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Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Topic Date User

Australian prices! 24-May-2011 At 9:54:03 AM cruze

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On 23/05/2011 BoulderBaby wrote:
>It's because of the gentlemans agreement, they won't ship to aus. If you
>want it, you should organise it through the supplier (which I think is
>now patagonia australia)
>
>Also, I can't believe how cheap patagonia gear is in Australia compared
>to the UK!!
>
>I now think of prices in how many hours it takes me to save up to buy
>it.
>for example - UK - patagonia cap 3 - about 50 pounds - around about 9hours
>to earn it (earning 6 pounds an hour)
>
>Or in oz, same thing - about $80 - takes me 4 hours to earn.
>
>I know we all love to save a buck or two, and I especially do, but things
>in australia currently are really really affordable, I was so suprized
>how much things have dropped in price since I've been back, and how the
>hourly wage has increased for australians. We're getting it pretty good.
>It's not that hard to specially order something...

That's an interesting comparison but it is, of course, overly simplistic. For just about everybody the purchase of outdoor gear represents a drop in the ocean of their spending. Wages and salaries are kept in line with the overall cost of living. For those of us that have chosen to borrow money to buy a house, it is my understanding that interest rates in Australia are currently significantly greater than most developed economies (including Britain). So while cams might cost you an arm and a leg in Europe, housing affordability in Australia remains historically high with our major cities regularly appearing in lists of the most expensive (judged on median house price to median income ratio) in the world. If the apparnetly "cheap" gear were more expensive in Australia then I doubt many people would be buying it locally at all.

I guess what I am saying is that products are priced at the point at which the supplier thinks people can afford, not what they are intrinsically worth. Whilst I think it would be a shame if importers/distributors and retailers went out of business, I think that we have to face the fact that the global economy is now more accessible to the average punter than ever before and will only become more so. If we look at the recent demise of A&R/Borders, a significant contributing factor is probably the accesibility of "grey imports" (ie books imported directly from O/S where the price point is lower). There is a strong similarity between that trend and low turn-over non-essential purchases such as outdoor gear. There will come a time where the head will get pulled out of the sand. Claiming a 12 month supply cycle to maintain prices might provide some accounting advantages but the clear downside is that when the AUD swings upwards your customers will look elsewhere.