Where to spend your hard earned $$$$

I have had a period of inspired woodworking lately. Decided to make my Girl a jewellery box for Xmas and potentially buying a Heritage listed 1893 heritage house which needs some restoration which has to be period correct and then considering making some furniture for the house. We have very little money left over especially since I'm long term unemployed.

I have time but very few dollars so that leaves me to do the work. However I have found my woodworking equipment is limited and worn out or cheap and nasty. So this is where my question comes into play.

Are Australians being ripped off? There was recent comment that Ikea in Australia is 70% or some huge figure more than anywhere else in the world.

I'm not trying to be rude but the local pricing is not even close to competitive. In a internet age of global shopping this is seriously flawed. I understand that sometimes it is set by dealer volume discount, but that doesn't matter to customers. I want to support local business but money is hard to come by and we are talking a massive difference in price.

So are we better off buying online?

An example I saw these Incra Rules and thought they were amazing product for setting out.

• Precision Bend rule 300mm
• T- Rule Metric 300mm
• 160mm Metric Protractor

The 3 items on sale in Australia are way more expensive than buying full price from the US.
Including shipping the total for the 3 items $85US about $80 local.



I could take the moral stand point and support Aussie businesses but at 30%,50%, 75%, 100% additional cost supporting them means I can't afford to buy the tools. Which in turn means I can't support them.

Is it a local issue of price hiking or one that needs to be addressed when making purchasing & distribution agreements that we have a smaller population but still need to be globally competitive or we will have less customers as they will buy online???



Rant over!

You go ahead and justify where you spend your money however you like. Don't for one minute be a sucker and believe that Australian businesses are out to rip you off though. The amount of coverage online shopping gets and the vilification of local business is sickening to me. It is understandable though. Media, as always, plays to the lowest common denominator and gives us tripe because we slurp it up and beg for more. The mob stupidity never ceases to amaze me. Whatever happened to thinking for ourselves?

You only need to compare wage costs as a start to understand why things cost as much as they do locally compared to other countries.

You can also question how its possible for a long term unemployed person to be purchasing period homes for restoration when others overseas are going through a housing crisis.

Maybe even ask yourself why you don't need health insurance or even a job to raise a family of four in this country.

Our friends in the States might not be able to do that but what the hell, they can buy cheap tools so they're probably better off right?

At the end of the day though, even armed with the why, it doesn't matter. We're all going to cut off our noses for a buck and you can bet it's going to get a lot worse in this country really soon. Jobs are going to fade and with that the savings overseas are going to become even more appealing and more jobs will go and the avalanche will bury us all.

Go and ask the Yanks. They USED to MAKE stuff. Now they import junk just like the rest of us.

It's a good time to start an import business. Haha.

The more we buy direct from overseas to save some money means that in the end there will be less employers and employment.

The country then misses out on income and other taxes and have to spend more on costly support and benefits for the unemployed.

You may gain a few dollars in the short term but the country loses out and will go even quicker down the gurgler. :((

Peter.

It not just about wages, cost of running a business etc. either.

You can buy a canon camera much cheaper from USA or Japan, or China, or Europe. Nothing to do with their economy it has to do with their population.

I have spoken with Canon at their head office and they say they can't buy stock at the prices they sell for overseas as Canon sell to their distributors on a volume discount basis. Australia doesn't have the population to support that volume. Therefore people will buy online or while overseas and that reduces the local volume further. It shows a lack of foresight buy the head companies.

Other cases companies know there are less choices and use it to make larger profits.


The basic cost of living in Australia is very high but it is a great country to live inand I was born here and educated here. I have lived in several third world countries to be able to compare to also. As for questioning how I can buy a heritage home being long term unemployed is because I used to have a good and a nice house before I got ill and sold it. I still have some money left over and my partner is employed. We have to buy a house in an less desirable area a long way out in a rundown condition, that no one really wants. But that is irrelevant to the point really.

The point is most people due to circumstance, necessity, or choice will choose not to have to pay more for the same item, and most won't even consider the great effect or why it is cheaper. The question is how do you structure business in a global economy?

Anyone who thinks that it doesn't affect us well…………….

This has been done to death over the last few months.

I don't think any new revelations on how to solve the problem will be forthcoming.

You require ZERO justification as to where you buy your gear.

Price, service and availability are the great leveller. Australia looses all three points in a galactically spectacular manner.

