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The great import rip-off: why isn’t everything cheaper?

Frank Zumbo

by Frank Zumbo

29 Sep 05:30am

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Filed under: Australian Dollar, Economy, Imports, Prices, Shopping

37 comments

Have you been getting excited at the rise of the Aussie dollar? Well, you should be. Of course, those planning an overseas trip will be particularly excited. A strong Aussie dollar gets you more foreign currency to spend on that overseas holiday. The benefits of a stronger Aussie dollar, however, should not stop there.

It might be a standout currency, but a stronger Aussie isn't helping us all. Photo: AFP

All Australian consumers should be getting excited as the Aussie dollar surges upwards. Why? For the simple reason that all imported products should now be much cheaper.

The economics is simple. Just like a strong Aussie dollar buys you more foreign currency when you go overseas, a strong Aussie dollar means importers can ordinarily buy foreign products at effectively lower prices.

As international transactions are usually conducted in foreign currencies such at the US dollar, it follows that as the Aussie dollar gets stronger it buys you more US dollars making it cheaper for companies here to pay for the imported products.

For those with a tight family budget a strong Aussie dollar should translate into cheaper products. That’s the good news. Now for the bad news. Consumers don’t always get the benefits that should flow from a strong Aussie dollar. As outrageous as that may sound it does happen. Simply stated Australian consumers can and do get ripped off by those companies here that either don’t fully pass on the price savings from a stronger Aussie dollar or that are slow to lower their local prices to consumers.

Before explaining this particular consumer rip off and the possible collateral damage to consumers from events leading up to a stronger Aussie dollar, it’s useful to understand why the Aussie dollar is surging at the moment. For those who follow these issues closely it would not be surprising to focus on the link between rising local interest rates and a surging Aussie dollar.

With the Reserve Bank giving big hints of a possible hike or hikes in the official interest rate in coming months, it’s clear that Australia will have some of the highest interest rates in the developed world. This will be magnified by the dominance of the 4 major banks allowing them to push interest rates beyond the Reserve Bank hikes.

Not surprisingly this anticipated chain of events is seeing an influx of foreign capital chasing the robust Australian interest rates. As the Aussie dollar increases speculators also see an opportunity to make big money trading in our currency. With international funds having billions of dollars to play with they can easily move lots of money into and out of Australia knowing that changes of just a few cents on the Aussie dollar can translate into a small fortune.

So why should we be concerned at what the Reserve Bank decides regarding the official interest rate? To begin with, speculation regarding the Reserve Bank’s stance on the official interest rate affects the Aussie dollar and can lead to speculators “playing games” with the Aussie dollar. These games may work in the consumer’s favour if the Aussie dollar goes up (assuming, of course, that the benefits are passed onto consumers), but consumers can get burnt if the Aussie dollar falls. Just ask Aussie travellers how much they lost when they were stuck overseas last time the Aussie dollar dropped suddenly.

More importantly, any Reserve Bank decision in coming months to push up the official rate will obviously lead to higher local interest rates. And knowing that the dominance of the 4 major banks makes them a law unto themselves, it would not surprise anyone if the majors push up their lending rates over and above the rise in the official rate.

Clearly, the Reserve Bank needs to think long and hard before they move interest rates as any rate change not only allows the major banks to play games with lending rates, but it allows the international speculators to play games with the Aussie dollar.

With the danger of local interest rates being pushed up in coming month courtesy of the Reserve Bank and the dominance of the four major banks it becomes even more critical that the benefits of a stronger Aussie dollar are quickly and fully passed onto consumers.

Here the point is very simple. As the Aussie dollar surges importers should increasingly get a financial windfall on the products they import. Of course, there may be time lags before those windfalls are fully realised, but don’t let importers fool you into thinking that any such time lags are always “significant.” They would say that for the simple reason that the longer a local seller delays passing on the benefits of a stronger Aussie dollar the more of a financial windfall the seller can pocket at the expense of consumers.

