The more I look and the more I see “Sales” in our shops here the more I see that their original prices are way over the top and the sale prices are also still way overpriced.
I know that on lots of things Irish shops can’t compete with the UK and I see this alot in all things golfing.
For 24 sterling I can get a cover than is 39.99 in Irish shops.
Never mind River Island in Newry versus Dublin.
Anyway, the latest one for me is the GSH and Mrs GSH mattress buying debacle.
I’ve got a couple of them narrowed down, but check this out.
This site is selling a ‘silentnight’ ‘nova’ king for 586 sterling.
I was in harvyes last night and it was the same model and size but was 1399 euro.
For a place that delivered to Ireland I could see them at 750 sterling but if that other crowd deliver/courier then thats a massive difference.
even with generous conversion rate it’s the same bed in two different places for 1399 euro or < 700 euro.
Rip off or Wha !! even if Harveys have a 30% “sale now on” it’s still 980 and around 300 more than the UK.
I will give them every chance to come down lower but if it’s 300 euro difference at the end of it then how can the unions and the government be asking us to shop at home and keep these massive prices going.
Never mind River Island full stop. Anyone that buys clothes from there is a peasant, a funboy, or quite possibly both. And as for the pigs ears that work there…
Topaz the cunts were offering a hot chicken role the last few weeks for 2.99.
hot chicken with two salad fillings, lovely stuff.
today i order my usual chicken with a bit of lettuce and a bit of cheese, butter no mayo.
except today the cheese will cost you an extra 40c as it now excluded from the salads list.
fuck off for yerselves, wankers.
im very angry over this
60% of the men who shop in River Island are funboys.
(I was in there last week for the sale as it’s a good time to pick work trousers, and there were 5 people shoppers there including myself and 3 of them were definitely funboys)
[quote=“The Runt”]60% of the men who shop in River Island are funboys.
(I was in there last week for the sale as it’s a good time to pick work trousers, and there were 5 people shoppers there including myself and 3 of them were definitely funboys)[/QUOTE]
As opposed to what? Animal shoppers, Robot shoppers? :guns:
Said it before but one of the good things to come out of the recession is so many people are flocking north to the shops. Rip off Ireland is a bit of a cliche. All really depends on where you shop. Many many bargains to be found in Ulster for instance.
Well I was in Top Man in Derry about 3 weeks ago and got trousers there which were advertised at 24 sterling or 38 euro.
Hmmmm I thought. 24 sterling was not more than 28 euro yet they asked me if I would like to pay 38 euro.
A tenner on something that costs 28 is alot.
I priced Camcorders, aftershave etc up there and it was way cheaper.
If the Irish prices were close, even a little more expensive then I woudl have no bother.
However the Spitu boss was on the last word saying how we need to increase customer confidence. He said that there is massive wealth in Ireland not being spent and that we need to get poeple to spend this money in Ireland. They said that it woudl bring in 2 billion a year more. Then he was asked about the other 3 billion and he said that taxes could be raised.
So on one hand we have the leaders of this country (and I include the unions as they are dictating policy at this stage) telling us to spend and spend and that we will get taxed after this and made feel guilty of “saving”.
Of course, if you don’t keep up payments on your car or mortgage then you’re in trouble.
Personally I have to manage my own finances and that will see me shopping in the cheapest places unless the difference is not too much to worry about.
Our massive department of Finanace have the job to manage the countrys finances and if they are asking us to shop in Ireland a buy a mattress for 1399 then of course this massive prices will stay.
I can see that they may want tax payers to pay over the odds so that companies don’t fold up, but not many people are going to trust companies or the government again for a long time.
I knew there was a difference between Ireland and the US and the UK but I never thought it was that much on something as basic as a bed.
Yours etc,
GSH.
[quote=“Garda Sean Horgan”]Well I was in Top Man in Derry about 3 weeks ago and got trousers there which were advertised at 24 sterling or 38 euro.
