How can I support the local economy...

B

Billythekid

New Member
when identical items can be bought and shipped to Oz for less than half the price?

Point in case - The starter motor and relay components on my motorbike went kaput. The genuine replacement parts in Oz was going to cost me $1150 !

I nearly fell off my chair when the bike shop was telling me this. They seemed almost embarrassed telling me. A quick check on a Oz website confirmed the Oz price - so it wasn't the bike shop trying to gouge me.

They told me i might like to see what else i could source. I agreed, and in than less than an hour had bought and paid for the identical genuine parts with express international shipping from good old US of A for $530 all up ($472 US).

Why would i waste my other $620? It seens my money would only have gone to a gouging local distributor.

Honestly why would I?

Any one know the answer to this (apart from supporting local jobs ra ra ra)?

sorry probably just ranting now, but interested in others views / perspectives.

Bill
 
found exactly the same thing for a handle bar for my old Blade.
It was a while back and I can't remember the numbers, but I had a very similar experience.
The bike shop was embarrassed with the price they quoted and told me to have a look online, can't be good for business.
I saved heaps.
As far as supporting the local goes, I am a local and I supported my wallet. At that stage I probably spent the remainder at the local pub
 
Billythekid said:
when identical items can be bought and shipped to Oz for less than half the price?

Point in case - The starter motor and relay components on my motorbike went kaput. The genuine replacement parts in Oz was going to cost me $1150 !

I nearly fell off my chair when the bike shop was telling me this. They seemed almost embarrassed telling me. A quick check on a Oz website confirmed the Oz price - so it wasn't the bike shop trying to gouge me.

They told me i might like to see what else i could source. I agreed, and in than less than an hour had bought and paid for the identical genuine parts with express international shipping from good old US of A for $530 all up ($472 US).

Why would i waste my other $620? It seens my money would only have gone to a gouging local distributor.

Honestly why would I?

Any one know the answer to this (apart from supporting local jobs ra ra ra)?

sorry probably just ranting now, but interested in others views / perspectives.

Bill
Click to expand...

It's a complex problem. A country with 23 million people at the bottom of the world now has the ability to shop directly from a low wage country with 300 million people that has much more buying power and where you can avoid local taxes. Can't blame people for taking the lower price. I would too for a margin that large. I guess that the eventual consequence is that so many businesses will close and lay off staff in Australia that a lot of people won't even be able to afford the USA price. You can't shop for cheap stuff on the web when you have no job.
 
yep very common billy The charging system went on my bike a couple of years ago & it was nearly $700 to replace the entire system i got it sent from the states for $230 to my door
 
If it's something like $50 difference between buying here or abroad I'll happily buy here but in cases such as yours I wouldn't think twice. Or even about the local economy. Bad business telling you to look elsewhere. Should have said that if you waited a few weeks they could source it for $400 cheaper... Would have been better than losing your money altogether.

The Gov probably be upping the GST anyway to help exacerbate the issue :rolleyes:
 
Don't worry about supporting the local economy. The government is busy fucking it up and has more money than you do. Just support yourself.
 
mmm....shiney! said:
Don't worry about supporting the local economy. The government is busy turtle-heading it up and has more money than you do. Just support yourself.
Click to expand...
well said shiney . There comes a time when morality/patriotism goes out the window & commonsense prevails .

Money is too hard to come by to throw it away .

A dollar saved is a dollar earned
 
Countries all over the world from the U.S. on down are playing games with their currencies to protect their banks. The fact that it's screwing up the relative value of good and services both within and across borders is a consequence of this.

Don't feel guilty about it, we are all just pawns in this stupid game they are playing. Get the best deal you can and don't fall for the patriotic line. If there was no trade across borders, if people didn't buy things from overseas, Australia would truly be a backwater. It's often just cutting out middlemen when you buy direct.
 
scone said:
found exactly the same thing for a handle bar for my old Blade.
It was a while back and I can't remember the numbers, but I had a very similar experience.
The bike shop was embarrassed with the price they quoted and told me to have a look online, can't be good for business.
I saved heaps.
As far as supporting the local goes, I am a local and I supported my wallet. At that stage I probably spent the remainder at the local pub
Click to expand...

I was in a tackle shop had a look at a few rods. It was double the shipped price compared to what I can buy on ebay (Exact same product, exact place of manufacture). The sales guy, very agro guy asked if I needed help. I asked what was the best price he can do. He said that he couldn't discount and asked what was the cheapest I had seen. I told him exactly half, he goes on the spill of warranty and that you won't get any if you buy it overseas. Either way if there is a problem they would need to send it back to the same place.

So I answered him, if it breaks I'll buy another overseas. I guess buying 2 would be better then buying 1 with the risk factor built in. If its that bad of a rod I probably won't buy the replacement anyway and go for something else.

Suffice to say I havn't been back there and will not give them any business.

Slam
 
Slam said:
scone said:
found exactly the same thing for a handle bar for my old Blade.
It was a while back and I can't remember the numbers, but I had a very similar experience.
The bike shop was embarrassed with the price they quoted and told me to have a look online, can't be good for business.
I saved heaps.
As far as supporting the local goes, I am a local and I supported my wallet. At that stage I probably spent the remainder at the local pub
Click to expand...

I was in a tackle shop had a look at a few rods. It was double the shipped price compared to what I can buy on ebay (Exact same product, exact place of manufacture). The sales guy, very agro guy asked if I needed help. I asked what was the best price he can do. He said that he couldn't discount and asked what was the cheapest I had seen. I told him exactly half, he goes on the spill of warranty and that you won't get any if you buy it overseas. Either way if there is a problem they would need to send it back to the same place.

So I answered him, if it breaks I'll buy another overseas. I guess buying 2 would be better then buying 1 with the risk factor built in. If its that bad of a rod I probably won't buy the replacement anyway and go for something else.

Suffice to say I havn't been back there and will not give them any business.

Slam
Click to expand...
Buy an "uglystik" :)
 
At a wild guess.

$530 in USA
plus import duty in Oz
$636
plus shipping
$651
plus GSt
$716

assuming the Oz distributor has same profit markup as the US guy.

Local guy rents shop, pays wages etc.

Not much of a difference til you count the middlemen.

That said I think Australia is probably the most exploited consumer market in the world.
 
Stihl chainsaw with 26" bar for circa A$1450 locally.

Bought direct from the USA, including freight and all charges delivered to the door for A$780.
 
Rubber mounts to bolt my Kubota generator to the shed floor, $100 each in my local town, $7 each from the US plus freight, both having the same part number stamped on the base
 
Maxwell said:
Rubber mounts to bolt my Kubota generator to the shed floor, $100 each in my local town, $7 each from the US plus freight, both having the same part number stamped on the base
Click to expand...
Curious. Did it make much difference, noise wise?
 
When the generator was running in it's own little shed, it put a harmonic through the concrete pad in the rest of the shed, drove me nuts! it was a wierd humming sound you could feel as well as hear

The rubber mounts completely removed it, the generator noise as such, remained the same.
 
the same deal with laptop battery, ram, software, clothing ..


anything you can look online..

the only that will still survive is the local food, post office, housing..

the longer our currency stays high... the more damage it costs to the local industry..
 
renovator said:
mmm....shiney! said:
Don't worry about supporting the local economy. The government is busy turtle-heading it up and has more money than you do. Just support yourself.
Click to expand...
well said shiney . There comes a time when morality/patriotism goes out the window & commonsense prevails .

Money is too hard to come by to throw it away .

A dollar saved is a dollar earned
Click to expand...


and you don't pay income tax or GST, so it's actually better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top