We are already seeing local oil companies playing games with petrol prices. With the Singapore benchmark price for refined petrol used to calculate local prices having fallen significantly in recent weeks primarily due to the stronger Aussie dollar we should be seeing large falls in retail petrol prices throughout Australia.

Yes, we saw retail petrol prices plunge in city areas for a couple of weeks, but then two things also happened. First, prices in regional areas stayed up when they should have started to fall. The Singapore benchmark price for refined petrol has been falling and the Aussie dollar has been climbing for weeks so the “time lag” excuse wasn’t going to explain away the rip off this time. In short, regional petrol prices should have been falling. But they weren’t, for example, in regional NSW and in the Northern Territory.

Second, the oil companies and major petrol retailers like Coles and Woolworths started pushing up average retail prices despite the Singapore benchmark price continuing to fall as the Aussie dollar gained ground. Obviously for the oil companies and major retailers acting as a cosy club has its financial rewards in helping keep retail prices and margins higher than they should be.

As the petrol rip off continues because of the failure by the oil companies and the major retailers to quickly and fully pass on the benefits of a stronger Aussie dollars, the silence from the ACCC, Federal and State Governments has been deafening.

A rip off is a rip off irrespective of your politics. That’s why governments of all political persuasions need to inject more competition into the petrol industry. And that’s why the independents and the Greens are so important to the new “political paradigm.”

Whether it’s the Federal Labor Government or the WA Liberal Government, more can and should be done to ensure that the oil companies and the major retailers are more transparent and accountable for their pricing behaviour. Until we have greater transparency and accountability, especially at the wholesale level, motorists will continually to be denied the benefits of a stronger Aussie dollar.

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37 comments

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    • Susan Sutcliffe says:

      06:22am | 29/09/10

      Fairdinkum why would big business lower there prices in line with the surging value of the Aussie doller , what and kill the golden goose , what give up some of the cream , & what give the long suffering consumers of our country a break . And what offer the punter a fairer more realistic price to pay for the goods we buy , which mostly comes from China & which is mostly crap .
      Tell em their dreaming ....
      For to long now these companies have been over charging us for the rubbish they sell , they’ll never give the Aussie consumer a break , it isn’t in their vocabulary to be fair , and what cut their greedy profit margins .
      Tell em their dreaming .....
      Petrol prices - don’t get me started

      Reply

    • Barry Pattrick says:

      04:28pm | 29/09/10

      Good on you Susan I totally agree the less of this plastic 2 week warranty crap we get in the place the better .

    • acotrel says:

      06:41am | 29/09/10

      Australian businesses have moved off-shore with the clear intent on exploiting foreign worker’s shocking wages and conditions.  Importers have conscientiously exploited the cheap and shoddy goods from those factories.  The average Australian has been played for a sucker.  There is an ongoing attack on our worker’s wages and conditions by conservative elements.  They should realise ‘you can’t have it both ways! - We’ll end up with third world wages and conditions, and first world prices for consumer items.

      Reply

    • Scot says:

      01:10pm | 29/09/10

      acotrel. The cost of manufacturing or doing anything in Australia is because of the Australians inability to be productive. Do not blame the rest of the world for your troubles. The next industry to fall in Australia will be the car manufacturing business. If you do not like the increases in power, rates, water, poor roads, transportation, food, petrol etc. etc. then do something about it and stop winging. NSW has become a third world state with 5 star costs. While Asia has developed into a world class in many respects and has left Australia 10 years behind. Poor delivery and extremely poor outcomes. You get what you vote for.

    • acotrel says:

      04:22pm | 29/09/10

      Scot, Australian workers are more productive than those of other countries.  Our car industry is American, and they don’t see value in providing decent product in Australia.  The new Commodore only now has an MP3 player with USB port, they’re about 4 years behind the Japanese in overall design, and that has always been the trend.  GMH and Ford still believe Australian customers should cop their shoddy product. If they produced anything even as good as a mustang or a corvette in Australia, it’d sell.  I drive a Mazda 6, six speed manual with all the good bits, you wouldn’t find a better car for the price, anywhere.

