UK Shoppers' confidence wanes

[Reebo]

8 hours ago, ILikeCake said:

I only discovered Decathlon last year and have bought quite a few things from them since.  Decent quality for the price.  I too like their t-shirts.  

And I also like cake

[spunko]

Another day another article on cutting prices.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/18/desperate-uk-homeowners-are-cutting-prices-warns-zoopla

(Trigger warning: Guardian link)

[Long time lurking]

3 minutes ago, spunko2010 said:

Another day another article on cutting prices.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/18/desperate-uk-homeowners-are-cutting-prices-warns-zoopla

(Trigger warning: Guardian link)

Brexit FFS

[gibbon]

Quote

Great news. The property ponzi, I mean market, is bleeding this country dry. How much money is diverted out of the real economy to service ever greater rents and mortgages?

The property market IS the economy. 80% of all new money creation is in form of mortgages (apparently). Only economic activity I see when I look around is flat building on every spare scrap of land they can find. What else have we got? A zombie retail market full of charity shops and empty shop units. Empty office buildings waiting to be converted into flats. Hipster restaurants which only mange to close down a previous restaurant opened 3 years ago i.e. stealing each others fickle customers...there's no growth. Zero manufacturing. The few actual success stories creating good quality jobs are quickly sold off to foreigners, such as ARM.

How the fuck else are we going to get all the sterling back from China after buying all their shit apart from building and selling them poorly made rabbit hutch flats.

[spunko]

1 hour ago, Long time lurking said:

Brexit FFS

It's okay. One of the reasons I voted for Brexit is that it should bring prices down to a decent level - or at least have a higher chance of doing so, versus remaining.

 

--

 

 

[The Masked Tulip]

Looks like Game's Boxing Day sale begins tomorrow - the 19th. If so, says a lot about retail sales.

[One percent]

4 minutes ago, The Masked Tulip said:

Looks like Game's Boxing Day sale begins tomorrow - the 19th. If so, says a lot about retail sales.

I don't know how their business model has survived so long.  It is a disc in a plastic box that is exactly the same as bought anywhere else. It's not a product (such as a car or clothes) that you need to try out before you buy.  You would just go on the tinternet thingy, find the cheapest price and purchase. No worries about driving into town, fining parking, getting wet and cold etc. 

[The Masked Tulip]

17 minutes ago, One percent said:

I don't know how their business model has survived so long.  It is a disc in a plastic box that is exactly the same as bought anywhere else. It's not a product (such as a car or clothes) that you need to try out before you buy.  You would just go on the tinternet thingy, find the cheapest price and purchase. No worries about driving into town, fining parking, getting wet and cold etc. 

 

If you go into one of their shops you will often hear some confused parent or grand-parent saying that they have been asked to buy such and such game for some kid - they know a bit of the name but are worried about not getting the right game or the right game for the right console.

So from what I can make out they stay in business because of anxious adults desperate to get the right game for their kids. The staff provide the reassurance.

[XswampyX]

57 minutes ago, One percent said:

I don't know how their business model has survived so long.

Sell a used game...

And then buy one...

Hmmm... 

[One percent]

3 minutes ago, XswampyX said:

Sell a used game...

And then buy one...

Hmmm... 

Do you need prime retail sites tomdomthat though? Wouldn't it be better to do it online, like the old rent a DVD model? Post in and post out. 

[XswampyX]

2 minutes ago, One percent said:

Do you need prime retail sites tomdomthat though? Wouldn't it be better to do it online, like the old rent a DVD model? Post in and post out. 

You mean wait 2/3 weeks while your game gets posted up, then checked out and then they post the new one down?

Hahahaha you're funny! 

[SNACR]

8 hours ago, XswampyX said:

Sell a used game...

And then buy one...

Hmmm... 

I suspect you might be implying that's a greedy margin but I wouldn't consider it great.

[SNACR]

9 hours ago, One percent said:

I don't know how their business model has survived so long.  It is a disc in a plastic box that is exactly the same as bought anywhere else. It's not a product (such as a car or clothes) that you need to try out before you buy.  You would just go on the tinternet thingy, find the cheapest price and purchase. No worries about driving into town, fining parking, getting wet and cold etc. 

All is not necessarily what it seems in retail and hasn't been for a long, long time. There's businesses still opening their doors every day that seem like they're designed to be the least effective method of competing with online.

It's not new. When viewing retail units and at various other opportunities I've been examining hard evidence of takings for decades and some businesses defying gravity is not new at all. In fact,  it was probably my original insight into how the world, where your frame of reference is the information disseminated by the MSM, and reality are two very, very different things.

