Aussies are being ripped off - Just because we are Aussies

• 1
• 2

• 

  mafmouf on 17/01/2014 - 12:01

  -2

  I'm sorry, what is the average wage in the USA?

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 17/01/2014 - 12:10

    +4

    Quick search…

    USA Median wage is around $50k (2011)

    Aust Median Wage is around $57k (2011)

    Can't be bothered doing more searching…

    • 

      silvertone on 18/01/2014 - 02:04

      -5

      Not sure where you're getting your figures, but my quick googling of 2012 average figures comes to:

      USA average wage ~ US$44k (2012)

      Aust average wage ~ A$69k (2012)

      Which is a significant difference. Lots of my friends in Australia earn around that average, but none of my friends in the US earn anywhere near the above average.

      Noting snakes reasonable argument below that otherwise cost of living is much lower in the US, wouldn't you still expect car prices to be much lower?

      • 

        Hotdogs on 19/01/2014 - 00:07

        +4

        australians earn more than what the averages indicate
        america has the highest income inequality in the world
        many people in america live in poverty and their minimum wage is llike half ours

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 19/01/2014 - 12:22

        +1

        Do Americans pay income tax as much as we do? Just curious…

      • 

        slix_88 on 19/01/2014 - 18:13

        +11

        Average and Median are not the same. For comparability and eliminating skewness in the income distribution it is best to compare using the median.

      • 

        VBO on 20/01/2014 - 10:14

        +4

        The median gives better comparison as the distribution of wage is skewed.

      • 

        bender on 20/01/2014 - 16:56

        +1

        @Meteorite
        Americans pay lower tax rates than us.

      • 

        Letrico on 20/01/2014 - 17:09

        Not true, it depends on which state that you live in

      • 

        Pacify on 20/01/2014 - 19:42

        No, but on the other hand they pay a huge premium for health insurance, which more then enough makes up for the difference in tax rates. Plus they have a lot more dif taxes, state and what not

      • 

        RockyRaccoon on 20/01/2014 - 22:11

        Not always it depends on the company they work for, some companies have an employee health scheme..

      • 

        ExtraSalt on 21/01/2014 - 09:29

        American's pay a cheaper price for australian items as well though, so does this international shipping cost only fall one way? they sell legit Australian Uggs for much cheaper than we can get them for here, nd they are made in this country of ours.

        @ Hotdogs brought a great argument about wage inequality. its so sad when you go to Macca's over there and theres a 60yo working alongside a 16yo and you know they are earning the same wage.

      • 

        ExtraSalt on 21/01/2014 - 09:30

        varies on state, it even changes on your area code, which is ridiculous

      • 

        unifex on 22/01/2014 - 10:18

        That difference is shrinking very fast.

  • 

    snakes on 17/01/2014 - 15:23

    +33

    Crap argument when the cost of living in the usa is ridiculously low, compared to our cost of living which is ridiculously high. Our electricity prices in particular being among the most expensive in the world, don't get me started on the state of the internet here either.

    There is a myth that our higher wages mean we are all walking money bags, when a massive chunk of the average aussies wage goes towards basic necessities. Basically the lower american wage is offset by their lower cost of living, so they still end up with more money for "luxury goods".

    Our politicians are so over paid and out of touch they have no idea how bad the "aussie tax" really is, so the only people that could push for change don't give a pickle because they are wiping their bums with hundred dollar bills.

    • 

      mskeggs on 17/01/2014 - 15:33

      +3

      Swings and roundabouts. They have massive health care expenses (almost double ours whne measured in GDP). And they have a government going out severly backwards because they don't collect enough taxes to pay their government bills.
      Australian electricity is pretty expensive, considering our low cost of coal and solar, but that's what you get when the politicians set the rules for what their corpratised transmission units can charge (and those profits are fed back to the gov too).
      American food prices are low, but they have regular massive food safety scares, and they claim they don't have BSE in the beef by basically not testing for it.
      Count the number of homeless in an American city, and you will get an idea what our higher taxes etc. pay for.
      A huge factor in AU cost of living has been an unreasonably high AUD. Now it is falling, local prices will look more competitive. E.g A big mac is now 20$ cheaper in USD terms than it was 18 months ago.
      Also, plastic $100 notes are crap for toilet paper…

      • 

        snakes on 17/01/2014 - 16:11

        -8

        You make some decent points, but public healthcare here is a joke as is most of our public transport/road/telecommunications infrastructure, so while we may pay more taxes the government does f*** all with the extra funds.

