Why Australians are paying higher prices for technology??

[Scotty72]

You unfortunately have hit the nail on the head and it is those bad retailers that are screwing it for all of us, I know that our predecessor did exactly what you said, I would implore you to seek out a better retailer who does appreciate your business and support and in the absence of such a retailer, then go online I know I would and unfortunately do. But there are many smaller retailers out there who pride themselves on customer service and will provide service intelligently when required, I don't care if you read the whole book in store, we will order any title you chose, we even let people remove packaging so they can more closely inspect the product. I would be upset if we did any less.
I just want everyone to understand that there is a bigger picture at play here.

There is another aspect at play here: shifting attitudes between generations.

Most Gen Ys scratch their heads if you suggest they listen to an LP or cassette (or give it a few years - even a CD) : it is just normal that they download music to an iPod or similar.

By the time the Gen Zs are out and spending money on "books", many of them may see paper books as quaint (just like LPs are now). "Why would you buy a paper version?", they may wonder.

Already, there are school libraries that have replaced their books with Kindles or iPads... So, those students will never have the notion of touching and feeling a book instilled.

I think Nick Sherry is 100% right, give it 5-10 years and book stores will be like record shops, and film cameras are today: A few will survive for the collectors, the nostalgic or the stubborn.

Yes, it is a 'Brave New World' (I have the paper back and the eBook versions) but, one I think we will all have to adapt to.

[Cris]

I can understand your sentiments but to say that in five years they will be history, i suppose that will be the same history that killed newsprint when radio arrived, or when television killed radio, adapt and survive is what is needed, but when a government legislates business's out of business then thats a different story, and unfortunately that is what is happening in australia today- not just in books but in all retail and hospitality sectors. All I ask is that the playing field is made level so we can compete in an honest way. I can give you many examples of how SMALL business is being assassinated by stealth everyday.

[Scotty72]

Maybe not history but, very different.

Email hasn't put the post offices out of business but, they are near unrecognisable from 15 years ago. Maybe selling everything from printer ink to personalised pencils... and even a book or two

Scotty

[Cris]

Yep. Post offices a perfect example. Run by the government they are now trying to assinate small business by selling non-core products and not allowing any competitors to sell their products. They are not small business they are a govt department pretending to be a small business by using franchise model. You may wish to find out just how outdated they are. But as they have deep pockets funded by the tax payer they just keep on throwing money in the hole. But who cares as it is only tax payer funds.

[geoffsta]

The truth of the matter is, we all shot ourselves in the foot. Australia is a gutless country. It's ran by minorities who believe they act for the rest of us.
Unions must take a big part of the blame. Very usefull in the 50's, & 60's, but now they are too big and too powerful that the government (All parties) can not handle them.
These people see that a company is making an extra 2 cents profit, the union say that they want it.
The banks are another problem. Letting people and businesses take out outrageous loans that have to be repaid, so up go the prices. Then people need more money to afford the price hikes, so up go the wages. With that people can afford to pay more for housing, so the bank loans them more money. And so on, and so on.

If a government had balls, it would buy back all the utilities it sold off. Tell the parents that think they can run a school to bugger off, and let it be run by the education department like it use to. The government should also buy back the commonwealth bank and lower rates to make the others follow suit. The other banks should be made to pay a 30% (A big greedy bank tax)on their profits. the ACCC need to grow balls, and act on the fuel companies. And the EPA needs to say enough is enough.

We could all then afford to buy Australian. And make the diggers past and present proud to have fought and died for their country.

{removed}

My 2 cents.

Geoff.

[MarkChap]

Warning: KEEP This on Topic and don't let it get personal, if persoanl attacks are made bans WILL be handed out

[Kym]

Off topic discussion removed.

[Xebadir]

I would wonder if its the lack of demand, but rather if it is just because as Australian's we put up with it. Over in the US a consumer will not tolerate high prices, and will actually not buy the item if they don't like the price...yes it helps having multiple large corps which help drive down prices, but hey the ACCC and the government is at fault there. Wages in general are lower, which also forces prices down as people have less to spend. Its like people have realised that they can get away with it in Australia, and the government won't do anything as it means more tax dollars. Its not only killing us locally in this avenue, its killing our tourism (who would pay for some cruddy hotel in Aus for 110$ when in the US the same hotel is $50, similarly for food...we pay over double, clothing we pay nearly treble). Its going to come to a head eventually. Sooner or later we will force our own recession, especially with the Reserve Bank and its blunt instrument.

