Taxing internet purchases
The prime minister has told retailers that he will address their concerns about internet shopping. Millions are spent buying things online rather than spending them in Maltese shops.
Of course, it doesn’t follow that if people were prevented from buying things online, they would spend their money on other things in Maltese shops instead.
I think one of the reasons Maltese people spend so much buying things on the internet is that they are faced with an array of choice that tempts.
The trouble with shopping in Malta has always been that prevalent feeling of making do with the best of what you’ve found available, rather than what you actually want and have chosen voluntarily and with pleasure. The explosion in the number of shops over the last few years hasn’t made much difference to that feeling because they tend to stock the same kind of thing.
But in any case, it’s hard to see how the government is going to move people away from buying things on the internet, unless it’s by flouting EU rules on the free movement of goods.
And even if it does that, there is no guarantee that if people are prevented from spending their money on the internet they will spend it in Maltese shops instead. They might simply decide not to spend it at all. The money they’re spending on the internet is probably money they wouldn’t have spent otherwise. Not all of it, but a big chunk of it, definitely.
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The Internet does not belong to the Government.
Hands off the Internet!
No internet?
Plan B: day tour to Catania to do your shopping there instead.
All your internets are belong to us.
And that’s probably how they’d write it in an official DOI press release.
The only way he could ban internet shopping would be to leave the EU. Malta would also have to leave the WTO World Trade Organisation which Malta joined in 1995. At that point Malta would have very few countries to export to. We could then ask for observer status as opposed to being members. Here is a list of the countries having observer status:
Afghanistan
Algeria
Andorra
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Belarus
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Comoros
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Holy See (Vatican)
Iran
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Lebanese Republic
Liberia, Republic of
Libya
Sao Tomé and Principe
Serbia
Seychelles
Sudan
Syrian Arab Republic
Uzbekistan
I think you get the idea. Bottom line, Muscat is full of crap.
Yesterday, I bought solar lights for my garden that are not available in Malta (another reason why Maltese buy online), and I paid VAT on my purchase. Will this mean that gov.mt will impose a tax on a tax? Wasn’t this is issue with the imported cars?
If you bought your solar lights within the EU you should not pay extra tax. I think that’s actually illegal to do.
If you bought it from Hong Kong or China … that’s another story.
[Daphne – I believe Gordon meant he paid VAT to the overseas seller, on invoice, which is standard, rather than having VAT levied by the Maltese government at point of entry to Malta, which doesn’t happen.]
Hi Daphne, your interpretation is correct
This is unacceptable within the EU laws as it goes against competition and freedom of choice!
Sorry have to write this in Maltese: Tajjeb mela issa se jergaw igaghluna nsiefru biex ngibu l-affarijiet !? Ara veru dan il-gvern mohhu biss biex jigbor il-voti u biex jinghogob BISS ma dak u ma l-iehor minghajr ma jara il-konsegwenzi ta ghemilu! Mohhu biss biex jibqa hemm-fil-poter u xejn iktar. Kulma jaghmel u jghid Joseph Muscat huwa biss biex jontoghgob ghax jibza jitlef il-voti! Imma kif qaltlu is-Sunday Times of Malta ta xi hmistax ilu: “Some day it will backfire!”
Given the choice between buying an item for, say, €124 reduced to €100 locally instead of for €37 online, I know which I would prefer.
And yes, if online shopping is taxed or “blocked” by the government, I most certainly would not buy from Maltese shops instead. Online shopping is fun; trawling for bargains more so.
Dealing with rude, uninterested shop staff (most of the time), who more often than not tend to discuss their break while ignoring the customers they are supposedly serving is an ordeal I only deal with that kind of thing out of necessity.
I demand availability of the full range of Dellorto vintage carburettor parts and Rizzoli’s piccoli saggi updated every other week.
The redirection of consumption is the control of democratic rights.
Back to Grace Borg’s bumper boxes of classic CD’s it is.
Why, what’s wrong with Joseph Calleja and bit of Losco on the side?
(Does that sound like innuendo?)
As for the rest, my mate Spud, who was the stupidest boy at school but is now a millionaire, can get you any “auto parts” you wish, as long as they’re from Japan, and Subaru.
Stop whining, Jozef, and feel wind of change (from your Flamingo fan).