        Our meat industry loads livestock and poultry full of roids and hormones so again we are not save from tainted food, its just probably tailored for more long term damage. Organic meat is an option and is again more expensive in our country.

        The AUD falling would be good if my wages rose to offset the aussie tax, but the loss of decent exchange rates will probably mean less money gets spent on luxury goods all round.

      • 

        May4th on 17/01/2014 - 16:20

        +13

        ah the era of entitlement.

      • 

        SBOB on 17/01/2014 - 19:01

        +20

        Our meat industry loads livestock and poultry full of roids and hormones so again we are not save from tainted food

        ummm. no they dont..

        but public healthcare here is a joke

        try rocking up to a hospital in the US without insurance and then compare it with the 'joke' of our system

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 19/01/2014 - 00:18

        US people does have goverment funded healthcare system for low income earner and 65+ yo.

        The difference is they do have right to not take any health insurance, whereas australian medicare levy is a taxation component.

      • 

        teehee on 19/01/2014 - 05:33

        +2

        The vast majority of middle class US based jobs come with health insurance. Its pretty much expected there

        They do have the occasional food safety scares (more often than we do for sure). But that can also be put down atleast partially to them producing ALOT more food stuff then we do. Theres alot of stuff that we just dont make here, not only in electronics but even agriculture

        Alot of it comes down to simple numbers. There's not enough people, potential consumers, in Australia for most commercial enterprises to really care about us. A population of ~22 million for an entire continent thats on the other side of the world.. why bother when you can get the same population in a single city. So most businesses don't want to start up here, don't want to try out new models here and dont want to put their base of operations here. The risk is generally higher and the return is lower.

        Largely due to the amount of land and population that the US has, its able to become self-sustaining in most commercial areas, which is why its cost of living is so low. Enough stuff is locally made and what isnt people are more than willing to ship in.

      • 

        SteveOh on 19/01/2014 - 14:41

        +2

        "the vast majority of middle class US based jobs come with health insurance. Its pretty much expected there"

        That's been changing since before I migrated from there over 10 years ago. Many employers have stopped providing health cover. Many of those employers that do provide health cover have what are called 'co-pays'. Meaning that the employer heavily subsidises the health insurance but the employees pay a certain percentage. I bet You can guess what's been happening each year in terms of the percentage the employees have to kick in for their co-pays. ;-)

        And as large employers have continued to sack people, both before and accelerating with the gfc, more and more Americans have found themselves losing their jobs and health insurance. They might get new jobs as casuals or working for places like Amazon or McDonald's or as self employed but without any of the perks like health cover reserved for the shrinking percentage of the workforce that gets employer provided or employer subsidised health insurance.

        This is partly why it's such a big issue over there. I won't get into a debate about Obamacare and I admit I'm not accross it anymore but one can imagine why it's easy to get things wrong when trying to reform the US health insurance system. If you dare to touch it, as Obama has, people can end up seeing their health insurance bills skyrocket thereby creating a major crisis.

      • 

        teehee on 19/01/2014 - 15:43

        According to http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p70-134.pdf

        "In 2010, 71.1 percent (± 0.5)
        of employed individuals aged
        15 and older worked for an
        employer that offered health
        insurance benefits to any of its
        employees (Table 4)"

        And it also states that "78.9 (± 0.5) percent for
        individuals with a college degree" have health insurance offered by their employees.

        Yes it is true that this number is declining but with obamacare that wouldnt matter much anyway. And again, I'm referring to the middle class population not the Mcdonalds or Amazon employees.

      • 

        cannedhams on 19/01/2014 - 22:18

        +4

        They have to buy health insurance under ACA (obamacare). Quite frankly I would rather live in Australia a hundred times over than live in the US, cheaper cars be damned.

      • 

        SteveOh on 19/01/2014 - 23:39

        'offered health insurance benefits to any of its employees' would include employers who offer minimal subsidies with enourmous co-pays that their employees can't afford.

        Also, my point (not just my point 'the disapearing middle class' is a common term in the US if you google it) is that more and more Americans are finding themselves being kicked out of the middle class and into low wage jobs.

