Not just shops most poor estates/areas have someone like Del Boy. When it's cheaper to import there's always going to be people making money off of it. I've lost count how many Amazon traders have sent me imported games advertised as the UK version. It's mostly going to affect the poor and they will usually go wherever is the cheapest.
Scotland has today introduced a minimum unit price for alcohol
- Thread starter OLDPHART
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Not just shops most poor estates/areas have someone like Del Boy. When it's cheaper to import there's always going to be people making money off of it. I've lost count how many Amazon traders have sent me imported games advertised as the UK version. It's mostly going to affect the poor and they will usually go wherever is the cheapest.
I can imagine supermarkets and offies close to the border on the English side doing very well out of this. I can't see anything stopping people popping into England to buy a couple of months supply plus some extra to sell on to mates etc and take a margin.
Soldato
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I am now considering setting up a booze cruise to Berwick, anybody have a contact at Megabus?
Soldato
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Not just Glasgow, that is more historic. With the NHS under crisis it is a good measure. Adding more tax on cigarettes has helped push down numbers. It was not the only thing but part of the solution. It will take years to see if it is working. Alcoholics will always get their fix but this is not aimed at alcoholics but the over-consumption by others leading to avoidable health problems.
All parties apart from Labour supported it in 2012.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-18160832
Caporegime
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Again clueless people talking about stuff they have zero clue about.
The cost to suppliers hasn't changed.
e.g. If I own a shop. I can still buy cider at the same price I did yesterday.
I now have to sell it for significantly more.
Again this law is targeting the cheap nasty booze only not stuff any normal person would drink.
So it's stuff like frosty jack which are being hit hardest and cheap nasty bottles of vodka for £5.
A bottle of russian standard is the same price today as it was yesterday. A bottle of peroni is the same price today as it was yesterday.
It's frosty jack which has went from £3.50 to £12.50 or something. How many people do you know that drink frosty jack that actually own a car that would then also have the brains to go over the border to buy it cheaper? None.
So nobody is going to be going to England to buy booze.
All this means is cheap booze is no longer available in Scotland. So now jakeys have to pay premium for cheap stuff. Which means why not just buy premium instead?#
For example it's now same price to buy a cheap bottle of scotch as it is cheap nasty cider. So the only change will be the sales of cheapy nasty stuff is going to decrease. The sales of £12-£15 bottles of spirits will increase.
So it's companies like white lightning and frosty jack which will be hurt in the pocket
Caporegime
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This isn't about alcoholics as much as binge drinkers and is absolutely crucial. Student unions doing some kinda hey, a pint for 10p kind of nonsense then you get a bunch of stupid 18yr olds buying 10 double vodkas and 50 people with alcohol poisoning.
You think lifelong alcoholics are down at student nights taking advantage of 10p WKDs and partying with the kids, or drinking their £10 bottle of vodka alone at home or at the pub drinking a nicer whiskey?
Alcoholics also while a big strain on the NHS and causing themselves a huge amount of health problems, are generally not binge drinkers in the typical sense of suddenly drinking more in one night than they usually drink. Alcoholics aren't mostly giving themselves alcohol poisoning but giving themselves liver damage over years and being unable to live without drinking.
Also maybe most importantly, alcoholics aren't really about massive volume or again binge drinking, but about drinking constantly, ie you can still be drunk all the time if you buy one 4 bottles of scotch a week instead of 5, you would just be slightly less drunk, but for alcoholics it's more about being drunk than how drunk they are.
Attacking binge drinking will help cut down on the amount of alcoholics and increasing prices may also cause a lot of alcoholics to drink just a touch less and cause just a little bit less damage to themselves.
This. Because nobody has ever made any money from buying cheap products and (illegally) selling them at a higher price.
Nobody will think of driving to England and buying the £3.50 bottle of frosty jack and selling it to friends in Scotland for £5.
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You're hilarious. I'm fully aware of every single thing you've said. But you really don't think if Frosty jacks has quadrupled in price compared to somewhere a few miles away with absolutely no border or customs security, someone might see the chance to make a few quid out of that? I don't know anyone who drinks Frosty jacks, but it really isn't a stretch to think of people realising that if they can't now afford what they are used to, a 20 minute trip down to Carlisle Asda might be worth it?
No, but I could buy a van, drive into Englad, buy the cheap booze there and sell it for £6 a bottle in Scotland illegally. I think that's the point that a few are making.
Caporegime
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Have you ever met anyone who drinks frosty jack regularly?
They are the type to wet themselves regularly and the rest. They come in as soon as the license allows you to buy alcohol, hands shaking.
If you have friends like that you want to make a quid out of then good luck with that.
Caporegime
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Good luck with that business plan
Same here in England when the 5p bag charge started.
That can definitely happen, laws aren't perfect, but it will no doubt still have an impact. Not everywhere in Scotland is 20 minutes from the border
Caporegime
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A follow up point.
The price is still the same for retailers. So no need to buy a van or go to England. .e.g if i own a shop. It still costs me £2 to buy frosty jack.
So I can get it delivered to my shop in Scotland for that price. So again like I said those people saying that don't know anything.
But you've not considered that any shop in Scotland is going to have a paper trail and accounts showing what they've bought in. So yes, you could still buy that bottle for £2 and you'll have invoices and stock control to prove you've bought it, but if you then sell it for £3.50 you're shooting yourself in the foot because under inspection you'll have to lie because your accounts are going to show a £10.50 profit per bottle. If you lie on your accounts to cover it you'll be paying more tax on it and then have to explain the missing money.
The only way it can work as a retailer is if you're buying it in illegally with no paper trail and for cash, you can then sell as you like and just keep the money separate from the main cash register.
So, when you said "nobody is going to go to england to buy booze", that statement was based on your assumption that everybody in scotland has a good moral compass and nobody would want to make money out of those with an alcohol problem.
"googles frosty jack"
Well if a company's business plan is to sell addictive drinks at the lowest possible price then it sucks to be them when a minimum price much higher than you normally sell for is enforced.
Imagine the effect on the community when the cheapest way to buy alcohol triples in price. It's a fresh burden on the poor alcoholics and will force them to reconsider their finances.
Well if a company's business plan is to sell addictive drinks at the lowest possible price then it sucks to be them when a minimum price much higher than you normally sell for is enforced.
Imagine the effect on the community when the cheapest way to buy alcohol triples in price. It's a fresh burden on the poor alcoholics and will force them to reconsider their finances.
The issue is you don't not implement a law like this just because other people will break the law trying to circumvent it. You police the people then subsequently breaking the law.
That's like arguing why put up the price of cigarettes when people will bring in duty free fags (which they do)
That's like arguing why put up the price of cigarettes when people will bring in duty free fags (which they do)
Yes, I agree with you.
I think the minimum pricing is a good thing. But denying that there will be a black market for cheap imported alcohol is completely wrong IMO.