More B&Q silly prices.

[htmark98]

Is there a good make Radiator or will most places like B&Q be ok?

As B&Q have 15% off at the mo.

Thanks

[Dan Mills]

Earl of Derby??! Sounds more like the Earl of Toxteth!

Don't know that I would describe Rapid as cheap tho, lots of stupid blister packs in there these days.

Regards, Dan.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Do try and keep up with the thread I said they where cheaper than B&Q.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Ian Stirling]

I'm imagining a whole central heating system done in nice oak, with black iron bands around the pipes every inch or two...

I'm imagining a whole central heating system done in nice oak, with black iron bands around the pipes every inch or two...

[MM]

I only buy stuff that I can replace with cheap replacements from Wilkinson or ASDA. The last downlighter halogen bulbs I bought cost

98p each.

MM

[MM]

By ripping off the public, that's how! Go into any major store and it's usually got a surfeit of staff, the temperature is way too high and the prices are totally ridiculous. The penchant by most retailers to choose pricing points like 3.99, 4.99, 16.99 etc is a good sign for bad retailing in a rip-off country. If something costs 3.99 you can bet your bottom dollar that it could be sold for 3.50 and the shop would still make a massive profit. But the shops know how gullible and apathetic we consumers are, so they get away with adding on another

49p. ASDA is one of the few stores I know that does at least make an attempt to price goods to the penny, and a penny off soon mounts up to a tidy saving.

Basically, Britain is by far the most ripped off country in Europe. Check the prices of prepared food, then work out what it costs in raw materials, packaging and transport. Take a Tesco "Finest" product: The average price is around £3.99, yet the raw ingredients are pretty much the same as in their basic range. I mean, carrots are carrots, whether you dress 'em up in a fancy package or not. Same with potato, same with mince. I can't believe how stupid the general public is to fall for the same old trick every time people go shopping.

Some while ago I noted on here or in a different group how Tesco charges 50p for a roll of clingfilm, but the next size up with double the length costs £1.09, i.e. 9p more than if one bought two of the shorter length. Because I always check the small print on the shelf labels I can see when I'm being ripped off. I complained in writing to Tesco about this and other pricing anomalies. Not one of these has been changed in the past three months. That is, Tesco must be cynically doing it deliberately in the knowledge than most stressed housewives just grab the larger item, belieing they're making a saving by buying in bulk when they are actually donating an extra 9p to the Tesco hoard.

MM

[MM]

Then it would be more like "corper", surely? Or "curper".

MM

[MM]

Nevertheless, the Ford Transit has probably been the most successful commercial vehicle ever.

MM

[Dave Fawthrop]

| Basically, Britain is by far the most ripped off country in Europe. | Check the prices of prepared food, then work out what it costs in raw | materials, packaging and transport. Take a Tesco "Finest" product: The | average price is around =A33.99, yet the raw ingredients are pretty = much | the same as in their basic range. I mean, carrots are carrots, whether | you dress 'em up in a fancy package or not. Same with potato, same | with mince. I can't believe how stupid the general public is to fall | for the same old trick every time people go shopping. |=20 | Some while ago I noted on here or in a different group how Tesco | charges 50p for a roll of clingfilm, but the next size up with double | the length costs =A31.09, i.e. 9p more than if one bought two of the | shorter length. Because I always check the small print on the shelf | labels I can see when I'm being ripped off. I complained in writing to | Tesco about this and other pricing anomalies. Not one of these has | been changed in the past three months. That is, Tesco must be | cynically doing it deliberately in the knowledge than most stressed | housewives just grab the larger item, belieing they're making a saving | by buying in bulk when they are actually donating an extra 9p to the | Tesco hoard.

Simple answer to that. Look for the nearest branches=20

or have on line nearest store search. Beware they stock some specifically German things which may not be to your taste.

Shop there! On Tuesdays I go to Lidl for basics which they do well,

200yds to Morrisons, for things which Lidl do not do well, then down to our local Asian supermarket for some fabulous yogurt, spices etc. BTW Tescos is our nearest supermarket, I avoid it wherever possible.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop Some of my Hobbies: VDU Glasses=20

Wordlists Celtic fonts=20 Killfile&Anti Troll FAQs Dialect Curry Project, =

[Andrew Gabriel]

For copper tube, I didn't. Plumbers merchant initially looked cheap, until I realised the price quoted was per metre, not per 3m lenth. Also, there was no quantity discount, so buying a bundle of 10 x 3m lengths from the sheds was a lot cheaper.

