VAT decrease - worth the wait ?

Being Scottish perhaps yes - phoned Warehouse Express today who said they would be reviewing their prices after next weeks VAT cut - guess it saves a few pennies on a purchases totalling £100's. Also , whilst on the subject of pennypinching, does anyone haggle when buying their new kit ? To a man of my modest means spending £695 (k20/16-45) on any consumer item would invoke a well worn "what ya gonna chuck in if I buy it from you" statement - but don't know what the margins are like on things from SRS/Warehouse Express as the local camera shops seem to be fair bit more expensive...even a wee free memory card would be much appreciated
Ok - back to repairing my damp walls and DIY duties - if the wife asks (and ask she might, being a past forum browser) - you didn't see me...

CJ

You are aware that SRS doesn't charge postage to forum members? Just quote your forum user name when you order. That will save you more than a few pennies.
It will be interesting to see if prices do drop next week. With the weak pound at the moment buying things in the UK is very attractive, and if the VAT drop is worked through to the customer too, it makes it even more so for us Euro based folks.

'A wee free memory card' - I was pretty sure the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland deplored graven images

2.5% is nothing - a penny of a Mars bar and billions of pounds of taxation to come. £250 off a £12,000 car? - I rushed out and ordered two!

Hey Gartmore - it's better than nothing! Our VAT is 19% and they were talking of putting it up to 20%. At least that has been put on ice for a while. I doubt they would even consider cutting it here.
Plus our top rate of income tax is 52%!!

We have 25% I would love 19 %

19 and 25% - cripes ...Gartmore you have made a fair point though - it'll get clawed back in the future - so my vote is to spend all yer money now with the discount coz we'll all get taxed later.anyway.....frankly I can't see my logic in that last statement but I must convince the wife that the camera is FAR more important than a new damp proof course so I shall indulge in piffling waffly arguments till she gives in !!
Any helpful arguments gratefully received
CJ

To be honest, I don't think it will make a difference. There is absolutely no way that I can be bothered to go round my whole shop and reprice all the stock for the sake of pennies, I would lose more in wage costs to do that.

The other option would just be to take 2.5% off at the till, that's more work, and with our tills leaves more margin for error. On top of that, I just can't see myself dropping the cost of a service from £10 to £9.75, it just isn't going to happen, well not in my shop anyway!

Besides, I'll just use that 2.5% gain for 13 months to offset the 5% increases all the credit card companies are currently putting on now that the interest rate has dropped by 1.5%!!

Bitter, me? Never!

I think what is often overlooked is the benefits that some countries offer their citizens. I did a job for a multinational regarding payroll costs etc. and was staggered to learn that in Greece you got something like child allowance and benefits for up to 10 children or something which made employing a profligate parent expensive.

I suspect the total tax burden as a proportion of income is the real indicator and I wouldn't know where to get that information.

Anyway the logical argument for new equipment is that it's a whole lot cheaper than the alternative such as buying a motorcycle, flying lessons, sky diving etc. And then drop into conversation how much some people earn from stock photos (you didn't say she reads this forum at all did you?)

Who was the expert in bloke economics who got his rather nice birthday present which was well over budget - I think you should seek his advice.

Mike

It's quite staggering what Brown and Co have done and for what benefit? I bet your shop isn't any busier on Monday than it was last week. But I bet a lot of shops are quieter this week than they will be next week when to be fair you can save 2.5% on that flat screen at a grand. They will then trumpet the whole thing as a success as sales week on week are well up.

A local restaurant reckons it would cost him £3,000 to change all prices, menus etc. so what's he going to do? Trouser the difference.

If you promise not be bitter then I will too .

Mike

Sales will be up on Monday anyway as it's the 1st day of the month and everyone will have been paid, and it's Christmas in 4 weeks for crying out loud! But I do bet they will trumpet that as their plan working!

If you go into any Currys / Comet etc. in say March, and they still have prices like £359.78 instead of £369.99, and they are packed and running out of stock, then I will concede that it may have made a difference, but til then, I remain a sceptic!

To answer the original question, the prices that you see at the likes of the SRS's of this world do have very tight margins, so there is not a lot of leeway on them unfortunately. Free postage could be as good as it gets! Higher margins are on things like bags etc., so if you can come up with a bigger list, the more likely you are to get a bit off!

The percentage drop is nothing at all!.....and is only of benefit to people who have cash to hand!...with people struggling to pay the mortgage and rising fuel bills there wont be much extra spent!. I'm just glad I dont owe anybody anything,being an old fashioned country boy if I want anything I wait until I've saved for it, nearly reached the target for my DA 300!......Another weekend log cutting should see me there!............

Something I learned from the radio yesterday!....mortgage is French for "DEATH GRIP!".....how very apt!:

Unlocker - if you are going to give discount at the till, you will be out of pocket if you deduct 2.5%.

The percentage is actually 2.1276595744680851063829787234043 or rounded to 2.13%.

I think I've done my sums right.

I'm on a flat rate VAT scheme which amongst other things means I don't have to account for VAT on purchases and I've just worked through the figures and I'm £4.50/£1000 worse off.

How can they justify that?

No-one in government gives a flying fig about the small business.

Once I have a friend verify my figures another letter to my MP.

I never thought I'd say it but if I were younger I'd find somewhere else to go. Too late for me but what is the point of even trying?

Mike

Yeah, I know, of course it's not 2.5% off at the till, just wrote that quickly without worrying about working it out as specifically as you!

Kinda proves a point though, that is what the average customer would expect to get, and you can be sure that if they don't get 2.5% and only offer 2.1276595744680851063829787234043%, that it will be your fault, call you names instead of blaming their own lack of basic mathematics etc. etc.!

We get more than our fair share of idiots in retail, gonna get more arguments now!

The cost of admin makes it difficult to justify reducing everything by 2.5% - the main issue is that my buy price on all Pentax lenses and accessories is actually increasing by 15% from Monday which will, of course, mean price rises regardless of the VAT saving! Most manufacturers are putting up prices blaming the currency values.

I have place a very large order with Pentax so I hopefully should have stock at the old price for a while, but items will be increasing in price once this, and my existing, stock has run out

Chris