        Again, I admit to being a bit out of the loop on Obamacare but it looks to me like individuals who can't really afford to pay for health insurance are being forced to buy and people who did have health insurance are finding their premiums doubling. Kind of like a regressive tax tha subsidises insurance companies rather than just shutting the insurance industry down and having a single insurer that can spread risk (i.e. the government) Obama is a good conservative who has protected the insurance industry in America and Wall St.

      • 

        wtfnodeal on 20/01/2014 - 01:03

        -1

        @SBOB my son waited for four hours to see a doctor in a public hospital. So the american must have waited for 8 hours to see a doctor? Don't forget we pay medical levy as well.

      • 

        teehee on 20/01/2014 - 03:41

        Oh yeah, I agree that more and more Americans are finding themselves kicked out of the middle class lately (although I think the rate of decline isn't as bad anymore).

        My point was that although they have ridiculously expensive healthcare, for the middle class and affluent its kept in check by health insurance that's thats offered with the majority of jobs or is relatively cheap. Really I think equal healthcare for all should be a humanitarian standpoint that everyone should take

        I admit I don't keep myself uptodate with the health reforms over there either, so I won't go any further into obamacare.

      • 

        SBOB on 20/01/2014 - 06:38

        +3

        my son waited for four hours to see a doctor in a public hospital. So the american must have waited for 8 hours to see a doctor? Don't forget we pay medical levy as well.

        and what was the bill at the end of this wait?
        what would it have been if you were in america?

      • 

        snakes on 20/01/2014 - 16:29

        double post.

      • 

        wtfnodeal on 20/01/2014 - 16:56

        Don't know about how the public hospital billing in America but my relative from a 3rd world country waited with us and laughed as he only needed to wait for 1/2 hour in his country and was free too. Would rather not to pay medical levy and pay as if visiting private hospitals.
        Edit: time is money.

      • 

        SBOB on 20/01/2014 - 18:01

        +1

        but my relative from a 3rd world country waited with us and laughed as he only needed to wait for 1/2 hour in his country and was free too.

        and did he attend the hospital in the '3rd world country' with the same list of medical symptoms at a time when all others at the hospital attended with the same symptoms? I assume so, to allow him to make an accurate comparison..

        When you rock up to an emergency department you are assessed and treated in order of 'emergency'… its not like buying devon at the deli counter…..
        Rock up to a hospital with your arm cut off and see if you still have to wait 4 hours?

      • 

        Pacify on 20/01/2014 - 19:44

        +1

        Our beef is still far better that USA, they have a large % of the industry as feed lot, where as its still quite rare here.

        Public healthcare is not a joke here, what the (profanity) are you even talking about. Its not 100% perfect, but its still light years above what they have in USA

      • 

        wtfnodeal on 20/01/2014 - 23:56

        +1

        Doesnt matter if you have a head off you still have to wait because the doctor told me the whole hospital only had him on duty. I remember it was a weekday morning and we waited until afternoon. Fyi it wasnt a small hospital in a rural area.

    • 

      Hotdogs on 19/01/2014 - 00:09

      +4

      its good that you are critical of the government but americas government is actually much worse

      some european countries are much better role models

    • 

      philart on 19/01/2014 - 22:14

      Yeah remember Julia Gillard talking about a mythical and typical wage earner called John earning a hundred thousand pa. To explain why the country had to borrow money.

  • 

    SteveOh on 19/01/2014 - 14:09

    +1

    Averages can be misleading. The median wage would be more useful. FWIW I think there are more extremes in the US e.g. more really poor people earning around 6 bucks an hour and more millionaires with fewer in the middle.

    But AFA prices go, it's not just about wages but sales volume (economies of scale). The US has a population of around 300 million and we're 20-25 million. So, for example, a 1% market share in the US is worth a lot more than here. Companies can make money on much smaller margins in the US due to the higher sales volumes (1% profit on sales of 10,000 sports cars is worth more than a 1% profit on sale of 1,000 sports cars.) To make it worthwhile setting up a dalership, complying with regulatory requirements including warranty support etc it may be that a big huge margin is required due to the small sales volume. Whereas in the States, or even the UK with its 60 million population, a sufficient gross profit can be made on the larger number of units sold on a much smaller profit margin.

    The above argument falls apart though where distribution and regulatory costs are low like for software, music and video where sales can be made from a server sitting in the States or anywhere. Itunes and many others really are treating Aussies as a bunch of pillow biters!

