'll never get lost that way

Riv

parsi

RiverWilde wrote: »

Yes it does add up .... over the course of a month the savings to be had are tangible. As far as I'm concerned Argos in the south can keep their sat nav for €140.20 and so can any other southern retailer that cannot match NI prices.

Riv

Make sure that you don't buy it from Argos in the North either - go look for an independent retailer.

craichoe

Del2005 wrote: »

How many are you planning on buying that you can make savings over a month?:p:D Most people only need 1 or 2 sat navs.

Stating the obvious there sherlock,

I buy my beer 100km down the road over to Germany and save 30%.

Some stuff is cheaper, some stuff is more expensive, I don't see why everyone thinks Ireland is special in this regard

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

craichoe wrote: »

I don't see why everyone thinks Ireland is special in this regard

That's the very point I've been making on other Board.ie threads. You'd swear Ireland was the only country in Europe/World with a land border and neighbours where some products are cheaper.:rolleyes:

dudara

Moved to Rip Off Ireland

dudara

Guy:Incognito

RiverWilde wrote: »

Yes it does add up .... over the course of a month the savings to be had are tangible. As far as I'm concerned Argos in the south can keep their sat nav for €140.20 and so can any other southern retailer that cannot match NI prices.

Riv

Would you be happy if your employer refused to pay you until you work for the equivelent to what you'd be earnign up north?:)

RiverWilde

Stekelly wrote: »

Would you be happy if your employer refused to pay you until you work for the equivelent to what you'd be earnign up north?:)

For me it's very simple ... two branches of the same shop are selling the item I want. One shop is selling it cheaper than the other. I'll go to the cheaper shop. I don't care if it's accross the border. That isn't my problem.

If the cost of living here was comparable with the cost of living in the north I wouldn't mind taking a pay cut - but it wouldn't stop me looking for the best prices.

Riv

rubadub

If you want you can consider this country as the local corner shop, high prices in line with what people will bear to pay for convenience.

I should buy it in the South for €142.40 when I can get the same device a quick jaunt up the road for £99?

Why would I pay €3 for a bottle of coke in the corner shop when its €1.60 in tescos -many value convenience and have worked out the true cost for themselves.

I would not travel up north to save a mere €30 on a satnav, I bet it can be got online cheaper than argos anyway.

If somebody said they would pay me to travel up north and was not allowed buy stuff for myself, but had to use my own car, petrol, time on a saturday, raise my own stress levels etc I would want to be getting at least €200-300 before I would even think about going through that ordeal. It is certainly not a "quick jaunt up the road" in my mind.

RiverWilde

I'm not going to go to the north just to buy a sat nav. I'm going to be up there in the next few days anyway - so I'll get it when I'm there

Riv

Max Power1

the question is, can you get up to the north and not get lost, if you dont have the sat nav?

RiverWilde

Max Power1 wrote: »

the question is, can you get up to the north and not get lost, if you dont have the sat nav?

I know it is a risk - but I think I'll manage - the signposts up there are probably more reliable than the ones in the south anyway

Riv

ardmacha

Convert the Sterling to Euro and you'd get about €113, making the Irish price about €124. So there's an extra hike up of about €15, or about 12%. A price hike yes, but not a massive gulf.

These calculations are probably about right. Now you can say that 12% is not a huge gulf, but how much profit margin does the NI retailer make on the item? With another 12% added on the 26 county retailer is doubling their margin and that is a ripoff.

rubadub

ardmacha wrote: »

With another 12% added on the 26 county retailer is doubling their margin and that is a ripoff.

And this is exactly why there is currently a massive upsurge in UK retailers closing down their shops and moving to Ireland, those idiots have been making feck all profit for years in the UK.

Dunno why the other shopowners remain in the UK, its baffling when the mathematics are so incredibly basic & obvious, their kids should be telling them to move.