Expensive UK

We are over here in the UK on our annual pre-xmas trip.

Been to most of the shopping malls and supermarkets and confirm that if you take away the end of aisle offers of 3 for 2 or by one get one free, prices in Spain are quite a lot cheaper than the UK now.

OK, for Brit's there is more choice here but at a price, plus the cost of getting here.

It is also freezing, -12C is forcast for tonight, can't wait to get off the plane at Alicante next Monday.

Having just done quite a lot of our Christmas shopping via Amazon recently (with free delivery to Spain) I'm not sure what you are referring to in terms of things being more expensive in Spain.

They were toys that we were going to buy here but we easily saved around 40% buying them from Amazon UK.  That's quite a saving.

Justin

I think when you talk about Internet and High Street shopping, there is a great difference in prices.

However, as Mr Kevin was saying, the High Street and Supermarket prices in the UK are much higher for like-to-like everyday shopping!

I purchased an Xbox360 Kinect in Carrefour (on launch day) for the same price it was in the UK High Street and Internet shops, and I got an extra years guarantee with it at no extra cost!

When I purchased a new TV just before the World Cup, I got it cheaper in Carrefour than it was in the UK. I paid 499€ and in the UK it was £499 and again I got two years guarantee instead of one.

You have to shop around in Spain, just like you do in the UK, and you can find the bargains!

As for everyday food prices, cheaper and better quality in Spain than in the UK.

And I promise not to talk about how cheap the booze is here in Spain!

You can shop on the internet from Spain in other countries as well as the UK and get the best prices and get most of the goods delivered to Spain, of course you need to understand what you are looking as far as launguage is concerned. You can find prices for the same goods much cheaper or sometimes much more expensive.

On Amazon we were after the Subo card game, in the UK it was £24.99 in Germany it was 14 Euro. Yes the general advice is to shop around where ever you are looking.

'Subo card game', does the loser have to sing 'I dreamed a dream'?

Another advantage of using the likes of Amazon is the no quibbles return/refund policy if anything goes wrong or you just don't like what you bought.  I wouldn't touch any online Spanish retailers with a bargepole.  It's bad enough dealing with a physical shop when you need to do a return.  Imagine trying it with a Spanish online retailer?

UK more expensive than Spain?  No way in this world. 

And as for the 2 year guarantees, try taking faulty goods back...or for an alternative waste of time, why not take up fog-knitting.

Mr Kevin actually stated 'prices in Spain are quite a lot cheaper than the UK now'.

Sorry, I don't see what point you are trying to make.

'prices in Spain are quite a lot cheaper than the UK now' = UK is more expensive than Spain...it is the same thing put in a different way.

@Sanchez

"It's bad enough dealing with a physical shop when you need to do a return.  Imagine trying it with a Spanish online retailer?"

@vicswitchblade

"And as for the 2 year guarantees, try taking faulty goods back...or for an alternative waste of time, why not take up fog-knitting."

I have had no problem what so ever in taking faulty items back to stores here in Spain. Indeed I've taken back items such as:

Light fittings to Leroy Merlin in Los Barrios because I didn't like them when I went to fit them - No problem. Gave me a credit note because I didn't have them in their original packaging.

Taken clothes back to Carrefour and Al Campo because they didn't fit - No problem. Got a full refund.

Took a faulty part from a gas barbecue back to Leory Merlins in Marbella. As I had already built 85% before I noticed the faulty part, which was a shelf that had the holes drilled on the wrong side and in the wrong places. - No Problem. They went to the storeroom, opened a new box and swapped that part over without any problems. Oh and there were a couple of plastic lugs missing from the inside of the doors where the screws went through for the handles - No problem. Asked me how many I needed and even then gave me one extra, just in case as he said!

Always started speaking to them in Spanish, by saying that I don't speak Spanish very well, and within a few sentences ended up speaking to each other in English and Spanish, and to their credit, mainly English!

As long as you have the original receipt, then no problem!

Sorry  vicswitchblade i was not referring to your comment but the comment made by EOS Team,

I'm not sure what you are referring to in terms of things being more expensive in Spain'.

Techno Ape, I am glad to hear about your good experiences.  Mine are different though.

I bought a folding bike from Carrefour and after 3 months the pedals began gong around and around having no effect on the forward motion of the bike.  They took it in a fixed it.  A month later, the handlebars snapped in my hands, in traffic...scary.  Again, they repaired it.  Next, one of the pedals snapped...I bought a set myself.  Next, the front mudguard fell down and trapped in the wheel causing me to go over the handlebars.  I removed these myself and decided to do without mudguards.  Next, the handlebars snapped again and again they repaired it.  Then the gears stopped working. 