Muscat tells them what they want to hear but he’ll do f*ck all about it.
Like the bloke who assures his wife she hasn’t got a fat arse.
What’s interesting is how this was announced at a ‘reception for the business community, hosted by the Prime Minister and wife Michelle.’
One does wonder who writes the stuff.
Maltatoday then casually goes on to quote the finance minister and how he’s looking at sampling credit card transactions, surely that’s totally illegal.
And what was Maltatoday doing at the reception anyway?
Had a bit of an argument with a ‘friend’ lately, he says all he expects is to be allowed to work in santa pace. Sucker.
In fact people can’t get it- or rather they speak as if they are in some sort of trance-like state- or perhaps brainwashed.
They’re male, 45 to 50 bracket, mentally single, even when in a relationship, and Facebook dependent.
What’s interesting is how dogmatic, intolerant, utterly indolent and self-satisfied they come across past the supposed easy going open image they try to portray.
Open being the next thing to distract them from watching life pass by. They’ll do anything to dress it up as cool, couldn’t care or whatever it is they read somewhere.
It’s as if they bet their judgement on Muscat, the quintessential baseball dads.
Boring, patronising, bigoted, set in their youth and downright offensive to anyone they see beyond their influence. Ultimately willing to ignore failure as the means to grow.
Muscat just their impoverished personality traits transposed.
We often wonder if Maltese women, bar Daphne, have a single brain cell between them.
Is there a single testicle between Maltese men?
I applaud this initiative, and I don’t know what you’re all whining about.
You can get everything you need in life from Maltese shops. You don’t need that online thingummyjig!
But then I only ever buy bathroom tiles, Nike trainers, fitted polyester shirts, Kullana Kulturali for bedtime reading, and spandex leggings for my Ritienne.
Insejt iz-ziemel komplut bis-sulkie minn fuq Maltapark.
Jigifieri anke Maltapark se nhallsu taxxa online. Mhix fier.
Ghandi T-shirt ORIGINALI ta’ Isard du Pont, minn qiegh l-80s, ghall-highest bidder. Starting bid hija 100 Euros.
I shop on line and continue to do it. If some kind of tax is imposed there are things that make on line shopping always better.
One can shop at your own time even in the middle of the night.
One can compare and contrast items and prices in a shorter time.
Besides if I calculate the time to get to Sliema or Valletta, the money spent on car parks and maybe a snack when I am there it will always be cheaper paying postage and have them delivered at your doorstep.
Time is even more precious then money.
True. But there’s nothing like a good old face-to-face haggle.
The prime minister talks shit.
Not just any shit, though.
He talks low fi kind of shit. That kind of shit that appeals to 3rd-hand-BMW-driving morons who, in their dark narrow-mindedness, care only about how they can keep their old-fashioned, stupidity-ridden existence in an ever-changing world.
The people who listen, believe, acknowledge and react to the similarly equipped Labour leader are the illiterates, the uninspired, the retards, morons who are still living in the 50s, even if they were born in the 80s and 90s.
How can so much shit come out of the collective government mouth is beyond science.
It is not even funny anymore.
It’s OK to laugh at the circus from time to time. It alleviates the humiliation that these morons (is there a collective name for a group of morons? I guess Malta Labour Party will do) are representing us on the international world stage, trying to accelerate the destruction of our economy, blinkering us with bullshit, lies, excuses and by throwing pennies into the crowd.
We need a revolution.
We can’t let these clowns, these 3rd rate politicians, ruin our work.
In all honesty, I do not even think that the PN is in a position to do anything since they are cut from the same stuff, albeit better educated and more civilised.
What a fucking mess this place has become in such a short time.
He can tax what he wants
I will still buy on line
I think at the very least we can expect goods ordered from outside EU more carefully checked and levied at customs. Inside EU there is pretty much f**k all they can do.
Maltese retailers have themselves to blame. Excess markups, much too narrow selection, not to mention the complete lack of service-mindedness found with so many retailers.
The saving grace seems to be the many more specialised retailers that have started to pop up here and there. Small, enthusiastic shops, which understand better what they are selling. There are numerous small computer shops, video game shops, toy shops and others that have sprung out of nowhere and they’re really changed the game.
