Goedele Liekens always hams painkillers when she is in our country, for example for her TV appearances in the Oranjezomer. “Ibuprofen and paracetamol are ten times as expensive in Belgium.”
There is a Viral video in which the prices of drugstore products in the Netherlands and Germany are compared. The difference is indeed huge, says TV referee Bas Nijhuis The Oranjezomer. He lives at the border and shops at the Oosterburen. “This is really normal for us. We don’t understand that you can still buy all this kind in the Netherlands.”
Refueling and shag
It really pays to drive there, Bas explains. “Even from Utrecht or Amsterdam you could even drive to Germany. If you are going to refuel, you get Shag and all these types of products, then it is even cheaper. We of course live on the border, so it is easier for us, but the differences when you see it …”
“Whether it is detergent, it doesn’t really matter, it is that big. You think: how is it possible? It’s the same product, it’s just A-brand that you see there, but it’s just half or sometimes a quarter cheaper. How is that possible?”
Paracetamol
Presenter Thomas van Groningen then addresses Goedele Liekens. “There are a lot of theories for it, isn’t it. It has to do with premium brands or with distribution or something. But in Belgium it is also true. You also laugh at us.”
Goedele then indicates: “Yes, well, the other way around. If I go here now … I am a kind of smuggler actually. I all take medicines with me. The normal non-prescription, isn’t it. Ibuprofen, paracetamol. That is a tenth here. What costs 10 euros here costs 1 euro.”
Dafalgan
Why is that? “That is because with us those things are only sold at the pharmacy and they naturally drive those prices up and they also sell the A-brands, such as Dafalgan, instead of just a paracetamol. I am shocked that they think: those Liekens! So I will buy three packages in three different stores. That is for my dad, my sisters …”
Bas then: “I always take Coca-Cola to the Netherlands for Chris Woerts from Germany. A liter of 67 cents costs there.”
Norwegian family
Raymond Mens states that you can compare all countries with each other. “I will be visiting the Norwegian in -laws next week. I have come up with all nice things, but they just want to shop, because everything is cheaper here than in Norway. That’s how it is in every country.”
Finally, we see Noa Vahle reporting from Switzerland. She says: “It is also expensive here. We have just ordered a pasta. What was that? 35 euros, I think, so a receipt to Talpa.”