Retailers Angry at Online Shopping.

[Grennan]

Source: Retailers launch GST on imports campaign

Australian retailers will launch an advertising campaign urging the government to impose GST on all goods bought over the internet.

From Tuesday, major retailers including Myer, David Jones, Harvey Norman and Target will take out the print advertisements, The Australian reports.

The local sector has suffered from heavy discounting during the Christmas shopping period from overseas online retailers and a surging Australian dollar.

The ads warn that a failure to act "will see a reduction in hours and shifts for casual and part-time workers, and ultimately cost Australians jobs in retail, manufacturing, logistics and related services".

If the government does not want to impose GST on internet purchases, which are free of GST and import duty if valued at less than $1000, it should not impose it on domestic purchases, the ads also claim.

Retailers, ultimately have themselves to blame for people switching to online shopping. With the AUD comming into parity with the AUD, the expectation is that prices on some goods to drop. When I heard about this I instantly thought of EB Games (and their big cry about "Steam").

The excuse the Australian Gaming Industry has always used was the exchange rate between the US and AUS. Games in the US, cost approx $60, Games in Australia (from game retailers) cost $100-120. So why, now that the dollar is stronger, are our games (and other goods) still the same price? The GST is not the price difference between online and retail prices.

In the end, I am happy to go and pay extra in a store if the price is reasonable and the service is good.

[SIG-054]

Stuff the Aus industry, id rather look after my own back pocket. Id rather buy a LS1 camshaft at US$350 than buy one here for $600+

[Dum*P*ster]

2 reasons why people buy online.. Normally. customer service in shop is so poor.. It just makes you mad
And, of course.. Normally its cheaper. 'Somtimes'.

[NonStick Squid]

haha i barely ever buynew games for exactly that reason, i picked up gears 2 and oblivion both with all dlc included for $62 bargain

[Cúl-Báire]

They have no-one to blame but themselves; the dollar has gone up but (not) surprisingly the price of goods in the stores continues to go up. The major stores leading the charge have done nothing at all to tackle the online market, nor are many of the products they sell competitively priced in comparison on other retailers in the market. Take Harvey Norman for example, their furniture is made overseas just like everyone else’s, the quality is sub-par and they charge bullshit prices for it! Of course people aren't going to wear that...

[Bravotwozero]

I can see their point about the GST.

[Grennan]

Thats the thing, the GST is #### all.

Ill go back to my gaming example because its what I buy and know best, a game, purchased on Ebay in Australia costs ~60-80 depending on title brand new (from online stores). JB Hi Fi and other bigger stores like Harvey Norman sell them for 80-100. They have a larger variety of products and games are merely to get you in the door so they can cut prices on them. EB Games and Game are at 100-120 for new games. I understand why they are higher than other places (they only make their money on games), however thats 60 dollars above the USD RRP, EB Games is not reknown for its sparkling service, so why on earth would you pay double the price?

[hakhawk]

heard a bit of this on the radio today

dont all australian online shops have to charge gst?

theres parts i cant get in australia for my cars(and some that are just ridiculously overpriced), so because no one imports it, i have to pay extra ontop of the usually extreme shipping rates i have to pay? its almost sounding bad enough to pack everything onto a shipping container and move myself overseas.

[vsl67]

I put the exchange argument on YT once when it was Dollar for Dollar and it was still cheaper to buy the Yt roller rocker from the US Delivered than Australia even though before their excuse was the us company bought them when they had a higher dollar ,There is always an excuse why we pay more here no matter what the dollar is doing .Retailers only have themselves to blame for people shopping online and another part of it Australian retailers dont have the range of goods they have overseas ,But has anyone noticed its mainly the multi million dollar Companies and execetives who are having a whinge

[SIG-054]

I put the exchange argument on YT once when it was Dollar for Dollar and it was still cheaper to buy the Yt roller rocker from the US Delivered than Australia even though before their excuse was the us company bought them when they had a higher dollar ,There is always an excuse why we pay more here no matter what the dollar is doing .Retailers only have themselves to blame for people shopping online and another part of it Australian retailers dont have the range of goods they have overseas ,But has anyone noticed its mainly the multi million dollar Companies and execetives who are having a whinge

Same with PWR, cheaper to buy from the states than it is to buy local even though they are a local company.. Issue was raised on the LS1 forum.

[minux]

LOL Bring on GST.

I bought a few books from Book depository, all in all around $240 + free postage. One of the books alone, Borders wanted $118 and another for $76. Other stores couldnt match borders prices. These 2 books from the UK to my door, $36 and $23 respectively. How the hell will GST on these purchases stop me buying international lol?
If Hardly Normal offered better prices and better customer service with people who know what the #### they are talking about then there wouldn't be an issue. The fact they are still RAISING prices on so many goods while we have a strong AUD against the USD shows they do not give a #### about consumers and just want to rape their wallets.

