Whingeing retail billionaires and the 10% GST

[Phil Allison]

"me here is a **** "

So you recon Jaycar....

** No.

Go **** your dog - you trolling arsehole.

 

[fritz]

Why would they want to when they can charge like wounded bulls.

OK this is an example regarding JayCar.

The 12 volt 20 odd watt small two pin halogen bulb died in the desk
lamp.

Jaycar price about $6 (from 2010 catalogue)

Ebay price for TEN of the same (Philips brand) $9 delivered.

So Ebay price is 90 cents for something Jaycar sell for $6.

Flamin hell, is that some sort of mark up or what?

And they recon 10% GST is going to make a difference.

Pure greeeeeed Harvey.

Those 12V G4 halogen bulbs are sold from time-to-time in the supermarkets
over here (Europe) for under 2 Euro per pack of 6. They come in 10W or 20W.
So they are very cheap from the supplier. Jaycar, of course, has to keep
them in stock all year which adds to the cost. The supermarkets also sell
(again, from time-to-time) a neat little telescopic desk lamp which has a
hemispherical base containg a 12V 20W trannie, an inbuilt mains switch
and a reflector with a 20W halogen G4 bulb. The price ? Just 5 Euro.
IKEA used to sell these desk lamps in Oz for a similar price. They are great for
a cheap 12vAC PS, you just unscrew the telescopic bits and install a couple
of banana sockets - no soldering required. Much better than a plug-pack 'coz
it's got a mains switch and is 20W.

 

[fritz]

Yes, that's the one I have.

Cost $13 from BigW - from memory.

The prices for similar-looking lamps vary enormously - from the $5 or so
that I've seen up to $40 or more - google 'telescopic desk lamp 12V 20W'
Even at $13 it's still bargain for a 12V 20W trannie, mounted in a nice box
with pre-wired mains cord and mains power switch, eh ?

Great little lamp.

Interestingly the telescopic metal arms that hold the lamp head carry
the voltage and are uninsulated "live" (12 volt only) - never seen that
before.
--

Yeah - but the chrome finish seems to have a coating that does insulate
to some extent - you can grab them without any tingle. Mine did come
with a warning tag not to hang a metal chain off the arms - I assume the
sharp edges of a chain could penetrate the coating.

BTW Check out the price of 12V 20W G4 halogens from this German supplier.

http://such001.reichelt.de/?SID=22@cBYdt6wQARYAAB1Wxrab7dbf2207991b000c91163a5c3d2ecc;ACTION=444

They also have hipo LEDs to replace halogens in G4 form - bit pricey, though.

 

[me here]

Those 12V G4 halogen bulbs are sold from time-to-time in the
supermarkets over here (Europe) for under 2 Euro per pack of 6. They
come in 10W or 20W. So they are very cheap from the supplier.
Jaycar, of course, has to keep them in stock all year which adds to
the cost. The supermarkets also sell (again, from time-to-time) a
neat little telescopic desk lamp which has a hemispherical base
containg a 12V 20W trannie, an inbuilt mains switch and a reflector
with a 20W halogen G4 bulb. The price ? Just 5 Euro. IKEA used to
sell these desk lamps in Oz for a similar price. They are great for a
cheap 12vAC PS, you just unscrew the telescopic bits and install a
couple of banana sockets - no soldering required. Much better than a
plug-pack 'coz it's got a mains switch and is 20W.

Yes, that's the one I have.

Cost $13 from BigW - from memory.

Great little lamp.

Interestingly the telescopic metal arms that hold the lamp head carry
the voltage and are uninsulated "live" (12 volt only) - never seen that
before.
--

 

[fritz]

BTW Check out the price of 12V 20W G4 halogens from this German supplier.

http://such001.reichelt.de/?SID=22@cBYdt6wQARYAAB1Wxrab7dbf2207991b000c91163a5c3d2ecc;ACTION=444

They also have hipo LEDs to replace halogens in G4 form - bit pricey, though.

Hmmm - That link is no good- try this
http://www.reichelt.de/?ACTION=2;GR...6wQARYAAB1Wxrab7dbf2207991b000c91163a5c3d2ecc

 

[atec77]

My son just ordered some fairly schmick leathers for his bike-riding.
Was over $1200 here in Oz, he's getting the absolutely identical
product from the USA for a tad over $500 including shipping.

I wonder where the saving is made if a locally made product or is it an
import made in china ?

 

[Trevor Wilson]

Then shirley the Gerry Harveys should be street-smart enough to
threaten to bypass them and import direct (like K-Mart et al) if they
don't smarten up their pricing to him.

**Many successful retailers do just that. However, there is a point where
such a thing becomes very difficult to manage. If Hardly was to import a
large number of the brands he sells, he would be doing several things:

* Financially exposing the organisation to massive overheads (products are
usually purchased on a 30 day account, whereas importers must pay either
when the product leaves port, or when it arrives in store).
* Warranty service (and the attendent stocking of spares for several years)
must be maintained.
* Service and technical people would need to be employed.
* Some importers may be pissed off and remove their products from Hardly.
This particularly applies to big, well advertised brands. And this is very
important. Guys like Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, et al advertise all over
the planet. Local advertising may only reach a small percentage of the
population, whereas international advertising may reach more people.

 

[Phil Allison]

"Trevor Wilson"
<

**Many successful retailers do just that. However, there is a point where
such a thing becomes very difficult to manage. If Hardly was to import a
large number of the brands he sells, he would be doing several things:

* Financially exposing the organisation to massive overheads (products are
usually purchased on a 30 day account, whereas importers must pay either
when the product leaves port, or when it arrives in store).
* Warranty service (and the attendent stocking of spares for several
years) must be maintained.

* Service and technical people would need to be employed.

