Prices! $ + £

[hob]

What is it with prices in the UK? I just got back from holiday, including seeing family in canada.

Just now I saw a Burger King advert here, and it was advertising the new spicy chicken royale, for "just" £1.99. That's $4! (Both US and Canadian - as much as you'd probably hate to admit it the prices are basically the same, in my head - £1=$2... Even though the canadian is a little stronger...)

$4 for a burger is a hell of a lot in Canada, wouldn't you say? How much is an "Original Chicken Sandwich" on the North American continent? The BK.com website doesn't specify...

[AlBDamned]

What is it with prices in the UK? I just got back from holiday, including seeing family in canada.

Just now I saw a Burger King advert here, and it was advertising the new spicy chicken royale, for "just" £1.99. That's $4! (Both US and Canadian - as much as you'd probably hate to admit it the prices are basically the same, in my head - £1=$2... Even though the canadian is a little stronger...)

$4 for a burger is a hell of a lot in Canada, wouldn't you say? How much is an "Original Chicken Sandwich" on the North American continent? The BK.com website doesn't specify...


It's all relative... The Probably pay $4.60 p/h too, just like we would pay £4.60 p/h.

[oreomac]

Gets even worse when you think of all the other things we pay loads for, the one I always think of is petrol.

[mpw]

At the end of the day it's a market place. If you don't want to pay £2 for a burger don't, as demand drops so will prices. Of course you may find that a few thousand people will lose their jobs. But that only means that the employers will have a greater pool of eager workers who'll be happy to work for less just to have a job and if their wages are less the employer can afford a lower selling price and you'll have a burger for £1.50.

[crazzyeddie]

I know that McDonalds is the same price in UK, relative to the currency. 99p for alot of stuff; here it is $1.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Well here in Norway I can go into a regular McDonald's, the by far cheapest hamburger chain in Norway, and order a regular Big Mac (suiting here ;)) and it will cost me NOK 39. That's about $6 even with the relatively week $/NOK rate these days.

A menu with medium fries and drink starts at NOK 59 (i think) or about $9.

[jhu]

they're marketing on psychology. £1.99 looks cheap because it's < £2.00.

[hob]

I know that McDonalds is the same price in UK, relative to the currency. 99p for alot of stuff; here it is $1.

99p=US$1.791

So how does that work out, that's what I don't get :confused:

[hob]

they're marketing on psychology. £1.99 looks cheap because it's < £2.00.
I still don't get how that works. I know it's only a penny less - it's never worked on me 'cos my mum pointed it out when I was little! I always see it and go "aha!"...

[ham_man]

I guess Americans need to quit bitching about stuff being so expensive then... :rolleyes:

As for the Spicy Chicken Royale, well...

VINCENT
And you know what they call a, uh, a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

JULES
They don't call it a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT
Nah, man, they got the metric system,
they wouldn't know what the
**** a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES
What'd they call it?

VINCENT
They call it a "Royale with Cheese."

JULES
(repeating)
"Royale with Cheese."

VINCENT
Thats right.

JULES
What do they call a Big Mac?

VINCENT
Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call
it "Le Big Mac."

JULES
"Le Big Mac." (laughs)
What do they call a Whopper?

VINCENT
I dunno, I didn't go into Burger
King.
:D

[mkrishnan]

Well here in Norway I can go into a regular McDonald's, the by far cheapest hamburger chain in Norway, and order a regular Big Mac (suiting here ;)) and it will cost me NOK 39. That's about $6 even with the relatively week $/NOK rate these days.

A menu with medium fries and drink starts at NOK 59 (i think) or about $9.

Do you have local (to Norway, or to Scandinavia) fast food chains that sell at lower prices? Evian and Guiness are very expensive in the US, for instance. ;) So maybe the fact that BK is an "American" thing has to do with it?

I wonder, if in the area of restaurant fast food, part of the issue also is that it is not a European thing, aside from these relatively recent entries from the US, and even more recent European chains? I wonder if that contributes to higher prices...whereas in the US, fast food has traditionally sat at a lower place on the cost hierarchy than other kinds of restaurants. Also had a lot longer to amortize capital expenses and so on. :rolleyes:

Interesting, though.

Is Fast Food heavily taxed in European countries, or is it taxed at the normal GST / VAT / whatever level at which other consumer goods are taxed?

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Do you have local (to Norway, or to Scandinavia) fast food chains that sell at lower prices? Evian and Guiness are very expensive in the US, for instance. ;) So maybe the fact that BK is an "American" thing has to do with it?

I wonder, if in the area of restaurant fast food, part of the issue also is that it is not a European thing, aside from these relatively recent entries from the US, and even more recent European chains? I wonder if that contributes to higher prices...whereas in the US, fast food has traditionally sat at a lower place on the cost hierarchy than other kinds of restaurants. Also had a lot longer to amortize capital expenses and so on. :rolleyes:

Interesting, though.

Is Fast Food heavily taxed in European countries, or is it taxed at the normal GST / VAT / whatever level at which other consumer goods are taxed?Nope. As I said McDonald's is the cheapest hamburger chain. ;)

There shouldn't be any special taxes either (except a 12-13% vat on take-a-way or 25% if you eat at the resteurant).

It's mostly just the cost of living that's MUCH higher... :o

[EJBasile]

All the oil they fry the food in in Europe costs more per gallon.

:)

[mkrishnan]

Nope. As I said McDonald's is the cheapest hamburger chain. ;)

Well, I meant, serving Norwegian fast food, not American fast food. ;)

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Well, I meant, serving Norwegian fast food, not American fast food. ;)Nah... there's not really any Norwegian fast food.

But you can get some nice kebabs ranging from NOK 30-50 ($4.50-$7.75), and Pizzas (round 12") from NOK 99 ($15) most places... Fast food is not cheap... a normal hot dog will cost you about NOK 20 ($3).

Actually food and drink in general is quite expensive, which is why lots of people living near the Swedish border regularly go food, tobacco and alcohol shopping in Sweden, where prices are lower (and Swedes go to Denmark, who in turn go to Germany where beer costs a fraction of what it does in Norway) :D

[mkrishnan]

Actually food and drink in general is quite expensive, which is why lots of people living near the Swedish border regularly go food, tobacco and alcohol shopping in Sweden, where prices are lower (and Swedes go to Denmark, who in turn go to Germany where beer costs a fraction of what it does in Norway) :D

Sounds like a job for eBay! :D

Of course, my impression is that nasty things like unemployment also follow a line, progressively getting worse as one nears Germany. :rolleyes:

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Sounds like a job for eBay! :DWouldn't help to buy over the internet as you have to pay 25% vat on all purchases over NOK 200 (plus a much higher toll for alcohol, I think tobacco's illegal) plus a fee to the Norwegian postal service. Of course private "gifts" from fellow eBayers might get through, but the fu...dgeing postal service are pretty good at sniffing out packages, especially if you tend to receive more than a few... ;)
Of course, my impression is that nasty things like unemployment also follow a line, progressively getting worse as one nears Germany. :rolleyes:Well, not really, but the commerce industry in border areas are complaining, of course, and demand "actions" against the "border shoppers" (he-he, I guess that's the closest I get in translating that expression).