Just a heads up for you guys sitting on the fence regarding a purchase....

A lot of my suppliers have announced pretty substantial price rises due to the Euro/Pound exchange rate. I've seen prices go up by 25% on some specialist items. 10-15% increases is not uncommon on more the more mainstream items.

It's a bit of a culture shock in a market where we are used to technology getting cheaper. I think we can expect to see volume products like TVs, all-in-ones, and price fighter separates holding their prices rather than falling. Bigger ticket items such as heavy weight AV amps will probably see some increases.


The UK is in recession, but it's not as bad on the continent according to my European based trade suppliers. If stock fetches a better price in Germany / France etc then that's where it will go.


Most major manufacturers segment the world in to trading zones, usually something along the lines of Asian Pacific - Americas - EMEA (Europe, Middle East Africa). So whilst the UK currency is Sterling, the trading zones main currency for Western Europe is Euros.


First things first, don't panic buy. But if there's a product you've researched and there's nothing stopping you from buying then I'd say move quickly.

Good luck everyone

It's not 'coming' it's already here, prices for pretty well everything are higher as new stock arrives.

Yes, the rises are definitely upon us. I bought a Panasonic 32-inch, Freesat-enabled LCD television at JL just before Christmas. The cost, including a five-year warranty, was £599.
I see now that the set has increased by exactly £100.
Other retailers have also added substantial amounts to their prices for Panasonic LCD and Plasma screens.
So, if you didn't buy one then, you missed the boat...
On another subject, has anyone any ideas on how to reduce the bass volume on the Acoustic Energy M subwoofer? It is set at its minimum, but is still too "loud" compared to the higher-frequency sounds emanating (whatever that means!!!) from the two satellite speakers.

Move the sub away from the walls or any other large object that it's close to.

You must be wrong-the government says well soon be in "Negative" inflation ie deflation so prices will come down.

"You must be wrong-the government says well soon be in "Negative" inflation ie deflation so prices will come down."

And you believe this government?Slightly OT i bought a Q6600(retail) about 6 months ago.Now it costs close to £160,never known a cpu to cost more 6 months later!

The only prices that have come down are for things that went up too far in the last couple of years - houses and fuel. Food went up, but shows no sign of coming down again.
The cost of services will continue to rise, as labour costs keep increasing.
Lower interest rates will help those on variable rate or tracker mortgages, but lower savings rates will have a bigger negative impact on everyone else.

Prices for some manufactured goods may fall as suppliers/retailers cut their margins in an attempt to keep market share.
Where margins are already slim, as they are in home electronics, there is little scope for further price reduction. You can't stay in business for long without making a profit.

Manufacturers are cutting production, which will inevitably lead to price increases - less volume = higher unit cost.
Add in the poor exchange rate, and prices in the UK will have to increase.

The only way that prices could fall is by cutting quality or cutting production costs - moving production from Europe, Japan or Korea to China.

Which, as we know, has already happened for a lot of manufactured goods.

All things being equal I would agree. But they're not, and that's the point.

As the Pound falls, prices have to rise - nothing is paid for in Pounds, it's almost always in Euros or Dollars - so automatic price rises as the Pound falls.

The pound has risen again recently.
Back up to 1.14 euros now. So hopefully the price rise will only be short term?

Just buy any goods you need from the large retailers, they are able to buy in large quantity's and therefore offset most of the price increase. If price is a main consideration which for most of us it is, shop around and search the net until you are 100% positive that you are getting the best price you can.

I think you're dreaming

Independent retailers are usually members of buying groups, and so often buy in larger numbers than the large retailers.

Bear in mind, ALL prices are going up - so even bulk buy prices are increasing - and there's only so far quantity discounts go.