It goes a tad beyond that m1.

I try to get online content from the BBC and I am told that it is not available in the country I am in.

An expression I am loathe to use but here goes, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

cisco said...
It goes a tad beyond that m1.

I try to get online content from the BBC and I am told that it is not available in the country I am in.

An expression I am loathe to use but here goes, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's all about licensing of content and distribution rights, advertising, and all that jazz. You can sort of understand it.

In the same way, satellite TV in Aus is meant to ensure that you only get it if you cannot get terrestrial TV, as the advertisers are different.

There are a few proxy sites that you can use to make your PC appear to be based in another country so that you can view this content. I got desperate to watch one series of Survivor once, and paid to use a proxy. It worked well.

Bicycle retail in Australia has been turned on it's head in the last 4-5 years because of e-commerce. Cycling has grown in popularity, particularly in WA, however internet sales of everything bicycle related has meant that local bricks and mortar retailers are really struggling against US and UK based retailers. The advent of companies like shipto.com who can circumvent international distribution restrictions in the US seems to be giving Australian consumers a lot more choice.

The irony in this situation is that perhaps cycling has grown in popularity, particularly in WA, because consumers have greater access to internet based purchasing and the cost of participation has decreased. However, local retailers are not realising the full benefit from the increase in participation in cycling as they cannot hope to compete on price with on-line retailers. I suspect this is because of the size of the market and current business models adopted by distributors/ importers.

I recently brought a MTB on-line and was able to get around the distribution rules re: online purchase restrictions by getting the mechanic to test ride the bike, allow the bike to be used as a 'demo' model by another person in the store car park and then use shipto to have the bike sent to WA.. Bit of a 'phuck you' by the bike store to the distributor, however they were being shafted by being told they cannot sell outside of the US as this bike represents unbelievable value for money, and so was I in that this particular model is not to be released in Australia. The equivalent bike that is being sold in Australia costs a lot more and has a lesser spec for drivetrain/brakes/components. Go figure why a manufacturer would allow a distributor to do this?

When it comes to actual complete bikes we get don't get it too bad particularly with some of the big brands, Giant, Spec etc. However when it comes to parts it's an entirely different story. I own four Bikes all of which I purchased at my local bike store, where I've had a long relationship. Even the latest edition, which is a Carbon Santa Cruz (US brand) I bought (frame and fork only) in Aus as the actual price difference compared to buying overseas wasn't huge. However, all the parts that went onto that bike I bought from one of the big online stores and saved a significant amount of money, i'm talking thousands...and to me that is ridiculous.

There are just too many middle men, importers, distributors etc in the Aus bicycling industry taking their cut to make them even remotely competitive with the big online stores. To be honest I don't really see what can be done about it, my LBS have long since resigned themselves to this and instead concentrate on offering the service and knowledge to the average punter. If you build your bikes yourself though you'd be stupid not to buy online, as bad as it is...you just can't justify that much money to support the local guy...well I can't anyway. Probably the same in much of retail now.

Some things simply cannnot be purchased in Oz, and then theres the possibilty that it can be supplied. With a 3-4 month wait with an authorised importer and incredible hike in $$'s. TBH i want to do the right thing but when my man in the UK can supply the same manufacturer item very quickly and at the best price. Its pretty obvious where my dollars are going..

Your Aussie retailers are just dying to take on the o/s competition. The days of isolating and wrapping up the Aussie market are over, now it's a world thing. And good riddance to insane mark ups. Also it's mostly the overseas brands that wrapped up the market by clever strategy, not the Aussie retailer, they are the ones that made the super profits.

But the Aussie guys just are not being allowed to compete.

They have 5-10% duty, then 10% GST and say 5% compliance, roughly 21% extra on the overseas guys.

So who would then take those handicaps and try and compete in an open market. All that investment in marketing and website just to show everybody you are 21% more expensive. That's why they cling to the old model, it's all the've got.

I have never met a retailer who does not want to beat his competition.

ThePhil said...
They have 5-10% duty, then 10% GST and say 5% compliance, roughly 21% extra on the overseas guys.

21% I can handle. Much, if not most of what I buy via the intergoogley thingy is <50% of the price it is here in Oz. Sometimes you can get stuff at <20% of the over-the-counter price in Oz. I buy ALL of my R/C hobby stuff from overseas, at a mere fraction of the Oz prices.

I'm not supporting the people who've been happily gouging me for years.

Be aware of the home grown ethic's too re-xs-ive mark-up...

Take Officeworks - mega-advertising - periodic loss leaders, and the guarantee to beat any genuine price on the same product by 5% - all to set the customer at ease... So check before U go in...
Brother colour laser toner... priced right now...
Officeworks CMY = $250 (=$750) + Black $171 == $921.00
Good (by local standards) price (ex-NSW)
Y = $101.14 M=$129.90 C=$122.85 Black=$84.54 == $438.43 Shipping $22 = $460

So Officeworks charges twice as much. Both are shop front stores in Australia both get supplied by the Brother importers - and one has way more buying power than the other.

To me that is bordering on immoral.

So if U can't wait for the courier delivery - go into Officeworks with your printout and save yourself a lot....

Cisco - if U want to watch BBC's equivalent of iview TV there are quiet a lot of how to guides for DIY or just sign-up for a pre-made set-up...

Cheers
AP

a year ago I needed some special bike tyres and my local shop was both expensive and didnt stock , and relied on 3-4 weeks delivery.
I got the tyres out of an online shop in belfast,Northern Ireland at a great price, in 10days. the price was great becaause they were having a freight free special to aus.
I do love my local bike shop but he just cant compete with this level of price and service. However, once I had the initial set of tyres ,I talked to the shop and he now keeps a set in stock. hes learnt that if a customer sees the product there in his face he will pay that bit extra for the convenience of walking out the door with it there and then

Was buying the Iphone proprietry 5starphillips head (don't go there) for my missus phone which shat itself overnight unused...... common problem it turns out 1 month from warranty...... anyway got the tool from a HK company and figured for the $2.50 with shipping better check out what else they had in their online store, well there was everything from slimming corsets to led tyre valve caps (kinda tempting in a whacky way) and on the last page of crap found a good looking anemometer for bugger all, I clicked to purchase and got a reply sorry Aus excluded. I'm betting they have a seller tied up here at triple the cost. It's probably Whatworths FFS. BAAAASTARDO.

Yes they pay rent etc but guess what I live in an area most stores don't service face to face so why should I pay for their friKken rent??

Think I found a way around this. See Bongo International. Not real sure but it could be the answer, however some not so nice reviews

Haircut said...
i can't believe someone like gerry harvey can have a whinge about consumers buying online and overseas, when his stores have hugely overpriced things for almost 2 decades

But even Harvey's has said he needs to set up his online store to service Australia from overseas (Ireland mostly) as it's cheaper for him to run it from there and avoids the duties and gst for his customers. One of the things he has said is how stupid this is, at least Aussie importers should have a level playing field.

I'm trying to buy some tools out of the UK and the shops that sell them don't send stuff over here, the tools are not available here.

Does anyone know of a good shipping agent kind of thing in the UK?

Is there some big international retailer that donates to the Labor party?

www.theaustralian.com.au/nocookies?a=A.flavipes