Craic On

This is an article from 2012 rescued from a cached archive of the old CraicOn website.

Price Comparison

Paul Gillen has been saying for ages that people think shopping in Derry is cheaper than shopping in Moville but that it wasn’t – especially when you take into account the cost of getting there.

He’s said it to me a few times but like most other people I thought “well, he would say that, wouldn’t he”.

So, I decided to put it to the test.

I also took the prices of some common items at Centra too.

I took the rate as being €1.20 to the pound so I added 20% or a fifth onto the Derry pound prices to get them in Euros.

Tropicana Orange Juice

€2.62 – Sainsbury
€2.49 – Gillens

Kerrygold Butter

€3.11 – Sainsbury
€2.59 – Gillens

Punjani Teabags (80)

€2.27 – Sainsbury
€1.99 – Gillens

Sugar

€1.19 – Sainsbury
€1.09 – Gillens

Digestive Biscuits

€1.31 – Sainsbury (although they have their own brand at 35 cents)
€0.89 – Gillens

Coke – 2 Litre Bottle

€2.38 – Sainsbury
€1.99 – Gillens

Heinz Baked Beans

€0.83 – Sainsbury
€0.85 Gillens

Flora Oil (2 litres)

€4.19 – Sainsbury
€6.29 – Gillens

Packet of Soup

€0.90 – Sainsbury
€1.10 – Gillens

Saxa Salt

€1.02 – Sainsbury
€1.39 – Gillens

I have to point out here that I didn’t pick items that suited Gillens.

These are all items that I would normally buy.

Score

So, the score is 6-4 to Gillens over Sainsbury with 6 items cheaper at Gillens and 4 cheaper at Sainsbury.

I must say that I was stunned when I went round Sainsbury yesterday and saw how many things were actually dearer there.

Of course there are things there like alcohol and pastries like doughnuts that are much cheaper in Derry still.

Advantage

However, when you see that, in food shopping, Gillen’s has an advantage, it is hardly worth going all the way to Derry to shop with the extra cost and time.

Also, a lot of people are saying that they end up throwing a lot of unused food away when they shop in Derry which adds to the cost when they could buy whatever they want daily at Gillens and the other shops in the town.

Centra

In a comparison with Centra, Gillens came out top for 8 items, Centra came out top in 2 items and 3 were the same price.

However, in a comparison with Sainsbury, Centra was cheaper for 4 items and Sainsbury in 6 items – hardly worth the bother of going all the way to Derry.

One more thing, on the way down, the person driving me asked me whether I thought Centra would be cheaper for unleaded petrol or the two garages in Muff.

Muff

I said that I expected that the Muff garages would be cheaper by at least 10 cents.

The price at Centra was €1.496

At Muff the prices at the two garages there were €1.499 and €1.498 – both dearer than Centra which surprised me greatly.

Bank

My bank is next to Sainsbury so I go down once a week or once a fortnight.

I get the bus down and a taxi back.

I justify the expense of this by my reasoning that I probably saved the £22 fare as I usually buy groceries etc. in the region of £120 to £180.

Astonished

Now, I’m astonished to find out that many of the items that I thought I was saving money on are cheaper in Moville.

It looks like Paul Gillen was right all along.

You do get a bigger variety in Derry and get some things you don’t get here.

However, if you think you are saving money you are probably making a mistake depending on what you buy.

Good News

The good news about this is that every Euro spent in Moville circulates an average of 6 times according to the circulation of money theory, so 6 people get the benefit of it.

If more money is spent in Gillens, Centra, McFeeleys and the others that will feed through into the local economy as they take on more staff who will spend the money locally.

I’m still astounded that I’m paying more for Orange Juice, Butter, Teabags, Sugar, Biscuits and Coke in Derry than I could get them for in Gillens.

Pint

It was a real eye opener for me.

By the way, with the Euro at €1.20 to the pound the price of a pint of lager is €3.54 in Sandinos and Masons Bar in Derry compared to €3.70 here.

It would only take another small fall in the Euro for that gap to dissipate.

If things continue like this we may find people from Derry coming up here to shop.

Wouldn’t that be something.