Axing the Australia tax - a very slim chance of cheaper toys soon

[griffin]

The "Australia Tax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Tax)" refers to items that are distributed by monopolies in this country, often by foreign-owned companies, that ends up making it cheaper to express-post the exact same item from another country.

Since branded toys by Mattel, Hasbro and Lego suffer from this "Australia Tax" situation, due to trademark protection and parallel importing restrictions on those trademarked products, our retailers are almost always charged more than what customers pay at retail in America.
Regardless of what people can afford or wage rates, the wholesale prices are set before any of those customer and staff elements apply... and retailers need to pass on those higher prices to make a profit, if they want to keep selling that product or Brand. (if they dispute the wholesale prices, they risk being black-listed by a supplier, preventing them selling any of their products under the current monopoly anti-parallel-importing laws)

After many years of consumer groups (like Choice) highlighting and challenging the validity of the problem (and obviously the corruption of politicians putting their financial backers or personal financial interests before consumers/voter), a Competition Review Panel has drafted recommendations (http://www.greetingsandgifts.com.au//news/axing-the-australia-tax-top-of-list-for-competition-policy-review?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+23+September+2014&utm_content=Newsletter+23+September+2014+CID_7bfd1 a0647cf00b0c7062b41eba513a6&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=more) that include procedures to eliminate the situation that creates this "Australia Tax".

Unfortunately, these are just recommendations... which is far from becoming policy or being adopted and enforced. And when money is the central factor of policy, it will always be contaminated by corrupt people in charge, who protect their own interests and their friends and donors' interests.

At least it is a step in the right direction, on a long long road to fairer prices on Branded imported items.


If I can privately import toys from a secondary source in America like Amazon and still make a profit reselling them, imagine how much cheaper retail toys would be if they were allowed to bypass the local "authorised" distributors if they won't "price-match" or give a fair deal.

This was the graph I did up two years ago based on known or calculated cost breakdowns... and it is the yellow bar that is the "Australia Tax" that's being targeted. It should be the similar to what Hasbro America charges American retailers, based on just four expenses up until that point - production, transport, taxes, Hasbro profit - none of which are much different for us here for identical product shipped from the same country.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/182.jpg

Fingers crossed something eventuates in our (consumers) favour... but we'll have to be very patient if it even does.

[Deonasis]

- Australia tax has to go but in a way that does not hurt Australian businesses (in most cases it won't).

- More specifically, it needs to go in a way that does not give the big Austalian stores ability to crush small business.

- Also, the GST may have to be introduced on sub-$1000 imports (which honesty is cheaper than the Australia tax anyway..)

- And i have't thought too much about all this because i cannot see it being addressed without enough consumer outrage to make it an election issue. And I don't see that happening anytime soon..

[Sinnertwin]

I think that it's extremely unlikely that we'll see any change -there's simply too much money involved. Can you imagine the sound of all those tears falling into their glasses of Chateau Margaux if it did?

[Trent]

Yeah right. I'll believe it when it happens and not a moment before.

Because heaps of reforms came out of the Apple/Adobe software enquiry :rolleyes:

[DELTAprime]

I don't feel like we are that bad off for most products.

Employees at Walmart in the US make minimum wage (around $7 an hour) and don't get tips, at Woolworths here in Australia I make $23 an hour, I'm much better off on that metric alone.

Also the AUD has been around 90c US for a long time now, it's slipping a little but I doubt it will crash like the doom and gloom people are saying it will.

Plus we have GST here built into the price, the US doesn't build tax into the sticker price.

So taking that into account paying $99.95 here for a brand new Xbox One or PS4 game ain't bad when the US pays $60+tax. US games don't normally get discounted on release either, Australian retailers normally do discount on release tho. I feel like that type of price difference is fair, but would be better if the RRP was a little lower.

Toys on the other hand... I really feel ripped off on most of them:(. Small Lego sets seem OK priced, but on larger sets the price discrepancy if harder to swallow. I'm glad I can find 99% of their products in Australia, but get pissed of when one doesn't come out here and I have trouble importing the set.

Transformers, I really want to support Aussie retail jobs but first of all they don't stock Hasbro Generations or anything past Wave 1 of a series and Hasbro AU doesn't import Takara products (I really do wish Hasbro AU would get permission to import TT products like Hasbro HK).

Also Namco Bandai isn't releasing the Power Rangers product I want in Australia. No Legacy Zords or the US versions of the S.H. Figuarts Rangers.

Griff, do you have any idea why the Australia Tax isn't present on the new Disney Infinity toys? It's cheaper to pick one up in Australia than it is to buy in the US. $12AUD at Big W and Kmart, $14USD at Amazon.:confused:

[theshape]

Let's hope they don't make the import gst on purchases over $100 like Mr Harvey wants

[Hursticon]

Let's hope they don't make the import gst on purchases over $100 like Mr Harvey wants

Oh you can bet the current Government will try at some point :(, gotta look after their mates in the Australian National Retailers Association after all. :rolleyes::mad:

[Sinnertwin]

And miss out on screwing the small guy? They've got their arm in up to the elbow, why not push a little harder and get to the shoulder.

