I was in the US recently on holiday. I snapped the picture above at Total Wine in Atlanta.
$2.49 USD (~$2.68 AUD) for a bottle and $11.99 USD ($12.88 AUD) for a 6 pack.
Dan Murphy's has a bottle for $4.09 each or $16.49 for a 6pack.
Yep, even our beer is cheaper overseas.
Compare the average wages of both countries.
Isn't it made here and wages are paid in AUD as well?
Exporting it should be a bit more expense of transportation and duties in US.
It should be a bit cheaper here. Looks like more margins in Aus.
Or more tax maybe.
Tax on it killer it up to 50% i went to vanuatu got 1.25 of ovenproof bundaberg rum for $27 where it retals for 78 local. http://www.getprice.com.au/bundaberg-op-rum-1125l-gpnc_358--…
We're taxed to high heaven here mate!
1L Corona long necks are $3 in the US and most of the imported 6 packs (Becks, Heineken, Corona, etc.) are all $10/6pack there and at least $16-20 here.
Nice to see Fosters getting plenty of shelf space. The stuff that all us Aussies drink!
Disclaimer: I'm not an accountant or tax expert or lawyer - the following are my layman ramblings:
Does that price include sales tax?
In many US states sales tax is only added at the checkout.
In Australia the GST is included on the shelf ticket price.
From what I can see the Alcohol Beverage tax in Atlanta is 3% of the sale price
In Australia the alcohol tax (for beer) is $39.75 per litre of alcohol calculated on that alcohol content by which the percentage by volume of alcohol of the goods exceeds 1.15.
So a coopers 5% is calculated at 5% minus 1.15% = 3.75%
For 1 Litre of beer @ 3.75% that is 37.5ml
37.5ml of alcohol (in 1L of beer) @ $39.75 per litre is a tax charge of $1.49
So for 1L of 5% alcohol beer you pay $1.49 in alcohol excise tax. Don't forget to add the 10% GST as well.
If they were to put in sales tax, let's assume highest is 20% (it is actually lower but I cbf to search for it on my phone), will bring it to $2.98 USD ~ $3.21 AUD.
Bear in mind US have to take into account of importing fee and shipping fee to import alcohol overseas. The resulting price is still lower than Australia. The government will say that the price is high because of the high wages rate in Australia but we all know we get charged high prices because companies can, no other reason.
We are charged $4 AUD for a bottle of 600ml Mt Franklin and I can get a 2L Mt Franklin in Japan for $2 AUD and that is in a 7/11.
Regardless of what anyone try to say to justify the price we pay in Australia, we are being ripped off in everything.
You can buy large bottles of water in Thailand for 15-20 cents (mostly processed tap, not spring).
How much is a steak in Japan?
How much is a steak at Woolies?
It depends, problem is they have an extreme wide range of beef from normal beef to most premium that can go up to $200 per KG of meat and can go as low as $5 per KG. Although cheap but it is still quality meat as you may not know, Japanese are very picky about the quality of things.
Cheapest in woolies could not beat the cheapest in Japan.
Quality, my really cheap as's brother came from a Japan holiday with a mountain of goods from their 100,200.. yen stores, basic garbage but all quality built
"basic garbage but all quality built"
huh?
"
How much is a steak in Japan?
How much is a steak at Woolies?
"
Welcome to 1990. These days Aus is expensive compared to everywhere, and sadly that includes our own product. I don't remember Aussie beef costing as much in Japan as I notice it here actually.
Yours,
Someone who has lived in Aus, UK and Japan.
PS. I would suggest that a key reason why things are so expensive here is simply because Aussies keep paying the price. Why do they do that? Because they think their houses are ATMs and are still addicted to debt in ways that most other nations gave up long ago.
think of all the garbage you can buy from our $1-$2 stores… then imagine they didn't fall apart but were quality of material
He means junk, like tooth brush holders, containers, stationary, nick-nacks etc but it's all pretty good quality considering the price you pay, especially when compared to the cheap Chinese crap you buy here at $2 stores and discount shops.
Letrico, I assume you are young, because for years we have had a high tax on alcohol as Tommyc has pointed out. (Excise was levied since Federation by the Australian Government, and was levied by the States prior Federation
Its called EXCISE. Its nothing to do with GST Sales Tax or whatever. Spirits have a higher tax. If you were that frigging alert, maybe less beer on Neils next trip to the US (joke), he would have found 1.75L bottles of Vodka for around $US8-10. Why it's the same EXCISE tax. In Aust that would go for a minimum of around $60.
Thats also why spirits here are sometimes 37% vs the 40% alcohol content in US products, that creates a lower EXCISE TAX so they can reduce the prices here a dollar or so.
Same taxes apply to Cigarettes. For those still doing those, you would find US cigarettes denser packed, because the Excise tax is on the quantity of Tobacco in the cigarette. One way to offset the tax impost is to put in less tobacco.
http://www.ato.gov.au/business/excise/
Likewise Australian Wine was often cheaper in the US than here - the WET (wine equalisation tax paid here)
While our High wage economy has been blamed for higher prices, NO government of any political color pretends this is anything like that. Its revenue based, with justification that these items need taxes to encourage careful consumption.
