Shopping in the north, worth your while?

mfceiling

Here is a quick one for everyone to think about.

3 years ago the price of alcohol was ridiculous in the south and so the people here voted with their feet and moved north to buy it.
The next year it was down slightly but people still headed north for the savings.
Last year it was well down and so people didn't need to go and stock up.
This year it is almost parity so people will buy locally.
Is it a coincidence that the prices have come down because people were going elsewhere to buy it or did the retailers just "decide" to drastically cut their prices?
Nothing will change if people just keep paying inflated prices to retailers who are milking their customers.

borderlinemeath

mfceiling wrote: »

Here is a quick one for everyone to think about.

3 years ago the price of alcohol was ridiculous in the south and so the people here voted with their feet and moved north to buy it.
The next year it was down slightly but people still headed north for the savings.
Last year it was well down and so people didn't need to go and stock up.
This year it is almost parity so people will buy locally.
Is it a coincidence that the prices have come down because people were going elsewhere to buy it or did the retailers just "decide" to drastically cut their prices?
Nothing will change if people just keep paying inflated prices to retailers who are milking their customers.

The supermarkets have been selling alcohol on special offer/cost price deals as a loss leader to get people in the door. A friend of mine owned (has since closed down) a spar, it had been in the family for over 20 years. 2 years ago he could buy alcohol cheaper on the shelf in Tesco than he could in the wholesaler.

Retailers are a business, not a charity. Big supermarkets can take the risk on selling a cost price bottle of spirits or slab of beer as the chances are the consumer will purchase other items while in the supermarket.

Kilmurray

I go to Belfast on most holiday season(easter/christmas and so on) to visit inlaws. I do go shopping there when I am in North but I would not go up North too often other time ,as it is too tiring to visit most shops in one day to find all the bargains.I did get a really good deal on Geox shoes for my kids. Normally I would not even look at those pricy shoes, but Geox shop in Belfast reduced the price to between 15 pounds and 17 pounds for children's shoes.

If you happen to be there when sale is on, I think it is spot on but otherwise, its too stressful to buy half year's supply in one day.

maxer68

ChunkyLover_53 wrote: »

Here's a cross section of what I got.

Wines Buy 6 Save 25%
Hardys Sparkling Wine £6.99 x 2
Terres De Gale 75cl £5.49
Gewurztramer £7.99 x 2
Marques Cava Brut £5.99
Total £33.45 - £10.36 (25% Discount)= £23.09

Beer
2 x 15pk 300ml Budweiser for £15
6 x Budvar 500ml £9.72

Pet Food
2 for £3 Pedigree Med Jumbones
Felix 12pk Cat Food 2 for £5

Chocolate/Sweets
Terry's Chocolate Orange £2.75
Celebrations Tub £3.99
Roses Tub £3.99
Quality Street Tub £3.99
6 Deep Fill Mince Pies £1

Household Goods
Fairy Liquid £1.70
Carex Handwash £0.80
Persil Colour Tabs £5.49
Nurofen 10pk Painkillers £2.75


Hope it helps someone.

Nothing spectacular there - and if these were the "savings" I thinks you've fooled yourself.

25% off 6 bottles of wine in Tesco at present
Whiskas buy 1 get 1 free (might be over)
Tub of sweets - 4.99 in my local spar (900g or thereabouts)

Loads of beer deals everywhere - 24 x 500ml bud €24 etc etc

Fairy liquid (I assume the larger bottle) €1.69
Carex - plenty of buy1 get 1 free about on handwash or 100% extra free
Persil Colour Tabs - They or bold or similar alway on offer and at simlar price in tesco / dunnes
Nurofen 16 pack 4.74 (cheaper per tab)


Sorry - absolutely nothing in your offer list has any attraction for me as everything you list is available at similar price in local town.

Even at a stretch, and just on those offers, the saving is no more than about €3 - but that can change any day as offer change ever day.

Dickerty

If this forum has taught us anything, it is that there are always bargains to be found. Whether it be clothing, groceries, drink, electronics, whatever - there are certainly bargains in the North also, but with the terrble FX rate, I'm staying south...

ChunkyLover_53

I agree with you, some of those aren't savings but this thread was 5 pages of people arguing about cross border shopping but no one actually posted any price comparisons.