#### you major retailers!!! haha.

[acarmody]

Same with PWR, cheaper to buy from the states than it is to buy local even though they are a local company.. Issue was raised on the LS1 forum.

I believe that when Aussie companies sell overseas they don't have to pay GST (and probably a few other taxes). So its cheaper to sell overseas.

And why would PWR or Yella Terra give a crap if you buy overseas, they get thier profit either way.

[Dr HaxZaw]

lol i have bought a computer game in store since i discovered steam lol... i got 7 games which would normally cost me at least $300 at Jb-HiFi for $70... why would i spend $230 more when most of the money goes overseas to however made it in the first place anyway... or maybe im paying for a 16 year old kid to tell me he wont give me a discount for stuff i want to buy lol

[Bravotwozero]

Thats the thing, the GST is #### all.

Ill go back to my gaming example because its what I buy and know best, a game, purchased on Ebay in Australia costs ~60-80 depending on title brand new (from online stores). JB Hi Fi and other bigger stores like Harvey Norman sell them for 80-100. They have a larger variety of products and games are merely to get you in the door so they can cut prices on them. EB Games and Game are at 100-120 for new games. I understand why they are higher than other places (they only make their money on games), however thats 60 dollars above the USD RRP, EB Games is not reknown for its sparkling service, so why on earth would you pay double the price?

No that is a good point and I agree wholeheartedly. We have been getting shafted on CD's and DVD's for years as well. Before Napster, Limewire P2P etc a new release CD would cost over $30. The same thing in the U.S was $13. But they should be coughing up GST like a physical store.

[GenReaper]

If Hardly Normal offered better prices and better customer service with people who know what the #### they are talking about then there wouldn't be an issue. The fact they are still RAISING prices on so many goods while we have a strong AUD against the USD shows they do not give a #### about consumers and just want to rape their wallets.

#### you major retailers!!! haha.

Well that sums it up pretty well and thats how i feel as well, if they were not greedy stupid pigs i probably would buy from them and that goes for any industry but i get better pricing and service elsewhere at the click of the button and deilvered to my door.

[*uwishn*]

yep i buy most things on line you get the stuff at least 25% off due to cutting out the middle man.
poor jerry Harvey knows he is going to sink just like he made all the independent furniture shops sink years ago!!!
make it harder for the big retailers i say then we might just get that much better price we deserve.

[minux]

Well that sums it up pretty well and thats how i feel as well, if they were not greedy stupid pigs i probably would buy from them and that goes for any industry but i get better pricing and service elsewhere at the click of the button and deilvered to my door.

Damn straight, I just bought a 1dmkIV fromt he USA, after import duties gst etc it was still $2400 cheaper than buying it ANYWHERE here. Its bloody pathetic.

[soop]

I agree, You can't go anywhere in australia and get halfway decent service. So why should we pay top dollar for shit?

Seriously when was the last time you seen good quality furniture in any major retail outlet?
It's all cheap chip board laminate SHIT with a $1000+ price tag on it.

[minux]

Over pricing also relates to tourism in this country. It is sad when you can go to a boutique 5 star resort in the pacific for less than you can here. We found this out when planning our second honeymoon for July. Gave up on staying in Australia it is all a rip off for what you get.

[soop]

Yeah, there isn't any where worth going to in Australia unless you're a multi millionare.
Even then as you say, if you can afford to in Australia you can well and truely afford to else where in the world.

Half the problem is, most of these places can't charge less, to do so would mean the workers take a pay cut. And frankly everday bottom rung employess work for a pitance anyway.
To earn minimum wage in this country is to barely keep your neck about the poverty line.

[Troy711]

I can sort of understand if they want local companies to pay GST but how can you charge a tax to a business that is based in a different country. That would basically mean that (for example) an American company would have to report their income to the ATO. Absolutely retarded if you ask me, there is no possible way of implementing it.

[hakhawk]

I can sort of understand if they want local companies to pay GST but how can you charge a tax to a business that is based in a different country. That would basically mean that (for example) an American company would have to report their income to the ATO. Absolutely retarded if you ask me, there is no possible way of implementing it.

theyd just remove the $1000 import limit, and make the buyer pay import fees and gst on anything they buy from overseas. the seller wont have to deal with the ato or anything.

[CSP]

I can sort of understand if they want local companies to pay GST but how can you charge a tax to a business that is based in a different country. That would basically mean that (for example) an American company would have to report their income to the ATO. Absolutely retarded if you ask me, there is no possible way of implementing it.

Businesses don't pay GST. Purchasers do.

[AirStrike]

Charge GST, I don't care. I purchased close to $1000 worth of Autometer gauges from the States, best price I could get here was $2000 and a 4 week wait.............$1100 is still better then $2000.

[TVR-190]

I work in the retail industry (Granted its a supermarket and not stuff you can really all import)

But I totally agree, and considering they were only considering moving the tax free threshold down to $300 it still wouldnt bother me much, since i have rarely bought anything over $300 over the net, all the other things like video games would still be the same.