Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
That is depressing.Originally Posted by 5FDP
It's disgusting how much extra we have to pay for things just because of our location. It was in the news this morning that we actually pay 40% more for Vegemite in Oz than what the Brits do (among other things)
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
If you know a little about economics the prices we pay are not that bad (and you don't need to be a numbers guy to understand it).
There are a few problems we have that stop things being as cheap here as they are in America.
Yes you can buy a figure and have it sent to you from America for less than picking it up locally, but that doesn't mean the local price isn't fair when you consider the economic factors.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
What I said was based purely on the good ol' Vegemite. I can eat it by the spoon, I love my Vegemite
Rank 10 - Admin
Actually it is unfair pricing... because it isn't local factors making the toys so expensive here (like other items that are more expensive here).
The toys come into the country and sold to retailers at twice the price BEFORE local factors come into play (retailers, labour, taxes), so that Hasbro America gets their commission, which is more than they make per unit on items sold in America.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I question your figures.
A huge factor is the Minimum Wage here. We get paid around 2.5x what they get paid in the US. Hasbro has to pay it's employees a substantial amount more to work here in Australia not to mention the retailers huge wages. We don't have the economy of scale that America does either. Not to mention increased transport cost (those truckers don't work for free).
Over all thanks to our wage vs the cost of an item we have a much higher standard of living than America.
Also while I have no issue with people buying lines like MP and Generations from overseas (which is what I do) since they don't get released here at all. But if your going to buy a toy that has been released here don't get it from America or HK, buy it locally and keep an Australian in a job.
Rank 10 - Admin
Since this topic rears its head from time to time, about the myth of toys (and other products) needing to cost more here, this was the proof I posted before that Importers like Hasbro, Lego and Mattel can not justify selling their products to Retailers at twice what they sell to US retailers (because all the factors are the same for both countries before the Wholesale price - which is double here)...
As you can see Minimum wage is not a fair comparison tool if the average American earns more than the average Australian.Comparing Minimum wages isn't indicative of the two general socio-economic standards of the two countries... especially when many of the minimum wage jobs over there don't take into account tips/gratuities that many employers take into account when paying their employees.
A better comparison would be the average wage of both countries (or the Median - which is total earnings divided by the population, so that it takes into account low income, average income, and high income earners... because "luxury" items like collector figures aren't going to be bought by many/any of the lowest income earners, making it moot comparing minimum wages of both countries).
In about 2007/2008 the Median in America was about US$54,000.
At the same time, the Median in Australia was about US$44,000.
(this figure apparently takes into account exchange rate fluctuation... because our average in AU$ was about $66,000, which is still only a little more than the figure in America... if our dollars had actually been of equal value)
And that's only as high as it is, due to the number of people in Australia earning massive money from the Mining Boom... throwing out the average in the last 15 years.
(while the American average has been pretty flat for the last 7 years)
If that Boom hadn't happened, we'd still be significantly lower than the Average American wage (which is more indicative to the average standard of living), and it's mostly the average consumer who buys toys... because it isn't a necessity like food, clothing or accommodation that the minimum wage-earner is often only able to afford.
Still... ignoring the statistics above that disprove the suggestion that we should have higher prices, due to the myth of us having 2.5 times the living standard than America, it doesn't justify the "Australia Tax" that companies like Hasbro apply to foreign items - that doubles the price of items for us (consumers), when it doesn't cost them double to import them... particularly during a time when the exchange rate was at, or near, parity in recent years
And, transport... that's not a factor until after Hasbro (and others) set their Wholesale price, which is more than double for things like Deluxes, but is close to exact with the high-end items.
That's why our more expensive items (like Metroplex, Masterpieces and Platinums) are often 80-150% of US Retail prices... but the smaller items like Deluxes are 250% above US Retail.
If the factors of Wages and Transport and standard of living were indeed a factor, all the size classes would be the same percentage increase over the American prices... but if you look at our Checklist or sightings section, you'd see that the margin goes from 80-250% of what Americans pay.
That's manipulation by the importers, and that's why Toys and electronics and software haven't gone down as much as all the other cheap Chinese-made stuff at Department stores when our Dollar went above 1 US dollar.
Take a wander around Kmart or BigW at all the dirt cheap Chinese clothes and kitchenware, and garden products, food, and even Generic brand toys... that's because the Importers CAN sell stuff cheap here if they want to, but in the case of the Foreign Owned Toy companies like Hasbro, Mattel and Lego (along with the software and computer companies), they keep the prices up because it's a monopoly that they want to exploit. Most toys are impulse buys by parents and kids at the stores... we might know how cheap they should be, but most don't, so they don't question it, or shop online like we do.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
The minimum wage is fair, medium is not you are comparing what a person can actually earn to a statistic.
Also the cost of a Deluxe here in Australia when I started collecting in 2007 was $27.99, it's now $25. The cost in America over the same time has risen from $10 to $13 despite the fact we have higher inflation in Australia. Thats right the price has dropped hear and risen in America, how is that unfair?
Rank 10 - Admin
Scientific statistics are the only way we can get objective comparisons, without being misguided by personal experience or opinion.
Minimum wage people in either country are less likely to buy "unnecessary" items like collectable toys. And the minimum wage statistics for America aren't accurate, because the people on those wages earn tips to make up the difference, and those are rarely declared (for tax or statistical purposes). This is why they have recommended tipping rates (of about 15%) to make up for the low "minimum wage" rate. Since our minimum wage earners don't get tips, it is impossible to compare the real (actual) earnings of our minimum earners to American minimum earners.
Inflation isn't a factor because it applies to America as well (hence the 30% increase in Deluxe pricing in the last 10 years).
And most stores here have maintained the same price during the last 10 years ($25-30 for a Deluxe is what it was since Beast Machines came here while our Dollar was at it's worst). Hasbro raised our prices when the Dollar weakened (Deluxes went from $20 in Beast Wars to $30 in Beast Machines & RiD) while the US price of the Deluxes stayed the same during that time... but when our Dollar strengthened, did we see an improvement in our prices? Nup. The Wholesale price stayed at AU$17-18 for Deluxes (depending on the store chain and how many they bought), so stores like Kmart and BigW did compete with each other about 3 years ago and got as low as $23-24, but not because the wholesale price dropped... while stores like Toyworld, TRU and Myer have stayed at $30 since 2001.
The cost to Hasbro Australia dropped by half during the last 10 years, due to the exchange rate going from US50 cents to US$1.10... so factoring in the inflation of 30% that American Deluxe prices have seen during that time, Hasbro Australia have only passed on 30% of the 100% increase in profit margin that they made in the last 10 years.
Still fair?
(this is why I keep records of all the prices reported ever since Ozformers started in 1996, and archive the current prices for reference (even have the occasional wholesale prices from Hasbro too)... so that I can enlighten the newer fans on how much we've been cheated in Australia all these years)
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I still think you are completely wrong, but... For me forums are about fun discussions and questions not arguments so I'm going to leave it here.
Rank 10 - Admin
I don't mind being wrong, and do appreciate being pointed to evidence of it, so that I can then update and archive my records to these sorts of commonly asked about things.
And if I am wrong, I don't want to look like an idiot if there is something obvious out there that I'm missing... especially after 16 years of tracking our prices and finding out as much as I can about every step in the whole design-to-purchase life cycle of our beloved Transformers.
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