Stg/Euro pricing

anon71

I saw a lovely parka jacket in Tescos last weekend. Price tag said €63, forgot to check the stg price on the tag at the time. Being a bit of a snob, I decided it was too much for basically a grocery store item of clothing. ( I've since slapped myself a few times and copped on).

So I looked around various other shops and discovered I neither liked any other one I saw or that they were overpriced for what they were.

So with my snobby tail between my legs I went back to Tesco today to buy the jacket but they were out of it in my size.

No bother says I, I'll order online. No dedicated Irish clothing site for Tescos anymore so I went to the UK one. It's retailing for £45. Checked xe.com to discover that's €10 cheaper than if I had bought it in store today.

I'm not a huge fan of online shopping as I'd rather try on clothes first and knowing me, I'd probably never return anything so it would be a monumental waste of money. I buy a lot of clothes in store from New Look and I wonder if I could be saving a nice bit by trying on in store and then ordering online, not to mention that there's a much greater choice online.

Any fellow boardsies come across this disparity in clothing between Sterling and Euro pricing?

GingerLily

Its always been this way. Especially for top shop and similar stores, I always pay in sterling online!

anon71

GingerLily wrote: »

Its always been this way. Especially for top shop and similar stores, I always pay in sterling online!

I think I'll have to start doing the same. 10euro on one item only is huge considering how much the average person could spend on clothes in the year. I was going to start doing my autumn/winter shopping next weekend but I'll try clothes on and then compare prices with sterling ones online. How did I not know this???

Hopeful2016

Some of that difference is nothing to do with Tesco or Topshop etc. VAT on adult clothing is 23% in Ireland compared to 20% in the U.K. That obviously doesn't account for all of the difference but needs to be factored in as it's outside the control of retailers.

There are also the differences in cost of doing business here compared to the UK such as our significantly higher minimum wage. These all need to be covered and impacts on the prices we pay at the tills. It's not as simple as converting sterling to Euro and expecting to pay that amount.

Having said that I agree that there is often a very significant difference and it's difficult to know if we're being ripped off. I guess if there are ways around it such as paying in sterling that might be the best value.

meeeeh

Brexit has a bit to do with it too. Apparently next year the clothing will go up in sterling, we will see how Euro prices go. The prices are set before the stuff goes on sale and the currency fluctuations after the price was set don't reflect that. As far as I know there is expectation that sterling prices will go up next year because of the weak pound currently. It doesn't affect prices in the shops now because the purchase price from manufacturers was agreed at a sterling rate that is a lot higher than now. Most retailers have the same Euro price for the whole Euro market despite different vat and operating cost in different countries.

But yes it definitely pays to shop in sterling now.

Hopeful2016

meeeeh wrote: »

Brexit has a bit to do with it too. Apparently next year the clothing will go up in sterling, we will see how Euro prices go. The prices are set before the stuff goes on sale and the currency fluctuations after the price was set don't reflect that. As far as I know there is expectation that sterling prices will go up next year because of the weak pound currently. It doesn't affect prices in the shops now because the purchase price from manufacturers was agreed at a sterling rate that is a lot higher than now. Most retailers have the same Euro price for the whole Euro market despite different vat and operating cost in different countries.

But yes it definitely pays to shop in sterling now.

They will have set the Eurozone price sufficiently high to ensure they are making the required profit levels on sales across the Eurozone at different VAT and operating expenses. They won't be taking a hit in Ireland because we're more expensive to do business in, they will just increase the Euro price to ensure that required profit levels are achieved. Therefore these cost will impact on the price here as they will have been factored in where setting the Eurozone price in the first place.

witchgirl26

Part of it is the VAT difference and part is that retailers can't react to every fluctuation in currency when they happen. If there's a major one, then yes they'll probably reprint labels and change up their pricing but it's generally something they may only do 4 times a year and work of what has happened with it.

Does Tesco not still have it's .ie store? Or is it that it doesn't do the clothing on it anymore.

anon71

witchgirl26 wrote: »

Part of it is the VAT difference and part is that retailers can't react to every fluctuation in currency when they happen. If there's a major one, then yes they'll probably reprint labels and change up their pricing but it's generally something they may only do 4 times a year and work of what has happened with it.

Does Tesco not still have it's .ie store? Or is it that it doesn't do the clothing on it anymore.

The F&F.ie website is gone since last year. You have to order from the UK site. But you can return to your local store which is handy.

SarahMollie

There are tonnes of UK stores that are terrible for this. Anything in the Arcadia group (Topshop, Ms Selfridge, Wallis etc) and also Next are horrors for it. They won't let you buy in £, so as a result I just won't shop there unless I'm actually in the UK.