Wilko's kit prices gone up.

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:40 pm

thats some jump

glad I stocked up on Saturday - bought 8 - but had I known.......

I would have grabbed the other 6

oh well it was good while it lasted

CyberPaddy66 · Post by **CyberPaddy66** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:31 pm

DOH I kind of rely on Wilco's at the moment, I'll let you know on Wednesday about my local Willco's prices...

Please don't be high, please don't be high, please don't be high.

5thelement · Post by **5thelement** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:00 pm

Wishful thinking lol im sure they'll all be up by now!

I sent them an email to ask why the sudden increase and why it's such a large price hike, i wonder what they'll say lol

I guess it was only a matter of time though really!

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:32 pm

5thelement wrote: i wonder what they'll say lol

I did the same and got back-

"Thank you for contacting us at wilkinson plus.

Unfortunately wilkinson do hold the right to change the prices at any given time. I am sorry that you feel this increase is not acceptable but unfortunately all our products are reviewed and compared to other high street prices."

fair comment really

they were substantially cheaper than all others

5thelement · Post by **5thelement** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:23 pm

Ah well, fair enough lol

I just wish i'd got into homebrew earlier to have taken advantage for longer lol

umpa · Post by **umpa** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:16 pm

well youngs brown beer bottles are still at Â£3.29 for six, thing is they only ever have a stock of 3 packs in store, I have just ordered 6 packs, and the entire stock in the warehouse (for all wilco's) was only 103 packs.

Plenty of wine bottles tho.

Ump..

Its a shame they are putting up prices - just got in to the hobby to!

CyberPaddy66 · Post by **CyberPaddy66** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:53 pm

DAM DAM DAM!

Checked yesterday and the Geordie kits that were Â£4.99 are now Â£7.99, the Beer Kit Enhancer I so hugely relied upon has gone from Â£3.49 to Â£4.99 but the Woodfords Wherry is still Â£14.99.

Looks like I'm back to brewing with granulated sugar

The Wine kits are also up in price from Â£4.99 to Â£6.99 but their Youngs Grape Concentrate is still Â£4.99, didn't have any heart left to check out the equipment prices

I can understand them putting prices up a pond or two here or there but Â£3 price hike on a kit is beyond a joke!

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:10 pm

it does seem steep when viewed in isolation but until I found out that Wilko's were Â£4.99 I had not seen a kit under Â£5 in about a decade!

they really are long overdue a price rise - I think someone did a check on the RRP and realised they were making an error

vacant · Post by **vacant** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:18 pm

Quick! Wilkos! Fixby Gold Â£15.99!

If only

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:19 pm

DaaB wrote:Pricing items artificially low is a great way to suck people in and put the competition out of buisness.

true, but home brew hardly seems a likely loss leader for a store like Wilko's. and home brew stores have been in decline for a long time.

I think this was more likely a mistake or an offer that was left unnoticed

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:44 pm

you are probably right, but computers do make other mistakes

It may be that their buying power lets them buy cheap and Â£4.99 gave them a good gp .....

then someone noticed they were way under the RRP on a slow moving product and realised they could make even more money

- now Â£7.99

either way Â£5 was very cheap and its no surprise that they have finaly gone up. cant really say its unreasonable either as I cant find anyone even close to that price.

it may even push me to try out some of the more expensive kits as there is no longer such a huge gulf between the cost of them and the cheap(er) ones, so I suppose it's not all bad

opentoideas · Post by **opentoideas** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:20 pm

I need to have a good look around, H+G seem like a good place to start

is there a reference anywhere for which kits best aproximate comercial ales?

I wish I knew more about what tastes came from where as I know what I like and what I dont but not what the differences are

for example I like Courage Directors, Green King Abbot ale and Fullers London Pride is a reliable pint but I have started working in Swindon and have yet to find any ale from the local Arcals brewery that I like

I don't know what it is about them but they all have a similar taste that I dont enjoy - I am guessing it will be the yeast strain that they use as the summer ale they have brought out is just the same to me

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Wilko's kit prices gone up.