For example, I live about 100 metres from Toy Frenzi (www.toyfrenzi.com). This is a small shop, with a good selection of different items and anything they don’t have they are happy to talk to you about to see if they can source.
Being able to do most of your shopping online – whether you pick up from the store or not – is a big plus in my book. Compare that to other toy shops who wouldn’t even put their prices online, as they are so scared that their competitors might find out their prices.
The traditional retailer in Malta should have joined the rank of extinct species a long time ago. Time to take the PM’s pre-election advice and smell the coffee.
At the very least a basic lesson in courtesy would make a world of difference.
As I personally run an e commerce website and a retail outlet the problem is not essentially about choice or pricing only even though these play an important factor. It is more complicated than that.
Culture prevails in my opinion as I have seen many clients buy online more expensive or an inferior product. Many Maltese customers buy online because its cool to be an importer. People will eventually not disclose or state they bought it cheaper from abroad whereas it would have been the opposite.
This will go away soon.
But the much bigger problem to Maltese e commerce sites is FREIGHT. Because companies like amazon have big volumes and work operate from bigger economies freight prices are ridiculous. For example importing a 5kg volumetric weight from UK through a Maltese freight company will cost threefold than a UK company sending it to Malta. This cost will be passed on to the consumer.
There is only one solution to this and the government needs to help out. There must be a shift from retail to ecommerce in order for volumes to grow and government subsidising for a few years freight. This will help local e commerce sites get on their feet.
Then it’s time for your retailers to form an intelligent lobby and petition for intelligent solutions. In this case, the extension of the Freeport to all and any freight, including the stuff that’s then sold in Maltese shops.
Isn’t Malta Freeport touted as an example of a success story? Then flatter the government, and suggest radical solutions.
We are already being taxed indirectly for such purchases. On some occasions I received an item at home and I would be asked to pay a ‘processing fee’ apart from tax. the processing fee covers the manual filling in of some form which categorizes your item.
Well if this really happens where has our freedom of choice gone?
I hope this will be a wake up call to all those halfwits.
I can only speak for myself on this matter but I can assure you it will only make me more determined to spend less money in Malta not more. It is so affordable to go abroad for 2/3 days.
The Labour Party will never be able to take my freedom of choice away, no matter how hard they try.
I buy books and DVDs off the internet. Three days ago I bought a book for €5.99 (post free from The Book Depository).
The same book with the same ISBN was marked €15.95 from a local leading bookshop. Same as CDs and DVDs. You can get them for €4.99 on the internet (try play.com) instead of €12.99 from the long nailed lady. THAT is why people buy from internet. Because Maltese businesses just rob us.
I’d love to know how this will work. I have just bought a play house for my two year old daughter online. The Maltese retailer asked for €575 and refused to deliver it as the stores were closed for the Santa Maria break. I ordered the identical playhouse online and had it delivered right to my door for €342 – that’s 40% cheaper.
I think he just “said” some thing. It is his way of obliging his audience. If the government really blocks online shopping we will go and spend it physically, and Sicily will increase its business again.
A year ago I bought a pair of Nike running shoes for my son from a shop in Malta.
They cost 65 euros. Five months later I found the exact same pair on line for 15 euros inc. freight (from Sports Direct UK). From then on I only shop from Malta for things I cannot get on-line.
If our prime minister feels he should help these retailers by introducing a tax for items purchased on line, then I suggest he helps me help them, by increasing my earnings (for which I studied for 5 years at university) for my 15 years of service with the health department.
How ironic.
Considering how much of the country’s income is generated – as a way to enable companies and the wealthy to avoid or reduce fees and taxes in their own nations and pay lower rates here (ship registration, gaming licenses, aircraft registration, company formation, etc) – it will only be a matter of time until another nation steps in and offers a more tax efficient route to online purchases for Maltese residents.
Worldwide, the approach is to facilitate online trade. Besides that, why don’t Maltese retail outlets offer their services also online?
Apart from the rhetoric, double taxation or penalising trade within the internal market, i.e. facilitating trade in Malta and discriminating amongst other EU member state is not legal.
I hope the Opposition will say something on the matter. I also hope that the Prime Minister will reconsider his stance and prove himself to be ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ also on this issue, unless he wants Malta to become a Third World country.
Ah, but Scicluna thinks online trade should be taxed. He insists it’s very American.