    • TimB says:

      07:49am | 29/09/10

      I completely agree with you. Anything as volatile as a petrol price should easily reflect currency changes.

      The complications come in when we look at other consumer goods like electronics. The prices on these kinds of things tend to stay pretty stable, which is understandable; you can’t expect the prices on these things to yo-yo alongside currency fluctuations. It would be an impractical situation for retailers to handle.
      But over a longer period of time the prices SHOULD reflect our exchange rate, and this is where, I personally as a gamer, get mad.
      RRP on new console games these days tends to average $100 AUD. The same games will retail for $60 USD. Given our dollar is near parity with the US dollar and toss in shipping costs, thats at LEAST $30 more expensive here. That’s nearly a 50% markup!
      Granted the margin has been less when the exchange rate was less favourable, but such things still work out to be much mor expensive here.

      As such I’m seriously looking at importing Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS handheld from America. The DSi launched here at $300 as compared to the $US170, and as such I’m fully expecting at price discrepancy on the 3DS of at least $100.

      Now, this sort of situation would affect many types of consumer goods, not just the gaming market. And like I said before, it’s impractical to expect retailers to change on a day-by-day basis. But shouldn’t they at least review pricing every quarter or so to bring it in line with the average currency exchange rate?
      Otherwise you can’t help but feel we’re being ripped off, and more people will just ignore our local retailers in favour of shopping online. Surely that’s not a good long term situation.

      Reply

    • bobw says:

      09:21am | 29/09/10

      @TimB:  You’re dead right about the prevalence of that kind of gaping price differential as between Australia and the US.  No doubt there are a number of contributing factors, but the local distributors of some products must never have had it so good.

    • TheRealDave says:

      10:07am | 29/09/10

      I’d just like to point out, as an avid gamer going back far too many decades now, that the Aussie gamers has been continually ripped off for over a decade. Wether the Aussie dollar is in the 90US cent range or in the low 50US cent range all latest release games have always, without fail, been in the $89-$109 bracket.

      Put it this way, if you aren’t buying your games via digital download from an OS site then your a complete mug. I walk into EB etc and just laugh at what people are paying for software off the shelf. Its criminal. Importers/distributors have been price gouging on software for near two decades now with ZERO recourse. Don’t support them, get digital downloads from OS companies, especially with the buying power of the Aussie dollar right now.

      And that goes for business software as well.

    • Michael says:

      11:18am | 29/09/10

      @ TheRealDave: well said.  I’d add you can see how much gouging is involved with new games just by how much the prices of said games drop in the same shops once you give them a couple of months.  There’s at least 10-20% gouge in the new release price, and often a 40-50% discount if you’re prepared to be patient.

      In the past I’ve shopped local only because I’m a little paranoid about the security of e-commerce transactions especially to overseas sites, but given Zumbo’s comments and my quick look over Steam, I’m more and more persuaded that it makes sense.

      But then that’s how the Internet should be.  Middlemen can only gouge on price when there’s a middle to sit on.  The Internet destroys the middle between consumer and producer.

    • TimB says:

      02:50pm | 29/09/10

      Dave, can’t do that with console games unfortunately. I have found that JB Hi-fi tends to be consitently cheaper than EB though.

      Only ever get stuff from EB when it’s on sale. They’re terrible otherwise.

    • Phil says:

      08:28am | 29/09/10

      Fairly on the mark,

      Interesting we are the only country which has a weekly petrol price fluctuation that can be shifted to weekends near long weekends!
      We are being ripped on fuel but there isnt anyone with enough balls to take them on. But that can be said for so many things in Australia.

      As far as rise and fall of goods prices things to take in to account with some suppliers are things like that if they have purchased X quantity of stock ordered from an overseas manufacturer and have it in a warehouse they have paid for the stock and their retail price wont usually change to reflect how the AU$ is trading 2-3 months after they have purchased it.
      They paid more for it back then so any chance of discounting it is small unless they are buying enough to clear existing stock so new stock can be ordered cheaper form the manufacturer.
      This can also be the case with bigger chains who may have purchased at old prices before the AU$ went up and they could get better deals on new stock.

