Amazon Australia up and running

[Dinkydarth]

funny, I didn't find any of the Gundam prices any good. $45 for an RG kit and $30-$40 for HG kits are way overpriced.

Any examples?

[reillyd]

The WFC/Titans OPtimus 2 pack is coming in at 70.47, but is cheaper on the amazon.com site. Sad.

[philby]

So how is this working at the moment? Are these items actually sold by Amazon and shipping from a warehouse here? Or are they from other 3rd party sellers like you see on the regular Amazon site?

[Paulbot]

So how is this working at the moment? Are these items actually sold by Amazon and shipping from a warehouse here? Or are they from other 3rd party sellers like you see on the regular Amazon site?

Check the "sold by" item. Quite a few things I looked at were sold by Amazon Australia. There are warehouses in Australia (one in Dandenong for example).

But I also saw somethings from other sellers - including BookDepository - which I believe is connected to Amazon... The book I saw was cheaper to buy from BookDepository's site though by about $40!

[hYpNoS]

funny, I didn't find any of the Gundam prices any good. $45 for an RG kit and $30-$40 for HG kits are way overpriced.

Any examples?

...oh dear, that was all there is it seems.

Comparable to the local shops I have to me at least but can't beat what I get from overseas I'm afraid, better suited for those who want to support the local sellers I guess

[griffin]

Looks like there is only two actual Transformers toys still available from Amazon AU... the rest are all by 3rd party sellers, which explains the high prices for most of the items when searching Transformers in Toys and Games.

Don't forget, that just like in America, their prices are slightly more than retail, to pay for the free shipping most orders are eligible for.
And if Amazon AU are getting their stock from Hasbro AU (like Amazon US gets their stock from Hasbro US), then the Amazon AU prices will be based on Australian retail prices, because unless they get a special price from Hasbro, they can't go too much cheaper and still pay for postage on top of it.

Their popularity in America is the huge range and the fast, free shipping... which may end up being here too, after a while building up their inventory, but cheap prices aren't guaranteed - even on Amazon US, where it only looks cheaper to us, because our retail (and wholesale) prices are a lot more than over there.
The real cheap prices (on Amazon US) usually only come from pre-orders, discounted older stock, or their automated pricing that adjusts the price when a 3rd party seller is discounting.

On the plus side, if Amazon AU grows to be a big retailer here (like in America), then they can start putting pressure on the wholesalers/importers/distributors (like toy companies) to bring their wholesale prices in line with the US (when converted to the same currency). When you have the wholesale prices in Australia being close to the Retail prices in America (when taking into account taxes and exchange rate), then that difference of about 40% needs to go, and Amazon has the power to force distributors here to do that, because they don't want to lose business to their foreign branches now that they are set up here.
(the risk though, is Amazon AU might have other Amazon sites in other countries block Australian customers, just to make sure the new venture here gets a better foothold in this country early on)

[UltraMarginal]

overall, I'm very unimperssed and I think all the freak out that people have had about Australian businesses losing out was unfounded based on looking at the site today.

[hYpNoS]

overall, I'm very unimperssed and I think all the freak out that people have had about Australian businesses losing out was unfounded based on looking at the site today.

Its still early on, its the free shipping and finding things that are actually priced decently that matter.

I'll be giving them a chance, just need to find those sweet nuggets, once the pressure goes on everyone else follows suit

[Cashie]

Its still early on, its the free shipping and finding things that are actually priced decently that matter.

I'll be giving them a chance, just need to find those sweet nuggets, once the pressure goes on everyone else follows suit

True, I'll wait and see. I did read a (clearly paid) piece on news.com.au saying ow the "Haters are wrong" about Amazon AU. It claimed you could get a Fitbit Flex 2 for $66 (you can't) among other crap.

When I lived in China, I found Amazon.cn quite good at times.

[UltraMarginal]

Its still early on, its the free shipping and finding things that are actually priced decently that matter.

I'll be giving them a chance, just need to find those sweet nuggets, once the pressure goes on everyone else follows suit

True, I'll wait and see. I did read a (clearly paid) piece on news.com.au saying ow the "Haters are wrong" about Amazon AU. It claimed you could get a Fitbit Flex 2 for $66 (you can't) among other crap.

When I lived in China, I found Amazon.cn quite good at times.

so it's OK, that this amazon launch is as much a fizzer as all the other 'massive' Australian based online shopping sites that are 'going to change the way we shop'. clickfrenzy comes to mind.

I'm assuming their servers didn't crash, and I suppose I'm not looking at amazon for toilet paper, but I would have thought I'd find something of interest in the 5 minutes I looked. Ill give it another go in a few months. but my expectations are low.