I have been to half a dozen countries (USA, UK, Bolivia, Equador, Chile, Japan and Oz) and experienced all points above quite thoroughly. Australia ranks at the very lowest and perhaps doesn't even make the list. When it comes to tools I can point to very specific, very documented failures. Here, they can barely even sell you something, let alone bothering to provide you with a price, or bother responding to queries.

1 - I placed an order for $3350 with Carbatec. It took them 6 weeks to supply the items. SIX. I failed myself, I should have ordered from the US and for the next $2300 order I did that, saved 50% (inc delivery) and it arrived within a week.
2 - I buy everything, I mean everything off Amazon. If they wont ship to Oz, then direct. My money is my money, not Gerry Harveys, or some business to thinks they DESERVE or are ENTITLED to my business as its "Australian".
3 - I wanted to spend a few grand on a GOOD table saw. Managed to get an OK one for twice the US price. ALL of the suppliers I rang and emailed only ONE bothered to respond. It took them a week. I spoke with five others, not ONE, repeat, not ONE rang me back with info, price or availability. The "winners" received the order by virtue of the fact they were the only people capable of supplying. It took them 3 weeks to do so.
4 - I was in the market recently for a heap of Incra gear. Waste of time. Utter, complete and total waste of time. Ordered from the US, arrived in a week, half the price.

Make no doubt over this rant, Australia is doomed. Economically, business, deflation and capacity. Whether manufacturing is done in your home town, area, state, country or otherwise is meaningless if they cannot supply. Other countries are eating us alive and the businesses here can only bleat about their own incapacities, insecurities and inabilities. Rather than actually studying the efficiencies and models of overseas, they whinge and whine and moan about protectionism, import taxes, increased GST and parallel import restrictions while retaining their 1980's restrictive retail models.

I am about to put in another order for a new router table, lifter, some clamps and a gauge. About $1k, guess where the biz is NOT going. Yup, Australia. Why? Business closed until the 7th. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sturdee

The more we buy direct from overseas to save some money means that in the end there will be less employers and employment.

The country then misses out on income and other taxes and have to spend more on costly support and benefits for the unemployed.

You may gain a few dollars in the short term but the country loses out and will go even quicker down the gurgler. :((

Peter.

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We studied this logical fallacy in macro economics at Uni. It is well defined by the buggy whip manufacturers of 1910. Marketing myopia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Creative destruction is what improves services and deliveries. It does not create unemployment or increased costs to the state, in fact it is the exact opposite. There are innumerable articles defining this on Ludwig Von Misses Institute and Daily Reckoning (Australian).

Protectionism makes things worse. Goverment interference makes things worse. Taxes and parochialism makes all things worse.

Like everyone else that has answered, i dont have a solution to your question at all, but my 2 cents is that i dont buy tools from america but do support online shopping because it gives me the freedom to decide on my own and research the best value for money without anyones pressure or advice unless i come on here to ask for it :)

For example i recently purchased a cordless Makita hammer and impact driver drill set with 3 batteries from sydney tools, Living in canberra i know that those drills are available here so i could go find them and own them that same day. I didnt do this because i dont want to be pressured by anyone in store trying to help me or trying to offer me a tool that they get the biggest commission on or in their opinion "the best tool" i can buy for my money. this may offend people in this position but its just the way i shop

I like being able to take my time researching what i want, getting the accessories i want and have an unbiased view to the equipment im looking at and comparing the prices with other stores that sell online in australia too. That way i still get the warranty, dont have to convert power or buy new chargers etc and it gets delivered to my door step and in the end its 100% my decision.

Also not to mention a lot of my tools i have arent even available at bunnings (which is my closest hardware store) or masters etc. I have to go a lot further to the proper trade stores to get the tools i own because i buy the trade quality versions instead of the DIY. I asked if bunnings can get them in and they couldnt so i continue to purchase from sydney tools or carbatech.

For example the Bosch GCM 12 GDL isnt in any bunnings stores near me, anywhere else in canberra stores i have found it they are selling it for $1000, sydney tools have it for $1150 and they include the bosch workshop stand and 3x 305mm blades and delivered overnight to my door. They will certainly get my business in the future

just my 2 cents supporting online shopping in Australia :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DSEL74

An example I saw these Incra Rules and thought they were amazing product for setting out.

• Precision Bend rule 300mm
• T- Rule Metric 300mm
• 160mm Metric Protractor

The 3 items on sale in Australia are way more expensive than buying full price from the US.
Including shipping the total for the 3 items $85US about $80 local.

Rant over!

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Hey DSEL74

Just wondering did you end up puying the Incra measurement gear at all? Where did you end up buying them from?