    • 

      theo96 on 22/01/2014 - 08:54

      +1

      It also falls apart when you consider Toyota can sell the Corolla here for near US prices but sells the Lexus models for much higher than US prices. Both are cars made by the same company, manufactured in Japan and shipped to Australia.

  • 

    tomlikesbeetroot on 20/01/2014 - 11:12

    How does it make a difference what the average wage is?
    I live in a mining town where the average wage would be around $100k, but it costs me the same amount for a big mac as it costs in Tasmania.

    • 

      _Bruce_ on 20/01/2014 - 11:18

      Because we are talking about luxury cars not big macs. Don't like it - buy a cheaper car.

    • 

      SBOB on 20/01/2014 - 11:38

      +3

      How does it make a difference what the average wage is?
      I live in a mining town where the average wage would be around $100k, but it costs me the same amount for a big mac as it costs in Tasmania.

      and in your mining town how much does it cost to rent/buy a house?
      Now how about a similar house in Tasmania?

• 

  pennae on 17/01/2014 - 12:02

  +8

  I feel sorry for Singaporeans ;)

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 17/01/2014 - 12:12

    +12

    If Australia was a metropolis like SG with world-class public transport, I would personally not even consider buying a car…But the fact is Australia is an urban-sprawl country; so a car is almost "essential".

    • 

      humdingaling on 17/01/2014 - 14:06

      +6

      yes but then you talking about LUXURY car not essential car

    • 

      SteveOh on 19/01/2014 - 14:11

      Yes but in Singapore if you get caught jaywalking you'll be sentenced to 10 wacks on the bum with a BAMBOO CANE!

      • 

        snuffleupagus on 22/01/2014 - 04:23

        +1

        In reality, you'd only get the RATTAN cane for serious crimes like armed robbery, rape, trafficking, etc. I've jaywalked literally hundreds of times during my Singapore stint and did not even get a fine. On the other hand, the armed robbers who assaulted me in Perth were let go by the courts!

        But yes, a simple Toyota in Singapore can cost a good hundred grand ;)

      • 

        centrelink on 24/01/2014 - 01:09

        At least the streets actually look clean… Where does our tax money go… Bragging about health care systems.. Pfft we should be comparing with Canadians instead about better lifestyles

  • 

    scrimshaw on 17/01/2014 - 13:27

    +10

    On the upside, the average fare for a MRT ride in S'pore is something like $2.20 SGD.

    I paid nearly $10 for a return train ride yesterday just to go to work.

    • 

      Ventak on 18/01/2014 - 18:00

      +1

      There's also the fact that they have a much denser population per square km.

      • 

        neonlight on 20/01/2014 - 16:18

        That's an excuse for the main cities, there's enough population within 50km from city to have underground rail what not.

• 

  Murrayb123 on 17/01/2014 - 12:06

  +6

  The OzB Community should make some noises about this, if they feel the same as I do…

  lolnope. No self respecting ozbargainer would ever buy a new car, let alone a luxury Audi etc

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 17/01/2014 - 12:13

    +4

    You'd be surprised how much of us have bought a new car in the past 5 years…Australia is a large consumer of new cars.

    • 

      retiredfeline on 17/01/2014 - 12:15

      +4

      I know, donate me half the money you were going to spend on a car, then you won't have to be upset about this issue until you have saved up enough again. :)

  • 

    ProjectZero on 17/01/2014 - 12:34

    +5

    No way! An ozbargainer bought 3 Nissan 370z a little while ago ;P

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/122879

    • 

      Murrayb123 on 17/01/2014 - 13:22

      +2

      Wow, reading that thread… some people get really angry about cars

      • 

        theo96 on 22/01/2014 - 08:57

        Yep, it's the blatant rip-offs.

    • 

      Speckled Jim on 19/01/2014 - 21:25

      Here's how a Japanese company — Nissan — viewed Aussie R35 GTR buyers… I won't comment on the price of the car, as it's still considered a relative performance bargain in our market.

      When that car was released here, there was much fuss about the exclusion of launch-control software. It appeared the gearbox wasn't up to repeated high-stress launches. Nissan Australia confirmed no such feature would be offered on Australian models, and to stick the boot in further, Nissan Australia would not cover damage to any car with unauthorised fitment of launch-control.
      I assumed it would be easy (ECU upgrade) and their comments seemed to confirm it.

