A few weeks ago someone rang me from the UK press asking for my opinion on the new trend for people in France to get a lot of their shopping delivered from the UK, to take advantage of the fact that many things now cost much less in Britain.
‘That can’t be possible’, I boldly said. ‘Who would do such a thing, and how can it work out cheaper? ‘. Ah well, I can’t be right all the time. Or even much of the time, come to mention it. Since then I have learned that even down here in south-west France you can place an order with a supermarket in the UK, and there are vans that will drive all the way there and collect it for you. What’s more it’s said to be a booming business for the companies concerned.
There is a charge of about 15% on top of the cost of the shopping, but since many things are apparently more than 15% cheaper in Britain it seems it’s quite a popular service. Rumours are that even croissants and French cheese are cheaper to buy in the UK, and I was told that people in Bergerac like to order a case of their local Bergerac wine from Asda in the UK and have it delivered – to Bergerac! I’m amazed if that saves money but I guess anything is possible.
(Edit: I have started a list of ‘big savings in the UK’ items at the bottom of this entry.)
I know that some people need their fix of guinness, marmite (me!) and curry sauce, and I can see the reason for having these delivered to France, but apparently most items ordered are things that are also readily available locally. Meanwhile UK pensioners in France are receiving their pensions in pounds and prefer to spend them on cheaper UK shopping than convert them into expensive euros and then also pay more for their shopping.
I can’t say I’m a big enthusiast for the polluting impact of sending a van thousands of kilometres to collect shopping, and I’m surprised that the companies or people doing the collecting and deliveries can make a profit after paying for vans, petrol, drivers wages for at least a 24 hours return trip, an overnight hotel somewhere, motorway toll charges, ferry crossings, taxes – but it’s great to see someone stepping in to fill the demand, and good luck to them with it.
It’s also not clear what local French might think about expats importing their groceries from the UK rather than supporting local businesses – would most be appalled, or would they start doing the same I wonder?
The whole thing comes about of course because UK supermarkets like to compete with each other, and reduce prices at times of financial difficulty. I don’t know why you don’t see the same thing happening in France – perhaps the supermarkets act as a price-fixing cartel, or perhaps the suppliers refuse to lower prices, or maybe it’s just the high labour costs that stop prices being reduced.
Having read lots of other opinions on the subject (seems it’s a bit of a hot topic at the moment) people seem to fall into one of two camps:
1) You live in France so should support the local economy and accept France ‘as a whole’ with its advantages and disadvantages
2) You shouldn’t let yourself be ripped off, and there’s nothing essentialy wrong in where you buy your shopping, especially if it saves you money.
Personally I fall into the second group (I think!). I have affection for both France and for England, and both countries have their good points and bad points. If I could save lots of money by ordering our family’s hair colourant, pet food and other items that are identical in the two countries from the UK I can’t see a good reason not to. Just the same as I wouldn’t choose an ‘artisan’ because they are French or because they are English, but by who I think will do the best job at the best price, and just the same as when I lived in the UK but bought lots of wine to take back each time we visited France.
The situation also reminds me of a story our plumber told us, that a replacement part for a boiler he had just mended cost £80 in the UK or 300 euros in France for the exact same item – should the customer have insisted on using the French bought part, I wonder?
None of the above applies to items that are clearly not the same in the two countries – the choice of whether to buy croissants at 1.5 euros each in your local boulangerie or for 20p each from Asda is different because the two things are completely different products.
But whatever the reason for the difference it doesn’t bode especially well for the French supermarket industry if it is cheaper to cross the channel to buy your bread and butter – perhaps Tesco would like to open a store down here in deepest France? Seems we’d be queuing for miles to get in!