As for the prime minister, he’s one who’d do with bulk buying remember.
What gets to me is that online trade has opened avenues to people like me, and I don’t just consume, I employ others to transform what is essentially raw material.
With Labour, this is obviously not on. Products cannot be unique, they have to be registered, uniform and ideologically cheap. Theirs is a genetic distortion to control.
Buying on line is always better. Apart from what has already been written, items are better guaranteed, changed immediately without any hassle, cheaper to get including postage, and am not referring to items from China.
I get quite a few items from Germany for instance. Getting photographic cameras and equipment from the USA is also much cheaper when everything is paid for and delivered.
This summer I booked a cruise from a travel agent in Germany because it offered me a better deal. This cruise was also offered by major travel agents in Malta but was about €400 more expensive per person. The foreign agent treated me in a very professional way and not like an idiot like many local travel agents try to do.
I am glad you raised this point.
It is clear from the recent discussion and the statements of Minister Scicluna that taxing internet purchases is the route that is preferred by the present administration.
Clearly, the MLP has fallen back to its old protectionist policies instead of compelling retail innovation. It is a vicious circle that the Muscat et al are ill prepared and unmotivated to tackle.
I beleive MCA has a consultation on e-commerce at the moment and that would be the forum for feedback on the subject:
https://meibcms.gov.mt/en/public_consultation/Pages/National-eCommerce-Strategy.aspx
It’s possible that Muscat has no intention of doing anything. He just said he will address the retailers’ concerns because that is what they wanted to hear.
People buy items on the internet because they find them cheaper and the seller more reliable as regards guarantees etc.
This week I bought an item on the internet from Germany and in just four days it was at my door.
When an item did not satisfy me I just packed it up and sent it back and was it replaced with another one in a few days.
Having bought a faulty fridge in Malta it took me a year to have it replaced and this after contacting the consumer office.
So if the internet businesses are affecting Maltese retailers it is because they treat the customers better.
I just exchanged an electronics kit with the manufacturer, wrong year, and this when I had ordered it by mistake it from a third party.
All I did was pay their postage.
Locally, a supplier expects to be paid up front, leaves you in limbo for a good three weeks, the moment you phone he admits he can’t deliver and expects you to take something else.
When it’s colour and the obvious impossible equivalent result, tough, your risk.
Someone has to explain why I should go through local suppliers if all they’re doing is ordering off the internet themselves. Can do myself, thank you very much, even because their postage per item seems to cost twice as much, even if batched with their ‘next order’, ergo a minimum of three to four weeks.
It’s that simple.
If our Prime Minister dreams of blocking the internet, be sure that he will find a way. And at least 55% of the electorate will applaud him for depriving them of it.
There are also Maltese businesses and artisans who provide on-line shopping. You get all the benefits of on-line shopping, whilst also helping the Maltese economy.
Our great Prime Minister did not mention taxes.
Dak li jonqos issa! Il-Gvern jissusidja lil tal-hwienet ukoll! Halluna ta. Tafu xi tfisser free market jew attaparsi biss? Go stuff your faces in a bucket of ice.
Jekk tikkonsidra taxxa bhala sussidju niddubita kemm taf x’inhu free market.
Jekk jaghmel taxxa mhux ha jaghmilha biex igawdu tal hwienet imma biex ipatti ghan nuqqas ta dhul lil gvern.
Dan ghaliex il hwienet qatt ma kienu ssussidjati imma l-kontra.
Il-hwienet jissussidjaw l-ekonomija. Il-hwienet jimpjegaw nies ta edukazjoni ordinarja u jiffurmaw in- nies huma minn manjieri basici ghal dak li huwa xoghol tal hanut, ghax is Sistema ta edukazjoni taghna ma tkoprix dan it-taghlim milli jidher.
Apparti minn hekk, tal hwienet jissussidjaw lil kunsilli lokali billi jtuhom opportunita’ ifajru multi ta parking bladdocc ghax l-ebda gvern ma kien kapaci jipjana ghal parking adegwat.
Jissussidjaw il kunsilli lokali ukoll billi jhallu d-dawl mixghul fil hwienet sa tard bil lejl ghax m’hemmx dawl bizejjed biex tinxtal il bankina partikolarment f’tas-sliema.
