Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland

pawianThreads: 90 Posts: 5,395 Joined: May 30, 08 ♂	Edited by: pawian Sep 29, 10, 00:00 #1
I am interested in comparing prices of services and products in Poland and elsewhere. You pay 20 zlotys (4 pounds) and can play in kids` fun center in Warsaw all day. How much in your country? The biggest attraction - air pump action guns shooting soft balls and a UFO-like container to which kids can pneumatically deliver balls and later drop them onto the floor.

f stopThreads: 33 Posts: 2,861 Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♀	Edited by: f stop Sep 29, 10, 00:03 #2
don't they have those things in McDonalds in US? If so, it's free. Nevermind.. I guess yours is bigger.

pawianThreads: 90 Posts: 5,395 Joined: May 30, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:05 #3
f stop: don't they have those things in McDonalds in US? If so, it's free. Hmm, so big? :):):) McDonalds outlets in Poland usually have one slide tower.

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:07 #4
It costs me about £8 an hour to take my nephew to one of those places here in Scotland :/

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Edited by: SeanBM Sep 29, 10, 00:09 #5

pawian:

Let`s compare prices

I think this is a very interesting topic.

There are some shockingly disproportionate prices here for certain items when you look at them against salaries i.e. Cars, domestic appliances, technology...

Labour is cheaper comparatively but imports are much more expensive, especially with the drop of the PLN currency, which has had a positive effect on the Polish economy i.e. higher internal consumption due to lower number of imports and higher exports due to them being cheaper on the international market.
So what Poland doesn't produce is expensive.

pawianThreads: 90 Posts: 5,395 Joined: May 30, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:09 #6
dtaylor5632: It costs me about £8 an hour That`s a lot.

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,727 Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:13 #7
pawian: That`s a lot. It's only expensive for those that can't afford it. What I mean is, salaries are higher and although we are using a playground as an example, it is not an intrinsic part of life to pay for such a thing, unlike what I have mentioned above.

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Sep 29, 10, 00:25 #8

This could be a potentially interesting thread. Maybe some PF-ers migth fill in the data comparing prices in Poland, the UK and US. For instance:
-- packet of 20 cigarettes
-- 6-pack of local beer
-- a McDonald's cheeseburger
-- the cheapest new car you can buy
-- public transport fare (bus, tram, tube)
-- cup of coffee at café
-- 200-litre fridge
-- bed-sit monthly rent
-- cinema ticket
-- daily newspaper
-- loaf of bread
-- litre of vodka
.... other items of interest

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Edited by: SeanBM Sep 29, 10, 00:26 #9

How about we start with rent (in a city), petrol (gas), a computer, milk, bread and beer, you know the essentials :) and compare them to wages.

This is why I think this thread is very interesting.

Edit*

Polonius3:

-- packet of 20 cigarettes

These have trebled in the last two or so years since I gave up (yeeay me!)

Polonius3:

-- a McDonald's cheeseburger

Big Mac Index

Polonius3:

-- the cheapest new car you can buy

Poland is the biggest buyers of second hand cars in Europe, so this would not be a good one. (or so I have heard).

Polonius3:

-- public transport fare (bus, tram, tube)

Good one, also private buses are very reasonably priced and should be included as part of public transport.

Polonius3:

-- cup of coffee at café

Is a "milk bar" included?
3-6 Zloty.

I will get prices for these, just not now.

f stopThreads: 33 Posts: 2,861 Joined: Dec 9, 09 ♀	Sep 29, 10, 00:32 #10
you have to make it a percentage of average wages.

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Sep 29, 10, 00:34 #11

SeanBM:

How about we start with rent (in a city), petrol (gas), a computer, milk, bread and beer, you know the essentials :) and compare them to wages.

In my village, rent for average 1 bed flat = about £360. Petrol is around £1.30 per litre, nice laptop is from £280 to about £300, milk 50p for 1 litre, loaf of bread about £1.20, beer abour £2.80 a pint in pub, £1.50 in shop. Min wage in this area is about £850 per month after tax for 36hrs a week.