      I do get a fair amount of stuff online these days just as its cheaper and easier, no need to deal with staff who get upset when you try buy something from the shop they are in as they are on the phone or talking with friends.
      Lots of research and then head online for savings thats for sure!

      Reply

    • Ella says:

      09:46am | 29/09/10

      In addition many businesses who deal with a lot of overseas transactions actually fix their exchange rates. Place I used to worked fixed the exchange rate they would get with their bank for a year in advance because it gave them more certainty in budgeting and planning and smoothed out the ups and downs in the exchange rate. Downside is that there are in fact no savings when the exchange rate improves and no savings to be passed on to customers.

      I really think a lot of the price difference between us and other countries is down to economies of scale and distance

    • Simmo says:

      08:33am | 29/09/10

      A few years ago when the Aussie Dollar was around 0.60 US your average videogame cost about $100. Now the the Aussie dolalr is around .95 US your average video now costs… $100.

      Books, games, DVDs, clothes, music, Online shopping from overseas stores has saved me hundreds of dollars even taking into account shipping costs. That $900 we got last year to help Australia through the GFC, take a guess where I spent my money.

      Reply

    • Hermano says:

      09:27am | 29/09/10

      Agreed.  The high A$ just makes buying online even cheaper.  Some OS retailers even offer free shipping to Australia, so it’s a dead-set no-brainer.

    • rufus says:

      09:17am | 29/09/10

      Everyone can see the rorts and ripoffs being perpetrated by the retailing duopoly and the oil and bank cartels. Everyone including those like APRA and those in state or federal parliaments. But they’re clearly looking the other way. Rudd is the only politician who even wanted to talk about this but he failed to do anything. The rest try to pretend they can’t see it, and we reward them by electing them.

      Reply

    • Reg says:

      09:39am | 29/09/10

      Frank you are so right. I’ve been saying this for years and all I get is weak responses like “it’s a different market.”  It sure is, someone’s been screwing us for years. A Chinese made stainless BBQ that sells for $220 in Tacoma, costs $800 here. etc etc…  When it comes to comparing the quality and price of garments made in the various third world countries I’m sure the Australian purchasers must go on price alone. The quality of clothes from Guatemala and the Middle East and Pakistan is far higher in the US than they are here.

      Even in the days when the Australian dollar only bought 83 US cents, you could buy $1.50 worth of goods or food in the US, now it would be $2 or more. The only thing that was the same price in the US, were restaurants and hotel accommodation but that was usually because of the 15% tip.
      Living in ordinary accommodation and shopping like a native brings it home.

      I know it’s a balance between supporting Australian industry and supporting countries who need our help but then I’m reminded that even in the US there are 18 million people who have trouble putting food on the table every night. That’s nearly the population of Australia.

      Reply

    • Claire says:

      11:17am | 29/09/10

      This has to be the only article on The Punch I’ve read so far where EVERY commenter has agreed with the sentiment of the article. Just goes to show..

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      01:01pm | 29/09/10

      I have some disagreements with the specifics though I’m on the same page with the sentiment.

      There may be some skimming in the price lags, particularly with petrol, though for most retailers existing stock would be paid for ast the old rate so it will take time to move through the supply chain.

      As for foreign speculators pumping up the dollar, the blame for that rests with Wayne Swan who is still stimulating the economy out of the recession that never occured.  The carry traders have never had a greater friend.

    • DG says:

      11:22am | 29/09/10

      What?

      Businesses are trying to maximise their return on investment? Buying things as cheap as they can and selling them for as much as they can. Reducing costs and increasing their mark-up? Since the population aren’t going to stop buying plasma TV’s and so forth so suppliers control supply to keep prices up, and prices down.

      Businesses are capitalising on opportunities that have come their way? Wow.