Hmmmm I thought. 24 sterling was not more than 28 euro yet they asked me if I would like to pay 38 euro.
A tenner on something that costs 28 is alot.
I priced Camcorders, aftershave etc up there and it was way cheaper.
If the Irish prices were close, even a little more expensive then I woudl have no bother.
However the Spitu boss was on the last word saying how we need to increase customer confidence. He said that there is massive wealth in Ireland not being spent and that we need to get poeple to spend this money in Ireland. They said that it woudl bring in 2 billion a year more. Then he was asked about the other 3 billion and he said that taxes could be raised.
So on one hand we have the leaders of this country (and I include the unions as they are dictating policy at this stage) telling us to spend and spend and that we will get taxed after this and made feel guilty of “saving”.
Of course, if you don’t keep up payments on your car or mortgage then you’re in trouble.
Personally I have to manage my own finances and that will see me shopping in the cheapest places unless the difference is not too much to worry about.
Our massive department of Finanace have the job to manage the countrys finances and if they are asking us to shop in Ireland a buy a mattress for 1399 then of course this massive prices will stay.
I can see that they may want tax payers to pay over the odds so that companies don’t fold up, but not many people are going to trust companies or the government again for a long time.
I knew there was a difference between Ireland and the US and the UK but I never thought it was that much on something as basic as a bed.
Yours etc,
GSH.[/QUOTE]
Good to hear Derry prices are competitive. One of nicest cities in Ireland to shop in.
[quote=“Garda Sean Horgan”]The more I look and the more I see “Sales” in our shops here the more I see that their original prices are way over the top and the sale prices are also still way overpriced.
I know that on lots of things Irish shops can’t compete with the UK and I see this alot in all things golfing.
For 24 sterling I can get a cover than is 39.99 in Irish shops.
Never mind River Island in Newry versus Dublin.
Anyway, the latest one for me is the GSH and Mrs GSH mattress buying debacle.
I’ve got a couple of them narrowed down, but check this out.
This site is selling a ‘silentnight’ ‘nova’ king for 586 sterling.
I was in harvyes last night and it was the same model and size but was 1399 euro.
For a place that delivered to Ireland I could see them at 750 sterling but if that other crowd deliver/courier then thats a massive difference.
even with generous conversion rate it’s the same bed in two different places for 1399 euro or < 700 euro.
Rip off or Wha !! even if Harveys have a 30% “sale now on” it’s still 980 and around 300 more than the UK.
I will give them every chance to come down lower but if it’s 300 euro difference at the end of it then how can the unions and the government be asking us to shop at home and keep these massive prices going.
Yours etc,
GSH.[/QUOTE]
You’re not really comparing like with like there. You’re comparing an online UK retailer with a bricks and mortar retailer in Ireland. Price it on mattress.ie and/or beds.ie as well and see that some of the difference relates to the fact that online retailers are cheaper.
I think the unions have a point when they talk about encouraging consumer confidence. There’s an awful lot of negative talk from the likes of IBEC who want to cut wages and keep prices as they are which would be an unmitigated disaster for this economy. Wages in Dublin are higher than wages in Derry and the price of goods reflects that. Abolishing or slashing the minimum wage isn’t a solution however because all that will do is kill consumer confidence, reduce VAT and taxes for the government and leave us royally fucked.
[quote=“Rocko”]You’re not really comparing like with like there. You’re comparing an online UK retailer with a bricks and mortar retailer in Ireland. Price it on mattress.ie and/or beds.ie as well and see that some of the difference relates to the fact that online retailers are cheaper.
I think the unions have a point when they talk about encouraging consumer confidence. There’s an awful lot of negative talk from the likes of IBEC who want to cut wages and keep prices as they are which would be an unmitigated disaster for this economy. Wages in Dublin are higher than wages in Derry and the price of goods reflects that. Abolishing or slashing the minimum wage isn’t a solution however because all that will do is kill consumer confidence, reduce VAT and taxes for the government and leave us royally fucked.[/QUOTE]
Actually no. Mattress.ie and Mattress.co.uk are both run by bedzilla.