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,833 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:41 #12
The second- and third-hand excuses for cars privately imported by Poles from the scrapyards of Germany are difficult to compare, so for this purpsoe a new car is preferable. I have heard that the lowest-priced new car currently available is the Fiat 600 at around 23,000 zł which at $1 = 3zł comes about about $7,700.

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Sep 29, 10, 00:44 #13

SeanBM:

Good one, also private buses are very reasonably priced and should be included as part of public transport.

This is one that gets on my goat. For example I dont use a car, so I must travel this way all the time. A wee while ago I went for a day trip to Edinburgh (approximately 30 miles away and a 20 min car journey by motorway). It cost me £2.80 to by bus to get to the bus station in Stirling, then the train from Stirling to Edin cost £14 one way. Once you put in the others costs like visiting Holyrood (£18), dinner (£28) castle entrance £18 and a few beers which came to around £20. By the time wee got home that night, I think I had spent about £120 on a single day out!

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Sep 29, 10, 00:48 #14

-- packet of 20 cigarettes £6.30
-- 6-pack of local beer £6-£7 in off licence(Liquor shop) half that price in a supermarket.
-- a McDonald's cheeseburger Meat is Murder
-- the cheapest new car you can buy Dont Know
-- public transport fare (bus, tram, tube) single bus trip into the town center £1.30
-- cup of coffee at café £2.00
-- 200-litre fridge £100
-- bed-sit monthly rent £500
-- cinema ticket £3.50-£5
-- daily newspaper £1.20
-- loaf of bread £1.40 cheaper bread is available but does more harm than good
-- litre of vodka £15

average wage about £10.00 per hour

♂

Edited by: SeanBM Sep 29, 10, 00:50 #15

Polonius3:

so for this purpsoe a new car is preferable

only that Poland is the biggest buyers of second hand cars in the E.U.
So for this purposes, naaaaaaa!

dtaylor5632:

approximately 30 miles away and a 20 min car journey by motorway

I live 30 KM from Krakow, cost of private bus 4.50 Złoty.
It is about the same price for the public bus but they aren't so often.

dtaylor5632:

In my village, rent for average 1 bed flat = about £360. Petrol is around £1.30 per litre, nice laptop is from £280 to about £300, milk 50p for 1 litre, loaf of bread about £1.20, beer about £2.80 a pint in pub, £1.50 in shop. Min wage in this area is about £850 per month after tax for 36hrs a week.

Good list, I will produce a similar list but I need sleep right not, cost-free :)

Edit*

Barney:

-- 6-pack of local beer £6-£7 in off licence(Liquor shop) half that price in a supermarket.

You get a six pack for 3/350 in a supermarket?

Barney:

Meat is Murder

So how much is an assassination these days? :)

Barney:

-- 200-litre fridge £100

It is more expensive here, especially when compared to average wage.

Barney:

-- cinema ticket £3.50-£5

There has been a dramatic increase in cinema tickets both here and in Ireland.
Are you talking about one of those new fandangled multiplex type places in the city?

We should state if it's in the city or in the sticks.

Barney:

-- daily newspaper £1.20

120 PLN here for a tabloid.

Barney:

-- litre of vodka £15

We might need to name the vodka, you know yourself ;)

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 00:50 #16
-- packet of 20 cigarettes £5.70 -- 6-pack of local beer £8 -- a McDonald's cheeseburger 99p -- the cheapest new car you can buy £6000 -- public transport fare (bus, tram, tube) Depends how far you are going -- cup of coffee at café £5 -- 200-litre fridge £300 -- bed-sit monthly rent £360 -- cinema ticket £8-£14 -- daily newspaper £1 -- loaf of bread £1.20 -- litre of vodka £13

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Sep 29, 10, 09:58 #17

SeanBM:

Barney:
-- 200-litre fridge £100
It is more expensive here, especially when compared to average wage.

I checked this morning and David is correct, about £250-£300.

