WillBlack

Supermarket prices are so high compared with what? If those in Britain then not the case other than for cherry picked items.

Beer, the Comonwealth wants to make sure that the drinking man runs out of money before they get too plastered http://www.absolutehomebrew.com.au/?page_id=25

And Canada is an marketing appendage to the USA and Mexico where there are 20 times the wealthy consumers and 40 times the cheap workers.

ABCDiamond

You are better of using somewhere that does them the same day, or next day, rather than somewhere that advertises 10 days.

Places like
www.rabbitphoto.com.au
www.expressphoto.com.au

I use Kmart and get mine in 2 days, unless I want them same day.

ABCDiamond

Photobucket actually say that it can take up to 4 working days for delivery.

www.expressphoto.com.au say 1-2 working days

It would be interesting to see how long Harvey Norman 'actually' take. But I am not game to try...

ABCDiamond

How much are YOU paying then ?

How's this one from my provider...

ADSL2 with 25Gb peak usage + unlimited off peak for $29.90 per month

I have no idea, maybe they can't shop around ?

Centurion

A throw back to my days when a number 1 was a professional necessity. Have just stuck with it ever since. Its just weird when I let my hair grow now

Have grown it for Charity and then again to shave it off - double Be brave to Shave cash

ABCDiamond

For Information; Telstra Bigpond charge $99.95 pm for that plan, WITHOUT the Off peak extra

ABCDiamond

I agree.
It would be much better if people shopped around, rather than just pay those high prices and then complain about it later.

Shop around, find the best options and tell your friends, and anyone you know where the best buys are. That should work to give the business to those that price it right, and force the overchargers to cut prices.

But will it happen ? or will people just pay and complain later..... or what is even worse, some people then say, "If it is cheaper it can't be as good" !! (At that point, I give up )

fish.01

The std price if not packaged with an O2 mobile is 12.23 pounds which is normally around $30. The speed is only 8Mbit (ADSL1) rather than 24Mbit (ADLS2+).

You can get ADSL2+ here for $39 with 30GB download limit so a lot faster but with download limit. Our downloads are quota capped due to high cost of buying throughput on limited expensive intercontinental sea cables.

I imagine the larger UK market leads to economies of scale as well. As you move to progressively smaller markets competition is less fierce. eg imagine an American moving to the UK or an Australian moving to NZ.

It is also hugely expensive to cover a lot more landmass than smaller countries.

Amazulu

Very true. I think being in major retail here is an easy ride. There is little competition in some retail sectors, the shopping public is undemanding and compliant and the government does not rock the boat.

Easy, peasy for big retail in Australia.

fish.01

So Kiwi's just happen to be less demanding consumers than us and the UK just happen to be more demanding than both and the US just happen to be the most demanding consumers of all - nothing to do with other factors like population, location, size at all - all down to the consumer is it?

ABCDiamond

But what price will it be tomorrow.... ( I learned years ago to read the small print)

seang

dont forget for mobile broadband some UK providers have the option of still paying in the uk and using it in Aus on the same network. so say for 3 network pay in uk but use the 3 Aus here.

usually works out way cheaper and you get a bigger G limit say 15G compared to 7G

NKSK version 2

Did you read the last sentence of the post?

Consumers should shop around as Amazulu says - but sometimes this is easier said than done - especially with supermarkets.

As I recall, the UK supermarket landscape changed when WalMart came in 1999. I don't know whether there exist certain barriers to entry to Australia but I did hear someone from the government when defending the decision to abandon the GroceryWatch website saying that Australia would make it easier for foreign entrants.

And then we need to tackle the regulation of everything else - selling newspapers in a supermarket, selling beer in a supermarket etc etc.

NKSK version 2

What about mobile phones? A huge rip-off. Text messages alone - as far as I can see - seem to be twice as expensive as the UK.

Can you get a mobile phone with carry-over credit from month to month?

Can you find a mobile company which is transparent about how much value you get? What exactly does '$160 of credit' mean? Why not tell us how many minutes this buys?

kporte

It's the lettuce that gets me.