Rip off Britian

Woody · Rip off Britian

Tonight producer Bob Jefford reflects on the issues tackled in “Rip-off Britain”.

This is the 21st century… It’s the global consumer age. The internet is no more than a click away…. And we’ve shopped til we’ve dropped.
So, with all that savvy experience, why are we still paying way over the odds for so many things?

“Rip-Off Britain: Tonight” investigated high prices for clothes, electricals, cosmetics and medicine – click on the link if you missed it, or want to watch again.

The information was a real eye-opener, even for someone like me who believes he’s a pretty switched-on shopper; a man with an eye for a bargain – or a bit of a cheapskate if you’d rather believe the wife.

So why on earth are we paying through the nose for everyday products?

Well, here’s an insight: The British business correspondent for The Economist, Jonathan Rosenthal told Tonight that “us Brits” actually enjoy paying top prices – it’s only by forking out that we think we’re getting a quality product.

The British love nothing more than splashing the cash on brand labels that create considerably more room in our purses and wallets.
Other nations take pride in snapping up a bargain…. Maybe I’m German after all….

The other thing that struck me, was that modern life must also be to blame. Our lives are so helter-skelter that we just buy those trusted brands that we always buy. We don’t even have the time to read the label on our medicines before we whisk through the express checkout.

Our section on medicines shocked our four tame contributors. When they were told the difference between branded drugs and their generic equivalents, they were incredulous… Because the difference is, well, frankly, nothing. They’re exactly the same, other than the near certainty that you’ll pay double for every pill, and quite probably even more.

But four tame contributors and a good chunk of the rest of the shopping population appear to have little idea of this.
The result? They keep buying those familiar brands that we all know and love. We believe they’re better, but it’s a pretty expensive placebo effect.

Our independent chemist thinks there should be big posters in shops explaining what’s what. And his advice is this: “ask your pharmacist for a generic equivalent and save stacks”.

We also took a glimpse into cosmetics – a world that still has our reporter Quentin Willson a bit bamboozled, and I confess I share his bewilderment.

We compared two anti-aging creams. One cost £1.89; the other over £200… They did pretty much the same sort of job. And which one came top of an extensive quality test involving hundreds of women? Yep – you’ve guessed it - the cheap one.

Medicines or cosmetics, I find it sort of difficult to get angry with the brands. After all, there are penthouse products and others from the bargain basement. But it’s the consumer who ultimately decides whether to pay for the gloss and the glamour that appears to offer so much more.
As our contributor Elouise said, she happily buys into the brand. It’s how she gives herself a treat… it’s what makes her feel special.

But for me, the biggest shock in “Rip-Off Britain: Tonight”, was the way that big brand labels have been allowed to ring-fence the European market and stop cheap imports coming into the UK and being sold on to shoppers.

Clothes, shoes, electricals, and the list goes on – all of them can be bought today in America or Africa for half the price they’re sold here. They’re the same items, same labels, made in the same factories… and yet they’re half the price we pay here. How can that be right??

In the past, grey importers would find a friendly middle-man and bring in the designer labels at discount prices.

It might have been a slightly shadowy trade, but now the lights have been completely turned off. An EU trademark ruling means it’s now effectively illegal. It cannot go on unless the brand label says it’s OK.

I suppose I can see the labels’ point of view. They develop products and invest a small fortune in marketing them, often with a few A-list celebs thrown in because they’re worth it.

After all, business is all about making profits – it’s not an exercise in goodwill to mankind.

But it still seems wrong that a law designed to protect consumers from counterfeit goods, has now effectively prevented free trade in what most of us assume is a global marketplace.

There is some good news though! Even if the traders can’t do it, you can. There’s nothing stopping you from going abroad and buying what you want. And sometimes you can even snaffle a bargain without leaving - as Quentin would put it - the “comfort of your sofa”.

The Tonight team bought a digital camera on a US website, paid all the taxes and the duty, and shipped it back across the Atlantic. We saved £170 - about a third of the price.

You must make sure you check the spec, but it’s certainly an easy way to get one back against rip-off Britain.

Do you think we are ripped off in the U.K???????? of course we are , but i have a cunning plan that may prevent us from being ripped off in the future , more later:-)

Serenity

It makes my blood boil to think how we are being ripped off. But I must be German too lol because I would not pay top price for anything! Years ago I worked on a market stall that sold bedding and towels etc. There was one warehouse we bought stuff in from, and the towels were actually Marks and Spencers over stock. We werent allowed to sell them as M&S, so we had to cut off the label. Obviously being a market stall, sold them at a fraction of the price M&S would have. Then would get people knocking market stuff saying it was substandard! If only they knew huh.

I always buy cheap brand tablets etc, I know they are the same and work the same. The only thing I brand i insist on buying is Andrex toilet roll, I've tried Tescos own brand and its like sandpaper compared lol and doesnt last half as long