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bitchstewie
Original Poster
8,815 posts
80 months
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Xtype
890 posts
68 months
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I buy most of my goods from amazon, ebuyer and other online stores...price is unbeatable and always had good service.
Personally the shops should try more to keep up with modern trends instead of just complaining that companies like amazon are killing the high street, amazon and the likes are not killing the high street but the high street is for not trying to adapt or come up with new ideas.
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thinfourth2
23,956 posts
74 months
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Once my favorite tea shop goes online then I need never set foot in the high street ever again
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davepoth
20,194 posts
69 months
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Look at it another way - this is awesome for independent corner shops. If you're going in to pick up a parcel, you might as well get the milk while you're there.
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Pioneer
1,185 posts
69 months
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Xtype said: I buy most of my goods from amazon, ebuyer and other online stores...price is unbeatable and always had good service.
Personally the shops should try more to keep up with modern trends instead of just complaining that companies like amazon are killing the high street, amazon and the likes are not killing the high street but the high street is for not trying to adapt or come up with new ideas.
Don't think you've tried running a shop in the high street.... business rates are massive.... ETA - is it time for a sales tax on online purchases to even things out a bit?
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MadMullah
4,635 posts
63 months
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as above
the problem with the high street is that the rent and rates of the shops are placed at a time when the economy was booming 5-10 years ago. whilst the rates were at a peak - they're still there
as such companies and shops that cant afford them at a time of slow down are closing
online has only so much power to take from them the rest is done on the street itself
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JDRoest
1,028 posts
20 months
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Xtype said: I buy most of my goods from amazon, ebuyer and other online stores...price is unbeatable and always had good service.
Personally the shops should try more to keep up with modern trends instead of just complaining that companies like amazon are killing the high street, amazon and the likes are not killing the high street but the high street is for not trying to adapt or come up with new ideas. High Street is buggered because of high rents, high business rates, and the cost of labour. Not to mention all the petty nonsense that the council will make up - "hey, lets dig up the road down the high street", "hmm, lets put in parking meters", "lets close the town car park and make it a paid ride service", or the best one ever - "lets let Tesco open up 2 miles out of town and let them have the massive car park that customers need". And then you get the b  ds (because that is what they are) who will wander into say a photography shop, handle the new XYZ and then promptly go online and buy it cheaper.
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EDLT
14,593 posts
76 months
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b hstewie said: I always thought a collection service was a good idea, most delivery drivers seem to have forgotten how to knock on a door.
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JDRoest
1,028 posts
20 months
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Pioneer said: ETA - is it time for a sales tax on online purchases to even things out a bit? How about lowering a tax rather than working out how to install a new one? Geesh. Why is it that everyone sees a solution in a new tax?
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DavidY
3,220 posts
154 months
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It's business rates, that are killing town centres certainly in market sized towns. Business rates for a shop not only take into account square footage, but the amount of shop frontage and where it is in the high street (location), so a small say 400sqft shop on a corner with two frontages pays far more rates than a similar sized shop with smaller frontage tucked just off the main street.
In my town we have a small retail outlet right at the top of the high street (about 300-400m from the centre), we looked at moving to a slightly larger shop (same frontage) at the centre, the rates went up £700 per month, thats a lot for a small retail outlet to find.
Rents are less of an issue, as the market will find it's own level, lots of stuff empty, rents come down
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JuniorD
3,097 posts
93 months
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Pioneer said: ETA - is it time for a sales tax on online purchases to even things out a bit? No! I don't think stiffing online businesses and online shoppers is the way to address the problems of faced by the high street. In fact I don't think increasing taxation is the way to fix such problems or to change our habits, period.
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Haggleburyfinius
3,300 posts
56 months
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As others have said, Councils are the problem.
I live in Birmingham and so many of our satellite towns' high sts are being wiped out by a combination of high rates and war on motorists.
Ludicrous state of affairs.
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singlecoil
15,412 posts
116 months
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DavidY said: It's business rates, that are killing town centres certainly in market sized towns. Business rates for a shop not only take into account square footage, but the amount of shop frontage and where it is in the high street (location), so a small say 400sqft shop on a corner with two frontages pays far more rates than a similar sized shop with smaller frontage tucked just off the main street.
In my town we have a small retail outlet right at the top of the high street (about 300-400m from the centre), we looked at moving to a slightly larger shop (same frontage) at the centre, the rates went up £700 per month, thats a lot for a small retail outlet to find.
Rents are less of an issue, as the market will find it's own level, lots of stuff empty, rents come down I have to take a bit of issue with that. Firstly, business rates are set as a proportion of the market rent, approx 46% at the moment. They certainly lag behind somewhat, as they are only assessed at intevals of five years, I believe. But if the rents go down, they will be followed by the rates. And secondly, where is this town where the rents go down if there are a lot of empty shops? Lowering rents is the one thing that landlords will NOT do, IME, to get tenants, because as soon as they do the value of the portfolio goes down accordingly. I know it's difficult to believe, but the subject has been argued out often on the Business section of this forum and that has been the reason put forward by people who appear to know about these things. In fact, lowering asking rents on shops is so unusual that when a bloke bought a group of empty shops and halved the rents it made the national news a few months ago. He did, of course, get tenants for his shops, BTW. People don't always realise that business rates are a Government tax, they have nothing to do with local councils who simply collect the money on central government's behalf.
