Is there an RoI bargain thread...?

[AmyAmoeba]

Or is this it?
Not to detract in any way from the brilliant bargain threads on here, but I sometimes see deals that are only relevant to Irish mumsnetters and I hesitate to clutter the thread.
And sometimes it works out significantly cheaper to order from the UK because of the exchange rate, or to use Parcel Motel to reduce shipping charges.
And sometimes I just want to moan when I see the difference in retail price, or realise that tesco uk have toiletries reduced by half but only a third over here! But I don't want to be that moany poster so I thought I'd take it over here!

I'm happy to moan with you

Me too!

😊 I'll join in, no bargains that you guys don't know about though. But, my bargain hunting sisters are amazed at a few of the bargains I've suggested.....

Fellow moaners! Excellent

If anyone spots those 3D Christmas glasses for sale in real life shops would you give me a shout? I'm eyeing them up for Christmas stockings but hoping I can get them over here rather than on Amazon.

In the absence of Home Bargains and Wilkos are there any particular shops worth keeping an eye on? I've got some good deals in TK Maxx on kids toys. Smyths has been good too especially with sales and vouchers.
Mr Price is great for kids craft bits, Dealz and Tiger are good for stocking fillers and of course Penneys is essential. Book Station don't have a brilliant range but can be quite bargainous.
But there surely must be a warehouse treasure trove of bargains that I've overlooked?

Why not come up to NI for the day? Great shopping.
Im in Belfast, but still go to Dublin regularly and happy to help out in any way I can.

Kilkenny shop has a great sale that started today.

I do Parcel Motel but even that is getting dear now. €3.95 a pop!

But for example today there's a 20% off coupon for boots on the Clark's.co.uk site which only delivers to UK addresses.

But on the .EU site there's no coupon.

And the boots I wanted were €200 on the .eu site but only £150 or something on the
.co.uk site. When you took off the 20% the boots went down to the equivalent of €140!

So a difference of €60 for those with UK addresses! Needless to say I was glad of Parcel Motel for that one.

Elspeth- that's a massive saving! I'm a bit wary of PM since I fell foul of their awful customer service but occasionally it's worth the risk!

BiddyPop- thanks for the heads up. Love the Kilkenny Shop.

Sharon - could you recommend a good retail park or shopping centre in Belfast?

There is a facebook page beady eyed bargains which has quite a few decent suggestions for Irish folk!
Mumsnet Xmas thread was always a source of much spending when I lived in the U.K.!

MINTV15 gives you 15% off and free delivery for mint velvet. You can get it delivered to dundrum shop if you're in Dublin

I bought two packets of tights for dd in h&m today for €12.99 each. The sterling price is £7.99. I was SO mad when I saw that. I'm bringing them back. I'll watch this thread with interest.

hi girls just thought I would join in with you, with regards to beady eyes bargains I joined on dh Facebook account but I am not sure if something new is added does it come up on his daily log, I have just been searching beady eyes each day but it means I have to trawl through the thread to see if there is anything new it takes ages, is there an easier way ? Sorry I am not on FB so not sure how it all works, cheers.

I find most stuff shows up on facebook but an occasional trawl through reveals more.

The 2euro store have their own version of bunchems called clingabeez which are €10 fir a 336 piece box or €1.50 for a stocking filler bag of 32.

They also have their own version of pie face called splatter face for €8

Amy Amoeba - The Boucher Road shops are an easy drive up. It took me an hour and a half today from Drogheda so that will give you an idea. Some of the shops there are home bargains, Lakeland, pound world, matalan and then ones we have ourselves like boots, tk maxx, next, river island.... Beware though as the shops don't open until 1 on Sunday's and there were people waiting outside today. I got parked handy enough but when I was leaving at 3 it was mayhem! You can also pop into the Banbridge Outlet which is just off the motorway. They have The Works there which is a great shop for bits and pieces for the kids. Or train up and into castle court and Victoria square. The market in Belfast is amazing at city hall and it will be opening soon. It would be a lovely day out.

What went wrong with Parcel Motel Amy? I use them quite frequently, but I haven't had any issues so haven't had to deal with customer service.

Great thread. I am looking for an Orla Kiely watch (new version) and deals?

Heatons have great toy sale, children's christmas t shirts (4 euro nice quality) and cute elf hats for 3 euro or so.

I've done runs from Dublin a good few times in the past (between IKEA when it was only in Belfast, Sainsbury's in the previous recession (DD in nappies then), learned about Banbridge for clothes, and the odd weekend in Belfast as a family.

Newry is only about 90 minutes from South Dublin, maybe 2 hr at most. (I travel to Cork frequently so find even as far as Belfast is grand). Banbridge is literally only a few minutes further for clothes. Or sometimes going on as far as Lisburn for an M&S outlet, Toys'R'Us and another big Sainsbos; or Boucher Road (Lakeland!!! Chain Reaction for DH bike stuff, and I know there were afew more there).

Newry has a few decent shops in the centre with Sainsbos (including a Superdrug), and there's a second SC across the road. There used to also be a big ONeills shop in the car park for sports gear. A very easy spin off the motorway on the southern end of Newry, down to the bottom of the hill and turn right into Sainsbos centre.

I found Banbridge very good for clothes for me - if you know Kildare Village, it's quite similar. But there's no supermarket (as far as I can remember) so I would go there first and then Sainsbos in Newry on the way home.

Lisburn is really not that much further north though - another 20 minutes? I got good value in toys there some years, and a few things that Smyths/Banba etc didn't seem to have down here. And with the Sainsbos there, I didn't have to stop on the way back either.

There are some lovely craft shops in Belfast (I know I found 2 great ones and can't remember their names, but they were city centre).

There's a tesco in Banbridge now Biddypop. Also in Lisburn just off the motorway you have toys r us as well as sainsburys. I'm not sure if there's one in newry.

Amy as already mentioned Boucher Rd is good. Smyths, Dunelm Mill, TK Maxx, Laura Ashley (no clothing) River Island, Next, Cotswold, B&M, Lakeland, M&S (food/tights/pjs) Pets at Home, Homebase, JD Sports, Sports Direct, Dorothy Perkins...loads more.
If you're coming up stop in Hillsborough, nice independent shops to get a few bits.
I live Southside in Dublin and East Belfast and can do door to door in 2 hours, the roads great now!

Yay! I'll post any I find bit dealpage.ie has random ones on it to start (since dealz and tiger have already been mentioned).

Thanks Mary - but I despise Tesco. I will grudgingly used it for small local shops (loaf of bread or milk when I run out) or their multi packs of mini breadsticks (handy alternative to crisps for school lunches). But I hate them for a big shop.

Not only is Sainsbos actually different, but they remind me of Superquinn. And they have decent quality things even in the basics range. And boxed wine.

I forgot about the Ulster Mills shop in Newry (also car park of the Saimsbo's SC) - not for bargains exactly but nice things and cheaper because of sterling at the moment.

Have you tried Addresspal with An Post? You register, pick a post offfice and use you "customer UK address" they give you and they redirect it to the post office you picked.

Its 3.50 per collection regardless of size. Have been using it a few months now!

Oh I'm definitely investigating that, thanks!

I like parcel wizard. €3.85 per parcel and they find my house in the sticks first time every time!