Amazon AU vs Amazon.com - Random comparison of things I actually bought today

snook on 01/07/2018 - 01:37
Last edited 01/07/2018 - 01:38

I'm going to the US later this year and have been buying a few things and sending them to my friend. The things where the postage wasn't bad, I just sent to myself. I tried to get in today before July 1 but Amazon.com had stopped shipping this afternoon. So i bought and sent to my friend. Nothing was urgent. Then I thought I'd see what was actually available on Amazon AU but was ASTOUNDED at the prices, so I thought i'd share for comment.

I looked on Amazon.au and the first thing I checked was $74 AU compared to $113 AU and I thought, yeah right, F*** you.

This is how they get to rip us off….

All in AU dollars, compare
Amazon.com. to Amazon.com.AU
74 to 113
55 to 83
Didn’t have it
90 to 404 (I’m NOT kidding)
52 to 98
Didn’t have it
9.86 to 150.71 (not kidding again)
201 to 357
248.53 to 579.03
22.88 to 44.04
14.44 to 16.99
29.70 to 24.99 (but no reviews and it’s LED lighting … so who knows what you get)
26.87 to 102
59.44 to 130.15

Total sent to the US = 883.72 (not counting items I can’t get here)
Total if buying from here = 2,102.91

Ripped off difference = 1,219.19 NEGATIVE

General Discussion

Related Stores

Amazon AU
Amazon AU
Marketplace

Comments

  • Faulty on 01/07/2018 - 02:46
    +13

    On a scale of 0 to Gerry Harvey, that is a Gerry Harvey level rip-off.

  • stickyfingers on 01/07/2018 - 03:24
    +1

    To be fair I've seen some items that are actually cheaper at Amazon AU..

    Some books I've been looking at after Amazon US shipping were about the same price if you have Prime in Australia. But yeah, I totally agree. It sucks.

  • sschen on 01/07/2018 - 03:33
    +4

    To be a like for like comparison, the item should be sold by Amazon. Your Amazon AU item is sold by a third party seller.
    Sold by 1 Easylife - AU and Fulfilled by Amazon

    • stickyfingers on 01/07/2018 - 03:51
      +4

      Fair enough. At the end of the day I don't really care who sells it (as long as it's not HN) if the item is the same.

      I did just go to get some more examples for you but the prices of these items have actually jumped a fair bit in the past few hours (one of the items I bought has gone up about 10% compared to my receipt, others I didn't buy went up even more if I'm remembering the previous price correctly). This sucks.

  • EightImmortals on 01/07/2018 - 07:25
    +4

    Yup. I pointed out a couple in another amazon thread last week. The point about being sold by Amazon and not a 3rd party is moot IMO. My complaint was the lack of variety offered in Aus compared to the rest of the world and the rip-off prices to go with it. You can still buy from amazon U.S. (might need a VPN?) and go through a shipping company if the price is still worth it. Otherwise join me in boycotting HN.

    • fruitbat on 01/07/2018 - 08:05
      +5

      I will never, ever buy anything from HN, even if the price is lower than anyone else. Vote with your feet.

  • GourmetFoodie on 01/07/2018 - 07:40
    +10

    Insanity. Today is a dark day for consumers in this country and a tribute to the power of one rich man.

    • fruitbat on 01/07/2018 - 08:05
      +2

      Generous Liberal donations.

  • kipps on 01/07/2018 - 09:30

    Every time I looked at Amazon AU the prices were beaten by eBay. I give up. They’re simply not competitive.

    • Janko on 01/07/2018 - 10:01

      Hopefully everyone else gives up too.

  • Ocker on 01/07/2018 - 10:37
    +4

    The haphazard way in which the government has implemented the GST impost on sub $1,000 purchases is one of the biggest stuff up's of all times. There is no consistency, the rules are vague as to what imports will get slugged, etc etc.

    All because of the compromises made by the government just to keep the likes of Gerry Harvey happy. That is, the Productivity Commission ruled that to apply the GST at the border would cost more to collect than what would be collected, so they fobbed off the responsibility to the overseas party.

    For us, some of our overseas suppliers will charge GST, and some will not. We will not know for sure who will/not until we import the goods.

    To justify imposing the GST the government claims they will rake in $300mio over the next 4 years - I reckon they will be lucky to see 1/4 of that.

    Winner(s) - the likes of Gerry Harvey and the losers will be every Aussie. Not because of the 10% GST, but because we will get ripped off by the foreign companies who can jack up their prices.

    • stickyfingers on 01/07/2018 - 13:31
      +1

      I wouldn’t be surprised to see dodgy overseas companies putting fraudulent receipts in packages to get around this.

      • Ocker on 01/07/2018 - 15:40
        +3

        My concern is that some will charge the GST with no intention of ever passing it on to the government coffers - how are we to know?

        • kipps on 01/07/2018 - 17:00

          ATO will have a fair idea by getting AUSTRAC data re transactions to overseas merchants and how much is reported when they remit the GST back. If that happens then I think ATO will be likely to work on the bankers to garnish the GST liability somehow.