B’dan il mod qed jifrankaw lil gvern mhux biss id dawl imma wkoll xi spejjes relatati ma xi persuna li taqa’ f’xi bankina ghax ma tkunx rat id-dislivell jew xi hofra.
Hemm hafna affarijiet li tal-hwienet jaghmlu ghal poplu imam mal-hazing jehel it-tajjeb.
Il-gvern f’dan il-kaz qieghed juza lil hwienet bhala skuza biex jaghmel taxxa. It-taxi jnaqqsu l-flus minn nies u jwasslu ghal inqas beigh. Biex tal-hwienet ikunu jistaw ibieghu iktar il gvern ghandu jara kif jista jghin biex itejjeb il possibilita’ li l-hwienet joffru servizz ahjar u jkunu akar efficenti biex inaqsu l-prezzijiet.
Hemm hafna modi kif jista jaghmel dan imam l-ebda gvern fil 15 il sena li ili nahdem f’dan ix xoghol qatt ma prova jindirizza din l-industrija li tghajjex lil hafna nies bhal industriji ohra.
Retailers huma kuntenti bi free market economy, u kuntenti bl-ghazla fis-suq globali li anki ahna stess ingawdu minnha individwalment u personalment. Imma l-fatt li l-industria qed tickien, ghandha tattira l-attenzjoni tal gvern li ghandu obligu jindirizha b’policies li ma jaffettwawx il konsumatur negattivament.
“Jekk jaghmel taxxa mhux ha jaghmilha biex igawdu tal hwienet imma biex ipatti ghan nuqqas ta dhul lil gvern.”
Taf kemm il-‘manifattur’ sar miljunarju fi zmien il-levies? Bl-istess mod il-Levy kien introjtu ghal gvern, imma il-beneficcju kien ghal manifattur. Saru miljunarju minkejja l-inefficjenza tant hu hekk li wara li spiccaw il-levies, spiccaw huma.
A dash of tax, a whipping of bans and controls and voila, the dormant, slumping Maltese retail trade is protected from the internet.
Rather than begging at the doors of the powers that be the GRTU should get its act together, organise its members and take them into cyberspace. It is time unions started rowing their boats not mooring them in the Menqa tal-Labour for safe haven.
Typical of the prevalent mentality of businessmen here they see eBay, Amazon and the internet in general, as a threat to their business rather than an opportunity for expanding it abroad.
They’d rather have a little cosy captive market than a limitless one.
To protect local business by imposing a tax is totally wrong and maybe illegal too.
Shame on Joseph Muscat to resort to these 80s tactics…..was this part of your “road map”? In case he doesn’t know, these tactics have been used by his predecessors and they failed miserably.
Unless one has a boat and “by mistake” goes to the Tunny Net in Ghadira bay to avoid customs…
What? No more ebooks but Kotba Socjalisti authored by illiterates rewriting history?
If retailers are so worried then they should stop their attitude of ripping people off, lying and not having much in stock.
The problem with Maltese retailers is that many still have the attitude of “Sole Agent” where they think it is their divine right to be the only suppliers of a certain brand.
Who is ripping you off, Chris? Parallel trading is legal and no retailer has the power to stop that unless they have an agreement which enables them to be the sole local supplier or franchisee, in which case, pricing and other selling standards are determined and controlled by the franchisor.
Nobody is ripping me off. I’m talking about the mentality which some of them still have stuck in the 1980s.
I mostly buy online.
Just bought a nice coffee machine from an e-commerce website. It cost me less than Eur 130 including courier charges. Buying it from the importer in Malta or from any of its Malta distributors sets you back just shy of Eur 180.
And then they wonder why the Maltese consumer prefers buying online.
Welcome back Daphne …
As a retailer myself, I acknowledge the fact that internet shopping is affecting the retail industry in Malta as it does in all other countries. However I do not believe that taxing such shopping will develop the retail industry or lead to any sustainable growth.
I believe that if the government imposes this tax it is to address the fall in tax collections and not to help sustain the retail industry per se.
Other countries regard a fall in shop retail sales as alarming in terms of economic performance but in Malta both governments have ignored this long enough.
If the government really wants to address the retail industry there are many things that it should consider before imposing taxes. First of all, by analysing all factors that have led to the decline of the industry including –
-public transport
-cargo transport efficiency
-post secondary retail student development
-permits issued for shopping malls to be built all over the island
-quality of shopping areas including lighting, pavements, public toilets, parking facilities etc.
