Retailers report only modest rise in school supplies prices ahead of new term
While prices generally in Estonia have continued to soar, some relief has been seen in the price of school supplies, which have only risen slightly on year, with less than two weeks to go until the first day of the new academic year.
Klaarika Rattasepp, whose daughter will be in third grade this year, spoke to ERR about a recent shopping trip, to stock up on supplies for the new school year.
Rattasepp said she does not see much difference in the prices this year, adding school supplies can be bought at what she called a reasonable price.
The only minor exception was "let's say some notebooks and art supplies, and those go for a maximum of €50," Rattasepp said.
Margus Ross, purchasing manager at office supplies chain Büroomaailm, said ink pens and diaries were the only products to have risen in price.
"With ink pens the price rise was between 3 and 7 percent and diaries were a bit under 7 percent," said Ross. A diary now costs €5.44, €0.34 up on last year. Pens have risen by about 10 cents in price in the meantime.
Liisa Püss, marketing manager at Rahva Raamat bookstore chain, said inflation in school supplies is noticeable mainly in one category, namely notebooks and folders, thanks to a rise in input costs.
"Due to the rise in cellulose as a raw material, for instance notebooks and folders are about 5 percent more expensive," she said.
Kristi Juhandi, CEO of competitor chain Apollo stores, noted that July's 2 percentage-point VAT rate hike had however had some effect on school supply prices.
"So still compared with last year the prices are a little more expensive for the consumer," Juhandi said.
Communications manager at Prisma supermarkets Kertu Kärk also found that any increases in prices for these products will turn out to be modest.
"We have not observed a very large rise compared with last year; a rise of about 3 to 4 percent. This is rather a modest rise, as in previous years there have instead been bigger price increases," Kärk said.
Prisma has assembled a shopping basket with the cheapest school supplies available through their chain. The overall price of this basket has not changed on year, Kärk added.
"We have put together this shopping basket in which there are the main school items plus a starter package for the beginning of school. There is of course no schoolbag included, but that is €21 at Prisma, and that price has not changed with us for a year."
The new school year starts as per tradition on September 1, which this year falls on a Monday.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Andrew Whyte