Things that are much cheaper in the UK
I thought I’d pull a list together from the comments etc of things that are definitely significantly cheaper in the UK, might be useful for reference next time you’re going anyway…if you know something that should be added just leave a comment below and I’ll add it to the list
1) Quality paint
2) Spare parts (for cars, boilers etc)
3) Bulk-buy type items eg shampoo, dishwasher tablets, washing powder, shower gel, sun creams, pet food
4) Pharmacy type products eg ibuprofen, paracetemol
The matter of competition is not as clear cut as many people would like to think. For example, there is a principle in France that – in general – retailers are not allowed to sell below cost.
This is the French interpretation of an EU wide law that prohibits predatory pricing – ie, using market power and shear size to price at a loss to drive opposition out of the market and to create monopoly situations through unfair competition.
It is a law that is, however, largely disregarded in the UK. The French are not the only people to disregard EU law when it suits them. Hence UK supermarkets will continue to eliminate smaller chains until only three or four are left.
French law also protects suppliers from abuse by the big retailers, again in line with EU regulation on fair trade.
But the other issue the French have to deal with is the mind-numbing cost of employing people, something that the authorities here seem to be incapable of understanding, let alone being able to do anything about.
Hi Jon, thanks very much for that explanation, that helps explain how the difference came about. Is ‘food importing’ popular in your neck of the woods?
Cheaper by far to order your car parts from the U.K., even with delivery costs, than to buy them in France.
It is so easy to put in an online Tesco/Asda order these days and very simple to compare the prices of everyday things. Shampoo, dishwasher tablets, washing powder, shower gel, sun creams, pet food are considerably cheaper in UK supermarkets. So much so that once a year its worth driving back and filling up with all these non perishable items, also visit the family and save money at the same time. Recently needed a new clutch for the car (all those trips back to UK) 300€ from the local garage, managed to source (via ebay) for £38 + £10 delivery. Our local garage mechanic was surprised and convinced it would be rubbish, he was wrong and it works a treat.
I am convinced the supermarket prices in France are high due to the lack of competition and staffing costs. But remember the poor € rate and the fact that VAT is higher also does not help. When (and if) the € is 1.5/£ and UK VAT is 20% the story maybe a little different.
You wonder why Tesco have opened stores all around the world but this week announced that they are closing their only French outlet in Calais in the next few weeks. Maybe they should move the stock to the many France based “shop Anglais” which seem to also be popping up!!
There’s a specialist retailer I know of in the Deux Sèvres who supplies a full range of UK sourced goods. Bloody pricy though.
I’ve not seen any of these companies selling into this area yet; we’d have to go down to Angouleme for our nearest pickup I think, but if we travel to the UK we bring stuff home with us. Less and less stuff as the years go by, though.
When I did the costings for a paint buying spree, I found the savings to be insufficient to make a dedicated trip worthwhile, even with sterling so weak, but as an adjunct to see friends it could be a money saver.
I suppose it might be a different matter if we lived just outside Calais.
The best croissants i can buy are now from Waitrose as they still make them like the French used to.
Jon On the surface all these Euro laws may appear to make things more fair, but in reality it just stops competition. In the UK more and more specialist food retailers are opening so much so we buy so little from supermarkets less than we have ever done.I can buy parasetamol from the supermarket for 15p or less in most of Europe you have to go th a chemist and pay a lot more. the list of examples wher the customer loses out is endless.A true free market sorts things in the end out even if there are some problems on the way.The EU and its laws are ruining us in the world.
I have just returned from France where our dog received his annual boosters, Rabies booster, tick and tapeworm treatment and finally a health check for the trip back to the UK. Total cost ….. 68 Euros, checking the same treatments with our vet in the UK………… over £300!! Yes some things are expensive (Toiletries, razors, some car parts) But the difference is that France has not yet reached the same greed and consumerism of the UK and the life they lead is still centred around family and life and community, not what you own. When in France, be French, after-all we demand it from people who come to live in the UK?
