In the autumn, wet and windy weather is more common, and it makes sense to want to keep everything safely stashed away indoors in preparation.
A garden shed is an easy solution for organising your outdoor space – but the useful addition doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.
Buy Sheds Direct has become a popular retailer to choose from a huge range of garden storage options, and there’s currently a sale on.
The Forest Pent Midi Wooden Garden Storage now costs £142.49 as there’s an extra 5% off automatically applied when you check out, and it’s a great option if you’re on a budget.
With 600L capacity, it’s compact but worth investing in if you don’t have a huge garden and need a shed that doesn’t take up too much space.
You could use it to keep gardening tools tucked away from rain to avoid weathering and rusting, but it could also fit a small lawnmower depending on size.
Made from natural timber, the shed would easily blend in with its outdoor surroundings, but it’s also pressure treated to protect it from damage, with a 15 year anti-rot guarantee.
Double doors make it easy to fill and access your essentials, so you can quickly reach what you need without having to sift through everything.
Keeping your house clean is also a benefit, as none of your dirty tools are being taken inside.
There’s no need to worry about security either, because the shed is built with a clasp for you to add your own padlock, so you lock everything away out of sight.
It’s also sensible to opt for a shed with a pent roof, because it allows water and snow to run-off easily, rather than sitting on top.
If your garden equipment is in need of an upgrade, The Sun Shopping’s best cordless lawn mowers range from budget to more premium options – and we’ve tested them all.
The best chainsaws are worth a look too, whether you’re investing in one to tackle hedges or overgrown weeds.
The first electric vehicles (EV) eligible for the £3,750 discount under the government’s grant scheme have been announced.
The Department for Transport confirmed Ford’s Puma Gen-E or e-Tourneo Courier would be discounted as part of plans to encourage drivers to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles.
Under the grant scheme, the discount applies to new eligible car models costing up to £37,000, with the most environmentally friendly ones seeing the biggest reductions. Another 26 models have been cleared for discounts of £1,500.
Carmakers can apply for models to be eligible for grants, which are then automatically applied at the point of sale.
More vehicles are expected to be approved in the coming weeks and the DfT said the policy would bring down prices to “closely match their petrol and diesel counterparts”.
The government has pledged to ban the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030.
But many drivers cite upfront costs as a key barrier to buying an EV and some have told the BBC that the UK needs more charging points. As a result EVs “don’t cut the mustard”, said Hugh Bladon, founding member of the Alliance of British Drivers.
He said hybrid cars were “the way forward” as they were more cost-effective than EVs and called for similar incentives for such vehicles.
According to Ford, the retail price for a new Puma Gen-E costs £26,245, while a petrol version is £26,580.
The grants to lower the cost of EVs will be funded through the £650m scheme, and will be available for three years.
There are around 1.3 million electric cars on Britain’s roads but currently only around 82,000 public charging points.
As well as how environmentally friendly the cars perform, manufacturers adopting the most sustainable and “greenest” methods during the production process, such as using 100% renewable electricity, stand a better chance of achieving eligibility for the maximum discount, the government said.
Full list of EVs eligible for the £1,500 discount
Citroën ë-C3 and Citroën ë-C3 Aircross
Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
Citroën ë-Berlingo
Cupra Born
DS DS3
DS N°4
Nissan Ariya
Nissan Micra
Peugeot E-208
Peugeot E-2008
Peugeot E-308
Peugeot E-408
Peugeot E-Rifter
Renault 4
Renault 5
Renault Alpine A290
Renault Megane
Renault Scenic
Vauxhall Astra Electric
Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
Vauxhall Corsa Electric
Vauxhall Frontera Electric
Vauxhall Grandland Electric
Vauxhall Mokka Electric
Volkswagen ID.3
The up-front cost of EVs is higher on average than for petrol cars.
According to Autotrader, the average price of a new battery electric car was £49,790 in June 2025, based on manufacturers’ recommended prices for 148 models.
The equivalent for a petrol car was £34,225, but the average covers a broad range of prices.
Across all types of engines, sales of used cars outweigh those of brand new vehicles.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show up to 7.6 million second-hand cars were purchased last year, compared to nearly two million brand new vehicles across all fuel types.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the grant scheme was making it “easier and cheaper for families to make the switch to electric”.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said drivers “frequently tell us that the upfront costs of new EVs are a stumbling block to making the switch to electric”.
“It is great to see some of these more substantial £3,750 discounts coming online because for some drivers this might just bridge the financial gap to make these cars affordable.”
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said the government needed to ramp up the processing and assessment of applications for new EV models to be eligible for the scheme “to ensure the greatest possible choice for consumers and certainty for the market”.
