Big W Sale 20-26 July

[i_amtrunks]

Glad that one of my local stores has Target right above Big W, can go to Big W today and see if they have anything new (doubt it) and then scope out Target to see if it is worth going to that store tomorrow (also doubt it!).

Since I have to go in for groceries, it all works out nicely!

[jaydisc]

In the past, I recall Target doing price matches during the toy sale or on items layby'd, but I asked about that this year and they said no, and I haven't seen any signage.

As far as points, I hate FlyBys. Their awards suck. I get Qantas points at Big W ;-)

Lastly, Target only has a 30-day change of mind return policy, meaning if you get a better deal more than 30 days after your purchase, too bad. Not the same for Big W. There is no published statute of limitations on their return policy, so if you find the item 4 months later on clearance, you can still return your more expensive version at Big W.

[JuzMel]

As far as points, I hate FlyBys. Their awards suck. I get Qantas points at Big W ;-)

Haha I know its ridiculous to redeem things from them with the points they ask for sometimes. But I do like the $20 and $50 flybuys gift cards that I get with points accumulated from groceries shopping and other places too though.

I also have the EveryDay Rewards / Qantas points, but haven't got round to using the points yet.

Will check out Big W tomorrow together with Target. Meantime, they also have an Online Only Toy Deals:

http://catalogues.bigw.com.au/portal...two&gotopage=1

[Accel]

I'd be more happy with this if my Big Ws got some new waves in

[yoshi594]

I'd be more happy with this if my Big Ws got some new waves in

this sums up big w for me at the moment. Shame the cyberverse commanders aren't back on special.

[Decepticon]

Big W have a load of rubbish anyway. They don't sell Bumblespud!!

[Seraphim Prime]

That's not to say they shouldn't change the terms of the game. They should but they haven't and that's why they are suffering against overseas alternatives and seeing profits decline. They stuck to the short term and within a decade, many Australian retail jobs will disappear. Unless replaced by a new structural change, up to 50% of current retail jobs will vanish and those employed by those industries will go unemployed. Look to the US where the structural issue is already settling in. Australia will be far worse and I can tell you now mining will not save us. Mining is short-term and myopic, it will not be the basis of our future economy. Aussie Retailers pointing the GST, the carbon tax and the mining tax are nothing short of idiotic. The real issue is that they need to reconsider their business model. That takes pain but as we know, sharemarkets only reward short-term gain. They can keep whinging but that will do nothing except ensure their eventual demise.

Additional forces at work include the two speed economy we are currently in. Retail, as a service industry, hasn't changed, the issue is that mining is making our economy very attractive to overseas investors, raising the value of our dollar against that of other countries. (An outside issue is how we use the money in the mining industry to support those other industries that we will need when then mining money is gone

However, even though the value of the dollar has gone up, this doesn't mean the savings are being passed on to the stores either. Without revealing the exact mark-up (which pays for wages, rents, and other overheads), Aussie retailers are being charged more than what American consumers are charged at their retail store.

Part of the issue is probably that Aussie retailers are expected to order from the Australian distributor, rather than the overseas HQ. In that, Hasbro AU is probably partially to blame for the current prices as they are passing the exchange rate savings on to retail who in turn can't pass it on to the consumer. Though to be fair to Hasbro, they do try to give us the best price possible on the new entry points figures (like Masterpiece Rodimus / Ultimate Optimus Prime).

Lastly, Target only has a 30-day change of mind return policy, meaning if you get a better deal more than 30 days after your purchase, too bad.

As far as I'm aware this was removed about 7 months ago and now there's no limit to change of mind returns as long as the packaging is still intact.

[bowspearer]

Not that I disagree with shopping online but I think it's a bit unfair to point to the exchange rate as the retailers are screwing us over.

The problem with physical retail versus online is that most people we end up buying online from are based overseas. There's a good reason for that. Their cost to serve is much lower than that of Australian retailers who have only physical presences.

Overhead needs to be satisfied to generate relevant scale otherwise cost bases are higher relative to countries such as the US/UK which have larger populations, lower costs to serve. IE. the whole economies of scale argument. Economics 101: population matters.

Australia has very unique geographic features too such as great distance between cities and lower densities which add to the distributional infrastructure costs that large retailers need to invest in and support with little benefit.

As such, I do think retailers do have a hard time and our prices are higher to reflect that. It's quite unfair to say that they deliberately go out to screw us. Of course, they profit at our expense but who doesn't? If you ran your own business, wouldn't you? The same goes for businesses domiciled overseas though and I assure you those businesses try to screw us as much as our local retailers. However, our local retailers are encumbered by problems systematic to the Australian economy and therefore have to charge higher prices.

That's not to say they shouldn't change the terms of the game. They should but they haven't and that's why they are suffering against overseas alternatives and seeing profits decline. They stuck to the short term and within a decade, many Australian retail jobs will disappear. Unless replaced by a new structural change, up to 50% of current retail jobs will vanish and those employed by those industries will go unemployed. Look to the US where the structural issue is already settling in. Australia will be far worse and I can tell you now mining will not save us. Mining is short-term and myopic, it will not be the basis of our future economy. Aussie Retailers pointing the GST, the carbon tax and the mining tax are nothing short of idiotic. The real issue is that they need to reconsider their business model. That takes pain but as we know, sharemarkets only reward short-term gain. They can keep whinging but that will do nothing except ensure their eventual demise.

I get what you're trying to say STL, but the problem is that history makes your entire argument moot. All those factors you mentioned existed in the 90s (the carbon tax hasn't been implemented yet and the GST actually replaced a 22% sales tax whixh actually lowered retail prices slightly) and the dollar, up until the Asian economic crisis had been worth just under RRP of $10, deluxes $17, megas $30 and ultras $40.

Then the AEC hits and prices rise to match the exchange rates, at one point, deluxes go for $36.

So where are we at now? Our exchange rate has us higher than parity and these days international frieght costs are virtually identical with Hasbro's toys being made in China. Furthermore, Hasbro's US RRPs have been virtually unchanged in all that time.

All thing being equal and basing things on a parity exchange rate, a quick conversion by multiplying by 0.8 shows that basics should be $8, deluxes $14, megas should be $24 and ultras should be $32.

It's interesting to note that these prices are similar to what's often seen during toy sales.

In short, the reason we don't is because either Hasbro or the larger retail buying groups, "forgot" to adjust their RRPs and because the ACCC is so useless, noone is likely to take them to task over it any time soon.

[jaydisc]

As far as I'm aware this was removed about 7 months ago and now there's no limit to change of mind returns as long as the packaging is still intact.

Thanks for the scoop! The online version no longer mentions it. That's great news!

I guess that just leaves Kmart with their crappy 28 days. Suh-weet!