Thread: Can someone tell me why???

It would be nice to get the ARB stuff that cheap. I have no idea why its so cheap over there. How does the taxing on stuff like that work in the US? Alough that shouldnt make much of a difference we are only 10%.

It would be nice to know the real reason behind it, maybe buying power might have something to do with it, the market in the US is massive? I dont know.

Originally Posted by myjk

One of the main reasons is that the US economics is a lot lower than ours, eg a Mcdonalds worker here earns approx 20$ per hr and in the US $14 per hr, for the same job. This is mainly due to the fact that here in Australian unions (not to start a war) demand higher wages and longer holidays so on and so on.

Ask a Bunnings worker what they get and you mite wanna quit your current job.

So we the public have to pay higher prices, If we did not have to fork out such high wages most products would be a lot cheaper. This is why a lot of stuff is from of shore.

I buy a lot from the US and I do agree that it is a total joke when you can buy form overseas at half the price and twice the quality and half the shipping time eg US to AUS 5-7 days.

I think maybe you should actually ask a Bunnings worker what they get and see their pay slip. My brother works for Bunnings and has done for some time now and I can quite honestly tell you it is crap money and even crappier hours with no additional pay for working weekends and public holidays due to the way they arrange your shifts. He is one of the working poor.

Hi Guys,

Personally, I used to be real big on supporting the local bloke, and would pay a (sometimes an excessive) premium to support local business and jobs no matter what.

As of late, due the the absolute crap service I have got out of local companies my dollars are heading online and for the most part overseas.

If gerry harvey (to generalize sorry) want's to sook about people not buying in aus, he needs to get his staff to......

a) know WTF they are talking about.
b) understand that I may know what I'm on about and don't bull**** me.
c) back the products you sell and don't give me the run around when your product fails.
d) understand that as your service sucks so bad I'm willing to take the punt on buying os with dubious warranty and support as your's is no better at twice the cost.

I appreciate that the cost of doing business in aus is way dearer than overseas, but, (again at the risk of generalizing) given the fact you have already employed someone, they could at least have a crack, and you could give them the facilities to support your customer base.

Originally Posted by CraigE

I think maybe you should actually ask a Bunnings worker what they get and see their pay slip. My brother works for Bunnings and has done for some time now and I can quite honestly tell you it is crap money and even crappier hours with no additional pay for working weekends and public holidays due to the way they arrange your shifts. He is one of the working poor.

I know 3 people, ask him about the shearers he gets each year, and for stocking shelves, you mite wanna see his pay slip.

I am making a point that the average Australian worker wants a high wage. I get that,
but that cost the end user. eg you

During WW2 ford built massive numbers of vehicles for both the allies and the Nazi’s. yet at the end of the war ford had not made a profit. Only 2 of about 200 executive management had a high school or higher education.
The US government contracted ford to rebuild a car manufacturing plant in Japan ( Mazda)

While Ford struggled on with old plant and an ever growing union movement a spanking new plant with all the advancement in technology and a willing workforce was getting ready to pounce. and pounce they did.

Originally Posted by pando

Hi Guys,

Personally, I used to be real big on supporting the local bloke, and would pay a (sometimes an excessive) premium to support local business and jobs no matter what.

As of late, due the the absolute crap service I have got out of local companies my dollars are heading online and for the most part overseas.

If gerry harvey (to generalize sorry) want's to sook about people not buying in aus, he needs to get his staff to......

a) know WTF they are talking about.
b) understand that I may know what I'm on about and don't bull**** me.
c) back the products you sell and don't give me the run around when your product fails.


understand that as your service sucks so bad I'm willing to take the punt on buying os with dubious warranty and support as your's is no better at twice the cost.

I appreciate that the cost of doing business in aus is way dearer than overseas, but, (again at the risk of generalizing) given the fact you have already employed someone, they could at least have a crack, and you could give them the facilities to support your customer base.

Does GH actually sell stuff or does he essentially lease space in his stores for others to sell their wares ...somewhere I got the impression that a HarveyNorman store is really a corporate marketplace with lessees operating within selling bedding/computers/electrical etc and paying a "rental" to GH, but it's all ubnder the HN brand...
Is this correct?

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

You are ablolutely correct
but
the protectionism gates were opened, the globalisation horse has bolted, our manufacturing and call centres have moved off shore so why not our retail?

No offence meant but when would you recommend that the potential mass exporting of Australian jobs should end?

cheers,
Terry

Harvey Norman stores are franchised (most anyway), in the case of my local store, each dept is owned by a different bloke, Furniture & Bedding, White Goods / Small appliances / Electrical (TVs, Stereos) / Computers.

The sales people receive NO training on the products they sell from the company, any knowledge they have is from personal interest.

I used to work for DickSmith (owned by Woolworths since 1985), i was paid $19.50/Hr plus bonuses for selling a particular promotional product and commissions for Extended Warranties. Typical 35hr week would net $650 after tax, bonuses coved tax basically, but you have to sell hard to get to that, fairly poor wage when you work it out.

For eg, in January a sales person might tell you that HP printers are the best of the best, but in March it will be Canon, the reason is the sales person can earn an extra $10 if he/she sells you the promoted product, the commissions are paid by the company representing the product.

DickSmith did not offer any training, you are expected to get that in your free time on the net or from thin air, my store manager could barley read/write (ok guy though) so take what they say to you with a grain or two of salt, especially the Harvey Norman sales people, too many times ive overheard them speaking BS to a customer to close a deal.

And for the record, mark-ups on most products are quite high, 30-40% on brand name items, upto 300% on cheaper no-frills stuff, Ipods and Laptops are the exeption, almost no profit on the actual item 5-7%, thats why they upsell so hard for those things.

I would think the ARB air-lockers are so expensive in Australia because the franchises are advised as to what RRP to set by head office, ARB Aust would set the price i think.