[Tommo1965]

some very good points in this thread....

I dont see bookshops closing in five years..perhaps in 20years..when all the oldies that prefer books drop of the perch....these Ipad thingy's etc area royal pain..much prefer a paper book...it adds to my experience of reading...

one thing is clear about tech..one good power cut and we are back at the stone age....

online shopping isn't as big as a polarized forum thread might thing...most people I know use online for small ticket items..but for larger purchases..its bricks and mortar outlets, where you can feel and touch/try..and return if the wheel fall off !!..

we are a majority run by a minority ....and most of that minority are right tools....people that seeks those jobs {pollies} are normally either in it for themselves or right wing activists and the crap rises to the top of the barrel..not the bottom .

theres a lot of problems this country faces...a couple of good wars should sort it out

[Nikkie]

The facts are that running a warehouse here in OZ is more expensive than running one in say Los Angeles.
The rents are similar per square metre, but their labour rates are far cheaper than ours.
Our minimum wage is around $19 per hour + 4 weeks holiday pay, super, sick leave, long service leave, workers comp and even payroll tax, whereas in the US for example, the minimum legal wage is around US$7.50 an hour, with only 2 weeks leave, no super, no long service leave etc.
Fuel is much cheaper in the US, which means that goods can be transported cheaper, and as their roads are better than ours, the goods get their faster too.

However, the BIG difference is volume.
Where a store here may order a pallet load of a certain item, in the US, they talk about truck loads, and the bigger the shipment, the lower the costs.

Retail margins are similar between Oz and the US, but the staff get paid less and they sell a lot more.
Don't forget that the US has around 15 times our population so competition is even fiercer than it is here.

Compare a good camera shop here with a good shop in the US.
One of the better stocked stores I frequent is Digital Camera Warehouse.
Now they have lots of stuff in stock, with most Canon and Nikon lenses on display, but go into B&H's store in New York, where you have 3 large floors of every camera and accessory you have ever heard about, then multiply it by 4!
Just the vast range of goodies wil make you want to buy!

I guess we do get ripped off somewhat here, but that is the price we pay for high wages and overheads I'm afraid.

I think you have hit the nail on the head Benny it would be good to see price's come down now that our aussie $ is the way it is now you would think the prices would drop but they did not so unfair but that is the way it is I guess but they keep saying buy Australian with the opportunity's now days to buy online we can tap into the U.S market but maybe with some things it will mean that warranty's may not be valid and sending goods back to the U.S for repairs

[Rattus79]

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.

[Lance B]

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.

Of course, this is a large factor in it. What some people do not realise is that many of these large manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, Apple, et al, offer discount incentives the more that the seller buys or for what ever they sell for a particular week/month and at the end of the week/month, they get a further rebate depending on the amount they have sold. Also, they may get added incentives for particular models they sell as the manufacturer may have a new model to sell or have a excess stock to get rid of. So, if we take a seller like B&H, if they write $100,000 worth of Nikon sales for a particular month, they may get a 10% discount over and above their already (probably large) normal discount, but if they sell $200,000, they may get a furher 5 or 10% again. Simply the scale of B&H's purchasing power precludes any Australian store from even getting anywhere near this amount.

[Rattus79]

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.

[camerasnoop]

Not wishing to ruffle anyone's feathers here, but transport costs are a bit of a red-herring. Japan may be closer to the US by Aircraft Carrier, but I wouldn't see the freight being very much different to Australia from Japan by cargo vessel. With much of the electronic gear being made in China these days, we're closer to the source than the US is.

[Rattus79]

good point, but i ask you:

If you could buy an item for $100 and sell it in the us for $500 or in Australia for the same item for $800, would you reduce the price to keep a few people on the internet (who are only going to buy it from you in the US anyway) happy?

Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc are all happy, as they are going to get the sale one way or the other. They don't care.

[Bennymiata]

Of course, this is a large factor in it. What some people do not realise is that many of these large manufacturers like Nikon, Canon, Apple, et al, offer discount incentives the more that the seller buys or for what ever they sell for a particular week/month and at the end of the week/month, they get a further rebate depending on the amount they have sold. Also, they may get added incentives for particular models they sell as the manufacturer may have a new model to sell or have a excess stock to get rid of. So, if we take a seller like B&H, if they write $100,000 worth of Nikon sales for a particular month, they may get a 10% discount over and above their already (probably large) normal discount, but if they sell $200,000, they may get a furher 5 or 10% again. Simply the scale of B&H's purchasing power precludes any Australian store from even getting anywhere near this amount.

That's why at Harvey's, they're happy to show you the invoice, as the actual price they pay is somewhat less than what's on the invoice.
The actual difference can be around 25%, as this is made up of advertising budget, volume discounts, a bit for the head office, etc etc.

Mainstream retailers also make big mark-ups on most stuff.
In fashion, what Myer buy for $30.00, they sell for $100, and I think the major retailers will have to have a re-think about the margins they make.
These same retailers also hammer their suppliers constantly with claims for advertising, and discounts when they have a sale.
For example, Myer buys say $10,000 worth of stuff from a company, then start retailing them at their normal margin.
The goods don't sell so well, or their normal sale period starts, so the store marks them down by 30%.
Who do you think pays for the 30% markdown?
Not Myer, it's the supplier who gets the cheque and notices tha they have deducted 30% off the invoice value and the supplier has nothing he can do about it, unless he doesn't want to supply them again.
The stores force the supplier to allow the stores to maintain their percentage margins, and the suppliers wear all the costs.

In regards to paper books.
Personally, I'm surprised they weren't out of fashion many years ago.
The only real beauty of buying actual books, is that they look nice on the bookshelf. Certainly nicer than a row of SD cards!
To me, electronic books are the way to go, as you can change the font size so old buggers like me can actually read them, and you can also have videos and photos embedded in them.
Think of all the trees that have to be cut down to make these books, of which a certain percentage of them, that don't sell, are just burned for nothing.
Look at the White and Yellow Pages for example.
Many years ago, the company that owns them bought their own forests to make sure they would (no pun intended) never have a shortage of raw materials, but really, how often do you go to one of these books to look up a number, rather than jumping on the web and finding it out from there?
Think of the millions of these books that are distributed each year and how many trees need to be felled to make them, to say nothing of the actual cost of production and the costs of getting rid of them all each year.
Personally, I think these books should only be supplied to people who REALLY need them in book form, with everyone else just getting a CD instead.

[junqbox]

Are we?
The prices for cameras here are about the same as they are in Japan. When you search for a particular model in various countries, US included, the prices are not dissimilar among the B&M stores. There'll always be the anomolies, like B&H, who do extroadinary volume, from a super large store and keen business practices.
After 25 or more years in the retail sector, I have learnt this (inter alia)- Australians want Versace/Armani but they want to buy it at KMart.
We, as a collective, have developed a very strange concept that the price of things should not go up, ever, and if anything, should always be going down. The only way to acheive this is to have things made by nations with less attention to worker/human rights than we do, hence everything made in China. We then decry the loss of industry here. Well if you bought all your clothing from BigW Kmart Target, et al, then you can't blame anyone else. The other retailers got on the bandwagon, so now all our clothes come from there. Soon to start coming from India, as China is getting too expensive, because guess what, they want to get paid more money, to enjoy the lifestyle we have. So does their government want more of the action also, understandably, so cost of doing business is going up in China.
When we think of Globalisation, we think of it as a one way street, ie- us getting all the benefits. But it's actually a two way street and we need to realise this very soon. Who are we to say to other countries- No, you can't come here and enjoy our lifestyle. Otherwise we won't have the same lifestyle and my t-shirts, shoes, cameras, undies will go up in price.

