The_Wookie

Okay, I know it's been discussed on here before. But once again I'm stunned at the difference in prices between Australia and the US/UK.

I'm looking to get a camera for my wife for her birthday, and the one I've been recommended is in JB HiFi for $570. I've checked it on Amazon in the US where it is $260, and Amazon UK for 200 pound.

Not a chance in hell I'll be getting it here, and Amazon doesn't ship electronic items to Australia so will get it delivered to my parents in the UK and then shipped over.

I just cannot see the justification in that much of a difference in price - crazy!

IndieG

I just got a blender - same make, $499 in the US (with shipping it cost me $600) and the cheapest here was $1,050 (with some selling it for $1,250)

Just what are these retailers thinking? Apart from groceries, I don't buy anything else in oz!

Amazulu

Yeah, there is no point buying most small items that cost under $1000 in Australia. Saying that, there are exceptions - ipads are cheaper here for instance. A large screen LCD TV that I looked at recently was radically more expensive in the UK. Windscreen wipers I bought on Ebay from the UK were less than 30% of the Aussie price.

It's always a good idea to use price comparison sites like Kelkoo (UK), Shopbot (AU) etc to check prices and see if it's worth importing.

ozzieeagle

Should be an overseas shopping section on the Bexpats forum

I'm in the market for one of those complete coffee machines similar to this.

Can anyone find one similar and cheaper shipped to Aus ?

499 Aud.

http://www.kogan.com.au/shop/automat...-italian-pump/

Officer Dibble

$1250 for a blender?

Kim67

I've said it on here before, if you're the member of a Union, get Union Shopper to do the running around and get you the best price - always way cheaper than what you're quoted when you go to the likes of Harvey Norman. For cameras check out the online stores, we bought one from online but their warehouse (someone's garage) was on the Gold Coast, so we just nipped down and picked it up.

jad n rich

Mine cost $29.95

spartacus

How did you manage with the different voltages?

IndieG

We had a transformer (Edit - just checked 240V -> 110V )....

verystormy

This thread got me thinking. We need a new kettle and the wife is set on a red electric whistling kettle (dont ask me why, i just obey orders). Anyway, cheapest we found was good guys with the murphy richards for $215. So just looked on line and there it is for 42 pounds. Guess where my money is going.

Geordie George

I guess it depends what you're buying. I recently bought a new sewing machine and was very surprised to find that the same model was more expensive in the UK/US than Aus. I got a Husqvarna Emerald 122 for $350, but the same model was about £330 in the UK (excluding shipping). Definitely pays to shop around.

ponyrama

You can get a toaster for $9 in K-Mart! And I recently paid just $1.30 for a can of diet coke.

Does it not figure that if you import a US/UK brand it will be more expensive here than the country its made? Maybe I'm dumb or something?

I used to pay about 3 quid for my PG Tips and now they cost me $35 a box (okay so its a big box). But thats the price of good cup of tea!

Amazulu

Bought a WD 500Gb pocket USB HD on Tuesday:
Officeworks Midland - AUD79
US online - USD70 (AUD72)
UK online - GBP60 (AUD96)

The_Wookie

Well, it's a Panasonic Lumix camera. I'm assuming they're made in Japan, and not the US or UK. Even if they were, it would hardly be a valid reason for charging over twice the amount?

You then of course have the ridiculously inflated of items such as books and computer games.

This thread wasn't intended as a 'Australia is so expensive' argument. More that for this particular item the price here in Australia seemed absurdly above the cost elsewhere.

ozzieeagle

Just about everything I look for in small electricals is cheaper here. Which frustrates the hell out of me, because supposedly I should be able to get it cheaper overseas ?? !! Especially with the dollar the way it is..

Ipods Ipads are a classic example... Officeworks are the cheapest.. just wait for a special to come up somewhere... IE: the Goodguys or BigW usually and Officeworks has to beat the price by 5 pct.

Hopefully someone can come up with a decent fully automatic coffee machine for less than 500 AUD landed in Aus ?

BTW Amazulu 1TB Western Digis portable harddrives, plugged.... I've seen for 79 bucks recently.