I have been fully aware that Britain was overstuffed with Rip-off merchants out to screw the customer for as much as they could, but it’s really sank home when I bought a number of items from eBay, items priced at £x and then find the same item on other websites at £3x or even more in the shops.I’ve just bought a reverse osmosis water system for a total cost of £65, yet the very same item is advertised on various websites for up to £350 with phrases like, ‘money back guarantee,’ and ‘You can easily pay £400 plus,’ ‘Special Limited Offer Now On,’ while another website insisted that ‘The Next 10 orders can get one for the unbeatable price of ONLY £197,’ for the same one I paid £65 for on eBay. More nonsense such as, ‘No Hidden Extras,’ ‘Get One Now - Don’t be too late!’
This rant isn’t an ad for eBay, but an illustration of the price differentials—and of Companies ripping-off customers for the same item. Remember the new car price rip-off scandal of a few years ago when prices for cars were thousands of pounds cheaper on the continent for the same model? Recently, FOOD prices rose more quickly in Britain than in similar economies across the globe. TESCO had a bad Christmas as a result of that greed game. A published study puts the food inflation rate at 9.5 per cent in June. That is almost 65 per cent higher than in France, where the figure is 5.77 per cent, and a third higher than Germany’s 7.12 per cent.
Local Council Tax, water, petrol, gas and electricity prices also rose ahead of other nations. Even the DVLC thinks it’s a Blue Chip Company—at least its pricing suggests this. There is a sense of rampant greed being the only game in town. Look at the APR% on store Credit Cards! Some run into 38% or more. A loan shark outfit that set up in a shop near me, offers loans at 97% APR and sucks in the gullible. Many global brands treat the UK as a ‘Treasure Island’, charging more for goods here than identical items sold in Europe and elsewhere. Companies make British customers pay huge mark-ups on gadgets, designer clothes and other products, simply because they can, and the British are infamous for not complaining. Restaurant wine is exorbitant and so are the meals, Garage bills a complete rip-off, Solicitors overcharge, Estate Agents charge what they feel like, High Street opticians rip you off, sandwiches are overpriced, etc.
Local Council Tax, water, petrol, gas and electricity prices also rose ahead of other nations. Even the DVLC thinks it’s a Blue Chip Company—at least its pricing suggests this. There is a sense of rampant greed being the only game in town. Look at the APR% on store Credit Cards! Some run into 38% or more. A loan shark outfit that set up in a shop near me, offers loans at 97% APR and sucks in the gullible. Many global brands treat the UK as a ‘Treasure Island’, charging more for goods here than identical items sold in Europe and elsewhere. Companies make British customers pay huge mark-ups on gadgets, designer clothes and other products, simply because they can, and the British are infamous for not complaining. Restaurant wine is exorbitant and so are the meals, Garage bills a complete rip-off, Solicitors overcharge, Estate Agents charge what they feel like, High Street opticians rip you off, sandwiches are overpriced, etc.What eBay has done for me, is to infuse the shopping experience with competition and economy. Bye bye Oxford St, M&S, Waitrose, Next, Nike, and others like you.
Mind you, the UK Government leads the way with the highest petrol tax in Europe. It promotes alcohol sales to gather in tax on this dangerous commodity, ending up with a country full of lager louts, in conjunction with the added tax on death-dealing tobacco. All explained by twisted arguments and excuses on why it does this to its population. Speed cameras ripping off motorists, congestion charges gathering more tax, the highest train fares in Europe and a host of other stealth taxes. Government of both ilk’s are the leaders in ripping off Britain’s population—so the companies are simply following the Government’s lead.
Shame on ye! Is this why we elect these self-serving politicians? So Bankers only followed the government when they thought they were printing money with the Sub-prime scandal. So much for Adam Smith’s laissez affair and the Cato Institute rot.
Laissez affair— the theory or system of government that upholds the autonomous character of the economic order, believing that government should intervene as little as possible in the direction of economic affairs.
