About

dualpricing.ie allows consumers to compare the actual differences between Sterling and Euro prices by excluding currency and VAT differences. The site currently has 679 prices from 300 stores.

Price Differences

Many products sold in major retail chains in Ireland are priced in both Euro (for the Irish market) and £ Sterling (for the UK market). These rarely seem to relate to each other. The main reasons for the price differences is usually listed as:

  • Currency conversion rate
  • Tax differences
  • Wage costs
  • Rent and other business costs
  • Transportation costs

As a small country, importing most products from the UK, I believe that will always be a price difference between Ireland and UK. However, I'm equally well convinced that many retailers are exploiting the consumers ignorance of the real currency & VAT differences. dualpricing.ie aims to translate these price differences so that they can be easily understood and compared.

Transparent Pricing

dualpricing.ie calculates the 'transparent price' difference between Sterling (£) and Euro (€) prices We can easily exclude the differing VAT rates and currency conversions and present the consumer with an actual price difference in Euros

The simple method we use works like this:

  1. Deduct the appropriate VAT rates from the £ and € prices
  2. Convert the ex-VAT UK price into € (using the current European Central Bank rates)
  3. Calculate the € difference between the UK and Irish ex-VAT prices
  4. Convert this € difference into a percentage of the ex-VAT Irish price

The result is the markup (or 'fudge factor') that the shop has applied to their prices, with the most obvious differences removed.

Resources

Initial announcement

ValueIreland keeps tabs on various consumer issues including the dual pricing debates

Business section of the Irish Times will occasionally feature articles on dual pricing

q102 radio station in Dublin have run an 'Ignore that Store' campaign on dual pricing

Disclaimer

dualpricing.ie cannot vouch for the accuracy or validity of the data submitted to this site. We are dependant on the accuracy of price submissions made by consumers. Please do not quote or otherwise use the information presented on this site without independantly verifying its accuracy yourself. The data and calculations are provided for information only.

Contact

I welcome comments and questions regarding dualpricing.ie:

Jamie Lawrence
hopeless@gmail.com
@hopeless on Twitter
http://jamie.ideasasylum.com