M&S - what are you up to???

[LookItsMeAgain]

I give you this pair of boots:
www.marksandspencer.com/wide-fit-suede-kitten-heel-ankle-boots/p/clp60563926#intid=carousel_FUNH_AT_RECENT_END_HP_18_1

UK Price - £65.00
Available on the Irish site: €90

Actual currency conversion rate makes £65 = €74 (approx).

Where are they getting the other €15 from???????????

This pair are £45 in the UK (or Northern Ireland branches) but they are €65 in the Republic of Ireland:
www.marksandspencer.com/lace-up-platform-square-toe-ankle-boots/p/clp60510124?color=OXBLOOD
Difference in the exchange rate: £45 = €52 (approx)
Where is the other €13 either being applied from or where is it going???

I find the difference in the price (even with the cost of petrol) absolutely inexcuseable and will make customers travel to Northern Ireland to get the very same product for a lot less.

With the difference in the exchange rate, I could get petrol and drive up and get them in Northern Ireland. I would prefer to get them in the Republic though.

How can they justify such a difference in price????

Just to point out that I'm not planning on buying either pairs of boots but this is the season to buy your winter boots and I'll tell you I'll not be buying them in M&S in the Republic of Ireland. I would travel and use that journey to buy alcohol too!

Is a Brexit thing? So it's some sort of import / export duty due to M&S being a uk company, and uk no longer in EU?

Import taxes? It costs me more to buy shoes from Spain or Germany when I'm in the UK than it does when I'm in Ireland so maybe they're just a highly taxed item.

M&S have been doing this for years and years.
In Poland, [https://www.marksandspencer.com/en-pl/wide-fit-suede-kitten-heel-ankle-boots/p/P60563926.html] the price on there is zł385 which is about €80.

Laura Ashley did it with their furniture. They added a ridiculous % to their prices, which seemed to be plucked out of the top of their heads rather than bearing any relationship to actual exchange or travel costing for their stuff.

The local Screwfix manager told me that they have about 750 stores "across the country".... which is only true if you still live in 1914.

I don't buy from M&S because of their (yucky) website reviews, the ridiculous upcosting vs their UK site, and their changing rooms policy.

So, no I dont think it's a Brexit thing, nor a taxes thing, nor an "extra cost to get our stuff to a store in Dublin vs the store in Newry".

I think it's a "looking at what price the market will bear" thing.