Also just got home and not so impressed either, the range is on par with Hornbach and Bauhaus in Sweden. The krona has lost quite a bit of value lately as well. I think the biggest profit lies in bagged goods like tile adhesive, grout, filler, and the like, but it's hard to know what's what in the bags. Lightweight concrete, stones, and similar materials are probably also cheap, but you probably need to buy a lot for it to be profitable after potential rental of a trailer or car, gasoline, ferry, and possible overnight stay. I was only at OBI and Castorama, and their tiles and ceramics were of the simpler kind that you can buy cheaply in Sweden as well. Household appliances are also very difficult to compare since there is rarely the same model to compare with here at home, and it’s quite a risk in terms of warranty and possible spare parts. But sure, if you are a heavy consumer of vodka, then a substantial purchase might pay for part of the trip.
The large department stores in Poland rarely have an exclusive selection, as is also the case here in Sweden. If you go to Bauhaus to buy exclusive tiles, you will be just as disappointed as if you went to Castorama/Obi. On the other hand, I believe that the specialized stores often have a better selection than their counterparts in the Stockholm area. Additionally, you often receive better service and a significantly better price.
Best regards,
David
Best regards,
David
I have some thoughts about traveling to Poland.
My partner and I are renovating our house, including the kitchen and bathroom, which tend to get expensive. :-/
We were planning to go down to Poland and do some major shopping. We have a budget of a little over 100,000 SEK to shop for down there, as we planned to buy all the appliances for the entire house there. But now I'm starting to wonder about that. For example, the washing machine, are the instructions on the machine in Polish or English? The same goes for buying a more advanced oven and microwave? You'd like to understand what it says. And I read somewhere that they don't have full-sized refrigerators and freezers, only side by side at best. Is this correct? If so, we might have to purchase those here instead.
We were mainly thinking of going to Poland because the tiles and appliances were so cheap, but if we have to buy most things here at home due to the language, maybe it's just as well to stay home. I'm not sure, I have nothing to compare with since I've never been to Poland. But if you read other posts here, it seems like the prices down there are almost unbelievably low. But I want a bit more research before we go down, as just the trip will cost 10,000 SEK, for a rented moving truck + ferry. Will we save that money, I wonder? Now we are planning to renovate all the rooms, so we need tiles, parquet flooring, interior doors, toilets, sinks, sofas, tables, and a lot more. We were thinking of buying an Ikea kitchen down there too, but it seems like they don’t have the specific kitchen I was interested in... I compared Ikea's Swedish and Polish websites.
Is there someone who can shed some light on the matter???
My partner and I are renovating our house, including the kitchen and bathroom, which tend to get expensive. :-/
We were planning to go down to Poland and do some major shopping. We have a budget of a little over 100,000 SEK to shop for down there, as we planned to buy all the appliances for the entire house there. But now I'm starting to wonder about that. For example, the washing machine, are the instructions on the machine in Polish or English? The same goes for buying a more advanced oven and microwave? You'd like to understand what it says. And I read somewhere that they don't have full-sized refrigerators and freezers, only side by side at best. Is this correct? If so, we might have to purchase those here instead.
We were mainly thinking of going to Poland because the tiles and appliances were so cheap, but if we have to buy most things here at home due to the language, maybe it's just as well to stay home. I'm not sure, I have nothing to compare with since I've never been to Poland. But if you read other posts here, it seems like the prices down there are almost unbelievably low. But I want a bit more research before we go down, as just the trip will cost 10,000 SEK, for a rented moving truck + ferry. Will we save that money, I wonder? Now we are planning to renovate all the rooms, so we need tiles, parquet flooring, interior doors, toilets, sinks, sofas, tables, and a lot more. We were thinking of buying an Ikea kitchen down there too, but it seems like they don’t have the specific kitchen I was interested in... I compared Ikea's Swedish and Polish websites.
Is there someone who can shed some light on the matter???
Hello
I have just returned from Poland, where I spent three days checking prices and quality.
Regarding household appliances, you pay about half the price you would at home, almost directly. As for instruction manuals, I'm unsure. I didn't check the appliances, but I did buy a drill from Black&Decker, and it did come with a Swedish instruction manual.
As for tiles and ceramics, there is a very wide selection, and the prices are overall very good, except for true river stone, which was very hard to find, but once we did, it was more expensive than back home. However, we found a tile store about 40 kilometers before Puttgarden in Germany, where river stone was sold for about half the price compared to back home. Note though that almost all tiles in Poland are order items with a delivery time of one to four weeks.
And then to parquet, which is also very cheap in Poland and in the large chains like Obi and Castorama, the selection was enormous, with plenty to choose from, and my assessment was that the quality was high.
Interior doors, however, are a bit mixed. What I saw was just veneer and very thin; another detail you should watch out for is the hinges, as they do not meet the "Swedish standard." Also, be aware of the dimensions of these doors.
