Steve2009

Brand new couches are not essential, especially not if your mortgage is 'un-affordable'.

Seneca21

I haven't seen a massive differenc in new/second hand stuff here though (Harvey notwithstanding). I think the second hand market here is much stronger in the UK, especially with cars., A lot of second hand cars are so over-valued it makes more sens to buy a new one.

Steve2009

Cars are expensive, but I find furniture and appliances to be dirt cheap. I did buy my car second hand because I reckon it should hold it's value better than in Ireland/UK and I can sell it on for a good price when I'm done with it, provided I don't wreck it! My couch was about AUD 250 I think.

irishbloo

Of course couches are esseential.Where else would I put all my cushions that I keep buying.

Steve2009

If you look at the credit card figures that came out of Ireland yesterday it looks like for most of our country folk those were diamante encrusted cushions.

Seneca21

It's not just Ireland. Britain is hardly any better off at all. THey recently cut seven billion out of public services in Britain and then told the public this money was going to Dublin for the bail out. So they cut health services to prop up private banking cartels in a foreign country. I'm not being personal about Ireland, I'm getting at the corruption of governments worldwide and their closeness to corrut banks.

Steve2009

Yep, (new) private sector credit will soon be a distant memory in Ireland. Personally I rarely get into debt myself (thankfully) so hopefully it won't be any great shock. I think it's going to be the same the world over, easy credit days are over.

Seneca21

Me too - very rarely get into debt, aside from when I have "owned" (love that expression) houses and had to get a mortgage. The credit restriction will help bring house prices down to affordable levels again. The problem is, how much money will they pring in the meantime to slow the crash down.

You can't call it a depression until you're at least 25 years away from it.

renth

Hahaha, welcome to the free market you TWUNT Harvey, adapt or die!

I may not be a billionaire but know more about economics than him (or at least what he is pretending not to know, he must be a smart guy) - import duties would cause job losses in Australia.

MartinLuther

I don't know why people trot out this jingoistic nonsense. Does it make you feel superior?

Wendy

I looked for a bus for my brother today, couldn't make head nor tail of the west yorkshire bus routes. In SA I type in where I want to start and where I want to be and it tells me what buses to get...not so in the UK I ended up giving him 6 pound to get home in a taxi (only 3k away!) as there didn't seem to be a bus that went past the place he needed to be.


And yes, I know that's nothing to do with globilisation, but the UK isn't all that as I have fonud out this week. In fact, it's a dump and it's so not cheap! I've spent over 1,500 so far and I've been here a week! and that's not dollars, that's pounds!

Seneca21

I found out yesterday that SA has the largest number of German immigrants in the whole country, for historical reasons. There are actually rather a lot of Germans in the state.

No wonder the public transport is as good as you say it is - it's probably organised by Germans.

Swerv-o

I can't help agreeing with you here Renth. Perhaps if he were to make his business a little more competitive, then he may find it less of a shock.

And of course, this doesn't just go for Harvey Norman - My perception is that many traders charge over the odds for goods and services - well certainly for the things that I am buying - and being able to purchase overseas is a valid avenue for obtaining goods at a cheaper rate. I suspect that for many things, an additional 10% will still mean it's cheaper overseas.

Interesting how the Labour government seems very unwilling to regulate interest rate rises by the banks, yet, where consumers are getting a win by purchasing overseas, it's suddenly of paramount importance that we restrict free trade with additional duties. Interesting double faced approach...


S

squeezzii

I reckon its stupid to suggest that putting GST on internet purchases under $1000 will help the likes of Gerry Harvey, all it will do is line the governments pockets - it will do nothing to help small retailers- like the ones that harvey norman have no doubt pushed out of business over the last 20 years. Even with the GST it would still be better to shop online for most stuff. Its about time that consumers had more opportunity to buy cheaply and not be limited to the likes of Harvey Norman.

Swerv-o

To be honest, I don't know a single person that would shop in HN. Everybody seems to say it's overpriced and not great value for money, and that includes just about all of the posters on this forum.

So who exactly is still shopping there?


S