One would also need to analyse generic negative beliefs/feedback about retail stores in Malta and address them when possible.
However in reply to ‘Volley’, ‘M’, – it is fine to prefer internet shopping for bargains, time efficiency or for whatever reason but to actually claim that you’d have to go abroad to shop or to claim that sales staff, most times, are ‘rude and disinterested’ is unrealistic and sick especially when one considers that more and more shops are turning into franchise operations and also the fact that most brands are present in such a tiny market.
Preferring to spend money overseas for unrealistic reasons is ignorant and disrespectful to the whole economy. If one considers only the fashion retail industry you are talking of just under Eur80 million turnover annually and Eur14 million worth of VAT to the government.
If one may open up his/her mind to try to understand how this income is generated and what other income it generates such as sales people income, insurance, shipping, haulage, shop-fitting and maintenance, IT and audit service fees, rents and key money, then maybe he/she may understand that shopping physically in Malta may be quite worthwhile.
Competition and criticism enable us to find ways to develop and improve in many aspects of our operations but we must admit that our culture is relatively ‘poor’ considering that some of us are disinterested in improving our own economy.
“fashion industry”? Does that mean rubbish that has been in the store for the past three years, overpriced and having only limited number of sizes and colours or Bortex suits?
I have lost count of the number of times that I heard the phrase that the item is not in stock, but has to ordered against a hefty deposit and will be delivered in 30-40 days. At least for items bought online we have a cooling off period, but not for items bought “online” through a shop.
Maria
In Malta there are few stores with a relatively high quality all round. Given the lack of volume, usually product quality or product choice suffers.
High pricing and unnecessarily long delivery times are significant barriers erected by the industry to protect their profits (which is fine when margins are tight but monopolistic when margins are not).
Even when we go beyond the Internet to look at the quality of work of builders (and related craftsmen) or restaurants where businesses have a captive market with respect to imports, there appear heavy dents and holes in the armour of quality.
You are wrong to say that government needs to intervene beyond certain levels. You either cook up something good or die. That is economic liberalism. The role of the government is to make sure that markets work.
At the moment, the retail market is not functioning at all.
And this is where you make a very important point that few governments have understood: “if one may open up his/her mind to try to understand how this income is generated and what other income it generates such as sales people income, insurance, shipping, haulage, shop-fitting and maintenance, IT and audit service fees, rents and key money, then maybe he/she may understand that shopping physically in Malta may be quite worthwhile.”
The problem is do retailers understand this. Clearly, you do. However, what are you doing to innovate and make it more attractive to self interested consumers (when it comes to economic choice all individuals are self interested)?
The solution lies in retailers making a concerted effort to innovate rather than waiting for government intervention.
Maria,
I use the internet to purchase that which isn’t available in Malta. And believe me, it’s an extensive list and totally related to my activity.
In my case, the same Chamber of Commerce implies I cheat my way, simply because I order stuff online and have it delivered avoiding any ‘handling’ fees.
In my particular case, legislation doesn’t even recognise my work’s nature, I must be line with ‘importers’. Rubbish.
Perhaps an example might help.
One of the things I can’t order is batteries, these being a shipping risk.
I walk into a leading supplier’s, ask for a particular type, he plonks his offer on the counter telling me it’s the one to have as I glimpsed a sticker on the side saying it’s exactly the one I couldn’t.
And no, it doesn’t happen everytime, at least definitely not with those whose passport isn’t Maltese. The problem is truly one of respect and being up to date.
Seems the Chamber isn’t interested in my activity, which has an intensive value added absolute factor and requires the services of at least half a dozen technicians and artisans.
So you realised the big fish will gobble and spit the rest of you. Good, that makes most of us.
You know, Jozef, the one thing that struck me in this entire debate is how our government seems to be living on another planet.
Joseph Muscat seems to think we’re buying everything from “the internet” or perhaps that our daily shopping list consists of iPods, iPads and DVDs. It doesn’t.
Here’s Baxxter’s shopping list for August, as far as I can remember it.