        • Ocker on 01/07/2018 - 17:29

          The government has already admitted they have no legal ability to force overseas companies to apply the tax. I don't know how they will ever be able to tell who does, and who does not impose the tax. I foresee any help from foreign government on the issue would be minimal, if at all.

        • EightImmortals on 02/07/2018 - 07:20

          @Ocker: Nevertheless a lot of foreign companies are falling into line for some reason? I wonder what went on in the background to make them comply?

  • AlienC on 02/07/2018 - 21:04
    +1

    This is why I made friends with a few steam Americans .. play games with each other and also send each other good deals.. also just share and have a friendship and bond over the same stuff in my experience it has been games and well tech hardware and food however the idea of shipping some food from US hasn't quite picked up with me quite yet as a lot of the prices here are better and honestly not much exclusive American stuff I really want here.

    So yeah make an online gamer friend preferably an adult and start the third third party shipping bargain agreement.. Tbh I don't really care too much about deals now instead more about helping one another.. sees toilet roll bargain scrap that

  • shaybisc on 01/08/2018 - 09:14
    Merged from Amazon Australia Is a Joke

    This is just so I can keep all the glaring ripoffs in one place that I come across for the little Aussie battler consumer compared to the American consumer at Amazon.

    This looks interesting- a cardboard standing desk for US$25 delivered in America. What a concept.

    https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Ergodriven-Perfect-Standing-Med…

    Oh and they sell it at Amazon Australia- hooray.

    https://www.amazon.com.au/Spark-Ergodriven-Perfect-Start-Sta…

    $129 delivered- BOO

    • Amaris on 01/08/2018 - 09:19
      +1

      The item on the Amazon AU website is sold by a third party. One cannot expect Amazon to control prices of stuff sold by third parties.

      A better comparison would be an item sold by Amazon AU vs the same item sold by, say Hardly Normal for example. A true Ozbargainer would never buy without doing a price comparison ;-)

      • PowerPants on 01/08/2018 - 09:36

        How about books?

    • sparkles on 01/08/2018 - 09:23

      Prices aside, that product is a fire risk, why would you want it?

      • PowerPants on 01/08/2018 - 09:41

        Fire risk? Perfect for reuse as cladding on Australian apartment buildings.

      • shaybisc on 01/08/2018 - 09:50

        Your lounge/sofa will burn quicker and with far more intensity than the cardboard.

    • Ryanek on 01/08/2018 - 09:23
      +2

      It's like blaming Westfields because the cafe in the food court is selling $6 lattes.

      • shaybisc on 01/08/2018 - 17:10

        The Facebook defence.

    • doweyy on 01/08/2018 - 09:26

      Sold by BuyGlobal

      Not sold by Amazon, so your issues are invalid, it's not the same seller. 3rd parties can sell at whatever price they want.

      The Amazon US product isn't listed on the Global store, which means they don't ship it here yet on Amazon AU.

    • railspider on 01/08/2018 - 09:27

      Cut those shapes out of a beer carton and you can have it for free. No Amazon required

    • [Deactivated] on 01/08/2018 - 09:33

      Typical Australian journalist, is that you?

    • PowerPants on 01/08/2018 - 09:36

      Saw this with a book sold by Amazon recently

      US store price: $19.28 + $14.95 shipping

      AU store price: $96

      Edit, here’s the ASIN code: B007MXBKUC

      • boomramada on 01/08/2018 - 09:45

        One sell by Amazon US, and other sell by some third party seller in Aus? or other way around?

  • shaybisc on 01/08/2018 - 10:38
    +1

    You can slice it any way you want but the fact remains- $25 in America, $129 here. If Amazon Australia is a platform for ripoff merchants that is a problem, not an excuse.

    • SirFlibbled on 01/08/2018 - 11:11

      That's like saying Ebay is a platform for ripoff merchants as well. Some sellers will be cheap, others wont be.

      Both are marketplaces where sellers are free to sell at a price of their choosing. In the case of Amazon, they also sell things. But if you're comparing third party sellers on Amazon AU to Amazon US selling the item directly, then it's not a fair comparison.

      • shaybisc on 01/08/2018 - 11:34
        +1

        I've never seen a product at an extortionate price on ebay where there weren't other sellers with the same product at a reasonable price. Maybe I just haven't noticed but I haven't noticed.

        • SirFlibbled on 01/08/2018 - 12:12
          +1

          They exist. I see it regularly. I bought a cat toy last night which was $1.98 delivered from one seller. Other prices were in the $2.50 range with a couple of sellers selling the same thing (using the same pictures even) for $4-7.

          This is the nature of a market place.

          In the case of Amazon, it's a new marketplace and so the sellers are limited at present. As the marketplace matures, so will the number of sellers. Amazon might even start selling the item themselves.

          It's early days, and so you have a few very opportunistic sellers (eg Glendora who appears to be a drop shipper charging ridiculous prices) trying it on.

          Personally, I've bought a heap from Amazon but has been all directly from Amazon or a third party fulfilled by Amazon at a reasonable price. Loving the Prime membership.

  • xseta on 02/11/2018 - 11:36

    I don't understand why we can't just pay GST on Amazon.com purchases, I for one would be happy to the prices are still crazy cheaper.

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