Posted August 20, 200618 yr IT’S one of the hot topics of the moment in America and parts of the Continent: why is Britain so phenomenally expensive and why on earth do Britons put up with it? So exercised have tourists and other visitors to Britain become that they have started an internet blog on the subject and the “Basil Fawlty factor†that some hold to be responsible. Britain’s rip-off prices were confirmed last week by a Sunday Times survey that found we are indeed being overcharged for a wide range of everyday products and services. Whether it is a meal out, a trip to the cinema or a weekend in the country, in Britain it typically costs about 30% more than in comparable countries. Our train fares are four times the global average. “It amazes me how much more things cost there than here in California,†writes one contributor. “What I’m trying to understand is why. I realize that some things like petrol cost more in the UK due to taxes. But for other things it appears that prices in the UK are 40% to 50% higher.†It is not just the goods and services bought by tourists that are sold at premium prices. From the cost of a mobile phone call to downloading a music track on iTunes or ordering a cup of coffee in a cafe, Britain regularly tops the world league table of the most expensive countries. Our transport costs are also among the highest. A return rail ticket from London to Manchester for travel before 9.30am costs £202, or £57.10 after 9.30am, compared with £27.42 for a train journey of a similar distance between Paris and Dijon. And taxi costs in London are almost double those in Paris. A survey on prices and earnings around the world published this month by the banking group UBS found that a 120-mile train journey in Britain was 65% more expensive than any other similar train journey in the world. Although London is well known for its spiralling prices, the problem is far from contained there. Anyone heading for the seaside is likely to find accommodation and food prices to rival the capital’s. A meal in a family restaurant starts at around £25 a head and to eat somewhere fashionable, such as Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant, you can expect to pay £65 per head for a set meal, and with the cheapest starter, mackerel stuffed with masala paste, costing £9.50. Many Britons who travelled abroad this summer have come back utterly confused as to why food and other products and services cost so much here. Most visitors are dismayed by the prices of some of the most popular attractions. For example, Madame Tussauds costs £22.99 in London, compared with £15.40 in New York and £12.10 in Amsterdam. Broadband costs in the UK are still among the highest in Europe and the cost of making a mobile phone call can be twice as expensive as on other European networks. Daniel Kalt, head of economic research at UBS, said the strength of the pound and the housing boom contributed to the higher prices. He said the introduction of the euro in other EU countries had meant greater price competition there. Britain’s relatively high wage packets were another factor. But contributors to Cowen’s website are not all convinced, not least because the boom in house prices has been a world-wide phenomenon. Britain is also well known for having benefited disproportionately from an influx of cheap eastern European labour that would normally be expected to keep prices down. Instead they propose a more straightforward explanation. “British consumers are used to being mistreated and cheated,†says one contributor to the debate. “What surprises many American visitors is how seldom locals make a fuss about bad service or poor quality goods.†Economists agree that the willingness of Britons to be charged higher prices may be a factor. Alena Kozakova, principal economist at the consumer magazine Which?, said: “Consumers are more demanding in the US and aren’t prepared to be overcharged. Kozakova cites the example of iTunes. In the UK tracks cost 79p to download, compared with 68p in France and Germany and 53p in the United States. Which? has complained to the European commission over iTunes charges in Britain. A survey by Pricerunner.co.uk found that a “shopping basket†of 25 consumer goods and home electronic products was more expensive in England than in Germany, France or Spain. The goods, including an iPod, a pair of Diesel jeans and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, cost £1,407 to buy in Britain compared with £1,201 in Germany, £1,241 in France and £1,286 in Spain. “If you look at the costs of CDs, DVDs and books, we are now actually nearly the cheapest in Europe,†he said. Would you agree that we are being ripped of in everything we buy in this Country,will it be cheaper to buy everything on the internet, or is there nothing we can do about it?
