Why Australians are paying higher prices for technology??

[I @ M]

Back to the topic the original post -- technology --- and the prices we are paying.

A couple of quick questions.

#1 Hands up those who can remember the name of the very prominent Australian retailer who was campaigning on the subject of internet sales killing the local retail sector.

#2 Hands up those who can remember the name of the very prominent Australian retailer who heavily advertised and sold truck loads of modems so that Australians could join the internet and embrace all it had to offer.

Something about having your cake and eating it too springs to mind yet again.

[Scotty72]

... and name the Australian retailer who used its market grunt to squeeze out many smaller retailers but, is now upset when he himself finds others squeezing him

[colinbm]

GGGGGGGGGGG.............................Gee I know, Hardly normally go there though

[ricktas]

Add to that Transport costs to Australia and you're coming close to our pricing.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's the way it is.

Transport costs within Australia too. My family own a large honey production company. We ship tons of Medi-Honey to Germany each year to be used in pharmaceuticals. Shipping costs are about $1.50 AUD from Tasmania to Melbourne per KG, and $0.75AUD from Melbourne to Germany per KG.

[colinbm]

Transport costs within Australia too. My family own a large honey production company. We ship tons of Medi-Honey to Germany each year to be used in pharmaceuticals. Shipping costs are about $1.50 AUD from Tasmania to Melbourne per KG, and $0.75AUD from Melbourne to Germany per KG.

Savage
Col

[joffa]

We are just finishing our holiday in Japan, while over here we visited the Ginza Apple store and bought a MacBook Pro and a Magic Mouse, we saved around $400 I think from buying it locally.

[Mark L]

In all of this has anyone stopped to think about the relative market size??
The US has 250 Million People to our 20 Million, That's just a few more chances to sell said product.

Then add to that, people like me who live in relatively small towns with one retailer offering photographic equipment, why wouldn't Gerry try to charge me as much as possible?

[Scotty72]

Then add to that, people like me who live in relatively small towns with one retailer offering photographic equipment, why wouldn't Gerry try to charge me as much as possible?

That is the beauty of internet shopping, the monopoly retailer now has a competitor to keep him honest.

[tcdev]

I really feel my age when I realise that I have grown up to see both the birth and death of a technology. My wife announced on the weekend that she intends to rip all our CDs (that we haven't done already) and then sell or junk the physical media, and also sell the shelving we bought specifically for holding CDs. Neither of us have bought physical CDs for several years now, excepting a couple that we bought to be signed by the artist. My wife has an iPod so all our music is bought online - it's not only more convenient, but cheaper than CDs!

I can see books going this way. Cris has a different idea, but I don't believe you can draw parallels between books and newsprint or radio. I liken newsprint and radio to casual/mobile gaming, whilst books are more akin to hard-core computer games. They're distinctly different markets, with different target demographics and radically different design approaches.

Like casual games that people on the move can pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, there will always be a place for newsprint and radio. I haven't listened to the radio anywhere outside my car for over a decade now. Even in the car it competes with the MP3 player. Just like I occasionally pick up the local rag from the lobby; half the time I flick through it in 5 mins, the other it gets recycled without being opened.

Hard-core games, OTOH, must move with the times or be left on the shelf. If it's not photo-realistic, cinematic sound, 3D real-time FPS or simulation capable of melting your graphics card - forget it. And I also think books need to keep abreast of time as well; not so much in terms of content but how that content is delivered to the reader.

I know several people with Kindles and/or iPads and they freely admit that they'll never go back to paperback novels. Personally, I still prefer books, but I can see the writing on the wall. I don't think Borders' failure had as much to do with being a big brash retailer as shifting trends in how people ingest information (of course, the competition that the internet afforded also contributed). You also need to keep in mind that the upcoming (and future) generations have been born with an iTouch/iPhone/iPad in their hands, get laptops at kindergarten, and seemingly prefer facebook/twitter/text over face-to-face communications even with their friends! Shove a book in their hands and they'll look for the USB jack...

Sorry to wander a little off-topic from the original post, but seeing others' comments got me thinking. Hey, I lost "focus" temporarily there.

I don't claim to have any industry knowledge of retail in Australia, but as a consumer it really riles me to see how much more we are charged than overseas, especially since I have recently spent some time living and working in the US.

I understand that you can't always poke a finger at the retailer as such, especially the brick-and-mortar crowd, but how can you blame a consumer that stand to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by shopping elsewhere? My Columbia hiking boots cost USD$54 recently (admittedly on sale, but they're only USD$79 normally) - they retail here for AUD$279! And having bought 4 - yes 4!! - pairs of shoes in a Timberland store in Vegas for the price of 1 pair here in Oz, we were told by the sales staff that they get Australian customers who buy from home and have them shipped back - it's *still* cheaper than buying in Australia! Now I dare you to try and tell me that we're not getting ripped off in this particular instance!

My sister was out here from the US last week, with laptop, iPhone, Kindle and iPad. I know for a fact she paid half for the iPod what they cost here, I can only guess her other gadgets were similarly cheaper.

I love the fact that I was born in Australia as much as the next guy, but I simply cannot afford to "Buy Australian" any more - it'll send me broke!