November 3, 2011Dear Sir,I’m sick of reading about how shop owners are currently hard done by. For years we’ve had to put up with inflated prices whilst their pockets swelled. Those were the good old days, when we were all doing well. Well now we all have to buckle down and watch our pennies, the fat days are over, and that includes the retail sector. I would love to “buy Bermuda” and support local businesses, but on a restricted income due to the local downturn in the economy I cannot afford prices like the item I priced yesterday at $63. On checking the Internet, the same item was available in the US for $16.50. You do the maths. Even with duty and shipping, (and taking into consideration the discounted bulk price) this item is overpriced. We all have to make a living, but suck it up retailers and get real, we’re all between a rock and a hard place and have to ride it out. Bring your prices down to a manageable level and we will all forgo our buying trips overseas (who can afford airline prices for the sake of a shopping trip these days anyway) and the inconvenience of having to wait for purchases bought online, and we will gladly ‘Buy Bermuda’.Upping the customs duty to 35 percent and restrictions to $100 per family will just mean we have to go without. Will it encourage local spending? Not at current prices, I don’t think so. People are finally beginning to stand up and be heard. Case in point is the Pink ferry route increase and subsequent boycott. The average man on the street gets it. Retailers, catch up. Yes, the rentals on buildings in Hamilton are high, but landlords need to get it too. We can all get through this if we work together instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The fact of the matter is that there are now fewer people on the island, and a hoard of exempted company employees and their wives who supported the exclusive Front Street swanky and vastly overpriced stores are gone.We all have to let go of the ‘good old days’ and try to do the best we can. I understand that not all shops are charging above and beyond reasonable prices for their goods, and those are the shops that I will frequent. The others, I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.I thought the PLP were for the people charging them 35 percent duty in favour of local shops with inflated prices doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.ONLINE BUYERSandys