Supermarket Shopping: North -vs- South

Protocol said:
Sudocrem and Guinness are made in RoI.

Yet cheaper in NI.

[Not due to beer excise]

Why?

Firms know that the Irish are willing to pay more, so they can get away with charging more.
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Well, if thats the case then there's a strong arguement for buying a competitors product, if you do end up traveling up north to get your goods.

Rip Off Ireland ... you just have to love it
 
I do, I go for Beamish, especially when 4 for 5 euro or 6 euro.

I buy Guinness at Xmas, when 24 cans for 24-30 euro.
 
Comm rents

UORR - still applies to existing leases, so rents can't adjust to market realities - if we need a referendum to change this, then so be it.

Quinns pub Drumcondra, 30,000 per month rent, obviously way too high, tenant reports that 15,000 is possible - this is one reason why prices are too high in Dublin.

In my opinion, that rent should fall 90% to maybe 3,000 per month.

Many retail chains entered examinership to re-negotiate massive rents, so as to remain viable.

River Island, Grafton street, rent is 28% of turnover - way too high.

Debehams - rents paid to Roche family are causing business to face problems.

And so on, all over the country.
 
Funny how this Rip off Ireland malarkey only starts off when Sterling falls precipitously against the Euro. 3 or 4 months ago we weren't hearing much about Rip Off Northern Ireland, although most shopping up there was more expensive than here.
 
T McGibney said:
Funny how this Rip off Ireland malarkey only starts off when Sterling falls precipitously against the Euro. 3 or 4 months ago we weren't hearing much about Rip Off Northern Ireland, although most shopping up there was more expensive than here.
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I'm sure our Northern counterparts were moaning about Rip-Off Northern Ireland for the past while. It has been quite obvious around town at weekends the volumes of northern travellers to Dublin to take advantage of the then Sterling strength.

Swings and roundabouts and all that...
 
T Mc Gibney mentioned lidl/Aldi compete very well here v N I prices.

In Derry recently and noticed Lidl items even allowing for £stg were dearer than in L,Kenny Lidl.!
 
Gerry Canning said:
T Mc Gibney mentioned lidl/Aldi compete very well here v N I prices.

In Derry recently and noticed Lidl items even allowing for £stg were dearer than in L,Kenny Lidl.!
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That's been the way for years in Enniskillen too, Gerry, for some peculiar reason, perhaps the absence of Aldi
 
Hi
I have purchased sudocream 400g a few times over the past year in some of the local discount stores for about half the price Quoted for NI
 
Hi
Just back from shopping ,Checked out prices of sudocream tesco/super valeu /supersavers all same price ,discount store no longer in buisness others, had no stocks at present
boots 10.50 EURO per 400g, will check back if I find better price, Last time i bought 250g for 1.49 in discount store,I always found it could buy it for half the price of boots,
 
Wages are higher here so prices will be higher... are we allowed to point that out?
 

I think that shopping where the best value is to be found makes sense both for the consumer in the immediate sense, and for the economy in the longer term. It is in everybody's best interest that uncompetitive businesses fail sooner rather than later.

If we re going to indulge in emotional "support" of "Irish" business I for one am equally happy to support the economy in Enniskillen as Sligo, Derry as Letterkenny or Newry as Dublin.
 
Protocol said:
Comm rents

UORR - still applies to existing leases, so rents can't adjust to market realities - if we need a referendum to change this, then so be it.
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Well if there were to be a referendum I for one would vote against. Why should stupid retailers who freely signed leases they could not afford be bailed out at the expense of property owners ?
 
Purple said:
Wages are higher here so prices will be higher... are we allowed to point that out?
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If you are going down that route, then you need to consider all living costs - rent / homeloan rates, electricity and gas supply, food, taxation etc. etc.
 
MrEarl said:
If you are going down that route, then you need to consider all living costs - rent / homeloan rates, electricity and gas supply, food, taxation etc. etc.
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Food: labour is a major input cost.
Electricity/Gas: Labour is a major input cost (in the case of the ESB it's over 50%)
Taxation: it's high because public employees are paid more than the UK and other European countries.
Home loan costs; they are high because house costs are high. We have a construction sector with very high wages and utterly inefficient construction methods.
To a great extent the cost of living is a reflection of wage costs or more particularly wage costs as a function of labour efficiency. We are not particularly efficient in the state sector or in sectors which are not open to international competition (and international best practice) but our wage costs are high. If want to be better off we need to be more efficient and productive. Just paying everyone more only makes everything more expensive. It's ironic that people understood that in the last 1980's but don't now.
 

So, having gone through all of that, where are you now on the trip up North for shopping, given the prices are far cheaper then in RoI ?
 
Our labour costs are below German labour costs, yet our price level is 20% higher.

Here are 2015 hourly labour costs across the whole economy:

 
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