1. Groceries. Now you’d have to be a really deluded prime minister to think I bought these from Amazon. So Maltese supermarkets are doing a pretty fine trade off me. And groceries are the one thing I cannot live without (QED) and the one thing I need to buy afresh every day (QED again. You can’t shit back and reuse your food. Excuse the explicit detail but these things really have to be explained the Villa Francia crowd, who probably get their groceries bought by their Filipino/Ukrainian maid.)
2. Lots of coffees. Again, I can’t buy a cup of espresso from Amazon and have it delivered to my door. So cafés love me.
3. Petrol. Ditto. Amazon don’t do jerrycans.
4. UK Gear trainers. The Salomons were falling off my feet. Both were bought online. They aren’t sold anywhere in Malta, and even if they were, it would be bloody Eurosport with its ridiculous markups.
5. A superb pair of Bjørn Dæhlie shreddies. Made in Poland, so my conscience is clear. Bought online. See 4 above.
6. A roll of electrical tape and a can of WD40 from my local ironmonger’s. (Thanks, Pawlu)
7. A book on courtly love for Ritienne. I knew the specific book, it was on stock at Amazon, and I couldn’t be fagged to spend a whole day doing the rounds of Agenda and Sapienza and back, only to be told they didn’t have it (they wouldn’t. It’s in German).
That’s about it. I did buy a laptop, but that was two years ago. Online. Because it was about 10% cheaper. Ipod, bought three years ago, online. Because the model wasn’t yet available in Malta.
I may lead an ascetic life by Edward ‘Profs’ Scicluna’s standards, but then I don’t have the luxury of a massive salary.
P.S. No, I don’t buy the papers.
P.P.S. The items in no. 6 are not in any way connected to the ones in no. 7. Or in no. 5.
Internet purchases are not bothering our unprincipled government because they are resulting in dwindling Maltese retail sales but because the government sees the Maltese buying things from companies which are beyond its control, and doesn’t like this.
I believe that there’s a multitude of reasons why many people opt to shop online rather from retail outlets. A tempting array of choice is definitely one, as it’s rather limited, but that’s not the full picture. Here’s just a little list.
1) Extortionate prices, even when on sale as compared to abroad.
2) Poor customer service.
3) Ill-mannered shop floor staff, some of them downright rude.
4) Parking nightmares in some localities.
5) The stifling heat in summer, and before some smart alec pipes up, no, no one can be blamed for that.
6) Opening hours. Shops in most places in the UK shut at 8 or 9pm and are open all day on Saturdays and from 10am to 4 or 5pm on Sundays.
7) The convenience and leisure of shopping from the comfort of one’s own home.
VAT or no VAT I will still shop online. Considering the vast choice and the excellent low prices for items of quality that even after including shipping and possible taxes are just a fraction of the cost at maltese shops. Just last week I got quoted a price for a 1 meter HDMI extension cable almost 4 times as much as a 3 meter one from the internet including shipping. And this from UK, so I shouldn’t be paying anymore tax as well.
I think the problem lies with the retailers not the consumers. The retailers should become more competitive and reduce prices to match their internet counterparts. Instead what they have been doing since forever is load their prices to get rich off our back within a year or two. The government should address that problem.
[Daphne – In a liberal economy, the government can’t control the prices of consumer goods. That is the function of competition: hence the internet and the retailers’ complaints.]
Kif imiss ix-xiri mill Internet, jien narma lanca u nibda nidhol biha l-Ghadira. Ma ghandix ghalfejn nghid biex ser nghabbi ghax tafu. Hekk ghallimni ex ministru laburist flimkien ma back bencher siehbu. Li ma jhallinix ingib il Labour immur ghalih jien. Kif jibda jbabas bit-taxxi u l-kontrolli nibdew nilghadu bil bzallu tal kuntrabandu. U nghiduha kif inhi, b`dawk ic-cinizi kollha li hemm Bugibba bil briedel b`kollox, li ggib mic Cina ma jkun difficli xejn.
I’d like to tell you what happened to me some two years ago. I was with my wife at Tigne Point shopping mall visiting shops there. When I entered one particular shop there was a winter jacket which I liked and I decided to buy it.
Later that day I found the same jacket on sale at 50% off at the brand site: 50% off.
So I learned a lesson. Never buy international brands from a Maltese shop unless you have a look online to see if the same product is available at a much lower price.