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  • #16
    OCD, they don't already. There are large technological platforms like Amazon, Ebay and Alibaba which are changing the face of trade more the older larger volume trade. These work better getting their product into us than ours into their economy. Amazon very much so, their placement formula for search results rewards price, warehousing (internal or external to Amazon), speed of previous deliveries, Amazon margins, volume, etc. It is very hard for Aussie suppliers to trump local suppliers on those metrics.

    Amazon represents something like 47% of all online sales in the USA. We can sign all the trade deals we like, but this large private company is unregulated (as you would expect a private company to be). As Aussies if we keep choosing an Amazon product because it is $5 cheaper we cant be too surprised if our neighbour becomes unemployed and starts purloining our grocery deliveries. I sound like a commie but extreme social inequality isn't that great. I have friends in Brazil with full time armed guards, not really how I would like to live.

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    • #17
      Only did a purchase once at Amazon.
      not because it is more expensive, Just not use to the platform.

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      • #18
        My policy is to do my research on the net and see if I can get any given product from a local 'Bricks & Mortar' store.
        If no go, then I look for an Australian-based outfit, regardless of where in Australia it is located.
        Still no go, I will reluctantly order from outside Australia on sites like Amazon.
        I avoid anything with a Chinese brand name although I realise that most of the stuff on the net is made there anyhow.
        I recently tried to find a 'fancy waistcoat' on-line. There was plenty of stuff made in China and advertised by off-shore vendors (usually Hong-Kong) but I eventually found an item on the 'Marks & Spencer' Australia, site.
        The measurements actually made sense (none of the O/S vendors measurements made sense) but their description unfortunately did not indicate whether the hip-pockets were functional or not. After several emails via a very poor 'Contact' facility, they told me they didn't know because the item is manufactured God-knows-where (probably China) but would try to find out and update the description of the item on their website (still not done).
        So you can try to do the right thing and still end up banging your head against a wall.

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        • #19
          I have used Amazon in the past both for new items (not available in Australia at the time) such as Amazon Kindles. Was also using their marketplace again from the US when second hand items couldn't be sourced in Australia. But yeah their Australian offering is dismal both in terms of value and the marketplace is like eBay but worse.

          There are similar stories around about Aldi, cheap groceries low cost operation with a big disconnect (and level of treatment) between the corporate store/area managers and the on the ground staff and delivery drivers.

          Most of these big corporations are shafting someone to make a profit. The Australian market is tough for big corporate's due to our relatively high minimum wage, high business tax rates and low economies of scale. Not saying the treatment of workers is OK but it is a reflection of the growth in the casual labour force and our fake low unemployment rates. The unemployment rates are low as employed "includes people who are in a paid job for one hour or more in a week" (https://www.rba.gov.au/education/res...and-types.html). More and more workers are employed on a casual basis with less rights and security. But I think this is a sign of the fact the economy is terrible and both sides of government have not delivered anything (in terms of reform or macro level) outside the resources sector (which flows up and down at China's whim) to stimulate economic growth or improve our economy.

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          • #20
            Totally agree with buying Australian goods when practicable. However, seeing as
            Australia doesn't manufacture much of anything these days, that can be problematic.

            Ps below is a picture of me doing my bit.

            Click image for larger version

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Rocky View Post
              My policy is to do my research on the net and see if I can get any given product from a local 'Bricks & Mortar' store.
              If no go, then I look for an Australian-based outfit, regardless of where in Australia it is located.
              Still no go, I will reluctantly order from outside Australia on sites like Amazon.
              Agree with the sentiment but unfortunately the Australian consumer is increasingly being treated like a mug. How many times I've heard that a retailer's local pricing is based on the comparable cost of buying overseas plus the domestic shipping costs. The profiteering that goes on here in some sectors is staggering. The point is we should be paying a comparable cost for the goods themselves without adding costly individual domestic shipping costs. Distributors both overseas and locally buy and pay for shipping in bulk to fill their warehouses before shipping locally to retailers.

              As an example, I recently bought a genuine heating element for half the price of what the local suppliers were asking and that included shipping and GST from the UK! One well known spare part retailer wanted 3 times the price I paid. By the way, the one I received was identical to the original one in the machine and included a gasket which the local retailers didn't.

