Our Polaris robot decided to break a wheel in the Pool a few months back, local guy wanted €195 including parts to fix it, brought the parts from china for €30 and fixed it myself, he wanted to sell me the same parts for €85.
Took just 2 weeks to get here and they were in Polaris bags !!, it works just fine.
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It sounds as though nobody is being ripped off, they are just being encouraged to research before buying.
I just hope that the French don’t wake up to the costs involved in owning a boat in the UK and adjust their prices upwards to match those.
But does it mean that being in the EU basically has no influence on the retail price? Isn’t that part of the point of being in the Union? Aren’t goods and services supposed to move to equalise prices. Even euro zone countries have widely different pricing. Therefore does local taxation and or corporate decision making undermine the usefulness of the euro common currency. Just asking.
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Which begs the question of why the French seem willing to pay more.
One question that I have had on more than one occasion is “Do the French do a lot of DIY?” on the one hand getting a trades-person in is very expensive but set against that is the fact that, if not done “on the black” the work will be guaranteed for 10 years and I don’t have the general feeling that the French are as keen on DIY as, say, the Brits.
But there is a good choice in DIY stores - I have a Castorama, Weldom and Mr B and a Leyroy Merlin within a 30 minute drive so I assume someone is buying stuff from them.
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Think corporate decision making will beat any government or currency any day, just look at Amazon and other big retailers and the difference in prices between EU countries.
Postage is a big con with Amazon, you buy something from the UK site and pay shipping costs to match and hey it arrives 2 days later with a La Poste stamp at half the cost, buy anything else from a UK shop and it takes 5 days with a Royal Mail stamp on it at the price you paid and yet does any government question this.
One thing you have to remember is that Amazon is at least three things - it is a retailer (and, these days parcel courier) in its own right, it is a fulfilment centre for third party sellers and it is a store front for other third party sellers and you need to distinguish which when complaining about the service.
In any case when paying for “postage” and finding the amount paid to Royal Mail or La Poste is less remember that typically it is actually “Postage and Packaging” - envelopes and cardboard boxes don’t come free, nor does petrol to take things to the post office.
The last time I ordered something from Amazon UK to be delivered in France it arrived in an Amazon box.
Most of the people in our local DIY are brits orDutch or the local French Artisans.
All Amazon goods arrive in a Amazon box?
This place was four bare stone walls, we found the bricos pretty competitive, plus the roofer, electrician too, only bits we didn’t do our selves, all good value, local sources 
If sold or fulfilled by Amazon most of it these days.
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A French plug is easy to fit. A guarantee in France is usually a waste of paper so taking a chance on a UK one is no worse.
Why so? - Just curious by the way.
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When I order from Amazon I tend to look at the U.K., France and German sites and buy from the cheapest. What the actual postage and packing costs actually are makes no difference, it’s what I pay that matters. Last year I ordered some saxophone reeds from Amazon.fr because although the reeds themselves were slightly cheaper on on the U.K. site the postage was prohibitive while the French site offered free postage. The reeds arrived a couple of days later, sent from England.
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Quite a few times when trying to buy on the Amazon UK site, at check out it says that this product is not available to people who live in France and request that I transfer to the French site to continue my purchase, so not giving me the option to shop around for the best price.
Also the free postage in France only kicks in after you spend a certain amount, about €25 I think.
I have also found that lately on larger purchases (lawnmower!) - smaller stuff with Amazon UK as a seller instead of 3rd party seller seems to work OK.
Maybe so, not really tested that thankfully. Are french ones worse than others?
However, for us it does come down to being in the lucky position that we can make consumer decisions on things other than lowest price. So I won’t buy via Amazon (although do buy things online) and don’t mind paying extra if I can support local shops and jobs.
But agree that the price differentials are odd at times.
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I guess you have either never had a problem with an item here or are one of the lucky few who actually got a quick and cheerful solution to the problem. More often if there is a problem here you are looked at with suspicion as if you have been abusing the item when quite often it was faulty right out of the box. The biggest joke with a French guarantee is that they claim the right to try to repair the item, which can take weeks or months. When given our experience in UK we expect to walk out of the shop with a replacement straight away.
Hi Michael
Yes I’m certain that there is negligible DIY market in France compared with UK where everyone does DIY. Very few of our French neighbours have the toolkits that we would consider essential in the UK - I’ve even had neighbours asking to borrow screwdrivers.
The size of the UK DIY market encourages stiff competition and due to it’s increased volume on a smaller geographic base the cost of stockholding is much lower than in France.
What a ridiculous statement. There is a huge market for DIY tools and materials in France. Just look around at the number of Bricos in your area if you don’t believe me. Who do you think keeps them in business?
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french native here trying to explain my country.
Why do we pay higher prices in France ? Look around you…ask any british Citizen who has been admitted into a french hospital, look at our education system, the highway network, the routes nationales and départementales network…
How do you think we do finance all of these ? It has a price, nothing is free. Labor rates are higher in France, that is true. Prices are generally higher in France that is true. But it is for a good reason.
Anglo-saxon generally tend to choose liberty, whereas french prefer equality. Equality has a price that must be paid by everybody.
I am not a socialist particularly, not a leftist, but overall I am really happy and ok to pay more than in other countries
- considering how my wife has been treated like a queen during her maternity
- considering how my daughter has been taken care of by a public crèche the first two years
- considering how her teachers are well trained and do a great job
- considering how good are the meals served at her school (parents in her school are invited to taste)
- considering how the welfare state helped me during one year after I have been fired in 2008 thanks to the americans (subprime crisis in the banking industry). I had to survive in Paris with 900 euros of unemployment benefits, but I survived thanks to our system. I am glad I had this, I am grateful to my country they helped me. I am grateful to my country they helped my wife for also one year after she has been fired a few years ago and stayed one year unemployed.
- considering how I have been given the opportunity to graduate a reknowned business school by working in apprenticeship during 5 years to make my graduating course to be paid by my employer (and they could substract the amount to their taxes), and be graduated without any scandalous student loan
- considering how I always did eat well during my scholarship
- considering how my country is helping mothers giving birth and working in the same time
Our system is not perfect, and we never pretended it to be. But we care about it, these are our values.
The french way of life seems like a postcard for many, but that has a price.
Nowadays I start to encounter more and more brits in bricolage shops complaining to sellers about the prices. Hey, you have been able to buy a nice cheaper house in France and came for a different quality of life. Deal with it now and most important, contribute to it.
Honestly, what you are complaining is well balanced by cheaper wines and cheese. You are sad because your Bosch driller is twice as much expensive in France than in the UK ? Relax mate, sit down and get drunk with a bottle of Côtes Roties or Château Montrachet and everything is gonna be alright.
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