Two retail behemoths are well positioned for rising inflation.
Are you a Walmart(WMT -1.18%) person or a Costco (COST -1.18%) person?
When it comes to shoppers, the two groups tend to be mutually exclusive, with many Americans swearing by one and swearing off the other.
But for investors, the question is a bit different: They want to know which they should put money into.
And that question is more relevant today than it’s been in a while. Many economists expect President Trump’s tariffs to start pushing the price of groceries — from bananas and coffee to soda and beer — higher in the coming months. The Tax Foundation expects tariffs to impact nearly 75% of U.S. food imports.
If and when prices of groceries rise, both Walmart and Costco are expected to benefit, as many Americans will trade down to retailers that emphasize low prices. Plus, because they’re so large, both retailers have significant supply chain leverage that should allow them to push back on higher prices from suppliers — to an extent, at least.
Image source: Getty Images.
Walmart is quite a bit larger than Costco, with a market cap of $778 billion, versus $441 billion for Costco. Walmart has more than 10,000 stores on four continents and is the world’s largest retailer by sales. Costco is the world’s third-largest retailer; it has a membership model, with roughly 900 locations and 79.6 million paid household members and 37.6 million paid executive memberships. While they sell all kinds of items, Walmart and Costco rank as grocery behemoths.
Costco stock is up roughly 6% this year as of Aug. 21 and 181% over the past five years, while Walmart stock has gained roughly 8% year-to-date and 123% over five years.
Strong inflation era results
Walmart and Costco often do well when inflation pushes prices higher and shoppers look for bargains.
From January 2022 to February 2023, when year-over-year headline inflation ranged from 6% to 9.1%, Walmart kept the increase in grocery prices to 3%, compared to average price increases of 7.5% or more at rivals like Amazon, Kroger, and Target, according to a Reuters analysis. Walmart’s size and buying power help it force suppliers to keep prices lower.
As a result, in its fiscal 2024, ended Jan. 31 of that year, Walmart grew total revenue in constant currency 6% to $648 billion and its adjusted earnings per share 5.7% higher to $6.65. In the 52 weeks following that earnings announcement, Walmart shares climbed 66%.
Costco, on the other hand, makes a large percentage of its profits from membership income — membership fees totaled about 65% of net income in the most recently reported quarter. That business model — along with a reputation for good deals — helps steady the company’s results during an inflation spike. In its fiscal 2023 (ended Sept. 3 of that year), Costco saw U.S. net sales grow 6.7% to almost $238 billion. Membership fees increased 8% that year, to $4.58 billion.
In the 52 weeks after that earnings release, Costco stock rose 63%.
And just recently, in its third quarter of 2025, the retailer reported a 10.4% increase in its membership fee income, to more than $1.2 billion. Last September Costco raised membership fees by $5, to $65 a year, yet it saw no meaningful decline in members after the increase.
Both businesses and their stocks benefit from rising overall prices because they’re able to either keep prices lower than the competition (Walmart), which drives sales, or rely on membership fees (Costco) that drive profits.
What does the future hold?
So which stock should you invest in today in anticipation of rising grocery prices in the months ahead?
Well, stock prices ultimately track earnings growth. And analysts expect Costco to increase earnings per share for the current quarter by 10% (results will be released on Sept. 25).
As for Walmart, the retail behemoth released its second-quarter results this week and they were slightly disappointing. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.68 were lower than the average analyst estimate of $0.73, and that sent the stock 5% lower on Thursday. Revenue, however, came in at $177.4 billion, almost $2 billion higher than estimates.
Thus, the picture is mixed. Rising grocery prices will impact all U.S. retailers, and both Costco and Walmart have a history of thriving when that happens. With the uncertainty of Trump’s tariff policies still high, however, Costco’s membership-driven model may put it in a more advantageous position going forward.
Matthew Benjamin does not hold any of the stocks mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, Target, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Kroger. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
MILLIONS of us subscribe to Amazon Prime – but is it worth it? We take a look at what you get and how many deliveries you need to justify the fee – and how to get a discount.
You can sign up toAmazon Prime for free for 30-days or an annual membership costs £95 a year or £8.99 a month.
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We weigh up the pros and cons of the popular subscriptionCredit: Getty
Its most famous perk is free and fast deliveries and access to Prime Video – but there are lots of extra such as discounts on cinema trips.
You can pay for Prime Video-only for £5.99 a month – but this doesn’t include any of the other extras.
Exact amount of orders you need to make Prime worth it
To justify the £95 annual fee for Prime, you need to save at least that amount on delivery costs and other benefits.
How easy that will be depends on what services you use.
For instance, Prime Video only costs £71.88 a year, so you only need to save £23.12 in delivery fees all year, to make the upgrade to Prime worth it.