Toilet porcelain is also a caution. Poland does not have the same dimensions for drain pipes for both sinks and toilets. Measure carefully what dimensions you need and see if you can find these in Poland; unfortunately, I think it might be difficult. But you can always make various pipe transitions if you want to. Personally, I will not buy toilet porcelain in Poland. Faucets, on the other hand, are very cheap, and there are many attractive and modern models available.
In conclusion, I just want to say that there are many beautiful environments and fun places to visit in the area around Gdansk, Sopot, and Gdynia. I was very pleasantly surprised, but don't expect to speak English with anyone.
Please send me specific questions if there's anything else you're wondering about.
Regards, Andreas
I have just returned from Poland, where I spent three days checking prices and quality.
Regarding household appliances, you pay about half the price you would at home, almost directly. As for instruction manuals, I'm unsure. I didn't check the appliances, but I did buy a drill from Black&Decker, and it did come with a Swedish instruction manual.
As for tiles and ceramics, there is a very wide selection, and the prices are overall very good, except for true river stone, which was very hard to find, but once we did, it was more expensive than back home. However, we found a tile store about 40 kilometers before Puttgarden in Germany, where river stone was sold for about half the price compared to back home. Note though that almost all tiles in Poland are order items with a delivery time of one to four weeks.
And then to parquet, which is also very cheap in Poland and in the large chains like Obi and Castorama, the selection was enormous, with plenty to choose from, and my assessment was that the quality was high.
Interior doors, however, are a bit mixed. What I saw was just veneer and very thin; another detail you should watch out for is the hinges, as they do not meet the "Swedish standard." Also, be aware of the dimensions of these doors.
Toilet porcelain is also a caution. Poland does not have the same dimensions for drain pipes for both sinks and toilets. Measure carefully what dimensions you need and see if you can find these in Poland; unfortunately, I think it might be difficult. But you can always make various pipe transitions if you want to. Personally, I will not buy toilet porcelain in Poland. Faucets, on the other hand, are very cheap, and there are many attractive and modern models available.
In conclusion, I just want to say that there are many beautiful environments and fun places to visit in the area around Gdansk, Sopot, and Gdynia. I was very pleasantly surprised, but don't expect to speak English with anyone.
Please send me specific questions if there's anything else you're wondering about.
Regards, Andreas
Regarding parquet at Castorama, they sell the Barlinek range among others, so it might be a good idea to check it out before you go down to compare prices.
Otherwise, I think Castorama's oak veneer doors are nice and extremely affordable. About 2-300 SEK.
Regarding English speakers, there are a few who speak perfectly OK English at Castorama the times I've been there. At both ImezTop32 and Agena, there are a few who speak quite good English.
Best regards,
David
Otherwise, I think Castorama's oak veneer doors are nice and extremely affordable. About 2-300 SEK.
Regarding English speakers, there are a few who speak perfectly OK English at Castorama the times I've been there. At both ImezTop32 and Agena, there are a few who speak quite good English.
Best regards,
David
Here I am posting a link to all the pictures I took in Poland.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2122655013&rand=55178901&upload=1
Hope this can help you a bit with an idea of the selection and the price.
Andreas
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2122655013&rand=55178901&upload=1
Hope this can help you a bit with an idea of the selection and the price.
Andreas
Well, now we've booked the trip to Poland ;D
We're leaving on the 28th. We've made a huge list of things we want to buy. I'm planning to pack the camera too and be as smart as someone else was here and take some pictures of the products that we can then show off here.
Just hope everything goes well now with driving in Poland, the green card, the language etc :
We're leaving on the 28th. We've made a huge list of things we want to buy. I'm planning to pack the camera too and be as smart as someone else was here and take some pictures of the products that we can then show off here.
Just hope everything goes well now with driving in Poland, the green card, the language etc :
It will surely go very well.
You do not need a green card, but it is very important that you have the original registration certificate for the car and possibly a trailer with you!!!!! Otherwise, you will have to turn around as soon as you drive off the ferry.
The language will sort itself out too, you don't have to be embarrassed about being bad at English. There are quite a few Poles who are worse than you.
Good luck and have a nice trip. It's lovely in Poland.
Andreas
You do not need a green card, but it is very important that you have the original registration certificate for the car and possibly a trailer with you!!!!! Otherwise, you will have to turn around as soon as you drive off the ferry.
The language will sort itself out too, you don't have to be embarrassed about being bad at English. There are quite a few Poles who are worse than you.
Good luck and have a nice trip. It's lovely in Poland.
Andreas
Hmm, we are renting the moving van that we're taking over. I've checked with them to make sure we'll have the registration certificate, but I didn't mention that I want them in original. :-[
Ugh, how terrible it would be if we were forced to turn back after looking forward to this for so long. :-/
Ugh, how terrible it would be if we were forced to turn back after looking forward to this for so long. :-/