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It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

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Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#141

Post by nikcub »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #128
cletus wrote: post #111

As an Australian (now an NYC resident), I am no stranger to the price gouging that Australians have had to suffer although I must say that how it is now is much, much better than it was 10-20 years ago. First, it's worth noting that US prices don't include sales tax. Australian prices include a 10% GST. Second, international companies will end up doing their accounting in one currency. For tech companies unsurprising…

Besides the illegality of it, what's to stop me being a purchase broker for an Australian and buying US products then shipping them to Australia to people for a huge discount?

Nothing. It already exists as a service:

http://www.priceusa.com.au/

And many US retailers are now shipping to Australia to take advantage of the price diff:

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/international_stores_that_ship_...

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#142

Post by Radim »

crosvenir wrote: post #102
Radim wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exploiting human irrationality and stupidity is one of the most venerable, time-proven ways of making money. If you feel your intelligence insulted, then don't buy it...? (aka, vote with your wallet, and let others do the same)

I'm not saying it's without merit, but my blood pressure raises a little every time I hear this argument. It comes across as, "STFU and don't buy if you don't want it!" When in reality, the original consumer considered this but would rather pursue a more active response than to sulkily and more important silently use something else. Yes "voting with one's wallet" is certainly an option. But it should not be the sole…

That's fine, there are indeed more options! Nobody mentioned silence :)

You can start a newsletter, informing fellow inflicted customers. Tell your friends and family. Launch a slandering campaign on facebook/internet (within the bounds of law, preferably!). Support a competitor. Promote fewer business regulations, so there are more competitors. Post on Hacker News. Etc &c, depending on one's disposition.

But my blood pressure raises every time I hear someone's blood pressure fluctuated and they want to pass a global regulation affecting everyone (incl. me) because of it. No, thanks.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#143

Post by speleding »

nikcub wrote: post #118
cletus wrote: post #111

As an Australian (now an NYC resident), I am no stranger to the price gouging that Australians have had to suffer although I must say that how it is now is much, much better than it was 10-20 years ago. First, it's worth noting that US prices don't include sales tax. Australian prices include a 10% GST. Second, international companies will end up doing their accounting in one currency. For tech companies unsurprising…

> That all being said, high prices in Australia largely come from it being a small market That doesn't explain why goods are cheaper in New Zealand[1]. If you have ever bought a pair of Levi's you would find that because they come from the same distributor the price for NZ and the price for AU are on the same tag, and the NZ price is consistently cheaper. You find the same on a lot of goods [2] It is much more nuance…

One obvious solution would be for Australia to start or join a free trade zone. In the European Union you are not allowed to prevent people from trading across borders or discriminating them on their country of residence, so price differences between countries are relatively small.

I realize most free trade zones are between neighbouring countries but I don't see why they couldn't do a free trade zone with the USA, for example.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#144

Post by smackfu »

Nursie wrote: post #50
djt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple stuff is still about 10-20% more expensive and the refurbs are about 10% and older versions.

Really? Because price difference was always effectively a rounding error when I calculated US price + Australian GST vs Australian price. I haven't looked for a while though, having moved back to the UK last year.

Yeah, the few I checked seem fine, although Apple does like to round up to the nearest 49 or 99. Apple doesn't like to reprice products though, so if there are is significant currency movement in the 6 months since something came out, it is probably not reflected in the price.

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#145

Post by tankenmate »

speleding wrote: post #143
nikcub wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That all being said, high prices in Australia largely come from it being a small market That doesn't explain why goods are cheaper in New Zealand[1]. If you have ever bought a pair of Levi's you would find that because they come from the same distributor the price for NZ and the price for AU are on the same tag, and the NZ price is consistently cheaper. You find the same on a lot of goods [2] It is much more nuance…

One obvious solution would be for Australia to start or join a free trade zone. In the European Union you are not allowed to prevent people from trading across borders or discriminating them on their country of residence, so price differences between countries are relatively small. I realize most free trade zones are between neighbouring countries but I don't see why they couldn't do a free trade zone with the USA, f…

Or better still Indonesia or Malaysia, have you seen how cheap things are there?

