- In Poland, it is profitable for Czechs to buy vegetables and fruits, as well as dairy products, juices, cigarettes and vodka. Here, the differences in favor of our country can be really significant.
- However, it turns out that in some cases it can also be profitable for Poles to go shopping to the Czech Republic.
- Our comparison shows that sweetened drinks, oils, beer, cosmetics, cleaning products and, above all, diapers are much cheaper there.
- For 37 of the same products in the Czech Republic, we would pay 2398.6 crowns, or exactly 407.76 Polish zlotys. In Poland, the same purchases were cheaper.
- You can find more of these articles on the Onet home page.
We have a similar standard of living, consumption is at a similar level in both countries, and neither country has adopted the euro yet because they prefer to use their own currency. Poland and the Czech Republic, despite their many differences, are still the most similar countries in Europe in many ways.
So Onet ran a test and Compare prices of 37 products in the same retail chain in both countries.We visited Lidl stores in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and in Nowy Targ in Podhale. We chose the German chain for one reason. In the text, we wanted to compare exactly the same products with exactly the same weight. This meant that a visit to Biedronka, for example, was out of the question. This chain has no branch in the Czech Republic.
Symbolically, Poland wins.
When shopping, we tried to choose products that every household needs on a daily basis or that are very popular. Our basket included, among other things, butter, bread rolls, fruits, household chemicals, flour, sugar, meat, potatoes and alcohol. We converted the prices into Czech koruna at the exchange rate 1 Czech Koruna = 0.17 Polish Zloty.
When we were in both stores, many of the products we wanted to compare were on sale. If this happened in both cases, we quoted the price after the discount. However, if it happened that one product was sold during the promotion in the Czech Republic but not in Poland (or vice versa), then we took into account the price in both countries before the discount.
So, for 37 of the same products in the Czech Republic, we would pay 2398.6 crowns, or exactly 407.76 PLN. In Poland, the same purchases were cheaper. In total they cost 402.03 PLN. This is explained by the fact that every day in front of many Polish supermarkets on the border with the Czech Republic: in Silesia, Opole and Lower Silesia, you can see many cars with Czech registrations.
Prices for the same coffee in Poland and the Czech Republic. It is cheaper among our southern neighbors. 279.90 kr = 47.58 PLN
– We live in Ostrava and the nearest larger supermarket in Poland is 23 km away – says Alena Vondrakova. – We used to go to your country for shopping quite often. And it was more profitable. Now we do it only when we need to make very large purchases at once. The profit will be big enough to make it worth spending on gasoline. Over the past year, our prices and yours have become more equal.
The woman’s words are confirmed by our comparison. It turns out that a basket of similar products was only PLN 5.73 cheaper in Poland. Not much.
What is the cheapest on the Vistula River? Why is it worth going to the Vltava?
However, when analyzing the list of products and their prices in both countries, some regularity can be observed.
It is profitable for Czechs to come to Poland to buy vegetables and fruits, as well as dairy products, juices, cigarettes and vodka. Here, the differences in favor of our country can be really significant. The first example is: butter. – A block of butter with a fat content of 82%. In the Czech Republic it costs PLN 9.33 after conversion. In Poland, without a promotion, we will pay them PLN 6.99. It is often much cheaper, because butter promotions are among the most common offers offered by retail chains.
We can also buy potatoes much cheaper from Lidl Poland. They cost PLN 3.99 per kilogram in Poland, while in the Czech Republic they cost PLN 5.08. A Czech who wants to permanently store potatoes for the winter and buy 200 kg of potatoes for the cellar will save PLN 218.
People with nicotine addiction will also enjoy significant savings from visiting Poland. Today, a pack of popular cigarettes in Poland costs PLN 5.66 cheaper than in the Czech Republic. A person who smokes one pack a day will save up to PLN 170 a month.
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However, it turns out that in some cases it can also be profitable for Poles to go shopping in the Czech Republic. Our comparison shows that sweetened drinks, oils, beer, cosmetics, cleaning products and, above all, diapers are much cheaper there.
The price of the latter is particularly shocking. Lidl has its own brand of disposable diapers Lupilu. We compared it with size 5. These are “diapers” for babies aged about 1.5-2 years. Their price in the Czech discount store is much lower than in the Polish one. The difference in favor of the Czech Republic is PLN 4.11. Parents of young children know how much their children use diapers. Anyone who lives near the border and goes to the Czech Republic to buy a larger quantity can save a really significant amount. Especially since other diaper sizes in the Czech Republic were also cheaper than those sold in Poland.
Poles and Czechs shop for groceries.
Our neighbors also had shampoos, shower gels, toilet and dishwashing detergents, dishwasher tablets and other widely understood “chemicals.”
If someone living near the Czech Republic is also planning a larger party, it is worth considering buying alcohol in this country. It is true that Żubrówka vodka is much more expensive there than in Poland, but the price of sparkling Prosecco is surprising. A 0.75 liter bottle costs just over 15 PLN. In Poland it costs almost twice as much! Beer is also cheaper in the Czech Republic.
A few weeks ago we also wrote about food prices in Hungary. You can check the cost of shopping at the “nephews'” costs by clicking on the text: “We checked the prices in Hungary. In Viktor Orban’s country, there is cheap wine, but only the rich can afford a buttered sandwich.”
Echo Richards embodies a personality that is a delightful contradiction: a humble musicaholic who never brags about her expansive knowledge of both classic and contemporary tunes. Infuriatingly modest, one would never know from a mere conversation how deeply entrenched she is in the world of music. This passion seamlessly translates into her problem-solving skills, with Echo often drawing inspiration from melodies and rhythms. A voracious reader, she dives deep into literature, using stories to influence her own hardcore writing. Her spirited advocacy for alcohol isn’t about mere indulgence, but about celebrating life’s poignant moments.