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              • #22
                Originally posted by OCD View Post
                Totally agree with buying Australian goods when practicable. However, seeing as
                Australia doesn't manufacture much of anything these days, that can be problematic.
                Even the food on our supermarket shelves has to be examined closely , particularly when loudly claiming it's Australian, somewhere hidden in tiny print will be something telling us that the stuff contains at least 10% Australian fruit or similar, recently bought a kg of whole prawns, the package loudly proclaimed Australian Prawns, on closer inspection when we arrived home we discover that yes they are Australian, packaged in Thailand.

                "Imported pork makes up around 75 per cent of the processed pork sector." chances are the ham you will buy this Christmas is imported, same for bacon and pork ribs.

                We import American oranges while our producers let fruit rot on the trees because of low prices.

                The list of unnecessary food imports is endless.

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                • #23
                  King OCD Canute. He failed, and so will we.

                  The more developed countries climb up the economic ladder, the less reliant they become on primary and secondary industries. They farm less and less, and make less and less goods as they gravitate into the tertiary services sector. The USA and Australia are very similar there.

                  The services industry is where by far most of the economic activity resides, and in Australia's case education and travel have that sector wrapped up.

                  We have a mining industry which brings home the bacon as an export earner, and a services industry too -- but nothing in between,no secondary manufacturing.

                  The harsh reality is there is very little made in Australia to buy.

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                  • #24
                    This theory explains how... we are all set up for one, or maybe a few "some", "reason/s" (barring drastic intervention). Nothing political, I enjoyed the science.

                    https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ty-inevitable/

                    :-)

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by CafeLotta View Post
                      As an example, I recently bought a genuine heating element for half the price of what the local suppliers were asking and that included shipping and GST from the UK! One well known spare part retailer wanted 3 times the price I paid. By the way, the one I received was identical to the original one in the machine and included a gasket which the local retailers didn't.
                      Yeah I've found exactly the same thing. I needed some spares for my La Pavoni and I could get them from UK for so much cheaper (including GST + shipping). I really want to support the local shops (I'd certainly be ok with paying a bit more locally) but it's hard to justify when there's that much price difference. Interestingly in the bicycle market this used to be the case too, though some retailers here have some how figured out how to get local pricing down enough (in certain areas) that it's often worth popping in to the local bike shop rather than shopping online which is great.

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by Yelta View Post
                        We import American oranges while our producers let fruit rot on the trees because of low prices.
                        No, we import American oranges when Australian navels are out of season, conversely we export oranges when the Northern hemisphere is out of season. This is known as countercyclical trade and Australia is a net beneficiary because the northern hemisphere markets are so large: we export a bit more than ten times as much as we import (215,000 T export vs 20,000 T import according to USDA 2018 report figures)

                        Yes, the cheap supermarket orange "juice" product is based on reconstituted frozen concentrate from Brazil, the total quantity of which (~30,000 T) is roughly equal to the import / export gap as above (assuming concentrate at 72oBx and oranges at 12 oBx) but the juice market is declining as people realise how much unnecessary sugar orange juice represents. In turn this means the returns to growers on juicing varieties (eg Valencia) are much lower than for fresh varieties (eg Navel) but the response has been largely to replant with new varieties rather than letting fruit rot.

                        Riffing off an annoying old ad: if your dad grows the fruit that goes to Cottees to make the cordial that you like best, then your dad is Brazilian.

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                        • #27
                          And it's so good we import cherries...from California...during our late winter. And they are often cheaper, and often better, than our locally grown ones starting up now. There's no competition because cherries are seasonal.

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                          • #28
                            Our local supermarkets have been selling American oranges over the past few months whilst fresh oranges are in abundance right here in Oz, including on our own tree.

                            The interesting thing is we have noticed quality Australian Washington naval oranges in supermarkets in the US, far superior to anything on offer here in Australia, seems we get Valencia juice oranges here, guess we export the high grade stuff and flog off the rubbish to the poor old Aussie consumer.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by noonar View Post
                              This theory explains how.
                              That article should be compulsory reading. Anyone who doesn't understand the maths should go back to school until they do.
                              Last edited by Lyrebird; 15 November 2019, 01:04 PM.

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                              • #30
                                Originally posted by Yelta View Post
                                Our local supermarkets have been selling American oranges over the past few months whilst fresh oranges are in abundance right here in Oz, including on our own tree.
                                That is a single observation; in the post to which I was responding, you made a general statement which has been shown to be untrue.

                                The plural of anecdote is not data.



                                BTW since the vast majority of American oranges imported are navels and they are just coming into season now, I think even your observation is a bit suspect.
                                Last edited by Lyrebird; 15 November 2019, 02:21 PM.

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