      Businesses and individuals are structuring their affairs to make the most of the change in global and local circumstances?  Say it ain’t so.

      Reply

    • Claude Balls. says:

      11:18pm | 29/09/10

      Right, now I understand. They are so intent on screwing the public for their own ends that the Australian Taxpayer should slap a clamp on their activities and adopt a full-blown socialist policy. I never thought I’d ever hear a Liberal supporter suggest that. Makes sense though.

      Probably why Telstra’s so screwed up eh?

    • Duncan Bourne says:

      11:36am | 29/09/10

      I thought the magical ‘market forces’ were supposed to sort all this out and drive prices down. Isn’t that why we sold off all our ‘inefficient’, regulated state-run enterprises? The ones where we could tell them what price to sell things for? So that ‘market forces’ and ‘competition’ would weed out inefficiencies and benefit the consumer?
      On principle I’m happy to pay extra to buy from a local supplier, I say 10 - 30% over retail in the US on Chinese-made goods is reasonable. When a product manufactured in China costs 200 - 300% more here than online someone’s trying it on and I’ll buy online thanks.

      Reply

    • Davido says:

      11:37am | 29/09/10

      It is simple really… while we get ripped off the politicians play point scoring.

      Some years ago a friend of mine who works as a telecommunications analyst let slip that it cost Telstra less than one twenty thousandth of a cent to provide a landline phone call. At that time, calls were 30cents each.

      We have the slowest most expensive internet on the planet. Go to a third world like India and you will get better and cheaper internet.

      We have an oligopoly in groceries. You can buy a packet of Tic Tacs that were made right here in NSW and exported to another country cheaper in those countries.  I used to buy Tic Tacs that cost me $1.70 in Australia for 10 rupees in India. And if you didnt get it the first time, they WERE MADE right HERE! 

      That goes for a lot of products.

      Go to the USA and you can buy identical jeans for one fifth the price they are sold here. Why? A lack of competition.

      We need a regulatory regime that packs a punch and will give the average Australian a fair go. VOTE OUT any politician who is too weak (or has sold out) to bring it in.

      Reply

    • Lee says:

      12:25pm | 29/09/10

      Re Computer Games. A friend of mine here used to buy from my old UK distribution company in the UK where prices were much cheaper, ship them back here and undercut the official Aus. distributors prices to retailers, result, dealers received cheaper pricesto pass on. However, the distributors here got very annoyed and took him to court under the 1908 Commonwealth copyright Act and won the case. It took 13 years to change this arcane law, but it seems prices have still remained ridiculously here. My advice these days, buy online or digitally

      Reply

    • Retailer says:

      12:38pm | 29/09/10

      Our wholesalers would not buy the volume that the U.S would as our population is considerably lower, this would affect pricing as the more you buy the cheaper per unit you get.  My biggest concern in this article is the sentiment that consumers are being ‘ripped off’ - as a small business retailer I find this highly offensive.  My costs have increased considerably over the past 12 months, yet due to ‘price gouging’ by larger retailers I am unable to increase my prices accordingly.  This leaves consumers under the impression that I am ripping them off - nothing could be further from the truth.  No one complains about the rise in the cost of their cup of coffee at their local cafe, yet retailers are accused daily, for ripping everyone off.

      Reply

    • Davido says:

      04:14pm | 30/09/10

      People ARE being ripped off.

      And when you talk about volume buying you might be interested to know that it is illegal to give volume discounts in the USA. They have strong anti-trust laws that prevent this happening. Do the tiny retail shops throughout Asia buy in volume? No. The real issue is a lack of competition.

      Your costs are increasing because of an uncompetitive environment. You should be advocating strong consumer laws.

      Another example of being ripped off:
      - price of levi 501’s in 38th street, Manhattan New York = $35 USD. In Myers $100+. Both made in Asia.

      Just check out sears.com to find out how much you are being ripped off.

      People need to stop being distracted by burqa murals and start concentrating on getting the fundamental regulatory environment right.