      Well, further on in this Motor article, they claimed to have access to a US owners manual for the same car. In the service section there was provision for seven complete transmission replacements under warranty!

      So not only did Nissan Australia deny us a feature the rest of the world had (thus degrading the 0-100 performance a bit) they stiffed us on warranty coverage too.

      I don't have this car but I assume the inequity was addressed at some point. Maybe an owner (hehe, on OzB, yeah right) could confirm this?

      • 

        theo96 on 22/01/2014 - 09:01

        Nissan was probably thinking, "those Aussie dumbf*cks will eat whatever we dish out, so why not???"

• 

  Almost Banned on 17/01/2014 - 12:22

  I agree we get ripped off but you also have to take into account the small market size of right-hand-drive vehicles.
  You can find much clearer examples of the 'Australia Tax' in differential costs of downloaded content like songs, movies, software in which there is no transport or other extra costs.

  • 

    May4th on 17/01/2014 - 13:04

    +1

    agreed.. auto is a poor argument for the australia tax when you consider the exorbitant operational and logistic costs of selling cars in australia

  • 

    mskeggs on 17/01/2014 - 14:37

    +4

    Really? Most of the ex-British Empire and Japan. Plenty of market share to cater for the small costs of making a RHD option.
    I think a big part of the cost is the mandatory safety certifications to sell in AU.
    This prevents grey imports and allows manufacturers to market an "Australian" certified vehicle they can charge extra for.

    • 

      May4th on 17/01/2014 - 16:22

      +1

      it's not only RnD and certification costs. think about staffing, transport over a country the size of a continent, marketing etc all for a fairly small market

      • 

        Speckled Jim on 18/01/2014 - 21:22

        Don't forget ADR compliance — we're a small market that often needs specific things not needed in other RHD markets.

• 

  tonyjzx on 17/01/2014 - 19:11

  old rant

  its been well known Audi BMW Mercedes Porsche etc. are taking us for a ride

  thats always been the case

  while its nice to compare to the US, its also been known that America is often cheaper than Germany itself, where these cars are made!

  The fact is the US is the biggest market for Germany (as of right now, could be china soon) so they get stupendous mass discounts.

  This is how its always going to be.

  Unless the manufacturer wants to give you a break (and there's very little reason they will), certain cars will always be expensive.

  The other side of the coin: why is the Toyota 86 so well priced? What about all the Korean cars? Also most under $50k SUVs are competitve.

• 

  maybeamacy on 18/01/2014 - 01:35

  +2

  Holden can make a car here, ship it to the USA and sell it for a lower price with higher specification levels than they do here (Chevy SS is only $40k in the states).

  Such is life - Australians are already prepared to pay $xxx amount for cars, unless you can get the Government to allow grey imports than the prices will stay the same.

  • 

    philart on 19/01/2014 - 22:19

    Yeah Holden are pulling out, the exports among other thins has been losing money.

• 

  theo96 on 18/01/2014 - 12:06

  +2

  It's a rip-off, plain and simple. When you consider the example that a BMW 335 is practically double the price of the entry-level 3-series here the "logistics cost" argument quickly falls apart.

  In the US the difference is a few thousand dollars. That makes sense because the cost of selling a similar car, albeit with a bigger engine and more equipment, is similar. Here BMW can charge practically double simply because Aussies will eat the ridiculous mark-up.

  I've spoken with BMW dealers and understand that the dealer margins are actually not that high I.e. the massive difference in prices is simply due to the manufacturer's massive mark-up in Australia.

  Car prices in Singapore are ridiculous too, but at least the pricing structure is transparent. When you pay $120K for a Toyota Corolla, you know that $80 is for the rego (called COE), $25K for government taxes and the remaining is the actual cost of the car. Singapore has a very low personal income tax level — the government prefers to tax consumption.

• 

  SBOB on 18/01/2014 - 12:19

  you want to talk about ripped off..
  Bottle of water in egypt was the equivalent of about 20c
  Here, its $2 - $4…

  Thats 10 to 20 times the price…

  car companies arent a charity and will unfortunately charge what the market will deem as 'acceptable'… if they were 'too expensive' no one would buy them

  • 

    _Bruce_ on 18/01/2014 - 18:24

    +8

    In Australia we have some of the best water supplies in the world, so it is only people with money to burn buying water.

