Thread: English Shops

Hello,

I notice that now that the Exchange rate is on its knees that the english shops and wholesalers that are now purchasing the goods cheaper from the UK are not passing on the discount to us the Xpats but just adding it to the all ready large profits they make on the items we like to buy !!!!!

The Pound is a 3rd cheaper than than the last couple of years rate V the EURO so the Shop prices should have dropped significantly to reflect this fact but still in my local Quicksave & Iceland the prices continue to rise i just do not understand it as surely the customer would be happier to part with their hard earned cash if the shops played a fair game ?????

Regards

Dave

FSTV CB

Sorry cannot comment as we have only been in 2 in all the years we have between us of living in Spain. The few british goods we do buy we find in Carrefour and Hypercor. Not sure if there are any in Sevilla area.

It's a good point that I hadn't thought of...We have a few small British Supermarkets, and a large Iceland Store. in Torrevieja. I haven't noticed any reduction as the pound went down.. Although I've only used them to by items I can't buy anywhere else, many tourists and those without cars seem to do all their shopping in them. It must cost a fortune.(I will send a letter to our local English language free newspaper, that might shame them into lowering prices)


CD

Let us not rush here, lets not forget that all the so called Brit shops including Iceland have to import all of the goods they stock and transport is not cheap. If you really must shop in Brit shops then expect to pay!!!
Another factor I suppose is worth mentioning is eg. you go to a Spanish fruit shop and get a bag of apples, some pears and bananas for €1, go to a british fruit shop and you are lucky to come out with the apples for a pound. You still, in my opinion get better value for our euro in Spain than you do your pound back in the UK. Anyone agree?

Originally Posted by keddyboy

Let us not rush here, lets not forget that all the so called Brit shops including Iceland have to import all of the goods they stock and transport is not cheap. If you really must shop in Brit shops then expect to pay!!!

I have to agree with this. It's like going to a Deli store or a Gourmet store and complaining about inflated prices...

If you want to save on food then buy local products.

Plus, you cannot underestimate the complexity of international markets. I'm sure most of the English shops are not big enough to bid on foreign exchange, play around with exchange rates, buy futures, etc. so they end up inflating their prices enough to outweigh any risks.

ICELAND who my biggest gripe is with are a Large s.l company and trade in € so they are buying goods much much cheaper than last year and have a massive turnover........

They have to make a profit yes and do have the additional transport costs to pay to get the goods to SPAIN but as they are part of the franchise ICELAND GROUP buy at the same price as the UK stores so only have the additional transport cost to add to make the same profit as the UK stores !!!!!

EG:

Special Jalfrezi Curry UK Price: 1.95 GBP
Spanish Price: 3.49€

Thats a whopping EXTRA 1.34GBP profit V the UK price based on current exchange rates and i am sure that when the extra transport costs are spread accross the 1,000's of items they ship on a weekly basis to Spain the cost to them would only require a maximum of an extra 15-20% adding to the RSP to maintain the same margain as the UK stores.......

Also bear in mind that staff costs, electric, rental & business taxes are cheaper here than the UK so all in all they are making a very healthy profit at our expense !!!!!

Regards

I noticed the other day in the UK spanish clothes shops (zara / MANGO) that display the price in Pounds & Euros on the tickets have done nothing with the prices to reflect the current value of the pound..........

EG:

Sweatshirt:

20.00€
30.00 GBP

Is this OK for these shops to do or is it a form of miss representation and should prices be amended to reflect a true exchange rate ........

Regards

I agree with the points made above, especially the inflated prices charged by Iceland. Those Brits who insist on continuing to buy and eat mainly English-branded food have only themselves to blame - OK, I like a bit of Marmite on my toast and a cup of PG tips but that's about it! You can find the equivalent Spanish brands in supermarkets like Mercadona or if not, change your diet - after all, we came here to enjoy the better lifestyle, didn't we?

Whilst on the subject of Brit companies dragging their heels in updating their prices to match the present exchange rate, I noticed on my trip to the UK for Christmas that Squeezyjet are still working on £1 to €1.50. Needless to say I did NOT buy one of their scratch cards for €1.50!

Funny. Easyjet don't give that rate when you pay for a flight in pounds instead of euros..Their heels are rocket propelled..

CD