Czechs can buy most of their basic groceries, fuel, and even drugstore products and fashion goods much cheaper by travelling a few kilometres to the neighbouring country. Some travel companies have increased the frequency of lines between the two countries as more and more people go on one-day shopping trips.

The Czech Seznam Zpravy news portal was the first to inform Czech citizens that they can buy the same products in Poland much cheaper than at home.

The portal’s reporters visited the town of Bogatynia in Poland and wrote that „half of the cars parked outside the supermarket have Czech licence plates. They added that fully-packed shopping trolleys were also a distinctive feature of Czech shoppers.”

The portal compared the price of basic food and drugstore products from the same supermarket chain in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Slovakia. Prices have increased in all countries, but are still the lowest in Poland and the highest in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Shopping in a Polish supermarket is more than a fifth cheaper for Czechs. The price differences were the biggest for dairy products, bread and meat.

„Today, I’m travelling to Poland to do some shopping. Yes, it’s a 10km trip from here. I have been shopping in Poland since last year. Petrol is some 3 CZK cheaper. I’ll buy petrol, fill the fridge and I’ll be back shopping in Poland in a week or two. I used to go to Germany before, now I go to Poland,” a reader writes on the portal. „We, in north-eastern Sudetenland, no longer shop anywhere else but in Poland. Clothes, shoes, medicine, food. For example, in the Czech Republic an aftershave balm is 230 Czech crowns, in Poland it is only the equivalent of 175 Czech crowns,” another reader writes.

Higher prices in the Czech Republic are partly due to the higher energy prices which result in higher production costs.

Many from Czechia take to social media to discuss prices and share information regarding their shopping experiences in Poland. They also share the photos of the bills they received in Polish supermarkets, or pose with full shopping carts. Many opinions can also be found on certain products or affordable Polish restaurants near the Czech border.

The Seznam Zpravy portal also highlights the popularity of Facebook groups specifically geared toward shopping in Poland. More than 20 thousand people have joined these groups since November. „Here, you can easily pay 10 thousand Czech crowns for a decent-looking suit. In Poland, it costs the equivalent of 2,000 Czech crowns, for example,” a Czech shopper writes.

But it’s not just Czechs living near the border who frequent Polish supermarkets. In response to Czechs taking organised day trips to the neighbouring country for the sole purpose of shopping, Travel companies have also introduced more frequent bus services between the two countries.

However, Poles living in towns near the border are increasingly worried that they will not have sufficient amount of goods because of Czech shoppers.

„We want our children to have access to fresh produce, and this is becoming impossible. It happens increasingly often that we go to the shops and find empty shelves.”

wrote Artur Sienkiewicz, a politician from the southwestern Polish border town of Bogatynia, on Facebook. The situation got so bad that he decided to leave messages on cars with Czech licence plates in front of a supermarket to encourage more respect and attention.