AUSTRALIAN consumers are right to feel ripped off when they walk away from shopping counters with everyday items like books, runners, web access and transport costing more than in both the US and Britain, a NEWS.com.au investigation has revealed.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20496900-2,00.html

Would you like to borrow a crash helmet

Love the bit, australians were stunned when learning things were cheaper overseas, that is so true, and I cant work out why, most stuff has doubled in our time here.

Reckon they should have included food and international airfares, both are total rip offs.

Nothing about lettuces in that article though

When essentials like cars are half price here compared to the UK and petrol is 2.5 times more expensive in the UK I don't give a stuff about the price of Harry Potter books, 2006 Brooks Adrenaline runners or Scooters.

Which cars are half price in Australia? I want one. All the decent brands seem to be on a par, or more expensive, than the UK.

New cars are slighly cheaper than the UK but not half price. Agree that petrol is much cheaper.

I bought a brand new Toyota Camry for $24,500 (It was two years ago now) The equivalent model in the Uk doesn't really exist but you can compare it with something like a Volkswagen Passat which start at about £16,500 for a 2 litre.

The VW Golf/Jetta is cheaper here than it is in the UK (at AUD2.5/GBP). Most jap cars are slightly cheaper here. It also depends how hard you can bargain. This applies to both countries.

Jad.......

I'd be happy for groceries to be more on a par- and airfares.

It's not a suprise to me that the Australians are shocked to find things cheaper abroad, They seem hell bent on believing their own propaganda and how great Australia is. It doesn't help us rose tinted poms comming here and beliving it too. Time they all woke up and smelt the cheese.

As for cars being cheaper, rubbish if you want a good one.

Just ordering a new filter for my garage vacuum: AU$49 plus $10 P&P.

The same one in US$: 11.95 plus a bit of postage.

Japanese cars were much cheaper in Japan than in Australia last time I looked (around 30% in some cases). Generally for a far better spec than you get here, too.

'Rip off Australia!'

Oh, I thought this was an instruction not a description.

I just ordered my Dyson parts from the UK, got them to send it to my sis and she posted them for me... about a tenth of the cost of ordering them here.
Bloody ridiculous prices.

Hope it smells better than most of it tastes then

Just in case the thread doesn't feel complete without mention that there is such a thing as Rip Off Britain (where the phrase was invented):

http://www.rip-off.co.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/476050.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip-Off_Britain
http://www.network54.com/Forum/100558/

Next time I pay my $300+ TV Licence Fee or $100 to fill up my 9 gallon tank (used to be 10% more a few weeks back) or my $3,125 Council Tax ($1,200 rates on our Aussie property), or more for an Asian car, I'll think about how British consumers aren't ripped off like their Aussie counterparts and I'll also think about swings and roundabouts and same bucket etc.

OzTennis