But if you’re just signing up for the free delivery, then it’s harder.
For non-members, Amazon charges different rates depending on your basket value and delivery speed.
Here’s what it really costs without Prime, and how often you’d need to order to break even.
Standard Delivery (3–5 days):
Amazon ‘hiking’ prices ahead of Prime Day after shoppers claim company ‘great savings’ aren’t real
Free if you spend £35 or more (or £10+ on books). If you spend less, charges are £4.99 for most items, but just £3.99 for book-only orders under £10.
To break even:
19 smaller orders per year at £4.99
24 book-only orders at £3.99
One-Day or Premium Delivery
Costs £4.99 per order for non-members
To break even:
Same-Day or Overnight Delivery
Costs £5.99 per order for non-members. Prime members get it free on orders over £20, or pay £1.99 for smaller baskets.
To break even:
16 orders per year at £5.99
Pickup Location (Locker or Amazon Hub)
Costs £2.99 per order for non-members, but free for Prime members.
To break even:
32 pickup deliveries per year
How to get a discount
Almost anyone can start with a 30-day free trial, which gives access to every Prime benefit.
If your last trial was over a year ago, you can usually sign up again.
To get the freebie, click “Try Prime” and follow the steps outlined. You’ll need to add a payment method, but you won’t be charged unless you stay on past the trial period.
Each adult in your household can do this separately, meaning couples can effectively get two months free between them as long as they use separate email accounts.
If you’re a student or aged 18 to 22, you can get a six-month free trial, followed by half-price Prime for up to four years or until you turn 23.
To claim, visit amazon.co.uk/joinstudent or amazon.co.uk/18-22 and upload proof of eligibility, such as a university email or government-issued ID.
However, students that cancel during the trial and come back later, don’t get another freebie, only the discounted rate.
What benefits are included on Prime?
Amazon Prime now includes over a dozen benefits. Here’s what you get, how to access each one, and what it’s worth.
1. Free one-day and same-day delivery
Prime gives unlimited One-Day Delivery on millions of items, and Same-Day or Overnight Delivery in eligible postcodes.
Orders under £20 for same-day cost £1.99, but are free if you meet the threshold.
To use it, just make sure you’re signed in as a Prime member when placing your order.
Qualifying items will be marked with the Prime logo.
Value: around £4.99 to £5.99 per order saved, based on the equivalent delivery charges for non-members
2. Prime Video
Watch thousands of shows and films, including Amazon Originals like Clarkson’s Farm, The Boys, and new dramas like The Girlfriend.
Ads were introduced in 2024, so if you want to watch ad-free, you’ll need to pay an extra £2.99 per month. You can also get Prime Video alone for £5.99 a month.
3. Amazon Music
This allows you to access 100 million songs and top podcasts, but it’s worth noting that most albums only play on shuffle unless they’re part of Amazon’s All-Access Playlists.
For full on-demand access, upgrade to Music Unlimited for £10.99/month, or £9.99 if you’re a Prime member.
To use it, download the Amazon Music app and sign in.
Value: If you got rid of a separate music service and replaced it with Amazon Prime, you could save hundreds each year.
4. Prime Reading
Download and borrow thousands of rotating e-books, comics and magazines.
You can read them on Kindle devices or on the free Kindle app for iOS and Android.
To access, go to amazon.co.uk/primereading and browse the titles.
Value: up to £100/year saved based on two to four books or magazines per month at typical Kindle or newsstand prices
5. Amazon First Reads
Choose one free pre-release Kindle book each month from a selection of new titles. Go to amazon.co.uk/firstreads to claim.
Value: £3–£5/month saved, based on average Kindle ebook pricing
6. Prime Gaming
Get a selection of free PC games each month, plus one free Twitch channel subscription (normally £4.99), but only if you link your Amazon and Twitch accounts.
To activate, go to gaming.amazon.com and click “Link Account”.
Value: £60+ per year based on 12 months of free Twitch subscriptions or typical game costs
7. Deliveroo Plus Silver
Get a full year of Deliveroo Plus Silver, usually £3.49/month. It gives you free delivery on restaurant orders over £15 and groceries over £25.
To activate, visit amazon.co.uk/deliveroo and log in to both accounts.
Value: £41.88/year saved if you would otherwise subscribe directly to Deliveroo Plus Silver
Value: up to £10/month saved compared with standard Odeon ticket prices of around £10 each
9. Amazon Photos
Store unlimited photos securely in the cloud, plus 5GB for videos and other files.
You can share albums with up to five family members via Family Vault, and display images on Echo devices or Fire TV.
To use, download the Amazon Photos app and sign in.
