10 replies to this topic

[HomerJ]

Let's hope the government inquiry into price gouging will find this one:

Panasonic 65" Plasma VT50 -  $2,300 price difference between AU and US pricing

Edited by HomerJ, 01 May 2012 - 11:43 AM.

[miata]

I'm a bit out of touch but what are Australian Import Duty and Sales Tax percentages at the moment?

[Robbks]

Like just about anything we buy locally here
volume of sales will determine the price.

remember they have a population of over 300 million people....

[Owen]

Volume of sales can never explain the price difference.

Plenty of products are available for US price here in OZ from AU suppliers, why should TV's be any different?

[Robbks]

Higher taxes on "luxury" imported items. (Cheers for that Johnny Howard,    )

This was applicable to vehicles fitted with certain accessories/ features sometime in the late 90's.
Air Conditioning particularly
it created a heap of jobs here because most imported cars that weren't luxury models to begin with (all imported Toyotas/ Mitusbishis, etc) had to have accessories like Air conditioning, Stereo and immobiliser systems, etc. installed here locally.
Cars that had these things factory fitted and then imported were subject to higher import taxes "Luxury tax"
and as such it was cheaper to employ low paid labour (me) to install the gear locally.

May not be the case here, but it's plausible

[blybo]

Owen, on 07 May 2012 - 10:01 PM, said:

Volume of sales can never explain the price difference.

Plenty of products are available for US price here in OZ from AU suppliers, why should TV's be any different?

Trade trends like automatic credit given to retailers by suppliers, in my industry at least, drives up the cost of goods here. Rents are sky high here, retailers want their full margins yet buy 1 at a time, meaning distributors costs and risks are multiplied.

Should I go on?

[DrP]

The wholesalers only give automatic credit in an attempt to stir up more business at their layer.  Increasing the price of the goods to cover the potential loses of bad debtors is a self-defeating policy as it ultimately lowers sales at the retail end - ie, we see cheaper prices elsewhere and direct our cash appropriately.

Wholesale, retail and property landlords are either going to have to respond in a sane way or cease to be relevant.  So far I've not seen any response from all three that shows any of them really grasp what is going on.  There's plenty of moaning, complaining and wringing of hands from them but not much more.

Edited by DrP, 08 May 2012 - 03:41 PM.

[BamBBBam]

One only has to look at the increasing amount of vacant space in shopping centres and number of failed retailers to see the evolution in effect.

[blybo]

DrP, on 08 May 2012 - 03:38 PM, said:

The wholesalers only give automatic credit in an attempt to stir up more business at their layer.  Increasing the price of the goods to cover the potential loses of bad debtors is a self-defeating policy as it ultimately lowers sales at the retail end - ie, we see cheaper prices elsewhere and direct our cash appropriately.

Wholesale, retail and property landlords are either going to have to respond in a sane way or cease to be relevant.  So far I've not seen any response from all three that shows any of them really grasp what is going on.  There's plenty of moaning, complaining and wringing of hands from them but not much more.

As I said, in my industry, if you don't offer credit as a wholesaler, you don't sell anything, simple! It's not a choice, it's just how the industry works. Offering slightly better prices (say 5-7.5 %) for COD terms doesn't interest the retailers as the history of their business and it's cash flow are built to get credit. Hell, only about 60% of my clients take the discount I offer to pay within in my 30 day from statement terms as it is. Wholesalers are more and more being treated as the banker for Australian retailer. Until more vertically integrated business model come into being that won't change!

Australia has some of the highest rents in the world due to them being based largely on property values.

[blybo]

BamBBBam, on 08 May 2012 - 08:46 PM, said:

One only has to look at the increasing amount of vacant space in shopping centres and number of failed retailers to see the evolution in effect.

Conversely I would say to you that too many retailers have been too price focused and cutting margins to the bone. As we are going through a stage of uncertainty in the economy people are holding on to their money like they haven't done for a generation or more. This means lower turnover and the margins are not their to cover overheads. Look at all the medium to large retail businesses that have failed in the last 2 years, they are all budget price operations
Retailers need to value add to get peoples business these days. The shopper who is just out for the cheapest price has no store loyalty, so is not the customer a business should focus on.

[Alex]

I think the retailers themselves are redundant - these days, boys and girls in sales know almost nothing about the products they sell and are unable to add value beyond offering credit contracts to people least likely to afford them.
I suggest manufacturers install demonstration showrooms (around the country) and let the products be bought direct, Ikea and Apple style. They'll keep more of their revenue and be in a position to reduce prices.