    • 

      retiredfeline on 18/01/2014 - 18:42

      +3

      And it's environmentally unfriendly wasting plastic and energy. At least fill up from the council water stations if one must look "cool" with a bottle instead of drinking from the bubbler.

    • 

      iamjohngalt on 24/01/2014 - 11:58

      -2

      If only the f$%^ing government would stop adding fluoride it would be healthy to drink it.

• 

  GameChanger on 18/01/2014 - 14:08

  +4

  Look at the income distribution of Australia, where macca workers earn similar to office workers. As long as there is no big gap between the poor and middle class Australia will pay premium prices. Why would any company create a low end market when the demand is good enough at high prices. If you earn just above average Australia isn't the country to live in anymore, as your lifestyle will be nothing compared to above average US/ overseas country with low cost of living.

  • 

    mskeggs on 19/01/2014 - 22:51

    +4

    Only if by lifestyle you mean consumer spending power.
    I personally value a highly egalitarian community, quality education and health care, a clean and protected natural environment, fair working conditions, protected benefits like public holidays, sick pay etc. as being much greater contributions to my "lifestyle" than the cost of a big mac or flat screen TV.
    And you got 2 up votes for that comment!

    • 

      GameChanger on 20/01/2014 - 22:04

      -1

      What spending power? For the kids growing up now, 500k is the minimum mortgage they're faced with. It's predicted that wage parity around the world will occur over the next decade, so either Australian wages will remain constant or a decrease will occur.

      Quality education? Surely you're having a laugh? The standard of our schools is nothing short of deplorable.

      Health care? This comes at a price, been taxes.

      umm if you didn't realize the cost of everything in Australia is high, even fast food these days is far too costly. I suppose these days people love to work 9-5 for an income that practically goes to the govt.

• 

  tonyjzx on 18/01/2014 - 14:38

  +3

  the biggest determinent is 'what the market will bear'

  people are used to paying this and they pay it without complaining on a forum

  my observation is that if you have to complain about near luxury cars on a forum full of cheapskates you perhaps are not their market?

  better off with a korean car?

• 

  NancyCat on 18/01/2014 - 15:28

  +2

  Parking on the street in Melbourne: $5.50 an hour.

  Parking in an under cover car park, in the Central of Hong Kong (one of the most expensive real estate in the world): Less than AUD $3 an hour.

  • 

    tonyjzx on 18/01/2014 - 15:34

    paying for stuff in AUD is always going to make things seem cheap as hell

    saying that you rarely see so many AMG mercedes and ferraris in one place

    last time i was there a guy around the corner had two Ferraris sharing one carport (badly)

    • 

      NancyCat on 18/01/2014 - 17:41

      +1

      paying for stuff in AUD is always going to make things seem cheap as hell

      It is cheap as hell compare to here. How do you compare prices if you don't convert HKD to AUD?

      you rarely see so many AMG mercedes and ferraris in one place

      Totally agree. And you can hardly see any Merc/Ferrari/BMW/Audi that is more than 5 years old!

    • 

      mskeggs on 19/01/2014 - 22:52

      Minimum wage in HKG is about $4AUD/hr. Here it is over $12.

      • 

        NancyCat on 20/01/2014 - 20:38

        Rent prices in Hong Kong are 90.79% higher than in Melbourne (Source: http://www.numbeo.com)

• 

  StuffnStuff on 18/01/2014 - 15:42

  +7

  Everyone moans about the cost of stuff here but no one does anything about it. Vote with your feet/wallet. If you think you are being ripped off DON'T but it. Time and time again I see people at the Supermarket buying high priced brand named items. If people are prepared to pay the high prices, it sets a benchmark and confirms that it is affordable/acceptable. If items do not sell, soon enough there will be a surplus of what ever they are making and the price will have to drop.
  The high salaries, benefit/handout payments that people get here are much higher than many places overseas if they even exist in many places. eg, if you have a baby WHY should you get a payment or assistance from the government. It was your decision to start a family, why should everyone else suffer. If you cant afford it don't buy or make it ! Yes the standard of living here is probably better than most places but nothing is free in life.