    • Julie says:

      01:57pm | 01/10/10

      Davido, the US does not prevent volume discounts unless they constitute exclusive dealing (virtually identical to the treatment in Australia).  They have not enforced price discrimination laws for decades.  Have you noticed that we have just a ‘slightly’ smaller market in Australia, which could explain why there is less competition here and therefore more choice and cheaper prices in larger economies like the US? 

      Think about it for just a second.  What exactly would you propose?  A regulator setting prices for all the companies?  It is not a ‘rip off’ just because people located somewhere else pay less for items than you do

      This discussion is unhelpful; it is misleading as to the nature of the existing market and offers no useful ‘solution’ to the ‘problem’.  Get the fundamental regulatory environment right you say - how about identifying what you think is wrong with it beyond whining about how much more jeans cost at Myer than in Manhatten (perhaps they might feel ripped off because they pay more for rental/housing than you do)

    • Chris says:

      12:42pm | 29/09/10

      Well, there’s nothing stopping the banks raising their rates at any time, irrespective of what the Reserve does. The only thing the consumers have in their favour is the level of competitiveness between the big 4. Having said that, most consumers will not take the major step of transferring their mortgage to another bank because of half a percent here or there. Our brand loyalty is well known.

      Reply

    • Steve Smith says:

      02:08pm | 29/09/10

      In regard to general retail shopping, the smart consumers will get better pricing. If people think complaining about currency fluctuations on a blog will get you better pricing, then you deserve to pay more for their 7th plasma screen.

      The smart consumer will look online or bargain with retailers/banks whoever. In the end, there is extra fat in their sales which can be passed on in some cases… but in the end a business is a business, if you don’t ask your not going to get it.

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      02:44pm | 29/09/10

      We have fuel watch here in WA and whilst it doesn’t prevent the gouging it does add some transparency into the equation.
      The fact that coles and woolies bitterly opposed it tells me it is good for consumers.
      Thanks to the Liberal and National parties aligned with a couple of independant misfits in the Senate the majority of Australians never got a chance to live under a better system.
      Time to give the ACCC some real power and its about time that politicians put the average punter first in front of their big business backers.

      Reply

    • Who says:

      03:00pm | 29/09/10

      I brought a performance cam shaft that was manufactured in Australia from an American online hot rodder that was just over half the price of getting it from the Aussie company.  The shaft was manufactured 1 hours drive from my house yet it was cheaper to get it sent to America, sent back to me and pay an American middle man, madness!

      Reply

    • Matt S says:

      04:14pm | 29/09/10

      I think some people do no realise that as the USD weakens, the return the manufacturing country gets for their goods weakens as well - much the same as Australian multinationals having their bottom line hit as the AUD appreciates.  This results is them increasing the cost of their manufactured goods in USD terms to maintain their profit margins.  So yes, as the AUD appreciates against the USD, we can effectively buy more USD, but prices on the other end may go up as well to reflect decreased margins as a result of this movement.  This doesn’t even factor in raw material price changes resulting in the currency movements. 
      Also, FX movments cannot be passed onto the end using instantaneously.  In most cases, a business will have hedged their FX exposure and fixed the cost of their inventory well before the product eevn lands in the country.  It may take months for this inventory to deplete in some instances.
      To say that retailers in Australia are not passing on the benefits of appreciating AUD to consumers is bollocks.  There are 2 sides to the story.  Did retailers pass on the millions they lost when the AUD fell through the floor due to unhedged exposure to FX back when the GFC hit in 2008?  Pretty sure they had to drop prices further to keep people spending.  And these consumers finding it hard to make ends meet and balance their budget.  How about we all start living within our means.  Gone are the days where people work hard and save their cash, putting their needs first before their wants.  These days, the consumer wants everything now and is prepared to take out finance in order to stay ‘in’ with latest trends and have the best technology (ie TVs, home theatres etc).  Nobody makes anyone shop at a particular place for a particular item - part of the benfits of an open market.  If you don;t like the bif retailers ripping you off (Coles, woolworths, Harvey Norman), there are other alternatives (ie you lcoal market for fruit and veg, other discount retailers that sell generic big ticket items).  People shop where they shop and then complain about it because they are too lazy to do antyhing about it for themselves.