 

[This Time]

2 hours ago, SNACR said:

I suspect you might be implying that's a greedy margin but I wouldn't consider it great.

I think his point might have been that a new copy is £3 cheaper than a second hand one. 

[The Masked Tulip]

Marks have dropped a load of stuff by 50% in the past half hour. Toys R Us panic spreading to other retailers?

[King Penda]

all this doom and gloom gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside,i dont want people to loose there jobs and see them return their rented cars but i feel its better we see the financial crash sooner rather than later,the longer its left the worse its going to be.

[The Masked Tulip]

Quite a few UK retailers - Whte Stuff, Zaavi, others - have begun their Boxing Day sales this morning according to hotukdeals.

Methinks there is a panic.

[This Time]

2 hours ago, The Masked Tulip said:

Quite a few UK retailers - Whte Stuff, Zaavi, others - have begun their Boxing Day sales this morning according to hotukdeals.

Methinks there is a panic.

From looking at my emails House of Fraser, Debenhams, M&S and TM Lewin all have sales on at the moment. 

[The Masked Tulip]

2 hours ago, This Time said:

From looking at my emails House of Fraser, Debenhams, M&S and TM Lewin all have sales on at the moment. 

 

Well, the early sales speak volumes about the confidence or state of the British consumer. The media will catch on to this story in a day or two.... perhaps.

[King Penda]

just been to collect my xmas prescent from one of my lads he works at the local distribution point for new look he says its quiet compared to normal,he says he is spending most of his time reducing prices on goods to be despatched due to managment thinking they can up there prices close to debanons and marks a spencers .

the lad says they need to get closer to primemarks prices.managment are also trying to get them to use holiday entitlment up in december which is he says not normal.still he hasnt disapointed me he has given me a litre of bacardi,and another litre of jack daniels and the boxed set of sparticus,

[SNACR]

7 hours ago, stokiescum said:

just been to collect my xmas prescent from one of my lads he works at the local distribution point for new look he says its quiet compared to normal,he says he is spending most of his time reducing prices on goods to be despatched due to managment thinking they can up there prices close to debanons and marks a spencers .

the lad says they need to get closer to primemarks prices.managment are also trying to get them to use holiday entitlment up in december which is he says not normal.still he hasnt disapointed me he has given me a litre of bacardi,and another litre of jack daniels and the boxed set of sparticus,

Spartacus is epic. The fit bird off of Hustle gets it all out and lezzs it up with Xenia the warrior princess. Sounds great but you end up thinking Christ put ‘em away love you’re interrupting all the cool sword fighting.

Gave the DVD boxset away to my then eleven year old nephew and my sister in law did her nut.

[King Penda]

29 minutes ago, SNACR said:

Spartacus is epic. The fit bird off of Hustle gets it all out and lezzs it up with Xenia the warrior princess. Sounds great but you end up thinking Christ put ‘em away love you’re interrupting all the cool sword fighting.

Gave the DVD boxset away to my then eleven year old nephew and my sister in law did her nut.

ive got a spare set of the dvds my mothers got it for me lol.just didnt want to tell him.and i think they are trying to kill me with jd.

[Van Lady]

I ordered a few things on line on Monday.They weren’t for Christmas so the warning that they may not arrive on time didn’t matter to me. One of the items gave a delivery date of 27-29th December. They’re all here!

Not as many orders as anticipated online?

Sales galore up here in the shops also. The high streets reek of desperation.

In Aldi this morning there were full trays of sprouts and various other seasonal fruit and veg at half price. Also large Christmas stock gammon roasts and loads of pigs in blankets, stuffing etc all at half price.

Maybe this year retailers won’t have record Xmas sales?

[Chewing Grass]

Noticed they started the adverts for the sales at 6pm tonight on the T.V. starting tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the Guardian ONS figures show spend in third quarter of 2017 rose 1%.

“Consumer spending was a key driver of growth in the third quarter, however the rise in spending centred on households’ basic needs such as electricity, gas and fuel, as well as housing rent and transport.”

So spending growth in the economy is 'basic needs' and if we take that 1% as quartely based it more or less equals inflation so is not growth at all in real terms.

Fuck-em, I'm spending even less next year, think I can squeeze another year out of my 12 year old motor.

 

[gibbon]

14 hours ago, Chewing Grass said:

Fuck-em, I'm spending even less next year, think I can squeeze another year out of my 12 year old motor.

 

Are you a Saudi price or something? I just brought a 13 year old car to replace my 23 year old car.

Went shopping on the high street in the week. Plenty of people but I reckon the average person had either 1 or 0 bags.