Oh an an Ozbargain tip. Often you can buy your duty free booze in the US cheaper at supermarkets than at "duty Free" stores. Just buy a 1.75L plastic bottle of Bourbon, Barcardi etc and put it in your check in luggage. (Cant have more than 100ml liquids in your hand carry on). The plastic bottles dont break with baggage handling, where as Glass may do so
"Charged higher prices because companies can". So sick of these types of comments. Do you own a business? Do you know what is required to even run a company in this country in real dollar terms? Are you aware of the current port fees in Australia for processing a container? How about the duty tax paid on imports? What about the cost of annual leave on a business? Or how about the rising cost of basic business insurance?
I actually have a long list…so many costs I had no idea about until I started my business.
Just because you see the price in USA it doesn't equate to the same landed cost. Stop comparing USA to Australia as it is about as effective as comparing our prices to Thailand.
Australia is a great country but it is an expensive place for everyone… Including business owners big and small.
sale tax wouldnt make much difference; it's much cheaper there than here….but then again they do have o-scumba for a pres.
Apparently there are far more taxes on alcohol than just sales tax or duty. Hence why Australian Duty Free is a joke and why Singapore duty free is killer. The US has much cheaper alcohol across a range of things, so not surprised to see Cooper's cheaper there.
problem is australia is taxed to the eyeballs on things like that and the US has very low or taxes on the same items
That's right. I found out lady year that coopers was cheaper I the US than here. Even with sales tax which would be around 10% and shipping and all it's still cheaper 12000km away. Nice to know coopers is being profitable thanks to local.
See my note above about EXCISE tax, before blaming Coopers.
Exactly. It all comes down to federal excise taxes on alcohol not GST.
Most states in the USA have sales taxes that range on average from 6-12%… so they have their GST too.
The difference is they don't have eye watering excise taxes on alcohol.
So much for supporting Australian made products…
unsure if this has relevance to anything said in this thread
Kinda does, cause the same thing happens here..
Imported beer is somehow cheaper than the local stuff..
Go figure.. I'd have thought shipping a fragile glass bottle across the globe would make it more expensive than shipping a glass bottle from down the road (I work pretty much next door to Coopers Brewery!).
But the prices on the shelves beg to differ!
Good point
To put this matter into perspective see the below pic I took when I was in the states,
24pk Corona @ Walmart for $12.97
Makes that $2.50 Coopers look incredibly expensive by comparison doesn't it?
This is impressively Cheap. So you work for around 1.5hrs in the US and you get a slab of Corona.
Anyways, If you ask any Mexican, they will tell you that Corona is garbage.
And it doesn't have to travel very far or even be loaded onto a ship to get into the US.
Yeah… In the USA I would call it equivalent in terms quality to something like VB or XXXX is here.
Still alcohol is damn cheap over there.
Alcohol tax over here kills it.
Gov't loves revenue.
They give out huge amounts of money in the form of welfare payments, and get a good portion back through alcohol, tobacco and gambling taxes. It's a big, vicious circle.
Circle of viciousness
Educated people in the USA generally earn wages that are equivalent or better than here. Difference being their dollar buys sooo much more than it does here.
The same cannot be said for unskilled labor however.
As Gina Rhinehart would say. Poor people should have inherited billions of dollars if they didn't want to be poor.
Define educated?
I got a masters in finance and I'm not tempted to go there.
I've*
well, that is your choice. there are far more people with masters in US and they wouldn't think about moving to Aus ever.
Now think about how many of Aussies think about moving to US vs how many Americans think about moving the other way.
lol… I educated !
It's possible that the coopers you saw was actually brewed under license over there in the US, meaning that their costs were lower (ie lower salaries and some benefits of scale) to begin with. as opposed to the stuff brewed here. If you have a look at some of the european brands sold in Australia you'll sometimes see it's an imported product and other times BUL (brewed under license) - meaning that it's probably brewed by carlton united or some other such Australian brewery.
But totally jealous that the yanks can buy a beer for under 3 bucks - and no arguments that the excise taxes in Australia adds a huge amount to the purchase price.
You can also find expensive Penfold grange wines cheaper in the UK and the USA. You find the seller will tailor prices to individual markets.
Here's a question. Would everyone here be happy to give up their annual leave loading in order to get some lower prices for stuff here?
I don't know if there are many other countries that pay you for loss of overtime during your holidays.
Who cares about leave loading when you can get everything at half price?
Hell if you go to Costco in the US, it's pay half get twice as much! And it's the branded stuff too!
Hasn't it been like this for a longgg time now? US is cheaper and their wages are lower. That's a factor too you know.
Well I suppose we have a lot more taxes than America, but to be honest I don't mind paying these taxes if I get to live in Australia, it's a pretty awesome country when you look at it.
Ah the old rip off Australia conversation. There's several factors in play.
1) we have a teeny population.
2) we have a kick arse minimum wage (vs US of A anyway)
3) tax
4) Westfield (we have outlandish rent levels in Oz- ysy monopoly)
I'd suggest its overly simplistic to think companies wish to rip off Aussies. If our local retailers were ripping off aussies then someone would just enter the market championing price and win. Let's face it it's expensive to do bricks and mortar retailing in Australia.
