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Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

I was in a Mexx outlet today looking at shirts. I picked one out. Reduced from 219 to 139zl. I then check out the price tag which shows you how much you'd pay in different countries. 29 GBP is what you'd pay full price on the British high street. My calculator tells me 29GBP = 139 PLN (the reduced price!) According to the exchange rate of Polish Mexx, 219 zl = 29 GBP at an exchange rate of 7,5 zloties to the pound!

First question:

Why are certain goods overpriced here?

Second question:

Do they really think we won't notice?

Third question:

When are we going to say "enough's enough!" and raise our middle fingers high?
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

My question:

Did you buy it?
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Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Lidia K.:
My question:

Did you buy it?

No. I didn't and I certainly would not buy it at the full price of 219zl. I like good stuff but I refuse to pay full asking price.

The gadget I'm using to write this goes for 2,400zl in Poland. I bought it for 1,200zl from the USA. Why should I have to pay twice as much? Why should anyone? Why should a laptop which might cost 400GBP sell in Poland for 600 quid when people here earn less?

Could someone take me through this and explain it like to a 5 year old? Before I stock up on Molotov cocktails and take to the street...
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve Jones:

First question:

Why are certain goods overpriced here?

Because there is this ridiculous 60% import tax on certain goods in Poland, coupled with what the merchant must pay in sales tax which is an additional 20%... a merchant must increase the price by 80% just to make his money back ;) - how do I know this? I've tried selling couple of things in Poland with out going through any back doors...

Second question:

Do they really think we won't notice?

Some probably do. There is another great thing that stores do in the US. They increase prices a month or two prior to times like christmas or easter, then they drop prices back to what they were prior making it look like they are really cheaper.

Third question:

When are we going to say "enough's enough!" and raise our middle fingers high?

When pigs fly.

(Steve, you must see the second Zeitgeist movie... it talks about all this... actually I just finished watching the live feed from the meeting of EU leaders.. and haha.. right on time... I mean the movie pretty much word for word predicted what is going to be said and what is going to take place.. pretty damn scary)

Going back to the topic however. Supply and demand, there is always going to be some dude able to afford to pay 3 or 4 times more than the actual worth of the product.

Take this for example http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=251508&ev=rb

do you think I'd pay this much for vinyl? Never.. but someone will. When these were originally pressed, they were sold for $5 a piece.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve Jones:
Why should I have to pay twice as much? Why should anyone? Why should a laptop which might cost 400GBP sell in Poland for 600 quid when people here earn less?
Shouldn't this go to the 'what really gets me' thread? ;)
It's a good question.
Additionally, some of the brand stuff isn't really what it is in the UK or Germany, for example.
Could someone take me through this and explain it like to a 5 year old? Before I stock up on Molotov cocktails and take to the street...
I don't care very much. It's just clothes or things, after all.
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Sylwia Łubkowska

Sylwia Łubkowska Nauczyciel oraz
tłumacz j.
angielskiego

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

As Rafal says, this is what happens when there will be someone ready to pay whatever the seller calls and there's no strong competition to overturn the trend. I think in Poland the demand is still too high - we really haven't had enough of the 'high life' enjoyed by those in western countries, in fact, we're still just dabbing at 'luxuries' which have long been a norm there. They have Mexx, Gap and Esprit for ages and take them for granted, for us these labels are still fresh.

Plus, I know that suppliers and distributors deliberately create such a state of inflated pricing just because they know they can. The same thing apparently happens with automobile market. And banking system. Some people go shopping abroad (including myself), but then you can only do it for so long. It's frustrating.
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Magdalena Natalia Wiśniowska

Magdalena Natalia Wiśniowska Recruitment Manager
at Amazon Web
Services

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Presumably, this should change in a couple (tens) of years...

So now you probably know why so many people are rather willing to fly to London for shopping than buy here the "better" quality clothes...
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Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Lidia K.:
Steve Jones:
Why should I have to pay twice as much? Why should anyone? Why should a laptop which might cost 400GBP sell in Poland for 600 quid when people here earn less?
Shouldn't this go to the 'what really gets me' thread?

It was originally. I just got so mad today that I thought it deserved a thread of its own.
It's a good question.
Additionally, some of the brand stuff isn't really what it is in the UK or Germany, for example.
Could someone take me through this and explain it like to a 5 year old? Before I stock up on Molotov cocktails and take to the street...
I don't care very much. It's just clothes or things, after all.

You don't care that you're paying between 50% and 100% over what you should be on certain items? This doesn't bother you? You think that's perfectly fine?
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve Jones:
You don't care that you're paying between 50% and 100% over what you should be on certain items? This doesn't bother you? You think that's perfectly fine?
I'm not likely to go to the UK to buy a cheaper fancy shirt there, so I either wait for the season sales or give up. I just buy less, if it's so expensive.
I'm not very demanding when it comes to clothes. I work at home, you know ;)
And I'm a compulsive buyer, so the price doesn't really matter.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve, your examples are about things you can do without.

