18 replies to this topic

[crystal palace fireworks]

Has anyone bought this brand of fireworks in the past? are they good value for the price?

http://www.lidl.co.u...81017.index.ar2

[David]

The same 7 lines they have sold for about the past 4 years.

YAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN!!

I'm not criticising you, of course, its just that this "selection" really is a load of toss.

The bigger cake is bright comets, the round cake is small coloured bursts, the other cake is a mixture of the two effects.

I'm sure the rockets have a decent burst with a bit of colour, and the selection boxes crackle a bit with some colour...

I guess one of the things about living in Lancashire is that I am spoilt for choice- there is a very good all year round shop locally, and two very good shops across the border in Yorkshire.

Edited by David, 09 October 2008 - 11:05 PM.

[Mortartube]

I always make sure I get a few Cosmos cakes every year. Multicolour bombettes. I think it's great value for £4.99.

I also think the Gold Medal rockets were very good. I am unsure if the new regs have changed them in any way.

Edited by Mortartube, 09 October 2008 - 11:33 PM.

[Daedalus]

Well, to cross post from the TNT fireworks thread - In agreement with David they are certainly not imaginative as they have sold the same very limited choice of stuff for several years now (and I don't think the price has gone up at all); but the Cosmos, Rainbow Storm and Gold Medal are pretty good for the money and fill the mid section of a display quite nicely. No idea about the selection boxes as I don't buy them.

To a large extent it is a case of how you use them - I have a cunning plan this year to angle 2 Cosmos cakes to fire from either side of the display area and converge / cross in the middle - better than pretty much anything on the market (I Hope ) for £10. Setting up 3 as a 96 shot fan for £15 would be easy - again better value than an off the shelf fan cake. I'll possibly volley fire a pack of Gold Medal rockets before going into my finale sequence too - they are quite nice double effect rockets with a decent sized payload (well, they were last year).

Add a few other discounted fireworks and a few quality items and you have a decent display - fire a Lidl only display and it will be pretty dull.

[phildunford]

The Lidl selection boxes (in common with most others it must be said) consist (as has been discussed on the forum before) mostly of fresh air and brightly coloured paper!

[MiniChris]

The cakes were pretty good for the price considering its a supermarket brand as it were..... each to their own eh!

[Mortartube]

I am not suggesting that you can get a good display using only Lidl sold items, but the two I mentioned are good cheap fillers.

[phildunford]

If you know the performance of an individual firework, I'm sure there are bargains to be had.

However, in my (limited) experience (I mostly make my own) the selection boxes look great but have a net powder content of about 2 grams!

[Daedalus]

And the fireworks from Aldi have just been announced. Looks pretty much the same selection as last year at similar prices.

The large cake was phusically not all that large - didn't buy one as it looked rather over-priced. The rockets (last year) were all shell burst (about 1.5" shells refardless of the actual rocket size) but pretty good at £1 a pop. The Lord of Night pack was pretty good with some reasonable medium cakes (ther is a name change on the cakes so possibly different effects) - didn't use all of them last year so probably won't bother with Aldi this year as I'll use up my old stock.

[David]

What Lidl are doing is actually dodgy. They are claiming a (rather high) "RRP" and "Save £18" when in fact they are the sole retailer selling that product. Given that no-one else sells that firework, the claim "Save £18" is meaningless and misleading.

I mean, we as enthusiasts can tell, but the general public are more open to such "offers."

[Spyrotechnics]

are you honestly trying to say that companies would actually do that?? Setting high RRP's and then discounting from them, never actually selling the pieces at the full RRP, doesn't sound right, surely there would be a law against it.....

[pyrotechnist]

Of course they do that, this is how they make so much money. Why would a business want to lose out on money by making special offers when they can just increase RRP and then say they discounted it. It is like the buy one and get one free offers. They basically increase the prise of the original product so in actual fact you are paying for 2.

[David]

Point, is people will see Lidl's advert and assume that they really are saving £18.

Here is a good rundown of the regulations :

Regulations

Most relevant to Lidl here, point 1.6.2 , also 1.6.1 IE because they are the sole supplier of this product, they shouldn't claim a significantly higher "RRP" at all.

Companies such as Epic and JTF have every right to suggest RRPs, from which they are discounting, because they are wholesalers.

Edited by David, 11 October 2008 - 10:16 AM.

[Spyrotechnics]

I am not sure about the wholesaler tag for Epic as they sell direct to the general public, which is different to the likes of JTF that have memberships and require business credentials to join.

To be able to state an item is reduced the price used for comparison must have been your most recent price available for 28 days or more, how many actually comply with that law?

[Mortartube]

To be able to state an item is reduced the price used for comparison must have been your most recent price available for 28 days or more, how many actually comply with that law?

With fireworks, this is easy. Just sell at the higher price between January 1st and the end of July (when hardly anyone is going to be buying them), and then "Discount" the price for the season when it matters.

Of course Lidl etc don't sell all year round but the supplier can do the above on various lines and then say to Lidl, this is the RRP we have been selling at earlier this year. It is a con trick, sorry grey area.

Edited by Mortartube, 11 October 2008 - 10:19 AM.