High Street Prices

[Hodders]

Everybody expects the high street shops to be more expensive than buying online but today was mad.

I wanted to buy a 4pin to 6pin firewire cable for my new camcorder and went to a coupld of shops, both wanted £19.99 (hmmm a coincidence or what). Exactly the same cable (make model, length etc) is available online for £4.50 inc P&P.

Now if the shops had wanted £9.99 I would have understood (rates, staff, high street rental costs etc etc) but over 4 times the price is daylight robbery.

So what is the worst example you can find... Must be the same make/brand and include P&P. Obviously no mention of competitors....

 

[Lt. Manlove]

Didn't we just have a thread on a printer cable/network cable? I admit some prices are disgusting, but some people buy them!

 

[Adz]

Supply and demand. You charge what customers will pay. If they're willing to pay it, that's their decision. Just be safe in the knowledge that your cables are more competitive priced .

 

[Six6siX]

If its cheaper online why not buy it online and wait for delivery?

If its because you wanted it there and then, then tough, thats the price you pay for convenience.

 

[Sequoia]

If its cheaper online why not buy it online and wait for delivery?

Because I'm not prepared to suffer the hassle often involved in dealing with couriers.

If its because you wanted it there and then, then tough, thats the price you pay for convenience.

Absolutely agree.

High street shops and online companies are providing a different service, have different cost structures and different business models. Personally, I'd rather pay more for something and have it when I want it than have to sit around waiting for couriers to deliver, and then perhaps have to muck around with couriers again to send back faulty products, then yet again to receive the replacement.

If it costs me £20 in the high street, as opposed to £4.50 (plus shipping) to get it online, so be it. I'll cheerfully go to the high street and pay that, every time. I can't be doing with couriers. It's just far too much faffing about.

It's all very well for people to moan about high street prices, but if you don't like high street prices, don't go to the flipping high street. Mean time, leave the suppliers that are in the high street alone. There are those of us that are quite content to pay higher prices for a far better (for my needs) level of convenience. Not everything is judged on price alone, and I'll cheerfully pay more for convenience and a local service where I know and trust the people, as opposed to some amorphous mass-market, cost-cutting box-shifter on the net.

I wouldn't object to high street prices being lower BUT I'd still much rather pay current high street prices as they are, than not use the high street. But .... you won't see me moaning about their prices.

The ONLY reason I'll use online suppliers is if it's something I can't get locally, and I therefore have no choice if I want that product.

 

[mightynimrod]

Samsung 32" HDTV LCD £1000 in high street electrical shop.

£648 online

 

[D4VE]

Aye my brother got a voucher for a large high st store. He considered buying the Office series on DVD but it was £40. Online it was £28.
Therefore, his voucher (£15) is really only worth £3 to him, how carp.

 

[HEADRAT]

Don't think I've bought anything off the highstreet in years where poor customer service and high prices are king, online is far more convenient IMHO.

To be honest if the highstreet doesn't raise it's game then we'll see more job losses and more and more and more business done online, it's all about differentiation. If I can't get good prices and good customer service from a highstreet store then I now have the "choice" to buy online, the highsteet had it too good for too long and they've yet to wake up and smell the coffee.

Some stores "John Lewis Partnership" as an example offer fantastic customer service and this is probably the only high street retailer I would use, they staff are friendly and knowledgeable (in my experience) and they seem to realise that the only way they can keep up sales in by offering this level of CS.

HEADRAT

 

[Hodders]

The original post was asking for examples of differences - just to see if we could find the most difference.

I remember for a time a very large online computer retailer had a shop counter in Bracknell. I lived in Guildford at the time and would often use the 'price match promise' offered by the large PC store in Guildford. They would always say 'but they are an online retailer', to which I would show them the bit about the shop counter, to which they would then mutter about "this time only".

Got a harddisk matched down from £120 to £75 once

 

[alexakasloth]

I haven't bought a dvd on the highstreet in ages! Why pay £15 when I can get it for something like £8 on the net? Personally I don't mind waiting for the delivery.