[Megatran]

^ Why stop at the shoulder? Put your whole body into it. :o

[Golden Phoenix]

What about the prices in Europe? I don't know what they pay for Transformers, but I know for Lego they pay a similar price (usually only out by a small percent, sometimes higher, sometimes lower) as to what we pay.

For Lego it seems that there isn't so much an Australia Tax, but a USA discount. Could it be the same with other toys?

[DELTAprime]

For Lego it seems that there isn't so much an Australia Tax, but a USA discount. Could it be the same with other toys?

There is a USA discount for everything Walmart sells. Walmart doesn't just have really low prices because they pay their staff minimum wage, but also because they demand the lowest price from their suppliers. The suppliers go along with it only because the volume Walmart buys is massive. The suppliers don't like it much, I've heard companies complain that Walmart says things like that USB cable is too expensive, make it shorter. NECA had Walmart tell them to cut articulation out of one of their toys from this years Godzilla toys Walmart promised to buy, then they canceled the order and NECA got stuck with a ton of crappy Godzilla's. I guarantee you there were more Walmart MP Skywarp's made than any TRU's world wide exclusive MP's, they are that huge.

Then the other major retailers in the US like Target, Kmart and Amazon have to do the same as Walmart to compete with them. Stores in Australia and Europe don't have that power to demand such incredibly low prices. There is a reason Hasbro doesn't make much if any money in the US.

So yes America should pay more, but we shouldn't be getting slugged like we do.

[griffin]

The retail price at Walmart is moot (as is their wages), because the point I was making (including a graph to prove it) is that the wholesale price in America to all retailers, is about half of the wholesale price here (and in most other non-American countries).
The wholesale price has nothing to do with what Walmart pays their staff or how they undercut their competitors by a dollar or two.

And if other countries have the same problem as us with American-owned companies charging double in non-American countries, then they have similar issues with their politicians not allowing parallel-importing - as a way to circumvent monopoly distributors that are effectively scalping their products, by preventing anyone else from being able to source cheaper options.

[DELTAprime]

No it's not a moot point. Golden Phoenix brought up a great point when he mentioned that America doesn't pay as much for Lego as the entire rest of the world. America does pay less than they should on most physical retail products. That doesn't mean that we aren't getting ripped off, it's just another datapoint that needs to be taken into account. You can't base everything off one concept like the Australia Tax, it's more complex than just that.

[Arcade Goon]

Employees at Walmart in the US make minimum wage (around $7 an hour) and don't get tips, at Woolworths here in Australia I make $23 an hour, I'm much better off on that metric alone.



I doesn't stack like that after minimum wage. I don't get paid 2-3 times more than my US counterpart.

[DELTAprime]

I doesn't stack like that after minimum wage. I don't get paid 2-3 times more than my US counterpart.

You might not, but there are some cases where in raw numbers Australian's get paid 2 to 3 times per hour more, mostly low level jobs. Lets take my former employer McDonalds for example. $8 an hour in the US vs $22 an hour here. Then when you translate AUD to USD an Australian employee of McDonald's get paid $19.22USD an hour.

Again it' doesn't completely explain why we pay more but it's a datapoint that must be taken into account. It's complex and so you can't blame it all on one thing like the so called Australia Tax.

[DELTAprime]

Yeah right. I'll believe it when it happens and not a moment before.

Because heaps of reforms came out of the Apple/Adobe software enquiry :rolleyes:

Why do you include Apple. Apart from iPhone's which have government taxes on them and music and video content which Apple does not control Apple charges Australia's very reasonable prices. An iPad Air cost $499 US without Tax. Here in Australia we pay $598 AUD. That basically adds up to US price + exchange rate + GST. It goes through the entire Apple product lineup. They charge roughly US price + exchange rate + GST.

I have three interest I'm really into. Games, Apple and Transformers. So I think about them a lot and when I take everything into account it's only Transformers that I feel we are getting ripped off.

[MayzaPrime]

I think this "Australian tax' will only be removed on digital media

I really dont see Australian retail passing on any of the savings, they have been gouging us for years I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Look at Myer and the Breakout battle is $169 while its only $90 US at robotkingdom (before selling out not including postage). It is an absolute joke, Australian retail has been treating the Australian public like idiots for years. I for one am fed-up. :mad:

I am very happy that I buy most of my stuff online, and I won't be changing any time soon. :D

[Trent]

There are HEAPS of examples of Australia paying more for something then the rest of the world. Cars are the perfect example. Pick a model, the. Compare prices between Australia, USA and UK. And pick a Japanese model car so that the argument of shipping distances can't be used.