SeanBM:

There has been a dramatic increase in cinema tickets both here and in Ireland.
Are you talking about one of those new fandangled multiplex type places in the city?

That is the average price for a typical multiplex in the city or out in the sticks. They do deals during the week, weekends more expensive.

SeanBM:

We might need to name the vodka

You can buy cheap vodka in supermarkets but branded stuff like Absolute/smirnoff etc is about £15. My local offie sells Zubrowka at about £18 per 500cc.

SeanBM:

You get a six pack for 3/350 in a supermarket?

Its one of the things here Supermarket beer is very cheap its usually sold in cases of 24 and there is always something on offer.

I hear that clothes are the same price as in the west, is this true?

With cigarettes and spirits there is the black market which does a roaring trade. There was even a brand of vodka..basically a diluted grain spirit called Vodski. This illegal stuff seems to have taken over from poteen in the towns.

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Edited by: Teffle Sep 29, 10, 10:22 #18

SeanBM:

So what Poland doesn't produce is expensive.

That's it in a nutshell.

I was quite shocked at the price of "baby stuff" in Poland - prams, car seats etc. Pretty much the same (and occasionally more expensive) than in Ireland - which when on much less wages, is a lot of money to be spending. Clothes generally - about the same, a little cheaper maybe. But broadly speaking, most other commonplace low value consumer stuff - food, alcohol, CDs, quite a bit cheaper in Poland. Rent seems to be a bit expensive in Poland though.

A few to compare:

Rent in my town in Ireland (2 bed, 2 bath modern apt, fully furnished ): €5-650 pm

Seat Ibiza, new, base model: about €13,750

Bus ticket (private) 100 mile round trip: €10

Train ticket 100 mile round trip: €22

Pint in local pub (cheapest): €3.90

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Edited by: zetigrek Sep 29, 10, 11:04 #19

-- packet of 20 cigarettes 8.70 - 11.90 zł
-- a McDonald's cheeseburger 3 zł
-- public transport fare (bus, tram, tube) in Łódź regular ticket: 2.40 zł for 30 min, 1.70 zł for 10 min, 9.60 zł for 24h; students ticket: 1.20 zł 30 min, 0.85 zł 10 min, 4.80 zł for 24h
-- cinema ticket 12-15 zł, 21-28 zł for IMAX (cheapest are students tickets)
-- daily newspaper 2.50 zł Gazeta Wyborcza
-- loaf of bread 1.80 zł cheapest bread in Biedronka

-- train ticket from Łódź to Warsaw (InterRegio, 2nd class) 23 zł for regular ticker, 15.40 zł for students ticket; TLK 33 zł for regular (2nd class), 47 zł for regular (1nd class), 22 zł for students (only 2nd class)

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,833 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 11:52 #20
A Seat Ibiza surely can't be the chepaest new car available in the UK! What does a Fiat Panda or Dacia Logan go for there? Or the smallest Hyundai? Incidetnally, the price you gave for the Ibiza translates (at the current ₤1 = 4.61 zł rate) to nearly 64,000 zł, whereas the base Ibiza in Poland lists at 47,000 zł.

Plastic Pole52Threads: - Posts: 112 Joined: Sep 18, 10 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 12:00 #21
The price is in euros not pounds.

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Sep 29, 10, 12:02 #22

It's true that some things are still cheaper in Poland than in the UK such as transport, cigarettes and booze (you can do without the last two). However, I still believe the Polish consumer gets a very raw deal. Patak's pickles are about £1.40 in UK (Tesco) and at least four times dearer in Poland. The cheapest bar of shop's own soap (Tesco) is larger and cheaper in UK than in Poland, where you pay three times more for half as much. There is no reason why prices should generally be so high in Poland than in countries where wages are much higher. I smell a rat somewhere. So what are we going to do about it, apart from moan on the internet?