  • 

    tonyjzx on 18/01/2014 - 15:58

    +1

    because at the end of the day, people will buy Mercedes Audi BMW because they are Mercedes Audi BMW

    as i said, its easy to compare, buy a Korean or a Toyota or something that is well priced compared to US

    but they wont

    they want to buy near luxury brands but dont want to pay near luxury prices

    • 

      Speckled Jim on 18/01/2014 - 23:16

      The problem, Tony, is that some people refuse to sit in what looks and feels like a Tupperware container. A good example is the FWD Mitsu Lancers. They were always a cut-price Japanese alternative to the Honda Civic. What did Honda do? Started manufacturing in Thailand. The Civic doesn't have the smart sophistication or engineering excellence it once had as a result.

      With competitive, price-sensitive segments of the automotive market, corners must be cut to stay in the game. And when the bottom-end becomes the "new normal" and people are accustomed to mediocrity, there is much gushing over "soft-touch" materials when used in something like a Golf or Mazda6.

      If you want something that's actually well made and doesn't feel too agricultural, there's a premium to pay in Oz that I consider a tall-poppy guilt tax. It must be value-for-money because those who've entered this exclusive club seem to drive as they please.

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    GameChanger on 18/01/2014 - 15:59

    Exactly we pay for everything, through some tax etc..

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    neonlight on 20/01/2014 - 16:21

    I guess you haven't realised msot 1/2 price items always run out.

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  Hotdogs on 18/01/2014 - 23:58

  delete this post

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    Empiresearth on 19/01/2014 - 09:16

    i agree with the post let it be, as he is thinking only for cars, i am thinking about technology same thing, if you compare with any other product everything is expensive or double price compare to america, about the wages depends on how much rent they pay,

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  zenzeninbox on 19/01/2014 - 09:08

  It's all the stacked taxes that make it unfair. If I've worked hard for my money why should I have to pay lct, stamp duty transfer fees etc those fees should be capped for private buyers. Even gst should be capped. I'd love a BMW or Amg but when half the cost from my original pay is taxes it's never going to happen for me (maybe second hand but driving a worn out 10 year old BMW looks pathetic I'd rather drive a corolla).

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    mskeggs on 19/01/2014 - 22:58

    Why should taxes be capped? Is it more fair to take 5% of the guy earning $60k income if he buys a $30k Kia (10% GST of the price is 5% of his annual income) or 2% of the guy earning $1m if he buys a $80k Audi?
    Isn't it reasonable to ask those with lots of money to contribute more than those with comparatively little?
    If not, where does it stop? Would you demand the guy not earning enough to pay his rent and food also hand over a share for taxes, or is it OK for him to pay less?

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    grasstown on 21/01/2014 - 22:26

    Lol
    What would the rich buy then? If the plebs also have it

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  ubcool on 19/01/2014 - 10:54

  +2

  you get paid way more here ,quality of life is so much better.. im from england and my first job i got here when travelling i was getting paid $20/hour to wash dishes! luxury cars only seem expensive because everything else works out so cheap!!

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  NaughtyBoy on 19/01/2014 - 11:18

  +6

  Motor Magazine did the "Australia Tax" on cars story approx 3 years ago.
  The conclusion was: Australians are charged more for cars because they will pay more.

  As for the Aus Luxury Car Tax (LCT). Consider that the lower class does most of the work and pays little taxes (little income = little taxes), the middle class pays most of the taxes, and the rich pay no tax and get most of the money. The LCT is another 'smart' way the government has created to tax the rich, though they may pay no income tax let's get them on consumption. By 'smart' I mean the govt didn't quite get it right, happy to consumption-tax the tax-evading-rich, not happy to consumption-tax the hard working lower income earners.

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    chukkii on 20/01/2014 - 16:01

    +1

    Nailed it.

    The middle class gets screwed the most because they're not rich enough to dodge taxes (not that there's anything wrong with this), not poor enough to receive any benefits (again, fair enough) but also get screwed on consumption tax intended for the rich.

    Instead a middle class person that might have saved up for most of his/her life ends up getting screwed when they want to buy themselves something nice because of taxes intended for the actual rich.

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  surm on 19/01/2014 - 11:31

  Laptops are overpriced here as well eg. DELL laptops are made in Asia upon online orders and shipped to the destination, so it can't be the shipping costs that make such a big difference.

  DELL sometimes says cost of doing business in AU is high (eg. salaries).

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  surm on 19/01/2014 - 11:34

  +1

  "Australians paying 14 times more for prescription drugs than other Commonwealth nations"

  The Grattan Institute report compared wholesale drug prices in Australia with those in the UK, New Zealand and Canada and concluded that Australians paid more than $1 billion too much for prescription drugs last year.