Unfortunately it's the same end result. Crazy high comparative pricing, uncompetitive local heroes, and a thriving internet based economy.
It's why I shop online! And love this site!!!
The fact that the price for retail has barely changed and mostly dropped over the last 5 years is proof of that.
This lack of drop in any other industry would see wholesale closures everywhere.
Instead we get some closures here and there.
The major department stores and most stores really are at 24/7 sales, yet are still turning a profit.
the 100+million dollar Pitt Street (Sydney)Westfields during the GFC reinforces this.
Its not a desire to rip people off, its being able to. If you were in their position, why not?
After learning economics in high school, when I walked around, I use to be puzzled by how we have a so many small retail businesses that have few customers. After I got into the workforce, and started buying 'stuff'… I went "ahhh" rip off prices.
Westfield is a monopoly. They are doing very well and will do well regardless of the local economy. They are currently wooing big global retailers whilst reaming existing 'partners' with some of the highest rents in the world. Don't confuse actions Westfield take as any reflection of the health of Australian retailers. I've seen 30-40% rent increases from those dudes as standard. And often.
In the past few years failed retailers include Borders, Fletcher Jones, Bettina Liano, Ojay, Angus & Robertson, Darrell Lea, Mothercare, Lisa Ho, Colorado group to name a few. Myer (In particular)and DJs are scraping together short term results through high pricing and fat discounts. This is short termism. Do you think they'd be close to merging if all was well with them?!
I'm not sure its ever true that businesses want to rip off their customers, that's a retarded strategy. They do want to maximise their return in a sustainable way though.
Unfortunately for many Australian businesses they have a very high cost base and poor buying power due to low Aussie population… The perfect storm for smart global retailers to swing by via ecommerce or increasingly through opening bricks n mortar and clean up.
That's not really that many businesses.
Short termism? Its been going on for over 6 years now.
I'm not sure its ever true that businesses want to rip off their customers, that's a retarded strategy. They do want to maximise their return in a sustainable way though.
That's what ripoff prices are, they were previously sustainable because the consumer was ignorant.
Right now its sustainable for Adobe and co to rip us off because we have no alternative.
Many Australian businesses only survived because of this, they're the fat that's being cut off now. Australia as a whole resistance to online shopping until it was till late, is their own fault
It's interesting that you seem to have this notion that Australian retailers are coining in mega profits and laughing at the Australian public who they try to rip off wherever possible. It's nonsense.
Truth is Australian retail has gotten itself in a massive mess. In the panic to maximise sales ahead of a financial meltdown and the influx of the global beasts almost all of the main retailers have forgotten about adding to the customer experience and have gone down a cost saving and price promotion avenue. When was the last time anyone paid full price in Myer? When was the last time you could find someone to serve you in Myer? These things are connected.
I actually have little sympathy for any business, retail landscapes change, it's easier to shop globally, it's simpler than ever to price compare. If you own a business and can't find a way to adapt to this then it's too bad, you can't put the genie back in the bottle.
None of this is rip off Australia though. Sure they'll be some place that have a monopoly (hello Westfield) that can, and do, take advantage of that. But I don't believe you really think Harvey Norman or Myer or any other prominent Aussie retailer have been having fun these past 5 years. Do you?
One reason why so many beggers can eek out a living in the usa is that they only need $12 (that's only 48 quarters into a paper cup collected) or so for a bottle of scotch. Similarly for those eeking out a living on bottle recycling in the usa.
The negative social impacts of alcohol for the poor is similar in the USA and Australia.
IMO the cheapness of it in USA amplifies those problems.
Not sure why I was negged perhaps this truth is too uncomfortable.
If you are on medium income, or in the bottom 50% you are worse off in the US. Medium income is like almost half of what it is here in many states. So around half the population is worse off. If you are a professional, you are almost certainly better off, income is somewhat similar, while costs of living is significantly less. The only worry you have then, is if you get diagnosed with something like cancer and you live in a state that doesn't have laws to protect you from being dismissed for illness like here. In many instances, people diagnosed with terminal illnesses lose their job and then lose their health coverage, thus having to sell all their assets to get treatment. Just go and visit a cancer forum and read all about it. Also I find it funny that Americans actually often end up importing medication from here, because in some instances its 1/7th the cost as it is there. The pharmaceutical companies are busy trying to block that, so they can rip off Americans on healthcare.
Saw TimTams for 70cents in Bali.
Local price, competition, conditions. I'm far from surprised.
Cheaper to buy a Commodore in the US than the equivalent model in Australia lol.
Why is this surprising to anyone? We tax so we can pay for healthcare, schooling and services.
The government spend less on healthcare and welfare per a capita than the US, but we can't get away with our government running up 16 trillion dollars in debt either.
Americans are less healthy, and have more unemployed..
Yeah they have life expectancies like many 3rd world nations, while living in a country that offers some of the best healthcare available if money is no object.
Sad day. Even booze is cheaper in the US.