Thread: Safari Snokel

Originally Posted by sheerluck

And quite often it's not his fault either. The wholesalers and manufacturers set the price that a product is sold for into a particular country.

i do understand that. however as a customer i deal with the retailer, not the wholesaler or manufacturer.

as a customer, if the quality is the same, i'll go for the lowest price.
its why i buy my tyres online as its $50+ cheaper per corner

Originally Posted by Eevo

i do understand that. however as a customer i deal with the retailer, not the wholesaler or manufacturer.

as a customer, if the quality is the same, i'll go for the lowest price.
its why i buy my tyres online as its $50+ cheaper per corner

But the price your kids will pay in the future is MUCH higher...

Originally Posted by Eevo

i do understand that. however as a customer i deal with the retailer, not the wholesaler or manufacturer.

as a customer, if the quality is the same, i'll go for the lowest price.
its why i buy my tyres online as its $50+ cheaper per corner

You forget - In the USA for example... The economy of NYC is bigger than that of AUS total.

They sell more... Levi Jeans in a month then Australians buy in a year.
More sales, lower margins, same profit per month.

Now back to goods in this thread...

In the UK and USA wages are lower... A LOT lower...
So are overheads for business...
All that lovely OH&S, Workcover, PLI all adds up for Aussie businesses.
We also have Medicare (and its Levy) - something they really dont have in the USA.
Combined with some of the highest Power prices in the world, very high wages (avg) and our costs here are much higher.

If YOU (and all of us) wanted to live on a wage like the average American gets (shop worker, sales staff, Jiffy lube attendant, mechanic, tyre fitter) then costs would be far cheaper to businesses and we could pass them on..

Dont forget,Americans are struggling to pay for fuel for their vehicles at the moment and yet its less than we pay here.... Its really biting into the average American Workers salary.

So that wonderful $300.00 USD tyre is quite a hit in their back pocket!



Keep sending all the money overseas and we will soon follow the USA.
They were a pretty self sufficient nation with a strong manufacturing base - it all went offshore.
Now they have large pockets of unemployment, huge national debt, rocketing costs...

If you cant see what streaming $$$ overseas will do to our economy in very short succession then I suggest a bit of research...

May I ask what type of industry you work in?

Originally Posted by Tombie

Keep sending all the money overseas and we will soon follow the USA.
May I ask what type of industry you work in?

im buying from an aussie online retailer. the money would go to korea where the tyre is made
the money doesnt go to the us.

i work in IT/Telco

Originally Posted by Tombie

But the price your kids will pay in the future is MUCH higher...

we will adapt, or we'll die out.

business needs to adapt or it will find itself obsolete and without customers.

why should i reward the business who is inefficient and has the highest prices?

Originally Posted by Eevo

we will adapt, or we'll die out.

business needs to adapt or it will find itself obsolete and without customers.

why should i reward the business who is inefficient and has the highest prices?

Cmon... Look at the industry you play in - Not YOU personally...

IT/IS/Telco

We are one nation who charge for domestic calls - many dont
We charge an overpriced sum for calls etc...
Wireless data plans here are point blank robbery
Infrastructure around Aus is below par...

Or... the IT/Tech support side.. Scenario:

Software gets installed onto hardware...
But it has bugs etc, that need patching (because a glitch was found by the programmers) - OK that's acceptable.
But... Slugging hourly rates to do the patching - Robbery!

Would you go to the dealer for a service, after he puts your car back together he creates a glitch and he knows how to fix it... Would you be willing to pay money again to have it resolved? No...

And unless you're a call centre operator - MCSE etc get quite a reasonable hourly rate.


Me, I work in Mining - I'm away from my family 60% of the year.
I work in the middle of nowhere.
I get paid a decent salary + remote allowance + LAFH allowance plus a few other little bits and bobs (on call allowances etc).

Considering how my family life has changed I am only earning what I get as a 'compensation' for the life I have to live to work here.