Next time you go to do the shopping, don't do it all at the supermarket (The big two are creating a false retail economy, ask the farmers). Go to the butcher, go to the grocer, go everywhere else you can possibly go before getting the last bits at the supermarket. By spending more money at the owner operated specialist stores you help acheive the following things-
Those retailers to maintain a knowledge bank. (otherwise it will be Woolies/Coles who only know butchery, fishmongery, pharmacy, the list goes on)
Those retailers improve their profitability, so they can hold broader product ranges.
Employ staff for more than a 3 hr shift (usually your kids)
Maintain a lively high street for the whole community.

We've already heard from people in another thread about why we shouldn't invest in change for a sustainable future. The above outlines how you can invest in a sustainable future for your community. It boils down to the same philosophy, if you want change then you need to pay for it, somehow.

[Scotty72]

I 99% agree with you. Especially about our modern attitudes to 'them' and trying to stop them from sharing our fortune.

Are we?
The prices for cameras here are about the same as they are in Japan. When you search for a particular model in various countries, US included, the prices are not dissimilar among the B&M stores. There'll always be the anomolies, like B&H, who do extroadinary volume, from a super large store and keen business practices.
After 25 or more years in the retail sector, I have learnt this (inter alia)- Australians want Versace/Armani but they want to buy it at KMart.
We, as a collective, have developed a very strange concept that the price of things should not go up, ever, and if anything, should always be going down. The only way to acheive this is to have things made by nations with less attention to worker/human rights than we do, hence everything made in China. We then decry the loss of industry here. Well if you bought all your clothing from BigW Kmart Target, et al, then you can't blame anyone else. The other retailers got on the bandwagon, so now all our clothes come from there. Soon to start coming from India, as China is getting too expensive, because guess what, they want to get paid more money, to enjoy the lifestyle we have. So does their government want more of the action also, understandably, so cost of doing business is going up in China.
When we think of Globalisation, we think of it as a one way street, ie- us getting all the benefits. But it's actually a two way street and we need to realise this very soon. Who are we to say to other countries- No, you can't come here and enjoy our lifestyle. Otherwise we won't have the same lifestyle and my t-shirts, shoes, cameras, undies will go up in price.

Next time you go to do the shopping, don't do it all at the supermarket (The big two are creating a false retail economy, ask the farmers). Go to the butcher, go to the grocer, go everywhere else you can possibly go before getting the last bits at the supermarket. By spending more money at the owner operated specialist stores you help acheive the following things-
Those retailers to maintain a knowledge bank. (otherwise it will be Woolies/Coles who only know butchery, fishmongery, pharmacy, the list goes on)
Those retailers improve their profitability, so they can hold broader product ranges.
Employ staff for more than a 3 hr shift (usually your kids)
Maintain a lively high street for the whole community.

We've already heard from people in another thread about why we shouldn't invest in change for a sustainable future. The above outlines how you can invest in a sustainable future for your community. It boils down to the same philosophy, if you want change then you need to pay for it, somehow.

[colinbm]

theres a lot of problems this country faces...a couple of good wars should sort it out

Do you really know what war is ??
Do you really know how hard it was for this country to recover from the last war ??
Would you like to see a war fought in & for this country on our own soil this time ??
I DON"T THINK SO ? Don't even think about it !
Wake up to your self !
Col

[Irru]

Reading is easier, and more convenient, on a Kindle or similar. I love having a real book, but I read a lot more now that I don't have to bother with them any more. Not having to pay the to turn trees into a physical manifestation of a book sweetens the deal. Not having to carry the weight if I am intending to leave the house with it, is also nice. Additionally, it is less awkward to read while laying on my side.

The same goes for music. There is something nice about displaying your collection, but lets face it: CDs look crap anyway, take up space and even if I own the CD I will play it from a hard drive due to convenience. So these days I buy electronic format, and occasionally I might buy something on vinyl if I want to display it. Nothing beats the sound of vinyl, which is actually different to the mp3 sound so I'm not buying it twice just to have it on a shelf.

I hope that neither hurts retail outlets, but I know that they do. It is the future though, the retail sector is going to shrink. Managing the follow-on effect that has on the economy and therefore our lives, is one of the things we employ our government for.