I made savings on clothes & aftershave/perfume/make-up gift packs in Debenhams and other clothing stores. I posted a cross section of what I got in Sainsbury's so people can compare prices south of the border.

borderlinemeath

ChunkyLover_53 wrote: »

I agree with you, some of those aren't savings but this thread was 5 pages of people arguing about cross border shopping but no one actually posted any price comparisons.

I made savings on clothes & aftershave/perfume/make-up gift packs in Debenhams and other clothing stores. I posted a cross section of what I got in Sainsbury's so people can compare prices south of the border.

Maybe you missed the thread I posted before you??
Or maybe conveniently ignored because the savings to be made were in the south:rolleyes:

Doing a price comparison exercise for a kitchen renovation -

logged onto Currys.ie and Currys.co.uk for comparisons

Samsung WD87004RJD - washer dryer
currys.ie €549
currys.co.uk £549/€661 A massive mark up in the UK.

Indesit CA55S Fridge freezer €
currys.ie €329
currys.co.uk £269/€324 - massive saving of €5

Indesit FIDI01 double built in oven
currys.ie €339
currys.co.uk £279/€336- saving of €3

Indesit VRM640X - ceramic hob
currys.ie €229
currys.co.uk £249/€300 Cheaper in RO1 even before conversion

Bosch classixx integrated dishwasher
currys.ie €449
currys.co.uk £399/€480

Samsung 32" LE32d400 flat screen tv (for the living room)
currys.ie €309
currys.co.uk €249/€300. (the biggest saving €9)

Total currys.ie €2204
Total currys.co.uk £1994/€2402.

Items were not chosen on the basis of sale price, rather on specification and budget, reliability (in the case of the dishwasher) and size (7kg wash/5kg drying capacity in the case of the washer dryer)

So a saving to be made in the south - and I would guarantee there would be a further rounding down of the prices if you walked into the store and haggled a bit.

I know I would much rather buy local, particularly for electrical goods that may have a chance of acting up. I don't fancy having to travel back up North to return an item that has broken within it's warranty - and with the ever decreasing price on electrical items comes the fact that they don't last as long as they used to and are far more disposable.

ChunkyLover_53

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Maybe you missed the thread I posted before you??
Or maybe conveniently ignored because the savings to be made were in the south:rolleyes:

I didn't miss your post, mate, but I wasn't buying anyone a dishwasher for Christmas, I'd spend too much time wrapping it.

borderlinemeath

ChunkyLover_53 wrote: »

I didn't miss your post, mate, but I wasn't buying anyone a dishwasher for Christmas, I'd spend too much time wrapping it.

5 pages of people arguing about cross border shopping but no one actually posted any price comparisons.

Just to be pedantic, because it's not going to be a Christmas present doesn't mean it's not a valid comparison. There were plenty of posts about toothpaste and shower gel, somehow I doubt they're getting wrapped as christmas presents (along with your felix cat food and fairy washing up liquid:D)

Oh and by the way I got Pedigree jumbone 2 for €3 in Tesco this eve, works out cheaper than the stg conversion that you paid. Also another poster put in the Tesco bargains thread that Terrys Chocolate Oranges are €1.50 there as well at the moment.

gizmorox

ChunkyLover_53 wrote: »

I agree with you, some of those aren't savings but this thread was 5 pages of people arguing about cross border shopping but no one actually posted any price comparisons.

I made savings on clothes & aftershave/perfume/make-up gift packs in Debenhams and other clothing stores. I posted a cross section of what I got in Sainsbury's so people can compare prices south of the border.

Apple i pod touch €199.00 south,€175.00 north with free gift pack also.

skinny90

was it not 179€ down here??or has it gone back up?

amacachi

borderlinemeath wrote: »

The supermarkets have been selling alcohol on special offer/cost price deals as a loss leader to get people in the door. A friend of mine owned (has since closed down) a spar, it had been in the family for over 20 years. 2 years ago he could buy alcohol cheaper on the shelf in Tesco than he could in the wholesaler.

Retailers are a business, not a charity. Big supermarkets can take the risk on selling a cost price bottle of spirits or slab of beer as the chances are the consumer will purchase other items while in the supermarket.