People rag on what I earn but they go home each night to their wife, children, friends etc.. I got to the Wet Mess, have a Scotch, eat dinner, try to get enthused to go to the Gym and then by 9pm collapse into my cot ready for a new day tomorrow.

I then see my family for 6 days and then back for another run...

But I get paid well, and setting up for later life is the current 5 year game. I still enjoy my job, my life and love my family... We don't struggle to get what we want most of the time. And we try to buy local, then state, then interstate before going international - because it means someone else in Aus gets to enjoy something in life or have a job just that little bit longer.


Why does a Filipino answer the phone when I call Telstra?
Because they can pay them a LOT less to do what they did in Australia.
Because of that 5 Australians don't have a job for every day.

Why does Optus charge what they do here, provide poor coverage and yet, their parent company (Singtel) provide free local (domestic) calls for Singaporeans?

Why does a decent Internet plan (and decent speeds) elude Australians and yet we pay so bloody much for the service?

None of these companies are adapting - they are fleecing!
Why because the market is trapped - its a captive audience who cant really get away from it.

Yet the businesses you are targeting, make very little money per sale..


Here is the basics of an Aussie tyre retailer:
The Australian business has these costs to bear.
1. GST. No I am not Jerry Harvey.
2 Lease cost of their premises. Much lower in the states.
3.Wages. $9 an hour over there and this multiplies for every bit of handling.
4. Floor stock. They import and have a very large stock of X sitting there waiting to be sold.
5. They wear the warranty, it still costs them even though the supplier pays for the defects.
6. Insurance is much higher than in the states.
7. With labour cost comes workers comp. Not cheap.
8. Insurance. If your vehicle is damaged they pickup the tab.
9. Council rates and charges.
10. EPA charges.

Now a quick search (and a couple of calls) shows tyre fitters around SA getting $19-$25 per hour.

Here is what goes on in the USA:
The only State paying around $9 per hour is New Yorkand one or possibly two other north eastern states.
In most states the workers be be getting around $7 with a few as low as $6.15.
One weeks annual leave, 6 public holidays and no Superannuation.

If you want your kids to bearing this sort of wage (they pay more than this at Maccas in Australia) And to only get the benefits above.
Then that is HOW we as people will have to adapt.

Everyone wants pay rises, huge $$/hr rates etc.. And then expects prices and costs to be low.

both wireless data plans and infrastructure are world class. except for vodaphone, lol

patching/upgrades costs money, im not sure what your point is here
if you have a support contract with the vendor, they fix for free.
if its out of contract, you will pay through the nose.



im not sure what your talking about with call centre and MCSE.




regarding your job and circumstances, thats your choice.


you talk about mobile data cost being too high, but you complain about overseas call centres which reduce the cost of services. if you want to speak to an australian, your service cost will go up.


i have a top notch internet plan and i dont think i pay too much.


if they cant adapt to conditions they will die out.
its simple, as a customer, i want the lowest price.
why would i reward the lazy business that instead of modernising and being efficient has the highest prices?




do i want the next generation to have this kind of wage?
if australia wants to compete on a world scale, wages probably will have to come down.
our high wages make us uncompetitive in the world


i have a high wage, by making sure i am the best at what i do so i can compete. to do that i need to be efficient, knowledgeable and flexible... and by learning to spell, haha

many australian companies have crap prices, crap service, crap knowledge, crap products, restrictions on sale, etc
so why should i buy from them?

I do not think it is the end of the supply chain or point of sale that is reaping the big reward.
I would rather pay Australian prices and live a far better standard of life than pay reduced prices & have a reduced standard of living.
Of course there are exceptions.
I watched a show on TV the other day regarding the state of play in the US for the normal worker - absolutely depressing.
The mining boom is good for me because they are indirectly maintaining wages & conditions in my home location.
Ironically Internet trading is driving business in my sector of industry with 4 companies lined up to buy my employer out (3+ Billion).

Another irony is that the telcos are probably the worst at providing service.

Cheers