Teh websites are identical except that the Irish site seems to stock really expensive items.
For example, the 2 sites have 1 memory foam mattres that have the exact same attributes. One is 314 sterling and the one on teh same site in ireland is over a thousand euro. They are both by silentnight.
It’s strange also that the irish site and the uk site done’t stock the exact same models of the brands.
So this is comparigin like with like in the same company and same brand and same attributes and it’s a massive difference.
Regarding the unions, I see the point but even O’Connor said that we could ba making 2 billion more a year if we all stoped saving and spend money like we used to. No argument there. However it was ok to spend before but it’s not the same now.
The wage check is proof enough. They took a massive chunk there recently with all the direct and indirect taxing. The next budget will be just as bad and the greens are banging on about new taxes to be introduced.
I agree with you that keeping prices the same as they were a couple of years ago is a non runner, poeple just will not spend that any more.
Wages in Dublin may be higher than in Derry but day to day living is not as expensive (except for petrol perhaps). thena again the norries plow into the south for petrol, just the same as we go up there for everything else.
If I could buy a house up north and have it delivered to Clare I would !
I’ve no idea though how they will get us ot of this mess. Every avenue seems to mess up someones life.
Yours etc,
GSH.
[quote=“Garda Sean Horgan”]Actually no. Mattress.ie and Mattress.co.uk are both run by bedzilla.
Teh websites are identical except that the Irish site seems to stock really expensive items.
For example, the 2 sites have 1 memory foam mattres that have the exact same attributes. One is 314 sterling and the one on teh same site in ireland is over a thousand euro. They are both by silentnight.
It’s strange also that the irish site and the uk site done’t stock the exact same models of the brands.
So this is comparigin like with like in the same company and same brand and same attributes and it’s a massive difference.
Regarding the unions, I see the point but even O’Connor said that we could ba making 2 billion more a year if we all stoped saving and spend money like we used to. No argument there. However it was ok to spend before but it’s not the same now.
The wage check is proof enough. They took a massive chunk there recently with all the direct and indirect taxing. The next budget will be just as bad and the greens are banging on about new taxes to be introduced.
I agree with you that keeping prices the same as they were a couple of years ago is a non runner, poeple just will not spend that any more.
Wages in Dublin may be higher than in Derry but day to day living is not as expensive (except for petrol perhaps). thena again the norries plow into the south for petrol, just the same as we go up there for everything else.
If I could buy a house up north and have it delivered to Clare I would !
I’ve no idea though how they will get us ot of this mess. Every avenue seems to mess up someones life.
Yours etc,
GSH.[/QUOTE]
Actually no. Your comparison was between Harveys and mattress.co.uk. Mattress.co.uk is owned by an Irish company - bedzilla as you pointed out. So you’re comparing an English shop selling in Ireland with an Irish shop selling in England.
You can’t just compare any two mattresses and complain about the price differnce, they need to be the same mattress. When you compare two mattresses that are actually the same (not just the same brand but the same actual mattress) then you might look at something like the Silentnight induldge single mattress which is 263 sterling or 340 euro - exchange rate and VAT make up the difference. The real message here of course is that it’s great that an Irish company are becoming a dominant player in the UK market, instead of complaining about the UK companies over here, go support an Irish company instead.
On the taxes I think we’re broadly in agreement. There’s a tax shortfall because of our reliance on construction and there’s no easy way to recover that in a contracting economy. But the government need to be very careful that they don’t adopt reactionary measures that appear to address the shortfall but that might only lengthen the problem by perpetuating the drop in average income.
I think everyone is prepared to see a drop in income through taxation and I think that’s where the governemnt have been too slow to react. People were expecting higher taxes and people see how that can be used fairly and equitably. But people rightly begrudge IBEC’s members the right to capitalise on the downturn by slashing wages everywhere in an environment where costs are falling.