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retrorider
1,105 posts
71 months
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Haggleburyfinius said: As others have said, Councils are the problem.
I live in Birmingham and so many of our satellite towns' high sts are being wiped out by a combination of high rates and war on motorists.
Ludicrous state of affairs. Spot on...
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Xtype
890 posts
68 months
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Pioneer said: Don't think you've tried running a shop in the high street.... business rates are massive....
ETA - is it time for a sales tax on online purchases to even things out a bit? JDRoest said: High Street is buggered because of high rents, high business rates, and the cost of labour. Not to mention all the petty nonsense that the council will make up - "hey, lets dig up the road down the high street", "hmm, lets put in parking meters", "lets close the town car park and make it a paid ride service", or the best one ever - "lets let Tesco open up 2 miles out of town and let them have the massive car park that customers need". And then you get the b ds (because that is what they are) who will wander into say a photography shop, handle the new XYZ and then promptly go online and buy it cheaper. No but like I say, instead of moaning about it, why don't they use their entrepreneur skills to draw me into the shop... Clearly they are not doing something right if people like me don't shop there. Its not the parking as every Saturday I drive to town to go to the bank and grab a coffee with the wife.
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unrepentant
14,497 posts
126 months
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JuniorD said: Pioneer said: ETA - is it time for a sales tax on online purchases to even things out a bit? No! I don't think stiffing online businesses and online shoppers is the way to address the problems of faced by the high street. In fact I don't think increasing taxation is the way to fix such problems or to change our habits, period. Here in the USA Amazon and other online retailers have a huge advantage in many States. They don't have to charge sales tax. Sales tax is typically 7% so if you buy from Amazon and get free shipping it makes quite a difference as most prices are already discounted. The situation is slowly changing and some states are now making Amazon pay tax. In my own state they will be from 2014. In the meantime it gives them a real and ludicrous advantage. Retailers with bricks and mortar stores who invest locally and employ local people have to pay local tax whilst huge online retailers with no ties to the state do business here without contributing.
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singlecoil
15,412 posts
116 months
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retrorider said: Haggleburyfinius said: As others have said, Councils are the problem.
I live in Birmingham and so many of our satellite towns' high sts are being wiped out by a combination of high rates and war on motorists.
Ludicrous state of affairs. Spot on... Aoart from the bit about the rates of course... ...and the parking, as soon as parking is unrestricted it will be taken up by the people who work in the shopping area (yes, they would like to drive into town too, and park nearby).
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bigandclever
6,409 posts
108 months
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unrepentant said: Here in the USA Amazon and other online retailers have a huge advantage in many States. They don't have to charge sales tax. Sales tax is typically 7% so if you buy from Amazon and get free shipping it makes quite a difference as most prices are already discounted. The situation is slowly changing and some states are now making Amazon pay tax. In my own state they will be from 2014. In the meantime it gives them a real and ludicrous advantage. Retailers with bricks and mortar stores who invest locally and employ local people have to pay local tax whilst huge online retailers with no ties to the state do business here without contributing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that if the retailer didn't charge sales tax then the purchaser is supposed to pay it when they file their taxes?
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Happy82
5,235 posts
39 months
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We order most of our goods via amazon or other online stores because I refuse to pay to park in the local towns. I see no why reason why councils insist on pushing away potential money for the town they are supposed to represent?
As for business rates, they're a joke and I see no reason why they should still exist. A company I worked for was paying £55k out in business rates (small factory unit just outside a city centre), with that money they could have employed around 5 apprentice workers but instead it gets chucked into the government black hole of waste. Get rid of business rates and all business in the UK would benefit, of course the government would have to make cuts to their budget but at least that money would go to making the UK more productive rather than wasted.
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singlecoil
15,412 posts
116 months
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Happy82 said: We order most of our goods via amazon or other online stores because I refuse to pay to park in the local towns. I see no why reason why councils insist on pushing away potential money for the town they are supposed to represent? How else would you ensure that there was parking available for those that wish or need it? If the opverall number of spaces is restricted then there has to be some mechanism for ensuring that there are spaces available, otherwise there would be nowhere to park as all the spaces would be filled by the people who work in town. Happy82 said: As for business rates, they're a joke and I see no reason why they should still exist. A company I worked for was paying £55k out in business rates (small factory unit just outside a city centre), with that money they could have employed around 5 apprentice workers but instead it gets chucked into the government black hole of waste. Get rid of business rates and all business in the UK would benefit, of course the government would have to make cuts to their budget but at least that money would go to making the UK more productive rather than wasted. You could say the same about any tax.
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