August 20, 200618 yr Basically everything in this country is a rip-off - 50p for a bar of chocolate, £3.00 for 4 rolls of toilet paper (cheap toilet paper...) and 99p for 4 milkshake straws...and this is at my local corner shop!
August 20, 200618 yr Don't use the corner shops they are the biggest rip offs of the lot, supermarkets prices are coming down and there are a lot of bargains to be had Yes prices are higher than France, Spain etc but so are WAGES so it evens itself out
August 20, 200618 yr Don't use the corner shops they are the biggest rip offs of the lot, supermarkets prices are coming down and there are a lot of bargains to be had Yes prices are higher than France, Spain etc but so are WAGES so it evens itself out I would, but my local corner shop is the nearest decent shop for a mile! :cry:
August 20, 200618 yr i think the cost of providing services is higher, hence higher prices... and has been mentioned our wages are also comparitively higher. supermarkets may be cheaper, but the bast*rds are squeezing their providers, the farmers, more and more for reduced costs. so when a supermarket is advertising 'prices reduced', it isnt the supermarket doing you a favour out of their pocket, its because they are paying their suppliers less.
September 1, 200618 yr My wife who works in Central London was mega-thirsty so bought a can of Diet Coke on a tube station,£1.20.That's just a rip-off.
September 1, 200618 yr Yes, Britain is an utter rip-off, just look at the amount of people who prefer to go on International websites to buy CDs, electrical goods, DVDs, etc....
September 1, 200618 yr I have been told scandanavia.. mainly sweden is more expensive True, so have I. Iceland also.
September 2, 200618 yr I have been told scandanavia.. mainly sweden is more expensive Alcohol is certainly more expensive in Scandinavia, but I'm not sure about the general cost of living... Scandinavians, on the whole, seem to have a better standard of living than UK citizens do....
September 2, 200618 yr My parents just came back from a holiday in the UK and said it was pretty expensive. I go to the UK once a year and it is pretty expensive I agree. I would go bankrupt if I lived there :lol:
September 4, 200618 yr Well i live in the UK and its pretty hard to save money for things, because we're so damn expensive. Plus we also get some things a lot later than people in the US, like technology.
September 4, 200618 yr My parents just came back from a holiday in the UK and said it was pretty expensive. I go to the UK once a year and it is pretty expensive I agree. I would go bankrupt if I lived there :lol: Most likely you'd earn more money, so it all goes around the same. Earn more, spend more, it's only numbers after all. :lol:
July 20, 201113 yr Just to bring this back up - I went to Paris recently for work: £1.50 for Diet Coke Can £6.90 for Big Mac Pretty much everything was expensive, very expensive - so were the smaller towns around N France. Britain is cheaper than you think - you really need to cut down there - £1.80 for a bottle of Sprite :(
July 20, 201113 yr I think Britain has become cheaper since this thread was first posted because of the exchange rate. When I went to Amsterdam last year it certainly wasn't cheaper than London.
July 20, 201113 yr With regards to consumer prices I went to LONDON for the first time ever a few months ago, prices there were crazy. 1.90 for a bottle of coke, really? I believe the south isn't even blessed with B&M. http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bandm_fascia_graham_soult.jpg The logo, the music played, the tills, and the prices especially - everything seems like it's from 1991! 10p for most packets of crisps?
July 22, 201113 yr Venice was an absolute rip off, but I suppose anywhere where tourists would go is.
July 22, 201113 yr B&M bargains! :wub: We don't have those in Bristol, there was 2 when I went to Blackpool though. You can get loads for so little!
July 22, 201113 yr Never heard of B&M before, although in the deep south-west where I am, they aren't going to be around. However, where I am, you can easily get a can of Coke for 60-70p. I've been looking at London prices recently. Absolute rip-off. And that's just the attractions. If the prices quoted in this thread are accurate, I'll be damned if I ever live or even go there. Similar to Geneva, really. Everything was so expensive there. I believe I remember 8 Swiss Francs (or thereabouts) for a Big-Mac. And nothing under 1.80 francs.
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