Depeche Mode- MEN Arena December 09- Tickets 40.50 STG
Depeche Mode- O2 Arena Dublin - December 09- Tickets 70 euro
I’m no conversion expert but this is scandalous, myself and the doll went to see KOL [I hate the cunts] in Nottingham a few years ago and actually saved money ffs.
MCD and their ilk are absolute wankers and to be honest I’m not sure I’ve any interest in going to a gig they promote here. They have far too much control, profits that are far too big, and they invest nothing in venues.
Ya, I hate MCD. But in fairness the paper a few months back had a comparison between insurance costs for staging a gig in Republic and in the North. It was massively more expensive in the republic, at the same time I can’t remember where I read it and if it was just MCD putting on the poor mouth.
There may well be more costs but the venues are an awful lot better in the UK. MCD are often involved in shit like oxegen two years ago, slane this year where facilities have been shocking. I went to the Pogues in the RDS last christmas and there was nowhere to have a piss that didn’t involve a half hour queue.
MCD have no interest in improving things because they have exclusive rights to most venues. We pay more to get less.
[quote=“Rocko”]Actually no. Your comparison was between Harveys and mattress.co.uk. Mattress.co.uk is owned by an Irish company - bedzilla as you pointed out. So you’re comparing an English shop selling in Ireland with an Irish shop selling in England.
You can’t just compare any two mattresses and complain about the price differnce, they need to be the same mattress. When you compare two mattresses that are actually the same (not just the same brand but the same actual mattress) then you might look at something like the Silentnight induldge single mattress which is 263 sterling or 340 euro - exchange rate and VAT make up the difference. The real message here of course is that it’s great that an Irish company are becoming a dominant player in the UK market, instead of complaining about the UK companies over here, go support an Irish company instead.
On the taxes I think we’re broadly in agreement. There’s a tax shortfall because of our reliance on construction and there’s no easy way to recover that in a contracting economy. But the government need to be very careful that they don’t adopt reactionary measures that appear to address the shortfall but that might only lengthen the problem by perpetuating the drop in average income.
I think everyone is prepared to see a drop in income through taxation and I think that’s where the governemnt have been too slow to react. People were expecting higher taxes and people see how that can be used fairly and equitably. But people rightly begrudge IBEC’s members the right to capitalise on the downturn by slashing wages everywhere in an environment where costs are falling.[/QUOTE]
You’re right Rocko in that you need to compare apples with apples but GSH’s tenet still stands- we are still getting ridden down here with regard to pricing.
I bought a car up north a few months back and saved myself a conservative 7k. Its funny though that the Irish dealers subsequently cottoned onto the same idea and starting shipping them in direct themselves, not funny however that they were still grands more expensive than their counterparts in the North including all taxes paid. They were stilling trying to exploit consumers who were afraid to go north for a few grand.
I’m not prepared for a further drop in income with increased taxes unless the Govt get their house in order. We have a bloated, inefficient, overpaid civil service. There is massive structural reform required there. If they tackled that thorny issue then I’d consider a further dent in my wage packet. Without that they can fuck off.
Whatever you say about the lads in IBEC at least they understand that they are running a business and need to balance their books. I don’t know any IBEC member creaming in the profits while trimming their wage cost base- if you can show me one I’d be interested to see it. Most companies are doing well to break even under current circumstances.
The unions on the other hand have lost the plot entirely. O’Connor’s smug performance on the day of the report last week would have been hilarious if it wasn’t true. They are demanding a continuance of social partnership when its clear that the model is broken and why wouldn’t they because it has delivered high wages and low taxes for their members while making self important fools out of themselves. Unfortunately a further round of back slapping, lowering taxes and increasing wages won’t cut the mustard this time around. O’Connor’s assertion that changing mindsets and having consumers spend the billion or two or three that they have would solve our problems is frightening. He doesn’t even get the scale of our problems and thinks a simplisitic we’ll spend our way out of this will suffice. God help us.
