Hoots mon.
Tomorrow the fine and fair people of Scotland go to the polls in what is likely to be the most important ballot we’ve seen on these islands in more than three decades.
I say that as Briton living in England. It’s bigger than a general election for sure. It’s bigger than a devolution vote. It’s possibly only comparable to the EEC referendum back in the 1970s. A poll, incidentally, I was too young to vote in. I was born in 1977.
So we thought we’d have a straw poll ourselves on Tamebay on a specific aspect of the independence for Scotland debate. You can find the question below.
Set aside your cultural and ethnic concerns, your love of whisky or hatred of the English. Pull down that thinking cap and consider the question of independence in hard-nosed business terms with your ecommerce expertise at the fore.
What do you reckon?
If you feel like giving your reasoning below, in a comment. Please do.
[poll id=”4″]
And if you need some music as you decide, we suggest you try this.
66 Responses
I am undecided, but probably vote NO. Don’t think Scotland is strong enough financially for independence.
I Think Scotland has the potential to be independent but not at this moment in time.
In my sector I receive a lot of orders from Scotland, largely because there are very few suppliers based in Scotland for the products I sell.
If Royal Mail were to treat Scotland as a foreign country and increase prices then this may well reduce the opportunity for sellers in the rest of the UK.
If Scotland suffers the worst of the projected scenarios after an Independence vote then this will also negatively impact my business.
I am a recently started eBay seller and I live in the far north Highlands (Caithness, which is as far north as you can get in mainland UK). Already most courier companies declare us not to be part of the mainland and they apply hefty surcharges for deliveries up here. If Scotland goes independent the courier companies will take that as a great excuse to extend their surcharges to the rest of Scotland and will probably apply even bigger surcharges to the Highlands and Islands. When buying stock, this policy of the courier companies treating us as non-mainland already severely limits the choice of companies I can buy stock from, the size/quantity of stock I can buy and the profits I can make from the eventual sale of the stock. This will only get worse if Scotland becomes a separate country. Also if we are to be considered a foreign country, will there be a separate eBay for Scotland and will we be considered to be international sellers by eBay UK? If so this will reduce my domestic market to 5 million people as opposed to 65 million and I may have to charge international postal rates to reach the population of the rest of the UK, which will make my listings more expensive than my competitors south of the border.
Royal Mail will for sure treat Scotland as a foreign country – they will be lucky to be treated as an EU country for postal issues (like Norway and Switzerland are). This will drive up the cost of posting anything under 2kg. People in the highlands and islands will suffer the most from this in Scotland as Royal Mail are obliged subsidise the exorbitant costs of daily deliveries to these areas.
It may well play into the hands of a small number of larger players though – like Amazon, who can set up a distribution centre there, or use their own logistics to make the cost of delivery cheaper.
Living in Cornwall I can well appreciate the dislike the Scots have for London based Government. When a decision can be made locally and the developer appeals and some clown of a Planning Inspector overturns the local decision and allows the plan and then to add insult to injury the Local Council has to pay all the costs.
When you know that the only time the bureaucrats and politicians venture outside the M25 is during the Summer Months. They look around and the sea is blue, the beaches golden, the sky is blue and the huge golden sun is shining down and there are jobs aplenty. They cannot see what the problems are.
But they will not come down in February when there are storms queuing up in the Atlantic. The wind is ripping roofs off and the rain is coming down horizontally. When everything is damp if not running with wet and jobs are a common as hens teeth. But because they came down the previous August they know that everything is great and we need no help.
Yes I often wish that we could get away from totally incompetant London Government. But I do not believe that Independence, or if they then go on to join the EU pseudo Independence is the answer.
So if I had a Vote I would vote NO
were english and live in scotland we do a lot of trade in Southern England
at this moment we are in newbury west berkshire and the palaver you get simply using a scottish tenner to buy a coffee is beyond belief and thats before the decision
as a Scot, absolutely sick to the back teeth of people thinking racial stereotyping such as “hoots mon, forget yer love of whisky and hatred of the English” is an acceptable way to conduct yourself, i cant wait for independence, if it costs i’ll gladly bare the price.
i’m sure the abolishment of slavery cost businesses in the south of America, maybe we should bring it back for the sake of the cotton trade tamebay???
disgrace the lot of you.
The distance that couriers have to travel is not going to increase, the couriers expenses are not going to increase and the cost for delivery is not going to increase. International deliveries are expensive now because of the water crossings and long distances to travel, not because they are independent countries
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO !
I can see NO reasons for this to happen, if you look at the larger business world, lots of companies are amalgamating to get greater buying power and reduce administrative costs.
Why Scotland would think that doing the opposite would be good for their (already fragile) economy is a joke.
I don’t mind the notion of independence but it WILL NOT WORK and will likely drag the UK economy down with it whether we’re separated or not.
Not to even mention postage costs, VAT registration, currency conversion fees etc.
Choose wisely Scotland, oil and gas is NOT enough to sustain an entire nation.
I am English, but my Sister lives in Scotland. I personally think Scotland as independent will be successful for them – you will have a Government that is on your side and will make changes that are in line with what is beneficial to Scotland. Ultimately you wont need defense spending, as UK will ensure you are safe no doubt.
The thought of not having the Labour Party is a massive bonus – I would vote just for that reason. Alex Salmond cant screw things up more than Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did….
Good luck which ever way you vote. We will still sell to you!!
In the case of a no vote I think its safe to say Gordon Brown has pulled off one of the most historic speeches ever: https://youtu.be/J39bBV7CBJk
Anyone know what domains Scotland will use if they leave the UK? All the good ones are taken and I guess they’ll be very reluctant to carry on using .co.uk, .uk or .gov.uk
Just wondering as I guess I should buy a couple in case of a Yes vote
Good luck with trying to get your .scot tld and be quick as the domain investors are already very active.
The DotScot registry will be making some money no doubt but actually from a practical point of view there is no need to waste your money on this domain
The .com & .co.uk & .eu will still continue to be dominant and frankly unless you fear a cyber squatter I wouldn’t bother with .scot at all.
Scotland joined the union because it was bankrupt, and needed bailing out, and I’m quite sure we will continue to support its buckfast habit for many years regardless of the outcome.
Whether independence affects our online businesses will depend on the currency. If the Scots are allowed to use the pound then we won’t see a problem. They will certainly pay more for their goods. Will the British still buy Scottish salmon or will shoppers support their local economy instead?
So much for the European liberal agenda of ending borders, everyone has gone nationalist. At the end of the day, Scotland will still depend on UK trade just as Ireland’s economy relies on the UK. The EU will dictate your policy and you will make your own decisions albeit with economic reins.
Oh and lighten up, tartan shortbread and haggis eating isn’t racism, where’s the hatred in those statements?
whoopee I am still British
one mans intimidation ,is another mans point made with conviction,
and one mans scaremongering, is another mans clear facts,
we have seen little intimidation other than the usual suspects using it as an excuse to be their normal selves
“….other than the usual suspects using it as an excuse to be their normal selves”
Such a great way to put it 😀
Salmond rejected by his own constituency and all he did was divide Scotland. He won’t resign though and will probably claim that more devolved powers is a victory for Scotland which he delivered. Business as usual for all of us. I’ll boycot those courier firms who charge extra for mainland deliveries.
“He won’t resign though ”
Don’t sometimes just wish you hadn’t typed something?
whether independence was good idea , bad idea or would have made no overall difference we shall never know.
so all the gum bumping in the world will make no difference.