Well our village in Norfolk is all about community and its people. We have a comunity shop staffed by many unpaid volunteers. If you want a lift you just phone the car share organiser and someone will take you anywhere you want to go. All buss travel is free for the over 60s We have a good family life, most people have pet insurance so they can predict the cost. So if you live in the right place in the UK you can find old fashioned values without intrusion. I am not saying Britain is better than france as home is where you want to be. But where we are the quality of life is as good as anywhere and I understand what makes it tick far better than i ever did when I lived in both Germany and france.
Paul, while I’m sure you are right that France has avoided the excessive consumerism of the UK it is still the case that many expats are struggling to make ends meet and the chance to save a significant amount of money is very appealing.
Johnny, does your community living mean that everyone still shops in a small village shop or do people still rush off to a bigger town to save money at the supermarket? Sounds idyllic by the way, I’ll join you there one day!
Perhaps it has something to do with the quality of the service we get in UK supermarkets?
Helpful staff; short checkout queues;
sell by dates adhered to?
That made me laugh – you’ve been to my local supermarché then?!
At Christmas and New Year, whole turkeys are on sale in a local supermarket with a clear ‘sell-by’ date.
On that date, the shelves are awash with turkey portions with a new ‘sell-by’ date.
haha, great anecdote, haven’t laughed out loud so much for a long time!
Boris said,
“I can’t say I’m a big enthusiast for the polluting impact of sending a van thousands of kilometres to collect shopping,”
Do you feel the same about people doing the same thing to take a holiday in one of your cottages. One mans meat and all that.
Boris asked,
“Johnny, does your community living mean that everyone still shops in a small village shop or do people still rush off to a bigger town to save money at the supermarket?”
There are a number of locals who do not have a car and use the shop all the time, Others use both the supermarket and the shop. Tesco,Sainsbury, Asda and Waitrose have a delivery service and some use that. The shop also buys in local surplus fresh produce from local people so its always worth popping in to see what they have. There is also a lot of home baking on sale as well. Mike the butcher delivers meat from the next village. you can also collect your prescriptions from the shop or have them delivered. They also have free internet access for those who do not have a PC and cannot wait for the mobile libary. They used to have a monthly coffee morning in the back room in the shop but this has proved so successful it has moved to the village hall.
The longer we live here the more we find going on. there is no fuss made about it , it just happens.
I was in the shop the other day and a lady was on line making her Tesco order, the assistant in the shop was showing her how to do it.
Many people keep hens so there are always local eggs available.We have just finnished the new potatoes they were 4 pounds for £1 and the man that grew them gave all the money to charity.
You’re right of course. In our defence we’ve planted hundreds of trees and plants that help offset the environmental cost of foreign travel. But there is also the problem of choice – if someone wants to go somewhere ‘foreign’ for a holiday, for whatever reason (weather, culture, to see somewhere different etc), they have little choice but to travel a long way, which is (in my probably biased opinion) different to choosing to buy something from hundreds of miles away when the same thing is available locally.
What I would like to see of course is prices in France come into line with those in the UK so the need doesn’t arise, but while there are such significant differences I don’t blame anyone for taking advantage of them.
When we first joined the eu I started shipping my wine direct from a firm in Paris paying only the French tax, After about my third order the British government stopped it as it was circumnavigating their duty tax. So we have never had a free market for consumers unless you arrive personaly. It will be interesting to see how the French government reacts if these direct deliveries take off and it is seen in the same way as my wine. I am not a fan of the EU at all and just wish it was a true free trade area and nothing more, but it is not at the moement even that. The cost of all this set up is just too great.Layer and layers of politicians and the onee that should have the power ( front line) dont.
If you’re on a budget, I always found Lidl very cheap, and although it’s sometimes a little hit and miss, some of the products are actually pretty good.
It strikes me as a little insane that the UK supermarkets would supply people in France, but I guess if there’s a market then it’s something further for them to exploit.
There’s a few UK food products I still enjoy, but I think it a little sad if you settle in France and you really can’t get by without them; there’s plenty of decent food to choose from in France.