Must be the distributors doing the ripping off since the tax and excise rates are only a few percent apart between here and the UK.

borderlinemeath

amacachi wrote: »

Must be the distributors doing the ripping off since the tax and excise rates are only a few percent apart between here and the UK.

Musgraves and BWG have been squeezing the retailers for years. I recall a post on boards about a tesco worker who was having a party and had a relatives cash & carry card (could have been musgraves) they went down but didn't buy any booze because they could buy stuff cheaper where they worked. Coupled with what my friend told me, it sounds right.

Musgraves put pressure on super valus in the past couple of years to lower prices, however they didn't lower their cost prices, the SVs had to tighten their margins, it was all a one way street with the wholesaler - take the hit or we'll revoke the franchise.

I rarely visit my local super valu, purely because parking is a nightmare and it's far easier to park at Dunnes or Tesco. However I do go into the one in my OHs home town a bit. It's got to the stage where there's so few staff to restack the shelves there's nobody on the tills - usually customer service is open and they'll ring the bell for more staff if they're under pressure.

skinny90

Kindle which is very popular at the moment £89.99/105€
irish price 109.99,worth going up to get it if saving less than €5,most definitly not

Delboy5

ASDA currently selling 15 X 330ml bottles of Miller for £6, how does this compare to southern supermarkets, anyone know how much dunnes\supervalu are selling Miller for ??

shamu2new

Tescos were doing 20 bottles of miller for 15 euro last night when i was there. Not sure about supervalu Im afraid.

Monife

Delboy5 wrote: »

ASDA currently selling 15 X 330ml bottles of Miller for £6, how does this compare to southern supermarkets, anyone know how much dunnes\supervalu are selling Miller for ??

shamu2new wrote: »

Tescos were doing 20 bottles of miller for 15 euro last night when i was there. Not sure about supervalu Im afraid.

20 bottles for 15 euro is not the same. If you go on math, the ASDA offer would get you 20 bottles for £8 which is €9.40. That is a huge saving up North.

Sainsbury's is currently doing 3 packs of 15 bottles for £22 (or 2 packs for £16) which is around €25. Great value.

gizmorox

skinny90 wrote: »

was it not 179€ down here??or has it gone back up?

can't find it anywhere down here for that price,best offer is argos,€199.00 with €10.00 voucher,no ultimate gift pack either,Asda:€175.00 with ultimate gift pack!:)

tatabubbly

Went up to junction 1 this week.. went into the nike factory shop up there. My mum was buying my siblings nike runners for xmas.. She got 5 pairs for £130 which is a huge saving. I bought myself 2 lipsy dresses at £19 each.. Massive savings to be had, anyone who doesn't think so is kidding themselves!

Justin10

And if you think them 5 pair of runners are same as the ones in store you are kidding yourself. The nike store down south has discounted prices too.
Cant compare nike store to a normal store.

parsi

Went to the Reebok outlet in Rathdowney last year and got tremendous value with the runners and gear for half-nothing.

TBH I find that once you drop the brand loyalty you can so a shop in Dunnes or Tesco and find plenty of bogof or 3/2 . We used bring home liquid soap from France because it was dirt cheap - Dunnes is as cheap now and no need to be having presses full of the stuff.

If you're equidistant between shops then all well and good but I'd certainly see no point in wasting a day going up North just to save a few bob but at the expense of diesel, tools and my hair in the parking lots...

maxer68

skinny90 wrote: »

Kindle which is very popular at the moment £89.99/105€
irish price 109.99,worth going up to get it if saving less than €5,most definitly not

If you can get £89.99 for €105, can I purchase £20 million from you please.


If you purchased £89.99 item with a debit card and had no commission or other charges, it would cost you today €109.24

wow a saving of 75c on a €110 purchase!!! whoopee

maxer68

tatabubbly wrote: »

Went up to junction 1 this week.. went into the nike factory shop up there. My mum was buying my siblings nike runners for xmas.. She got 5 pairs for £130 which is a huge saving. I bought myself 2 lipsy dresses at £19 each.. Massive savings to be had, anyone who doesn't think so is kidding themselves!

nike factory store kildare village would be the same - only thing is in Kildare you would also have the choice of Asics & Reebok and 65 other brand name stores.

gizmorox

tatabubbly wrote: »

Went up to junction 1 this week.. went into the nike factory shop up there. My mum was buying my siblings nike runners for xmas.. She got 5 pairs for £130 which is a huge saving. I bought myself 2 lipsy dresses at £19 each.. Massive savings to be had, anyone who doesn't think so is kidding themselves!