And I brought up Apple because you can buy a brand new superseded iPhone 5s from the US Apple store for $99US. In Australia the cheapest one is $749AUD. Our wages aren't that much higher :rolleyes:

[Arcade Goon]

mostly low level jobs.

Only low level jobs. See below.
The fact that minimum wage in US is less than half that of AU, only tells us that minimum wage people in US have it really rough.

Also only a small percentage of a nations working population are on minimum wage. In US its 2.6%-4.3%
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/08/who-makes-minimum-wage/

Restaurant Manager Salary
Median AU$50,844
Median US$40,378
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Restaurant_Manager/Salary
http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Restaurant_Manager/Salary#

Prepress Manager Salary
MEDIAN: AU$69,103
MEDIAN: US$53,314
http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Prepress_Manager/Salary
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Prepress_Manager/Salary

General Practitioner
MEDIAN: AU$135,126
MEDIAN: US$125,141
http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=General_Practitioner/Salary
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=General_Practitioner/Salary

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
MEDIAN: AU$162,217
MEDIAN: US$152,294
http://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_%28CEO%29/Salary
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_%28CEO%29/Salary

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't know about the USA, but cost of living in Australia's pretty high. :o

[DELTAprime]

I don't know about the USA, but cost of living in Australia's pretty high. :o

And the cost of living in the US is really low. AFAIK it's the lowest cost of living in the west, thanks to the likes of Walmart and McDonalds buying at from suppliers at rates that the rest of the world realises is unsustainable.

Bottom line. We are getting ripped off but the US should be paying more. We can't all have US prices, it squeezes the suppliers and only makes huge profits for the retailers.

[Sinnertwin]

I don't know about the USA, but cost of living in Australia's pretty high. :o

Well, we are consistently ranked in the top 10-cities-and-country-that'll-most-likely-send-you-broke surveys.

Even with the proposed GST on imports over $100, i'll still buy overseas because it's still cheaper. That isn't going to stop me importing and rush down to Target and pay out of the nose.

It's a joke when i can get a set of 4 of the new Generation Deluxes delivered from America for $109, when the retail here for them is $120.
Even though it's only an $11 difference, once you factor in the time ringing stores, chasing them down, driving out there, wear and tear on your vehicle, why would you buy local when Postman Pat can drop them off at your doorstep?

[Trent]

Well, we are consistently ranked in the top 10-cities-and-country-that'll-most-likely-send-you-broke surveys.

Even with the proposed GST on imports over $100, i'll still buy overseas because it's still cheaper. That isn't going to stop me importing and rush down to Target and pay out of the nose.

It's a joke when i can get a set of 4 of the new Generation Deluxes delivered from America for $109, when the retail here for them is $120.
Even though it's only an $11 difference, once you factor in the time ringing stores, chasing them down, driving out there, wear and tear on your vehicle, why would you buy local when Postman Pat can drop them off at your doorstep?

And when you factor in things like Pile of Loot/Private Warehouse the savings only increase provided you have a little patience.

[DELTAprime]

And when you factor in things like Pile of Loot/Private Warehouse the savings only increase provided you have a little patience.

I'm struggling right now not to have my POL sent. It's got a full set of the SH Figuarts Power Rangers and the Windblade wave of Generations in it. I must have them now, but the savings, the savings...:p

[Golden Phoenix]

I'm struggling right now not to have my POL sent. It's got a full set of the SH Figuarts Power Rangers and the Windblade wave of Generations in it. I must have them now, but the savings, the savings...:p

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/jimmey-11/Cartoons/i_know_that_feel_bro.jpg

I have 2 SH Figuarts rangers, the 2 Legacy Megazords, 6 Generation Legends, 6 Deluxes, 2 Voyagers, and SH Figuarts Android 18.

Must wait until at least Android 17 and the Arcee & Chromia set come out.

[Trent]

I'm struggling right now not to have my POL sent. It's got a full set of the SH Figuarts Power Rangers and the Windblade wave of Generations in it. I must have them now, but the savings, the savings...:p


http://www.majhost.com/gallery/jimmey-11/Cartoons/i_know_that_feel_bro.jpg

I have 2 SH Figuarts rangers, the 2 Legacy Megazords, 6 Generation Legends, 6 Deluxes, 2 Voyagers, and SH Figuarts Android 18.

Must wait until at least Android 17 and the Arcee & Chromia set come out.

So true :)

[Bidoofdude]

I'm struggling right now not to have my POL sent. It's got a full set of the SH Figuarts Power Rangers and the Windblade wave of Generations in it. I must have them now, but the savings, the savings...:p

I know I'll have to make another POL next year, which I probably won't end up shipping until mid year, because I know I'll have to wait to get anything for a good price shipped.