‘Half the price in Germany’: French shoppers cross border to beat inflation • FRANCE 24

Consumers in eastern France have long crossed the border to shop in Germany, where greater market competition and more own-brand products mean prices are often lower. But now, some say soaring inflation is making it more important than ever to cut costs by shopping on the other side of the Rhine, even if making significant savings is becoming more difficult.
#France #Germany #inflation

[folkehoffmann]

It's funny to think about French people buying stuff in Germany to save money. Cause some people from the east of Germany go to Poland for the same reason.

[majectic-berry]

As a French person who lives in the Alsace region but only watches English-speaking YouTube channels I've never felt so targeted in my life

[Ulrich.Bierwisch]

It's much more extreme with Switzerland and Germany. The German town "Weil am Rhein" is close to Basel. There is even a tram line coming from Basel and the town feels like a factory outlet center especially for people from Switzerland.

[Sheppart]

If People from other countrys consider our prices still as low, then i dont want to know how expensive it is elsewhere.. we had in the last 2 years already an price increase from 20% to 100% for Grocerys and in January next year it will increase by another 30% due to the Government increasing the toll taxes for trucks up to 85%..

[intreoo]

As an American, this is fascinating to watch. I'm amazed at how easily you can cross an international border to carry out simple tasks.

[CNHFTC]

I lived in Alsace (Colmar) 2019-2020. People have been doing this for years; plenty of French folks were going to Germany to shop even back then to save money. I would often see German brands in households I visited, especially in Strasbourg.

The Strasbourg tram goes into Kehl and stops right in front of a major shopping center, making it even more convenient and cost effective to border hop to shop.

Colmar isn’t right on the border so I didn’t go to Germany all the time to shop like some of my friends ins Strasbourg did. However I did go to Kehl a couple times while on day trips to Strasbourg and I would happily buy some essentials there; same when I went on day trips to Freiburg!

[franzusgutlus]

I grew up close to Kehl and 30 years ago we went to france for food shopping because it was better and cheaper.

[vesperkara]

Whenever my husband travels to Germany, he always comes back with a lot of baby items for our kids. We do this because we like certain items and the quality but the reasonable price is a bonus.

[tammodirksen]

Even with inflation food has always been insanely cheap in Germany compared to salaries. That’s why I am annoyed by people constantly complaining about how bad it is here and how much better it supposedly is everywhere else. Go to most other European countries’ grocery stores and check out prices. Sure the past years have been rougher but maybe this country has just been doing too well in the past two decades and people got to comfortable with that.

[Tiomond]

I live on the border between Germany and the Netherlands. I study in the Netherlands because their educational system is better and enjoy the benefits of cheaper groceries in Germany.

In times where governments favour the rich and sanction the poor your only option is to find holes within that system

[jeretso]

German grocery stores are also doing well in America. LIDL and Aldi have better prices than other stores. My favorite part is that Aldi carts require a 25 cent deposit and you get your money back when you return the cart. So no runaway carts in the parking lot.

[hanshartfiel]

I recently made a one day shopping trip from the UK to Aachen in Germany using Flixbus. I filled a fairly large suitcase with all sorts of foods which i can't get in the UK and was amazed how cheap it was.
I also bought some tobacco. In Germany I paid 7 Euros for a 30 gram pouch but the same tobacco would have cost me in the UK about 25 Euros for the same 30 gram pouch. The savings on the tobacco alone paid for the trip.

[maxbosboom]

This also happen at the Dutch-German border. Lots of Dutch shop in Germany due to the lower prices in Germany. However some products like coffee are cheaper in the Netherlands which attracks a lot of Germans doing the same and buy it in the Netherlands. By carefull planning there is a lot of money to be saved. Even if you live further away from the border like I do…

[kita_morii]

I am a Canadian, just got back home from a trip from Germany. Now i feel like everything is too expansive here in Canada.

[Gotrek-skrq]

Hahahah that shopping cart is $500 here in the US

[kessas.]

Food prices in Germany have doubled in some cases, while wages remain the same low...

[Kordanor]

I am living at the northeastern border of France, and can go to French (carrefour) and German Supermarkets (Penny, Netto, Rossmann) by foot. In both countries some items are cheaper, but generelly most items are cheaper in Germany and my guess would be that meat is where the difference is biggest. But there are also some items like Cherry Tomatoes which are cheaper in France ("buckets" are smaller, but they are sold for just 1€ which I think is still less per gram). The biggest "export hit" of the French supermarket is actually bottled water. They even put signs here completely in german on how to "stack" the packs of water in your shopping cart, which does happen all the time.

[amd.amdamd]

Couldn't agree more.
It's very cheap in Germany.
In Belgium, the government couldn't control inflation at all.
In Germany, they managed to some extent.
As someone who loves drinking Cola Zero, I can get the same bottle of cola for nearly half the price in Germany if I compare it to that in Belgium.

[Kessina]

I don't know, why foreigners say, that in Germany is everything so cheap, while we Germans struggle with!

[guilhermetavares]

It's common to see Brazilians shopping in Paraguay and Argentina too. The most ridiculous part is being the target of customs inspections when this shouldn't exist between countries in the same economic bloc.