WOW!!! what a saving! have a 14 year old and a 12 year old so defo going there next time they need runners,went to Belfast city centre yesterday with my partner and my parents,my parents have free travel so we got the train and we went free as their companions so no travel costs,all in all saved €150 on crimbo pressies,shoes,clothes and technological gifts i.e: ipod touch alone €25 cheaper! not great difference between shops that are also in republic I found but uk only shops were a good bit cheaper! going up again in new year to get my daughter's confirmation clothes,retailers here should stop ripping us off,higher rents my ****

samina

Just looking at the smyths websites here and over the border. Not usually much of a difference between them both. But on one particular thing I'm looking for the difference is €91.99 here to £61.99 there. Sure that covers petrol. Point being check prices on everything before you go

skinny90

gizmorox wrote: »

tatabubbly wrote: »

Went up to junction 1 this week.. went into the nike factory shop up there. My mum was buying my siblings nike runners for xmas.. She got 5 pairs for £130 which is a huge saving. I bought myself 2 lipsy dresses at £19 each.. Massive savings to be had, anyone who doesn't think so is kidding themselves!

WOW!!! what a saving! have a 14 year old and a 12 year old so defo going there next time they need runners,went to Belfast city centre yesterday with my partner and my parents,my parents have free travel so we got the train and we went free as their companions so no travel costs,all in all saved €150 on crimbo pressies,shoes,clothes and technological gifts i.e: ipod touch alone €25 cheaper! not great difference between shops that are also in republic I found but uk only shops were a good bit cheaper! going up again in new year to get my daughter's confirmation clothes,retailers here should stop ripping us off,higher rents my ****

Yea there wud b higher rates,nd also higher taxes but most importantly higher min wage costs,most people wont realise that when they start to rant about Irish business's vs UK ,also before u start to say the touch will save u 25 quid u wont,infact if u bothered checkn around argos got em for 179,there roughly 149 pounds which is roughly 10 quid of a saving

280special

skinny90 wrote: »

Yea there wud b higher rates,nd also higher taxes but most importantly higher min wage costs,most people wont realise that when they start to rant about Irish business's vs UK ,also before u start to say the touch will save u 25 quid u wont,infact if u bothered checkn around argos got em for 179,there roughly 149 pounds which is roughly 10 quid of a saving

Can you try that in english please ??

gizmorox

skinny90 wrote: »

Yea there wud b higher rates,nd also higher taxes but most importantly higher min wage costs,most people wont realise that when they start to rant about Irish business's vs UK ,also before u start to say the touch will save u 25 quid u wont,infact if u bothered checkn around argos got em for 179,there roughly 149 pounds which is roughly 10 quid of a saving

Certainly wasn't ranting, but it is actual fact as in statistically speaking,we currently rank as the second highest country in Europe for the cost of living versus wages,healthcare,transport,utility services etc,food is another example,you say bah humbug:D only a tenner,well a that's one basic to say the least meal for my family of four.
can't remember which is the top country,could be France?

gizmorox

gizmorox wrote: »

Certainly wasn't ranting, but it is actual fact as in statistically speaking,we currently rank as the second highest country in Europe for the cost of living versus wages,healthcare,transport,utility services etc,food is another example,you say bah humbug:D only a tenner,well a that's one basic to say the least meal for my family of four.
can't remember which is the top country,could be France?

€175.00 with free 'Ultimate gift pack' worth €25.00,no offer like it down here;)

gizmorox

samina wrote: »

Just looking at the smyths websites here and over the border. Not usually much of a difference between them both. But on one particular thing I'm looking for the difference is €91.99 here to £61.99 there. Sure that covers petrol. Point being check prices on everything before you go

Exactly what I did Samina,you have to do your homework;) north also great for techy things,t.vs,some computer related stuff too.