Value: £7–£10/month saved compared with similar plans from other providers
10. Amazon Fresh and grocery delivery
Order groceries from Amazon Fresh, Morrisons, Iceland and Co-op. Same-day delivery is free over £60, £2 for £40–£59.99, and £4 for smaller baskets.
Availability depends on postcode. To shop, go to amazon.co.uk/fresh and enter your postcode.
11. Amazon Day Delivery
You can choose a weekly delivery day to group your orders into fewer packages, which is a great way to reduce packaging and plan ahead.
Enable at checkout by selecting “Amazon Day” or set it as your default under “Your Account > Amazon Day”.
12. Prime-exclusive deals and early access
Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals, and exclusive savings during Prime Day, Black Friday and other events.
No setup needed, just make sure you’re signed in to your Prime account.
COMMON PRIME DAY MISTAKES
Katy Phillips, senior brand and communication manager at idealo shares with Sun readers three common Prime Day mistakes
1. Buying something just because its discounted
An obvious rule that is often forgotten about is only buying something you actually need. Over half (59%) of those polled by idealo admitted that they ended up with a product they didn’t want after Prime Day last year.
Just because things are on sale, doesn’t mean you need to buy it! Keep a strict list if there are things you need. Nearly everything on the website will be marked as a ‘prime day deal’ regardless of whether the price has changed.
2. Not doing your research
A whopping 80% of Brits say they never price compare when shopping sale events but experts are urging everyone to spend more researching products before making a purchase.
Before you buy anything on Prime Day, make sure you compare prices elsewhere. Look on price comparison websites to see if it’s cheaper elsewhere and utilise price alerts where possible. These will send you notifications each time a product reaches its lowest price.
3. Not recognising scams
Each year a new scam will arrive just in time for Prime Day, ready to catch shoppers out. A common one includes hoax emails from the Amazon ‘Support Team’ were a new tactic used by criminals to steal people’s personal information.
If you see any emails or offers boasting £50 free to spend on Prime Day – they won’t be real. Make sure you’re on the real Amazon website also, as there may be links that take you to a site that looks similar to Amazon but isn’t the real thing.
13. Amazon Family sharing
Share Prime with one other adult and up to four children. You’ll each have your own account, but share perks like Prime Video, Reading, and Photos.
To set it up, go to “Accounts & Lists > Your Amazon Family” and add adult or child members.
Value: £95/year saved if splitting the cost of one full membership between two adults
14. Parental controls
Set up profiles for each child, limit screen time, and manage what they can access through the Amazon Kids Parent Dashboard. Works across Fire tablets and Kindle devices.
To access, go to parents.amazon.co.uk.
15. Buy Now with Prime
Use Prime benefits with the “Buy Now” button by setting your default delivery address, payment method, and delivery speed in your purchase preferences.
Useful for quick checkouts, though not available to PO Boxes or some business addresses.
HOW TO CANCEL YOUR PRIME SUBSCRIPTION
To cancel, go to “Your Prime Membership”, select “Manage”, then “Update, Cancel and More”.
If you haven’t used any benefits, you’ll get a full refund. If you’ve only used delivery, you may be eligible for a partial refund.
If you signed up via the Android Amazon app, you’ll need to cancel through Google Subscriptions.
However, the change strangely didn’t include an option to upgrade for those wanting to avoid the ads.
But thanks to a new update, Sky customers can now choose an ad-free option instead.
What’s more, customers get money off compared to subscribing directly to Paramount+.
“Finally no ads so I can get back to watching South Park and Nobland with no interuptions!” one viewer wrote on Sky’s forum.
“This is good news,” another commented.
Sky customers can subscribe to Paramount+ standard – which has no ads – for £3 extra per month.
Usually, the standard plan costs £7.99 per month.
For those who want 4K quality as well as a screen allowance boost and no ads, it’s £6 extra.
You’re throwing away money on Netflix – I found three common mistakes sending your bill soaring but the fixes are easy
That’s instead of the £10.99 you would have to pay for it directly.
Sky Cinema costs £10 per month and comes with two free cinema tickets for Vue Cinemas each month.
PARAMOUNT+ PRICES AND PERKS
In November, Paramount+ announced a new pricing structure.
Before then, there was just one standard plan costing £7.99.
Since November, there have been three.
The cheapest is £4.99 with ads, the ability to watch on one device at a time and only full HD quality – you also don’t have the privilege to download shows offline.
Paramount+’s new standard plan is £6.99 per month, allowing up to two concurrent streams in full HD and you can download content to watch on the go.
The premium plan is £10.99 per month, with up to four devices allowed to watch at the same time, as well as 4K UHD, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on selected titles.