      Reply

    • Jimbo says:

      12:47am | 30/09/10

      I’m in the US at the moment, and this visit has cemented in my mind that the Australian consumer is getting screwed. Yes, they have a much bigger market here, but surely that cannot account for the price discrepancies in many items. For example, at a local supermarket (in a town of about 30 000 people) they had a side of Australian beef for the equivalent of about $18 a kilo…about what you would pay back home, maybe even a bit cheaper, even though it had been shipped halfway across the world and trucked to the middle of nowhere on the east coast…Clothes are another example - I bought a Ralph Lauren shirt for $45, I bought a very similar Ralph Lauren shirt back home for $160. Vans shoes - $40 here, about $80 or $90 back home…the list goes on.

      Reply

    • Mike says:

      10:30am | 30/09/10

      Aussies most definitely pay way too much. I live in Germany at the moment, and would say my living costs are about 2/3 of what they were in Australia, maybe even less. Every few years when I go back it frightens me how much more expensive everything is.

      A big part of it is competition - here there are 4 “Aldi” type stores (no name brand stuff but just as/almost as good as the brand name stuff) including Aldi itself of course, and at least as many Woolworths/Coles type stores selling all the brand name stuff. These shops are in every little town and max out the competition big time. As the previous commentator mentioned, even the stuff that comes from Australia is the same price, sometimes even cheaper than back home.

      In Australia you pay *WAY* too much, simple as that. The government hasnt done much to encourage competition, why would they if they’re probably on the take with their big business chums lining their pockets making sure nothing drastically changes.

      Reply

    • Anthony of Perth says:

      12:55pm | 13/10/10

      Good example are the cars imported from the USA like the BMW X5 and the Chrysler range. Now should be significantly cheaper with the Aussie dollar approaching parity. Pricing has not changed from a 60 cent A$ to 98 cent A$.

      The ACCC should look at these examples of price gouging

      Reply

    • ThatGamer says:

      08:51pm | 23/12/10

      Australian Gamers are rorted hard. We pay double what the US citizens would pay for a game. Where’s the justification for that?

      Reply

    • BoB says:

      07:23pm | 06/01/11

      And this is why Aussie dollars keep leaving our shores because Aussies are well aware of the price gouging in this country. Fuck the country pride bullshit.., if this government shows no loyalty to its people then my loyalty is to my family first. I have bought most what I want from overseas for I dont how long now. Ive built gaming computers worth over 10-12,000 in Australian dollars for as little as 5-6,000 and many friends have caught on to my advice. Both those who have seen my pc’s and thousands of friendships in online gaming communities. The money I have saved buying from overseas is staggering. Performance car parts etc., the things that interest me. My partner buys all her clothes online and gets quality clothing at a mere portion of the Australian price.., meh., even the knock-offs she occasionally exceed Australian standards lmao. This country is a disgrace and dont even get me started on what we are stuck with such as utilities.., the Australian power companies are royally screwing the market and internet and phone. The list goes on

      Reply

    • Adrian says:

      10:04pm | 07/01/11

      Have to agree with Bob : - When it comes to looking after your own family, bugger the local stores. I have heard every excuse by these people in the retails business and there isnt one that I would agree with, except possibly that their wholesalers are ripping them off. But, what do they do ? Do they stand their ground and take out full page adverts in the newspaper drawing attention to this ?
      Oh hell no. They stick to us , the consumer ! I am buying overseas from now on, and even if I have to pay a bit more. Its gone past anger, its heading to hate.

      Reply
 
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Hey @GeminiTiger86, want to tell Australia's leading news site what you saw? Email cell number to anthony.sharwood@news.com.au? Thanks

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The Punch is moving house

by The Punch Team

385

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

by Hannah Harborow

122

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

by Sarrah Le Marquand

251

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

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