kporte

I was thinking more about a Banana farmer trying to feed his family whilst a Tesco exec is crushing his nuts........

DeadVim

Australia is expensive because it's worth it.

End, as they say, of.

Alfresco

Anywhere can be cheap or expensive...

It all depends on how many beans you earn (have) and how many beans you spend.

If you have no (or negative) beans left, it's expensive.

If you have loads of beans left, then it's cheap.

It's all relative.

woodiesinaus

I had typed an eloquent and far ranging reply, however my overpriced and crappy Aus wireless dropped out AGAIN and I can't be bothered to go over it again in full, so I will deliver the abridged version
1. Most Aussies live within 6 cities ( one of the most urbanised nations on the planet)
2. 5 of the 6 cities are next to the sea which is jolly useful for delivering chinese made goods that Aussie like to buy.
3. Goods are delivered to shops using diesel which is about half the price of European fuel.
4. Goods are sold with GST at 10%. Asks European shoppers if they would like 10% GST as opposed to their 20%? (on average) They will nod their heads in a vigorous fashion.
5. Land (of which Aus has quite a lot of) costs are lower as are social taxes for employee's.
So, why the higher prices

moneypenny20

Because, as has already been said, there's little real competition and because they can. People complain with their mouths, not with their feet.

BadgeIsBack

But isn't that not childish too? You could argue that DJ has no equivalent because it sits between M&S and Harrods. M&S is pure wannabe for the middle classes. Harrods sells it's own brands and others too. Infact David Jones is like a - fook - the name escapes me - (it is in Sloane Square). You're talking to a man who was very selective when it came to some men's wear in one time and place(!)

Alot of their stands sell the same designer gear anyhow. I don't see how they can be crap. I can see the shop is smaller and carries less.

alvin77

Although Australia used to be considered as one of the best in dairy products but the price of 1litre Milk (Devondale etc.) is also significantly high.In US one of my fellow used to buy 1Gallon (3.87litres) Milk in $2.Moreover Australia is full of Natural resources but Petrol/Gas is expensive when compared to US [1Gallon $2.5 Texas].Buying house also seems expensive and lower in quality.There are more second graded (in quality) "Chinnese Products" in Australian market then in UK,Canada or US.Why its like that?

kporte

Petrol is far cheaper here than UK. Dearer than US.
Most clothes, shoes etc are made in China , Taiwan and so on, regardless of where you buy them.

BadgeIsBack

You're right - subjectively, but if you take the conversation seriously, especially on a discussion board, then you have to expect to define your terms and do it properly and objectively.

One of the issues with this site is that rightly, every topic gets it's scope and terms defined - the regulars tend to help out here -as a sort of balance against the emotive masses but by the time the debate is ready to begin, the troubles have broken out!

I can only say that things are expensive due to market forces and infrastructure. Not everything is expensive which is telling. I consider a lot of the absolute basics to be cheaper.

There is some resistance to change, but not all Australian are rolling over. I am on an Australian forum and they are baying. Any educated Australian who ever bought from Amazon is in the know.

There are a few things which are made for Australian conditions as far as I am aware. But I am not sure why people take some of these adverts as seriously as they do.

woodiesinaus

I can only offer second hand observations but chatting to a chap who was chatting to a Chinese exporter it appears that the only thing that Aus buyers are interested in is price not quality. Therefore if you pay peanuts you apparently get monkey shit

BadgeIsBack

Why? Is it?!

kporte

Being in the stainless steel manufacturing industry, I get a lot of customers who have bought Chinese products that looked good on the web but in reality are very poor. They end up paying more to get them tarted up to an acceptable standard plus the price they paid originally, than they would if we made it from scratch. The message will filter through eventually.

ABCDiamond

Since when ?

woodiesinaus

Lets hope so

ABCDiamond

How much is Devondale milk in the UK ?

We pay $1.79 for 2 litres standard milk in my area
Tesco are charging £1.18 for theirs today

It seems Tesco are a tad overpriced....