No smiles for a price-sensitive toothpaste
Brian Price contacted us about the high cost of toothpaste in Ireland. At his dentist’s recommendation, he uses Sensodyne Extra Fresh, which, he says, can cost anywhere from €4.99 in Dunnes, to €6.75 in a pharmacy close to where he works. “I had no problem with that until a recent trip to Spain, where exactly the same paste is on sale for €1.99. I was incensed by what I saw as another case of profiteering in Rip-Off Ireland.”
He called the manufacturers and “a nice lady” tried to explain to him why it was more expensive in Ireland. He was told there was “multiple, various” reasons why the product costs over 200 per cent less in Spain than his local pharmacy in Dublin. Old favourites including VAT, and other taxes were trotted out to explain the price differential.
“When I tried to get her to specify, she could not,” he writes. “I gave her my home address and asked her to think about it, and write to me with an explanation of why it was so expensive here. She suggested the European Consumer Centre may be able to answer my questions, which I found astonishing, as they couldn’t possibly know about internal company pricing policy,” he says. He suggested that maybe the toothpaste is manufactured in both Ireland and Spain which might explain the substantial difference. “She quite clearly said no, it’s not manufactured in Spain. To summarise, a product that is manufactured in Ireland, and exported to Spain, can cost over 200 per cent more in Ireland than Spain. Go figure.”
We called the makers to find out more. A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline said that while it had no control over the price its products are sold for in stores because “as a matter of law, retailers must be free to set the prices at which they sell their products to consumers,” it was “surprised at the price differences that were highlighted to us which show a much bigger gap than our Recommended Retail Prices (RRP) in Ireland and Spain. This may reflect the type of outlet they were purchased in and indeed the possibility of a promotional price being in place in Spain.” She said there was a difference in tax structure, operational costs, distribution, selling and marketing practices in each country and this is reflected in the retail selling prices of products. “GSK works hard to keep its prices competitive and, in fact, the differential between Irish and Spanish prices on Sensodyne [ which is made in England] is far less than on other leading toothpaste brands,” she added.