* Some importers may be pissed off and remove their products from Hardly.
This particularly applies to big, well advertised brands. And this is very
important. Guys like Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, et al advertise all
over the planet. Local advertising may only reach a small percentage of
the population, whereas international advertising may reach more people.

** The mains issue is that most major brands simply will not supply
retailers direct - they have contractual arrangements in place with their
Aussie branch offices or have appointed local import agents they wish to
support for many good reasons.


..... Phil

 

[me here]

Hmmm - That link is no good- try this
http://www.reichelt.de/?ACTION=2;GROUPID=3970;SHOW=1;SID=22@cBYdt6wQAR
YAAB1Wxrab7dbf2207991b000c91163a5c3d2ecc

Crikey, that makes the $6 one look incredibly expensive.

I just checked mine with a multimeterand the telescopic arms are not
insulated. The current is AC.

Being 12 volt and low amperage it's unlikely you would feel a tingle.

I recollect mine had a message to say don't put metal across the arms.

It's labelled as a Kambrook.




--

 

[SG1]

They may be losing a buck or two on their letter service (the reason
they give for the planned closure of 27 PO's) but they must surely be
making a killing on domestic small parcels courtesy of fleabay.

Yes domestic. Nothing on os mail. Same os they get sfa from AP.

 

[Rob]

With used equipment, If you have a registered company here and in
another country, (with better pricing than here)
you can get around the parallel import bullshit, by importing as
"transferring stock within the organisation"
Know someone who did this in the 1990s and made a lot of money out of
it, bypassing the rorts
in place that doubled the prices on the same gear.

Only reason he is not still doing it is that he retired .
Whether it can be done with "new" gear I don't know.


On the other hand It's also quite possible that the major retailers
are already getting excellent deals on
their imported products, and just not passing them on to the
consumer.

Two products I can compare are Asics running shoes, and Genuine Epson
printer inks.

Running Shoes are $260 inc GST here, yet $130 all taxes paid in a
regular store transaction in the US. Printer Inks $360 here inc GST Same
product in the US $220 regular price. Push bike parts are 1/2 to 1/3
less from the UK or US incl freight.

None of these products have been reduced by retailers to reflect the
Australian dollar value.

 

[Trevor Wilson]

Two products I can compare are Asics running shoes, and Genuine Epson
printer inks.

Running Shoes are $260 inc GST here, yet $130 all taxes paid in a
regular store transaction in the US. Printer Inks $360 here inc GST
Same product in the US $220 regular price. Push bike parts are 1/2 to
1/3 less from the UK or US incl freight.

None of these products have been reduced by retailers to reflect the
Australian dollar value.

**Indeed, though blaming retailers (only) may not be apportioning the blame
appropriately. Importers have a slice of the pie too.

 

[Mr.T]

None of these products have been reduced by retailers to reflect the
Australian dollar value.

Right, but watch the prices go up if the Australian dollar starts to fall!

MrT.

 

[me here]

I wonder where the saving is made if a locally made product or is it
an import made in china ?

Same thing with soccer gear.

I worked with a guy and he got all his kids soccer gear from UK.

He reconned it was half the price of the exact same thing here.

--

 

[atec77]

Same thing with soccer gear.

I worked with a guy and he got all his kids soccer gear from UK.

He reconned it was half the price of the exact same thing here.

Ok so bypassing the local people cuts a huge mark-up off
Couple of days ago the wife said she wanted a cloths steamer
I bought one locally at ebay price but had to drive 10k for it , the
local vacuum shop was 46% more for the same item which is puzzling
maybe the courier charges a lot ?

 

[Rob]

**Indeed, though blaming retailers (only) may not be apportioning the blame
appropriately. Importers have a slice of the pie too.

We have a retailer, who imports, increase his prices about 3 years ago
when the dollar was low, never seen him reduce the stuff since. I have
kept the catalogues over a few years so I'm able to compare them.

When the GST was introduced companies had a price increase to cover
there "losses" prior to it being introduced.

We had a price increase in electricity at the end of last year, prior
to, what was thought, the introduction of a carbon tax so it would not
show up as an added tax.

 

[Mr.T]

Some businesses bust a gut to support
local industry, other ones don't give a rats. Every one of them could
provide reasons why they operate the way they do.

The ones that don't give a rats seem to outnumber the others by far IME. And
if THEY don't support local industry, then it's simply hypocritical to
whinge about consumers not doing so. Of course that's nothing new!

Frankly I'm happy to buy imported goods since they buy our minerals and
primary produce. And I'm happier to buy from a local shop than import from
overseas, IF their greed is not TOO excessive. Paying double what you can
import it for though is excessive IMO, and far too common.

MrT.

 

[Mr.T]

We had a price increase in electricity at the end of last year, prior
to, what was thought, the introduction of a carbon tax so it would not
show up as an added tax.

Nope, we have price increases on electricity EVERY year, and it has nothing
to do with a carbon tax. The price WILL increase again (and show up as an
added tax) whenever a carbon tax is introduced. Shame we couldn't spend
$43Billion on a national alternative energy scheme rather than an NBN
though.
I won't be paying $60 a month connection fee as is proposed, and I'm sure
others will just switch to wireless phone and broadband as well.
Another white elephant at taxpayer expense. Why the hell do we privatise
everything AND still expect the taxpayer to foot the infrastructure costs?

MrT.

 

[Rob]

Nope, we have price increases on electricity EVERY year, and it has nothing
to do with a carbon tax. The price WILL increase again (and show up as an
added tax) whenever a carbon tax is introduced. Shame we couldn't spend
$43Billion on a national alternative energy scheme rather than an NBN
though.

We had a 25% increase end of last year

 

[Rob]

How many Australian Manufactured Items does Harvey Norman stores stock
in support Australian Industry?