1. Did you cost how much fuel you burned to get there?
2. Did you cost how much of your time (& that of those who travelled with you), you wasted getting there & back (@ the Irish Minimum Wage!)?
3. Did you cost what productive things you could have done with your time instead of sitting in a car for several hours?
4. Did you cost the wear and tear on your car to get there?
I'd place a large bet that having costed those items, you are now losing.
P.S.
There is also something which no one has spoken of - Does everyone going on these unnecessary journeys ever consider that they may be involved in a car accident resulting in Death or Serious Injury? Given the large volume of vehicles on the roads, the Risks you are taking are Enormous. And if you travel on this unnecessary journey more than once, you are increasing the Risk many times over.
So if you are unfortunate to end up Profoundly Disabled or worse DEAD, will your great saving scheme be worth it then???
Also Note
The common human condition known as the 'it won't happen to me syndrome' won't save you.
I travelled to Newry yesterday for my reguler every 4-6 weeks trip. On average, having costed in the price of diesal I saved approx €300 as I usually do. As someone who drives 40000 miles + per annum the few extra miles won't do that much to my car and as for the risk of being killed, if I worried about that, I'd never leave home. Anyway, it's a statistical fact that over a third of car crashes happen within a mile of home. I reckon that on average, I save around €4-€5k a year.
I buy electrical goods locally, mostly for the after sales service if it is needed and the ease of being able to dispose of the original goods
One amazing thing about shopping in the North is that there seems to be genuine competition on prices, I don't see that in the south. For example, one baby product was priced at the exact same price in 3 major supermarkets in Carlow and Naas for months on end, and when one retailer finally increased it, they all did
I have no arguement that Irish retailers face higher costs, eg wages, insurance and VAT. However there is no excuse for their abject and ongoing failure to implement correct exchange rates for goods.
One last point for Kingdom, and please be honest when you answer this question. If the situation was reversed, and Northern Ireland shoppers were travelling to your shop to do their shopping, would you refuse their custom on the grounds you've outlined previously????