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#146

Post by te_chris »

djt wrote: post #48
Nursie wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia is extremely expensive for a lot of stuff. Europe is too, but less so (having lived in both). Part of this is that the AUD has appreciated in value so much over the last few years, and retailers are just not willing to drop their prices in line with the new purchasing power of the dollar. They also haven't caught up with the modern world in a lot of ways, considering that they still have a captive audience…

Apple stuff is still about 10-20% more expensive and the refurbs are about 10% and older versions.

And Australia is cheaper than New Zealand for Apple stuff (by a couple of hundred NZD last time I calculated on a 13 MBA with 8 gigs of ram).

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#147

Post by wilhil »

speleding wrote: post #143
nikcub wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That all being said, high prices in Australia largely come from it being a small market That doesn't explain why goods are cheaper in New Zealand[1]. If you have ever bought a pair of Levi's you would find that because they come from the same distributor the price for NZ and the price for AU are on the same tag, and the NZ price is consistently cheaper. You find the same on a lot of goods [2] It is much more nuance…

One obvious solution would be for Australia to start or join a free trade zone. In the European Union you are not allowed to prevent people from trading across borders or discriminating them on their country of residence, so price differences between countries are relatively small. I realize most free trade zones are between neighbouring countries but I don't see why they couldn't do a free trade zone with the USA, f…

People always find a way... Never looked at Adobe, but, Cisco, Apple, Microsoft and more all have reseller programs that have agreements that only allow you to purchase from your own country or there are penalties/no rebates/no support/similar if you go outside - along with other rules such as making distributors only sell to partners.

I'm not saying it isn't possible - I buy a lot of kit from mainland Europe where it is cheaper, but, this basically locks me out of the Cisco partner program where I would be a gold partner by now with many other benefits...

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#148

Post by [deleted] »

atlbeer wrote: post #68
chiurox wrote: post #52

I'm surprised no one mentioned the exorbitant prices of electronics in Brazil compared to the US. For example, the top of the line Macbook 15" retina in the Brazilian Apple store costs R$12599 which is around $6395USD, while the same in the US is $2799. A Brazil/Miami return flight is also around $1000 depending on the time of year. So theoretically it's cheaper for Brazilians to go to Miami, have a nice weeklong vac…

And that's not Apple's fault. Brazil has insanely high import tariffs to protect local industries.

[deleted]

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#149

Post by chris_wot »

I once asked how much it cost for the Jonathon Coulton song on iTunes in the U.S. as opposed to the price in Australia. I was downvoted to oblivion. [1]

It's been known for some time now that Australian are being gouged by multinational and local corporations. There should be no real reason why iTunes is more expensive in Australia than in the U.S. - our exchange rates are on a par with the U.S. (and in fact, at times exceeded the U.S. dollar!) and there is no real tangible transport costs. Even a 10% consumption tax doesn't explain the difference in prices between the two countries, for the same product.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5123513

Re: It is cheaper to fly to US than buy Adobe software in Australia

#150

Post by russellallen »

speleding wrote: post #143
nikcub wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That all being said, high prices in Australia largely come from it being a small market That doesn't explain why goods are cheaper in New Zealand[1]. If you have ever bought a pair of Levi's you would find that because they come from the same distributor the price for NZ and the price for AU are on the same tag, and the NZ price is consistently cheaper. You find the same on a lot of goods [2] It is much more nuance…

One obvious solution would be for Australia to start or join a free trade zone. In the European Union you are not allowed to prevent people from trading across borders or discriminating them on their country of residence, so price differences between countries are relatively small. I realize most free trade zones are between neighbouring countries but I don't see why they couldn't do a free trade zone with the USA, f…

Australia and the US already have a free trade agreement: http://www.austrade.gov.au/AUSFTA/default.aspx
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