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Sep 29, 10, 12:02 #23

-- aquapark 1h at weekends: 30 zł regular, 15 zł children/students
-- olympic size open air swimming pool "Anilana" in summertime: 6 zł regular, 3 zł children/students for WHOLE DAY! (wow that's pretty cool and even the lack of changing room and dirt is acceptable when such a low price ;)
-- a pair of new jeans in "brand" stores (like h&m, bershka) 80 - 120 zł
-- a pair of used jeans in second hand shop 10 - 12 zł
-- a new shirt or blouse in "brand" stores 60 zł
-- a used shirt or blouse in second hand shop 3 - 6 zł
-- a pair of new eco/artificial skin shoes in brand stores 120 zł
-- a pair of new eco/artificial skin shoes in a street stall 30-45 zł
-- a pair of new natural skin shoes 200-300 zł
-- a cd with music 50-60 zł
-- a cd with music with a label dobra cena 35 zł
-- a book of Murakami 35-45 zł (average price of a novel book is about 40 zł)
-- a high school textbooks 1 year complet: about 200-300 zł (not sure of that beacause I don't have children and garduated school long time ago)
-- a high school second hand textbooks 1 year complet: less than 100 zł?

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,833 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 12:04 #24
Sorry about that. In euros the price is comaprable to Poland's. But the Ibiza is still not the chepaest car available anywhere.

zetigrekThreads: 59 Posts: 2,709 Joined: May 20, 10 ♂	Edited by: zetigrek Sep 29, 10, 12:05 #25
bimber94: I smell a rat somewhere. So what are we going to do about it, apart from moan on the internet? Yep that was already proved that we are abused in Poland. When the PL currency rates where high everybody where wondeing why products are not cheaper. There was even a press investigations about prices of clothes in famouse brands... and yes they probed that were ripped off on daily basis!

delphiandomineThreads: 42 Posts: 9,954 Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended]	Sep 29, 10, 12:08 #26
bimber94: Patak's pickles are about £1.40 in UK (Tesco) and at least four times dearer in Poland. To be fair, that sort of thing is priced as a premium product in Poland because barely anyone buys it - unlike in the UK. The prices are coming down though - I recall two years ago, black olives were very very expensive - now, you can buy a huge jar for less than 9zl.

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Edited by: Teffle Sep 29, 10, 12:10 #27

Polonius3:

But the Ibiza is still not the chepaest car available anywhere.

I don't understand - I never said it was.

It's just an example for comparison. But since you mention Fiat, the base model 500 is about €12,700 in Ireland for example.

What is very surprising though is that you say the other (euro) price I gave for the Ibiza was comparable to Poland. Ireland is well known for being expensive for cars - so that sounds pretty steep for Poland then.

IronsideThreads: 59 Posts: 6,783 Joined: Feb 26, 09 ♂	Edited by: Ironside Sep 29, 10, 12:14 #28
Polonius3: A Seat Ibiza surely can't be the chepaest new car available in the UK! He is talking about Ireland. SeanBM: There are some shockingly disproportionate prices here for certain items when you look at them against salaries i.e. Cars, domestic appliances, technology... yeah ! Question is - where profit goes ?

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Sep 29, 10, 12:18 #29

All these posts show that Poland still has a Victorian-style 19th Century economy, with no consumer rights (except in theory, on worthless paper). It seems the old Communist system wanted to teach Poland a really good lesson in fighting for its independence twenty years ago. To the best of my memory the minister in charge of the economy at the time of the changeover was Balcerowicz (or whatever his real name is!). It seems the old reds had in mind for the new Poland: "chciałeś, to MASZ!". They could, of course, have installed a more modern economic system, but they chose to be nasty. That's probably the rat I smell.

Plastic Pole52Threads: - Posts: 112 Joined: Sep 18, 10 ♂	Sep 29, 10, 12:22 #30
zetigrek: a pair of new jeans in "brand" stores (like h&m, bershka) 80 - 120 zł Well, last time I was in PL I walked by Wrangler store and they had a pair of jeans on display for 260PLN!!!Now,this is a foking ripp off.And same goes for other "brand" stuff like RL,Tommy etc.I mean who can afford to pay $90 for a pair of jeans?

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