  "Atorvastatin for example, one of the highest use drugs in Australia, a cholesterol-lowering drug, dropped from $30 for a pack to $19 for a pack but in the United Kingdom that same pack is only the equivalent of $2.84 and in New Zealand it's only $2.01," he said

  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-02/australians-paying-14-…

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    2ndeffort on 20/01/2014 - 11:22

    +1

    Because the big drug companies have worked out our subsidized health care system. They have found out how to manipulate the PBS. If the Govt ever gets tough on them and refuses to pay their bloated prices they roll out a story somewhere about sick kids being refused lifesaving medicine because of greedy politicians being tight with our money whilst giving themselves pay rises etc etc etc.

    I don't know but I assume they are all over the various professional medical associations etc and they certainly pay local doctors etc to spruik the benefits of their products. I imagine that they have Business Development folks that know the PBS processes and they probably have long standing pricing arrangements in place.

    The other flipside of the coin might be, and I dont work in the industry so have no idea, whether those drug companies might have infrastructure and local companies here in OZ. Often the Government pays overs for stuff in the knowledge that the company getting the contract will be setting up here and creating local jobs in order to provide their products.

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  [Deactivated] on 19/01/2014 - 12:45

  There is no one single reason why there is a price difference between overseas and Australia.

  But here are some of the main reasons.

  Inflation accounts to a good percentage of prices.

  The exchange rate between import/export countries.

  Profit maximization price for each company.

  Taxation in Australia .

  Regulation cost such as import permits etc

  The logistic cost of some of the imports.

  The fact some business need to establish a new branch in Australia to monitor goods and general overhead.

  Cost of labor in each country etc

  For specific industries such automotive , cars need to meet some regulation such as having the steering wheel etc moved from left to right, which adds cost to manufacture.

  any questions ?

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    wtfnodeal on 20/01/2014 - 01:12

    +2

    @captkirk, but subaru is japanese and their steering wheels are on the right anyway in the first place and isn't japan is closer to aus than US if freight is one of the reasons?

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      [Deactivated] on 21/01/2014 - 00:22

      like i said , there isnt one single reason, there could be a whole lot of contractual obligation that we dnt know about etc.

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        Speckled Jim on 21/01/2014 - 12:12

        But wtf, the 2009 Liberty was designed for the US market. It was bigger in every dimension and had a crappier interior. But bigger. For fat Americans.
        Nothing new — they always pander to the biggest los market.

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    Daabido on 21/01/2014 - 16:29

    +1

    Any questions? Yes, your first two points are moot. The presence of inflation in relation to imported goods would primarily be a function of the manufacturing country and while the exchange rate does fluctuate, most manufacturers (or importers) will hedge currency changes many months or years into the future.

    When our currency was 55 cents in the dollar the importers had to cut their margins to maintain their profits. As the dollar rose to above parity (and most international contracts are written in US dollars) very few cars dropped in price. The bind that the European car dealers had was twofold; the manufacturers always set the prices at which countries can purchase (it is not the same across the board) and secondly if they were to drastically reduce their prices then resale prices would suffer and that is a large part of their business; the finance of cars and the resale of those cars down the track. Far better to hold their breath on prices and hope the cashed up bogans keep buying the base model BMW.

    Some manufacturers tried to use the strong dollar to drive sales by introducing new models (the MINI Ray which had a downgraded version of the slug of an engine in the base model). Others took the opportunity to take over the local distribution themselves and cut prices (Fiat, Alfa Romeo).

    Taxation in Australia also isn't as big a deal as you would think, because as the cost of the vehicles is weighted to the profit staying in the manufacturing country, there is very little tax paid in Australia, which is one of the problems the world has of global companies shifting profits to low tax countries. Apple and Google pay a very small tax here in Australia compared with their actual profits.

    Also, cars are designed for left and right hand drive from the get go so the added costs are minimal. The Commodore was designed for both left and right hand drive and you can buy one cheaper in the US than here. Unfortunately (despite Ford Australia's wishes I'm sure) the Falcon was not designed for left hand drive duties.

    Regulation costs may be higher here but not significantly. Logistics would add a few hundred tops. Yes, it is expensive to establish a head office and a parts system for a relatively small market like ours. Yes, our cost of labour is fairly high compared to some other countries.

    You've made some really good points.

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