The poor people in Poland somehow can afford very nice TVs and cars.
This has always amazed me.

This is not about food and survival, but gadgets and vanity accessories. Let them pay for it.
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Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Lidia K.:
Steve Jones:
You don't care that you're paying between 50% and 100% over what you should be on certain items? This doesn't bother you? You think that's perfectly fine?
I'm not likely to go to the UK to buy a cheaper fancy shirt there, so I either wait for the season sales or give up. I just buy less, if it's so expensive.
I'm not very demanding when it comes to clothes. I work at home, you know ;)
And I'm a compulsive buyer, so the price doesn't really matter.

I was referring to the principles, Lidia. The principle. You with me?

Not whether you personally would buy something or not.

I'm talking about principles. Fairness. That kind of thing.

Jesteś ze mną?
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

So obviously the price of a shirt in Britain is the RIGHT price just because it's cheaper than here?
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

I admit, I don't get the fairness thing.
What do you mean?
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Fairness meaning - why are we being forced to pay so much money for products that are already taxed 3 times before they even hit the market simply because some Richard with a wad of cash can afford to?Rafal W. edytował(a) ten post dnia 13.10.08 o godzinie 00:20
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Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Lidia K.:
I admit, I don't get the fairness thing.
What do you mean?

That you can buy the same product in Britain for 50% less when people in Britain earn 50% more.

You with me now?
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve Jones:
>

I was referring to the principles, Lidia. The principle. You with me?

I've had this conversation with many people regarding prices of music... the main argument that I always encounter when it comes to Polish nationals is this - "supply and demand, free market, if you don't like it go shop somewhere else..." or better yet "these are the rules of business, if you can't afford it then you shouldn't buy it"... urgh... the fact that the price trends are set that way somehow always escapes these brilliant minds.
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Steve Jones:
Lidia K.:
I admit, I don't get the fairness thing.
What do you mean?

That you can buy the same product in Britain for 50% less when people in Britain earn 50% more.

You with me now?
I think your equation refers to certain type of products, although I'm no expert.
I don't think it's fair for that matter, but I don't get mad because of this.
We can compare the prices of the public transport, underground, or food or accommodation, or education, for example.
I don't live abroad, so such comparisons aren't painful and inevitable.

I think it has to do we the development of economy - but I'm not going into this.

P.S. Rafal, can you please mind your language?
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Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Some remarks.

My best friend Andrew owns Paradise Group (Zegna, Emporio Armani, Boss, Burberry, Max&Co), so apart from the benefit of buying from him at lower prices, I have a chance to see how the scheme works.

The main problem is that the purchase of each collection (F/W, S/S) is made at least half a year in advance, and the collection itself is exhibited a year before is hits the stores.

If you look at how much the zloty has gained over the year, you will see that it partly accounts for your 'unfair' price here. The rest is just greed ;)

Another reason is the distribution. Dolce Gabbana and Versace have their sole distributors, which - with the aforementioned period of purchase - makes the prices quite inflexible. Private import really sucks (for instance, Redford&Grant stores) - first boosting the prices, then selling at -70% :)

So of course, as a customer, you might prefer to go to Paris and buy a Prada jacket and a shirt for the price of just the jacket in Warsaw. Nonetheless you'd have to buy in large amounts to offset the cost of travelling there ;)

I don't like the silly urban legend about clothes (at least designer clothes) sold here being different (i.e. inferior) from those in Germany etc. The pattern and colour of an item may vary, though.

When the purchase is made in the showroom, you're shown - let's say - a polo shirt. It's a catalogue item. Then you're able to choose from a myriad variations - with a stripe, with v-neck, a pocket, and so on. As Polish buyers go for the more conservative fashion (I'm talking about Boss and Emporio Armani), such items are ordered by the purchaser. So when you go to a Spanish store, you see more colourful and varied pieces - which doesn't mean inferior quality.

PS
I've always thought that Mexx and Esprit were shitty brands, but maybe I'm wrong...
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Sylwia Łubkowska

Sylwia Łubkowska Nauczyciel oraz
tłumacz j.
angielskiego

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Lidia K.:
Steve Jones:
You don't care that you're paying between 50% and 100% over what you should be on certain items? This doesn't bother you? You think that's perfectly fine?
I'm not likely to go to the UK to buy a cheaper fancy shirt there, so I either wait for the season sales or give up. I just buy less, if it's so expensive.

Ideally, it's an admirable attitude, Lidia. Trouble is, it hardly ever works with us, girls ;)
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Lidia K.

Lidia K. +

Temat: Ever had the feeling you've been conned?

Sylwia Łubkowska:
Ideally, it's an admirable attitude, Lidia. Trouble is, it hardly ever works with us, girls ;)
Ssshhh! :)
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