Shopping in the North a Problem???

P

phester

Registered User
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The Minister for Finance does not want us to shop in the North as it is lost revenue for our government.

Is the north not part of the EU open market. Is it not tough that the Irish market is pushing itself to get even more expensive and so making the foreign market even more attractive.

Buying from england will save you lots even if you allow for the tax difference. (soon to be even greater). Buying from another EU state may even save you more

Surely this is counter productive in terms of business retention
 
You are perfectly entitled to shop in the north. Personally I’ll be getting all my Christmas shopping up there as well as a large crate of wine. Depending on how the budget cuts are felt in my home we may just do a monthly trip up there for groceries too, unless there are some dramatic price reductions down south.
 
The government should put checkpoints along the border and apply tax to any goods being imported.
The full17.5% VAT should be imposed as well as a 10% charge.
 
I do it regularly and save a bundle. I'm heading up for a weekend in November (free accomodation with the in-laws) and will do all my Christmas shopping there. I do sometimes feel a little bit guilty about taking money away from the exchequer here but I manage to get over that when I think about the savings.
 
leghorn said:
The government should put checkpoints along the border and apply tax to any goods being imported.
The full17.5% VAT should be imposed as well as a 10% charge.
Click to expand...


Why not? It will be like some kind of 1980’s nostalgia trip. Seriously though I don’t think there is anything they can do.
I also hope to buy a motorcycle up there (coupling with a trip to IKEA) I'll be saving around e700 and they deliver for free
 
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leghorn said:
The government should put checkpoints along the border and apply tax to any goods being imported.
The full17.5% VAT should be imposed as well as a 10% charge.
Click to expand...

They should also charge the €10 travel tax on exit and on entry.

They should charge VRT on all cars crossing the border as well.
 
Well we were told to shop around and that it was our own fault that we have high prices in Ireland.

Maybe they thought we wouldn't take them seriously
 
You must be planning to buy bugger all in IKEA...
 
Maybe if prices weren't such a rip off down here then so many people wouldn't drive up the north looking for a bargain.

A friend of mine was making some major purchasers recently, and bought a sofa in Newry, delivered for the same to a town in Louth as it was costing to get it delivered from the shop half a mile away from her house. The cost of the sofa was approx €800 cheaper.

And then the government wonder why people travel over the border to shop???
 
rmelly said:
Very good - but should it not be €2 as it'll be under the 300k (?) limit.
Click to expand...

With the price difference on some items, even if €2 (or €10) is charged then it would still be cheaper to go north.

I know people in north county Monaghan who do their shopping in Aughnacloy, because it is closer to them, than driving to Monaghan town.
 
musicfan said:
Maybe if prices weren't such a rip off down here then so many people wouldn't drive up the north looking for a bargain.
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I couldnt agree more. If they want people to stay in the Republic, they should do something about the prices.

I go up as often as I can to do large shops : I buy electricals, medicines, clothes, food and gifts and the savings are massive.

AND I won't be stopping.
 
Call me old fashioned but we have to support our own economy...

I will continue to shop down south and buy irish when I can


I have never understood the concept of Dying or killing for ireland but buying Irish is my type of patriotism..


And yeah I assume I may be ridiculed for this so go for it
 

You are old fashioned!!

I'm starting to do it now, for Gods sake the Irish Star is only 70p (90c) in the North, its €1.35 here!
 
Smashbox said:
If they want people to stay in the Republic, they should do something about the prices.
Click to expand...
Who are "they"?

People get paid less in Northern Ireland, if we all got paid the same as them then prices would be lower. Is that what you mean?
 

I think it’s admirable that some people still have a sense of patriotism and place some value on what’s good for the country.
 
Isnt there a case to be made that people shopping in the North actually help the ROI in terms of giving us a wake-up call, showing us how uncompetitive we are.

All this blather from the government about getting back to competitiveness, shoppers going North is just a visible example of what is surely happening internationally - i.e. a multi-national looks at us, sees that our cost base is too high notwithstanding our low corporation tax rate, and chooses to go elsewhere.

Protectionist policies only add another layer to the bubble & wont stop those inside it perishing (... not to overdramatise like ....).
 
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