Guide to how to buy local and still save a packet

Dr. Nick

Copied and pasted from a post I made in a now locked thread @ Bargain Alerts:

ABC guide to buying electricals:

A - Go to NI an get a price
B - Go to DID/PowerCity/Hardly Normal etc and ask them to match/better
C - Go your local electrics shop and ask them to match DID etc.

Worked for me on a €4.5k total purchase for a new build. Was upfront with all of them at all times regarding where I got my prices, gave them the genuine figures on headed paper where available. In the end, paid €81 premium for going with local supplier.

On the retailers in B category above, their 'sales' can't be trusted and they hate to see punters coming in the door who have done research and know what they're talking about - by no means does this denegrade the sales people themselves, they can be fantastic.
To be fair, Power City seem to me to be the most honest of these retailers in recent times, a massive improvement on their old reputation imo.

mehmeh12

YNWA wrote: »

Copied and pasted from a post I made in a now locked thread @ Bargain Alerts:

ABC guide to buying electricals:

A - Go to NI an get a price
B - Go to DID/PowerCity/Hardly Normal etc and ask them to match/better
C - Go your local electrics shop and ask them to match DID etc.

Worked for me on a €4.5k total purchase for a new build. Was upfront with all of them at all times regarding where I got my prices, gave them the genuine figures on headed paper where available. In the end, paid €81 premium for going with local supplier.

On the retailers in B category above, their 'sales' can't be trusted and they hate to see punters coming in the door who have done research and know what they're talking about - by no means does this denegrade the sales people themselves, they can be fantastic.
To be fair, Power City seem to me to be the most honest of these retailers in recent times, a massive improvement on their old reputation imo.

Eh why not just buy the things you want from the cheapest location. Granted for most things this will be in Northern ireland directly or over the internet. If shops here in the republic think they can still get away with ripping off consumers in the recession then THEY SHOULD FAIL. I have no qualms from buying from the cheapest source. For me that means I rarely if ever buy things in the republic-only electricity and tax really.

jor el

A good theory, but not very practical. If I'm going to the bother of visiting NI (a 700km round trip to Newry) for something I know is cheaper, I'll just buy it when I'm there. That 700km trip also makes doing this pointless, unless the saving is significant.

If I know that product X costs €1000 locally, and from checking prices online I know it can be bought for £500 in NI, then I'm not going to make that trip just to get a written quote. I would simply ask what is the best price available locally, and explain that I'm considering heading North for the better price. If they want to discount their price, they get the business, otherwise if I make the trip, I won't be coming back with written quotes.

You also have to take into account the hassle of a day's travel, the cost involved, what if the product breaks down, or is not suitable, then you do it all again for the return.

A price difference of 15% or less is understandable, but it would also have to be better than 30% to make all this even worth considering. Which means is the NI price is no more than 30% less than the local price, it's not going to be worth making the trip.

mehmeh12

jor el wrote: »

A good theory, but not very practical. If I'm going to the bother of visiting NI (a 700km round trip to Newry) for something I know is cheaper, I'll just buy it when I'm there. That 700km trip also makes doing this pointless, unless the saving is significant.

If I know that product X costs €1000 locally, and from checking prices online I know it can be bought for £500 in NI, then I'm not going to make that trip just to get a written quote. I would simply ask what is the best price available locally, and explain that I'm considering heading North for the better price. If they want to discount their price, they get the business, otherwise if I make the trip, I won't be coming back with written quotes.

You also have to take into account the hassle of a day's travel, the cost involved, what if the product breaks down, or is not suitable, then you do it all again for the return.

A price difference of 15% or less is understandable, but it would also have to be better than 30% to make all this even worth considering. Which means is the NI price is no more than 30% less than the local price, it's not going to be worth making the trip.

Trip-do you not order over the internet? Amazon do free delivery for orders over 25 pounds i think...

91011

mehmeh12 wrote: »

Eh why not just buy the things you want from the cheapest location. Granted for most things this will be in Northern ireland directly or over the internet. If shops here in the republic think they can still get away with ripping off consumers in the recession then THEY SHOULD FAIL. I have no qualms from buying from the cheapest source. For me that means I rarely if ever buy things in the republic-only electricity and tax really.

and then the item breaks down.

if you go with the op's way, you drop down to your local store who will deal with it the same day or threreabouts

your way you call a call centre who will try & fob you off, you might finally get to talk to someone that can help you, you then have the hassle of returning the goods and then they have to be delivered back. - about 30 days minimum.

on a €4500 purchase total, an €81 premium to have a local store delievr, install 7 provide after sales servcie is worth every single penny.

Of course if landlords reduce their rents to Uk levels & council rates are reduced to UK levels, there will be no problem for any retailer to match UK prices

rubadub

YNWA wrote: »

I got my prices, gave them the genuine figures on headed paper where available.

I would sooner just get their logo online and print up my own fake headed paper and invent quotes, or get real prices online.

bongi69

91011 wrote: »

and then the item breaks down.

if you go with the op's way, you drop down to your local store who will deal with it the same day or threreabouts

your way you call a call centre who will try & fob you off, you might finally get to talk to someone that can help you, you then have the hassle of returning the goods and then they have to be delivered back. - about 30 days minimum.

on a €4500 purchase total, an €81 premium to have a local store delievr, install 7 provide after sales servcie is worth every single penny.

Of course if landlords reduce their rents to Uk levels & council rates are reduced to UK levels, there will be no problem for any retailer to match UK prices

+1.
Needed a new laptop last year, and was considering going to PC world in the north. It was a high spec sony, so the saving, after petrol was going to be about €300. the day before I was due to go up my car gave up the ghost and I wasn't going to jump on the enterprise, as it was more expensive than the petrol I would have used. In the end went to Harvey Norman, paid the extra cash.
Over the last few weeks I've been back and forth about 6 times with issues covered under the warranty. If I had to go up and down to Newry from south dublin the 6 times, I would have negated my saving had I bought it up north.