By the way, I am a reasonably fit fella and not overweight.  I think I weigh about 12 and a half stones...well within the capacity for the bike.

Every time the bike was returned to the shop, I asked for a replacement but they insisted on a repair.  Each time it took about two weeks, sometimes longer.  I relied on it to get to work.   I eventually threw it away and got one delivered from UK.  In the UK, say in Asda or Tesco I am sure would have been offered a replacement bike.

Semo, cheers for the explanation...I understand now what you meant.

As usual, a person has one bad experience in Spain and 'pidgeonholes' the whole country as a result.

If I wrote off the uk everytime I had a bad experience here, I'd do nothing but slag the place off - which I don't becuase that would be stupid.

Out of interest, we bought a telly from a supermarket called Alcampo in Motril and it wouldn't work. Because my spanish isn't great, I translated what I wanted to say from the web, wrote it down and set off to the store. When I went to customer services, the girl was amused but grateful that we'd written our complaint down in spanish and promptly gave us a refund in cash - even though we'd paid by credit card. The staff were very helpful and pleasant too.

My brother who lives nearby, often pops into hardware stores for screws and other small items, and if it's for a small amount, they don't charge him, presumably because it's good customer service because he'll come back for bigger things another time - which he does, so everyones a winner.

When it comes to which country is most expensive, it depends on what you're buying. I find local items - fruit, veg, wine, meat fish etc are all cheaper. Imported stuff is more expensive, as are ready meals. Electrical items are similar in price, so I suppose it depends what you buy and what your lifestyle is. We find it much cheaper, not least because our Spanish neighbours keep us supplied with lots of free fruit and veg, and occasionally wine. They also keep an eye on the house for us while we're away - I guess you get out more, the more you put in (integrate/make friends etc)

Good program on bbc morning  tv. RIP OFF BRITAIN. The thing is that not everyone gets ripped off all of the time but some get ripped of some of the time.  It's the same all over not just U.K or Spain

OTIVAR

Of course, yes I only had one bad experience in 4 years here.  I must be such a fool.  My neighbours don't give me any free fruit and veg or wine because I don't integrate...that must be it.  Of course, if I integrated and managed to get all sorts of stuff for free, it would be much cheaper to live in Spain.

If anyone knows how to make written words convey sarcasm, please let me know...

vicswitchblade

I actually made valid points regarding customer service in Spain and relative costs of living, mainly to provide a balance to those who have a negative experience and assume that is indicative of an entire country. It's very true that cost of living in Spain depends on the lifestyle one chooses, and in our case it's cheaper. I made the point about getting out more, the more one puts in, because a. it's food for thought, and b. because we've found it to be true. You can get good and bad service in any country, but many seem to condemn Spain after a single bad experience.

We split our time between the UK and Spain, and If I were to catalogue the number of bad service experiences I have had in the last four years in the UK, I would need a lot of sheets of paper. In my experience, people resort to sarcasm when they have a weak case or argument.

After living in Spain (Madrid) for 10 years the only thing we prefer to buy back in the UK is clothing.  We find the quality much better, there's more choice (especially in sizes) and the prices are comparable if not better.

M&S deliver to Spain now which is great as it's the only place I have found with choice of waist and leg lengths.

Shoes are also much better quality, and I'm sure cheaper, in the UK and the shop assistants actually know how to measure the kids shoe sizes properly offering a choice of both length and width (in Clarkes at least).

We don't have much choice but insurance (car and motobike) is much more expensive here than in the UK.  My motorbike insurance costs 3 times as much here as it would in the UK and they've only just started offering fully comp insurance here for my bike.

I could be wrong here but I'm sure that car prices, especially secondhand, are more expensive here too.

Please don't take the above as a whinge (on my first post).  We love living here and if we didn't we'd move back.

Andy

 I agree about shoes and clothes especially for children. For good quality shoes for children you need to spend a lot here and Clarks in the UK seems really cheap in comparison. When I go back to the UK I always stock up on shoes in Clarks for myself and the girls. I try to time it so I go when the sales are on. I also find that Spanish shoes tend to be on the narrow side for my big British feet! You can get Clarks here in independent shoe shops but they tend to be twice the price and in the same price range as more luxury shoes brands such as Dorking or Geox. Kids clothes are cute here but they are more expensive and you can´t just throw them in the washing machine like you can with clothes from Marks and Spencer. I do like Zara and Mango for myself and I am delighted to find that they are making their cut bigger  to make us all feel slimmer and their prices seem to be cheaper this season.