Thread: Aussies Getting ripped off

This debate has been raging in our local paper for the last 3 weeks. It started when an article in the paper revealed that our town has made it's way into the top 10 areas for people shopping on-line in NSW. The following week there were a couple of letters from outraged locals suggesting that we should be ashamed of ourselves and we should be supporting local business. The next week we had letters from people in support of on-line shopping, giving their reasons, which we've all heard before: price, availability, range.

Then last week a few letters from local businesses outlining why we should shop local: local businesses support local charities and sporting groups. They employ local people and they spend their income in the local area. Basically they're asking us to be happy to spend a bit more in the knowledge that some of our money will stay in the local area. You could extend the same argument out to buying from Australian businesses in general versus overseas.

When you look at it, buying stuff cheap from overseas is not that different to Gina Reinhart wanting to import cheap workers. We're basically taking advantage of lower standards of living in other countries to get what we want a bit (or a lot) cheaper, at the cost of local business.

However I'm pretty much with Geoff - my first priority is to limit the cost to my family. We don't buy huge amounts of stuff on-line and very little from overseas. But I have no compunction in doing so if the cost difference is significant.

At the end of the day, only the business itself can determine what price to put on goods and services. It's largely market-driven and they've had it 'good' for a long time, because of our geographical location. But the internet is changing that and I think that a lot more businesses will go to the wall as a result.

In our local area, I believe that retailers have enjoyed a bit of a bubble for the last couple of decades and what they are experiencing now is the downward slide back to where they were. It's like Woolies wanting to sell Dick Smith because the business is no longer growing. It can't go on growing forever and sooner or later, things must level out and even fall.

These businesses are going to have to find ways to adapt or else they will be gone. They tend to point the finger at us and say it's our fault for not buying local but I think that it's them who need to give us a good reason to buy from them rather than someone else, and these days it's increasingly going to come down to price.

Originally Posted by BobL

So you are saying that 99 out of100 people on the forum are a bunch of ragbags? I'd like to think Aussies at least are a bit better than that.

Not really most will be quite fair and give him about 50c worth for his $ when they separate him from it, and I would like to think we have a higher % of honest types than the average on the forum.
Getting someone to spend their money does not necessarily mean you are going to rob them.

Support local business - does that mean like the Brumbies Bakery chain with the memo from the franchise owner telling stores to 'put the prices up and blame it on the carbon tax'??

Right, with statements like that from supposed 'business leaders' I'll really believe the retailers who bemoan the internet stealing their market - stealing their artificially supported profit margins, more like!

SilentC makes some good points and it all comes down to a balance of supporting local business and enduring outrage owing to ridiculous or inflated prices.

This mentality is also present even within Australia. To take my own situation, I live in a small town on the edge of the Darling Downs. The general concensus is that goods are overpriced (be they packets of butter, electrical goods or boxes of nails) and a large proportion of the population will shop at Toowoomba, which is 80km away. The people in Toowoomba think they get better deals by travelling 120km to Brisbane .

The perception that the grass is greener in the next paddock is everywhere; not just overseas. Occasionally the grass is greener and longer and this is the point where our rant begins.

Regards
Paul

YES WE ALL SHOULD BYE LOCAL

and let the shop owner spend 1/2 your money overseas buying from the same cheep suppler , still waiting for it to turn up by mail , then adding the middle man mark up that is usual , how about saving the extra , then supporting clubs and charities your self with the money you saved

the cost of the goods still go's to over seas suppliers when you bye local

i spend a lot on importing what i want , shopping around if an australian supplier can deliver with no more than 25% extra , its there sale ,

it could be worse , Australia post could charge like the US postal service for packages , wow , thats one way of making shore USA exports are nill , still havent worked out to search ebay " world wide - USA "


some of my last purchases ,

1200watt power supply for $80 + shipping , out of melbourne , delivered to darwin in 4 days ( cheaper than hong kong) , $190 at local computer store , and 3 week wait because they dont stock any parts because of the speed electronics change

2 stepper motor drivers ( gecko's ) from a forum sponsor ( yes they are the cheapest) out of melbourne , $20 cheaper than ebay

Dicksmith no longer supply's electronic parts , so are forced to purchase off the net , dicksmith made millions off the Hobbes market, comming up with new kits every month to turn over the shelves , those kits didnt change for 20 years after he sold it , now there just another harvy norman , lol , when they go broke dicksmith will proberly bye his name back for a dollar and start from scratch saying something like " a woolies only comes around once in your life time "

local post office bloke had a go at me for the amount of packages delivered to POBOX , " i should shop local " , lol , i can not bye a stepper motor drive in darwin off the shelf , you could order one in , but then you only get a choice of products from there suppliers ,

the internet will let you compare more products to find the one that best fits your needs , not the only model available on the shelf

at least the jobs at the post office , freight company's , couriers , are safe , my local post office is over flowing with packages , Australia post it trialling large package security post boxes , they deliver a card to the your mailbox , with a cupboard number , and a pin number , that only works once for each package , times are a changing

harvey norman has opened warehouses where the boxes get removed off the shelf by robotic fork lifts ,and bar coded with shipping address with out any one touching it , yes things will change , less low skilled jobs , but some one has to service the robots ( car industry 20 years ago )

It is sad to see so many of us writing about getting ripped off by Aussie business and simply think that it is the operator that is to blame. Ask any professional and see what they they about the trades and what they charge for labour. We all want the most for least. We want to earn 200k for digging holes and not pay the others that are also trying to feed their families. This is not just about getting ripped off maybe one should try and see the whole picture. I buy Aussie and support Aussie so we can have some industry here. The government should also support Australian industry.This is not just one person ripping another we are all ripping each other off. It is also important to understand how every thing we do has a multiplying effect. I say Buy Aussie Made to Buy an Aussie mate a job and speak so retailers who get ripped off from wholesalers know and can get better deals for you. Gone are the factories ,skill,and all goods now come from overseas from our raw materials that keeps the economy afloat and enables hole diggers to charge whatever they want or see fit. That is a rip off in more ways than you can measure.We are and our children and grand children will also keep paying and feeling ripped off.We are way too laid back in this beautiful country to even care what the politicians do. we need more Dick Smiths. Thats my two cents worth.

So I hear what you are all saying and yes this topic has popped up before in many forms, but as Bobl said the wages and conditions in other countries has alot to do with it and as Australians we have more to do with these higher prices then yo think when you compare the average American "worker"( and I mean the guy at the mower shop who has 4 kids and a mortgage similar to ours ) he is on about $12-15 and $20 at tops if he's the manager here in Aus the same "worker" is starting at $22 and wants more and will strike for it. Whilst I have and probably will again some time soon buy a saw from the states I bought my last ms460 from my local guy for about $500 more then I could have if I had it shipped for the simple fact that its 45mins to the next shop and at least 2 weeks for air mail so if he ain't there and I got a busted saw and need if sorted fast he will be there.

Hope that didn't turn into a rant?

We had many great Australian manufactures here,Gilbro,Paul Call, Woodfast and Sidchrome to name just a few. We now have Bunnings to buy our saws from.
You can still find a lot that is made here as you can in the US. We should buy and support what is here maybe if we did we could grow a micro economy as part of a global one and have a strong manufacturng and resoures sector.