OTOH, finding a radiator in the sheds which was a) exactly the right size, rather than the nearest they chose to stock, and b) hadn't been in a accident with a fork lift truck, and c) had triple panel convectors in the range was rather impossible. Also, price wasn't part of my selection criteria for most of the radiators anyway. I bought them from a tiny independant plumbers merchant, who ordered them in for next day (or same day if you got the order in very early).

[david lang]

I found the same, apparently B&Q use the copper pipe as a loss leader. The fittings are well expensive which is how they get the money back.

Dave

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Those wouldn't have been RO80 style, though. I could have replaced the fittings with low voltage types but they are smaller and would have made a deal of work.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In what way is the packaging fancy? It's just a cardboard sleeve or whatever over the plastic dish - exactly the same as the basic range. And although they may contain some of the same ingredients things like meat are likely to be of a better cut and be a larger percentage of the pack. They also in general taste rather better...

For a busy working person those ready made main courses that just require heating are a boon - and rather cheaper than getting a takeaway.

[Alan]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote

In my experience, there is too much salt in the Finest Range which means that they are attempting to disguise the poor quality ingredients they are using in these products.

[usenet]

There's no law (or even moral rule) that requires a retailer to sell large packs at a lower 'per unit' price than small packs. As you note above it seems particularly common not to do so with rolls of cling film and foil.

One vaguely logical reason for this may simply be that the small packs are sold in much larger quantities though I have to admit that it would then make sense not to sell the larger packs at all.

On the other hand very little is sold nowadays at a price that reflects its true cost, everything is sold for 'what people will pay for it'.

[Blueyonder]

A cooper makes barrels for beer. So it must be something for him to smoke while working. Obviously.

[Kalico]

Good point and some of these places are so uninviting that they will go out of business eventually.

The other thing to remember is that even with a trade account, most merchants offer different discount levels on different categories of products and usually these discounts have to be set up manually.

I am never sure why they don't just give me, say 50% off across the board, but I have found to my cost that they can sell me radiators at

70-80% off list price then when I buy a few sheets of, for example, plywood, I would have been better going to B&Q for it.

Of course, I check the invoices when they come in the post and call them to complain and they tell me they will rectify and set up terms and discounts for 'wood products' but I really don't want to have that hassle. I want to go to a trade merchants because I know they are going to sell at trade prices and I can just buy what I need on account. Sadly, although they are more convenient in terms of having an acount, I cannot rely on them to be cheaper and must check prices for all major purchases.

Not how it should be. Rant over, hehe! Rob

[Andy Hall]

I think that perhaps you are not very discerning on quality.

I tend to avoid packaged ready meals as much as possible, not because of the cost, but because of the typically high salt content, which to me ruins the taste.

However, there is a vast difference in taste between the best quality organically grown carrots (even from Waitrose) as against the basic products of the cheap supermarkets like Morrisons et al. Carrots, like certain other vegetables, have a high glycaemic load, so for my needs this means small quantities. Given that situation, I've become pretty selective in terms of what I buy. I'd much rather have a small quantity of something better and really tasty, than to buy pappy crap on price - and there is some pappy crap around.

The same is true of potatoes - I go for the small waxy ones as opposed to the large floury species. The better stores have a variety from which to choose.

Generally, I mince beef myself, but again, there is an enormous difference in the prepared stuff. If you look at fat content, it varies enormously.

The problem in the UK is not that suppliers are profiteering so much as customers are not discerning on quality and look for and will accept rubbish. Take a look around virtually anywhere selling food in France. If a supermarket in a low to middle income suburb of Paris can manage to have seawater tanks in order to sell fresh seafood, then it's possible in Milton Keynes as well.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They'd need protection from dribble and his hacksaw, though.

[Martin]

The same way online shops do, they have staff and warehouses which incur the same costs.

Martin.