I don’t see why anyone should feel guilty about shopping in the UK and have it delivered in France. I have an apartment in the south east of France, close to the border of Spain. There is a small town called Le Perthus which throngs with French people buying what looks like gallons of Pastis, cigarettes & tobacco, cakes,cured legs of pig/hog/whatever, clothes, perfumes etc. in fact, all the things that are expensive in France. The town is split in two half Spain/half France but trades like Spain – much cheaper. There is also Andorra, again, 90+% french shoppers buying much of the above but also,sugar and butter (very cheap) boxes of cakes. They buy so much from here that the border crossing has dozens of police stopping and searching vehicles to make sure they haven’t bought too much of well, pretty much anything. Stories of butter and sugar being confiscated are not uncommon. The French government must lose a huge amount of tax and the local shops in France which some English think should be patronised is a sentiment not shared by the French themselves. So don’t feel guilty – the French don’t!
Oh, one other thing, when visiting Andorra which I have done many, many times, there has always been a strong smell of Pastis in the air due to the frequent dropping and smashing of bottles of the stuff. It is truly a sight to behold. It’s sort of like a cross between a trolly dash in a supermarket and panic buying (like someone announced that after today, nowhere on earth will ever sell it again) but on a grand scale. As you can imagine, parking becomes increasingly difficult as the day progresses and the sight of people staggering up or down the mountainous roads loaded like pack horses falls into the ‘beggars belief’ category. Many shoppers travel from miles around and all roads leading to it are those dreadful winding bend type where you feel you have taken your very life in your hands. The fearless French drive on them like it’s a motorway. Hmm… wonder if the interior of some of these cars smells like Pastis? Now there’s a sobering thought!
Food has got expensive in France – particularly meat I find. There is an English shop at Monsempron Libos, in the Lot et Garonne and, despite it being a small business, they have cheddar cheese cheaper than you can buy Cantal for and all their products seem reasonably priced. So perhaps a good compromise would be to support these small businesses, rather than give money away to the supermarket giants like Tesco and Asda who have already done plenty of damage to the English countryside and small village shops?
I have just discovered this blog, and find it deals with a lot of issues that exercise me!
I have lived in a village in the south east of France for five years now, as a young retiree. My brother has also just come to live nearby. Just this morning, I was telling him “some things are better in the UK, some worse, and shopping here is one of the worse things”. I mentioned that high employer costs probably accounted for the price differential. Part of these taxes does, however, make its way into the public services too. The health care I have received since coming to France has been superb. Banking drives me to distraction though!
As for the rampant consumerism of the UK, I am happy to leave it behind. People throw away so much food back home; here, people seem to buy just what they need. I find that keeping local shops open allows people to go on living in the villages as they age, and the local shops are a place where people chat and keep informed, thus showing an interest in others’ well-being, just like the milkman used to do in the UK.
What I am guilty of is taking advantage of trips home to see friends and family to go to TK Maxx and stock up on pyjamas, undies, sweaters, jog pants etc. French clothes are very expensive, I find, and I can’t buy underwear to fit as bra sizes are too small here. The first time I tried to get one, and told the woman in the shop my cup size, she audibly gasped! At home I am normal!!!
To finish, one thing I find intriguing is that food is cheaper at home, but eating out is very expensive, especially if you want quality. But here in France you can get a three-course meal of quality for about the equivalent of £20. And waiters here are really good at their job too. In sum, I am staying here, and just bringing back Patak’s lime pickle and any other pickles I can lay my hands on and really strong loose tea! Oh and bras…
I just stumbled onto this blog, we lived in France for 6 months but things didn’t got as well as we planned(or failed to plan) but anyway I would give my right ear to be able to live there for the rest of my days…. we loved it…. simple, satisfying and relaxed living… perfect.
We were in Morbihan very close to Pontivy… we miss it so much, Britain has become such a stressfull place…
Hi Tony, you can always plan more carefully next time and come back again one day!