Since the VAT change....

[LouisCollins]

Anyone noticed that asda, morrisions and sainsburys have gone mad on there prices since vat switch over i mean

50washes (washing powder) £5 :/ its REALLY CHEAP!

[Deak]

Its annoying with all these changes to prices... Just stick with prices as they were :/

[Oleh]

I noticed that amazon decided to increase the speakers i was buying for £200 to £235.

[Samantha.]

The VAT has gone up from 17.5% to 20% hasn't it? It's annoying!

[Angel-Light]

Try working in a shop and having to change all the price tickets -.-

We now have tickets for cameras saying £209.25 :/ It's stupid the VAT rise, it only really majorily affects higher priced items.

[Samantha.]

I work in a shop too, it was so annoying because there are so many products and some of the prices are now ridiculous.

[Starburst..x]

The thing that annoys me most is petrol.
My car is only a little 1.0 and now probably takes the best part of £50 to put a full tank in which is lots higher than when I first bought the car!

[Chippiewill]

I like the un-round numbers. On a side note, many stores are using this as an opportunity to increase prices more than the VAT rise in an effort to increase profits without getting complaints since customers will get confused.

[Jackkk]

I like the un-round numbers. On a side note, many stores are using this as an opportunity to increase prices more than the VAT rise in an effort to increase profits without getting complaints since customers will get confused.

That's exactly what happens. The bar that I work in has done this, and I am sure that other shops will too. At the end of the day, it makes sense to take the oppurtunity.

Where as with the supermarket, because they buy their stock so cheap they can afford to have a price war with each other, which will work out well for us...

[Cosmic]

I think my usual weekly shop today was quite a bit over what it normally is, which is a bit of a pain. I had a friend going on at me about the price of petrol as well. I'm glad I don't own a car in that case :D

[dbgtz]

well, the only thing that I buy myself are games, and they havn't gone up looking at them.

[Hecktix]

******* tesco are rip of merchants, before xmas you could get 3 packets of supernoodles for £1 now it's 4 packets for £2. Not impressed.

[ka191]

******* tesco are rip of merchants, before xmas you could get 3 packets of supernoodles for £1 now it's 4 packets for £2. Not impressed.

According to a study of large companies, a high percentage said they would use the VAT increase to disguise price increases, so that explains it.
Either way, reducing it to 15% originally was an idiotic idea anyway.

[Chippiewill]

Either way, reducing it to 15% originally was an idiotic idea anyway.
Of course, we should have made the recession worse. That makes perfect sense.

[JACKTARD]

at the end of the day, prices are going up and wages aren't, a lot are even decreasing. It makes no sense that they've increased the VAT atm.

[Recursion]

at the end of the day, prices are going up and wages aren't, a lot are even decreasing. It makes no sense that they've increased the VAT atm.

wat. It makes perfect sense.

[ka191]

Of course, we should have made the recession worse. That makes perfect sense.

Reducing the VAT hardly helped the general public, hence most world leaders said it was the most stupid decision ever.
All it meant was companies could make more money as most of them did not pass on the savings onto customers - which the government though they would do.

So basically most people paid the same price for things, so it hardly helped the general public.

[Cosmic]

******* tesco are rip of merchants, before xmas you could get 3 packets of supernoodles for £1 now it's 4 packets for £2. Not impressed.

And as a student, Supernoodles are important. But yeah I think it's rises on little things like this that really add up and make a difference.

[ka191]

Pound shops who advertise "everything £1" will suffer. Either that or they will remove "everything £1".

[Hecktix]

And as a student, Supernoodles are important. But yeah I think it's rises on little things like this that really add up and make a difference.

precisely, I used to get 6 packets of supernoodles for £2 and that would be good for me for a week, and I would include this in my weekly shop.

tbh, I did a weekly shop of £40, and usually one week I spend £20 and the next I spend £30, however as I had a car and the supermarket is a 20 min walk, I stocked up on heavier items like liquids and tins - however I don't think I got much more than usual, and I spent £40.

[Ajthedragon]

They need to increase the Bank Of England interest rates to make our currency worth something and stop this rapid inflation, which isn't great in this combination of addition hikes such as VAT. Personally nothing I buy everyday has gone up substantially. I guess this is what we pay for reckless government spending.

[Chippiewill]

Reducing the VAT hardly helped the general public, hence most world leaders said it was the most stupid decision ever.
All it meant was companies could make more money as most of them did not pass on the savings onto customers - which the government though they would do.

So basically most people paid the same price for things, so it hardly helped the general public.
Whether it was passed onto the public directly is irrelevant, either prices dropped or people's pay increased. Win-Win.

[ka191]

Whether it was passed onto the public directly is irrelevant, either prices dropped or people's pay increased. Win-Win.

Not really. Not many companies increased the pay or dropped their prices as they knew VAT would increase higher than 17.5% in the near future.

[beth]

And as a student, Supernoodles are important. But yeah I think it's rises on little things like this that really add up and make a difference.

as a fellow student, the price increase of super noodles is extremely distressing to me. do we have any idea on the price of the potted noodle?

[LouisCollins]

Well i dont think its to bad tbh, I mean a £400 TV will now cost us £410 So we hardly notice it to be honest unless you're buying a cheap like lets say Milky way,

[Chippiewill]

Not really. Not many companies increased the pay or dropped their prices as they knew VAT would increase higher than 17.5% in the near future.
They have to put the money somewhere and if money is being used to save a company or similar then that's good.

[Monty]

It's disastrous I can't buy anything without getting the extras out any more!

[qaxzsw]

omg a whole 2.5%!!!!

[Sheen]

I hate the VAT increase, I bought a laptop yesterday that I had my eye on for Christmas for £360, I ended up paying £390, including P&P Charges.

[AgnesIO]

omg a whole 2.5%!!!!

Not only do I think this is the post stupid post so far in 2011, I also think you are purposely looking for arguments.

2.5% would seem like nothing, but you already had to pay 17.5%. 20% VAT is ridiculous. It might be needed (thanks to the government getting us in huge amounts of debt), but considering how much people struggle to get by in this god awful country, 2.5% MORE is insane.

Imagine if Habbo started having VAT. It wouldn't cost you 51 credits to get a gold bar. It would cost you 60 credits.

[dbgtz]

omg a whole 2.5%!!!!

how old are you?

considering the fact 1% can make a huge difference alone, 2.5% is a lot.

[AgnesIO]

how old are you?

considering the fact 1% can make a huge difference alone, 2.5% is a lot.

Agreed. 2.5% on petrol ends up at a lot by itself. About 3-4p a litre MORE around here. Now, lets say I feel up with 30 litres. Suddenly that is £1.05 MORE every time I fill up. Sometimes, I might have to fill up twice a week. £2.10 more in a week. Lets say I fill up only once a week. That is OVER £50 a year EXTRA. That is obviously just extra, ignoring the fact that it already costs a lot.