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29th July 2012, 11:27 PM #1VIP Master
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Garmin in on ripping off Australians
Before discovering noeman I went to buy the Garmin Bluechart g2 for Aus/NZ for US160 as a download from the Garmin site. As soon as the site figured I was in Australia, the price went up to US251. No justifiable reason other than the Americans must have seen aussies walking around in diamond encrusted flip flops and silk budgie smugglers.
From my research, the reason is because they can get away with it. There is an Australian inquiry running at the moment on software price disparity between Aust and the US. Unfortunately I missed the submissions.
(from cio_com_au). According to Choice (Magazine), “We found that Australians are paying on average 34 per cent more for software, 51 per cent more for iTunes music, 88 per cent more for Wii games and 41 per cent more for computer hardware than US consumers.” It noted , “With one Microsoft software product, it would be cheaper to pay someone’s wage and fly them to the US and back twice, and get them to buy the software while overseas.” (a colleague is doing this for ARC GIS. She has worked out it is cheaper to fly to the US and back and buy it there than download and pay for it in Australia)
I will make a donation to noeman today. Much better value.
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30th July 2012, 06:11 PM #2Master
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31st July 2012, 05:51 AM #3VIP Master
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- Jul 2012
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- Australia
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I took a break from procrastinating (self employed) to send them a query on why they charge the extra 100. Will post the response if I get one.
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1st August 2012, 07:27 AM #4Senior Member
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- Oct 2010
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- Oz
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Mate... everybody charges us more here in Oz, not just software either. Had to recently buy a disposable water filter (Everpure) 42USD and 110AUD. Now the local shops are pressuring government to raise taxs on internet purchases because local 'mugs' are now becoming net savvy and shopping around instead of paying the overly inflated 'Aussi' prices.to send them a query on why they charge the extra 100
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1st August 2012, 06:51 PM #5Master
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Aust/US Prices for Garmin Map updates
Code:Please Login or Register to see the links
I managed to buy an extra Garmin map (the Alps + surrounding countries map) from the Garmin store at the lower US$ price by giving a US address and phone number as my shipping address in the checkout form. It was the address and number of my US re-shipper so it's a real address.
Interestingly they didn't care that I was using an Australian credit card and Australian billing address and still let me buy at US prices. Since I was buying a download the shipping address was irrelevant anyway.
Last edited by Schermann; 1st August 2012 at 07:00 PM.
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2nd August 2012, 01:17 AM #6VIP Master
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- Jul 2012
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- Australia
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Here is the response:
"Garmin Australasia does not change its pricing to match foreign currency exchange rates.
General business factors drive our pricing as they do for any business in Australia for example, market size, labor rates, logistics and warehousing and IT infrastructure etc.
Comparing AU pricing with Europe or America is simply not the same thing as the markets are extremely different in size and consumer trends."
The markup was 50% on the US price for a digital download presumably from the US (for shipping, wharehousing, IT, dealer markup?). Additionally Garmin restricts Australians from making this purchase in the US. Garmin US advertise the Montana 650t for 629US (601 AUS) and it can be purchased in Australia for $655 AUS (No Frills store). A markup of 9% for shipping etc. sounds reasonable given dealers will purchase it for less than 601US.
Fringe. Yes, Aussie stores will come undone if they do not move with the market. A mate just told me of a friend in Europe who is Elancing out his employed work for a third of his wage and running a business from his workplace in the meantime. That one is a bit dodgy but that is the sort of creative thinking needed.
Schermann. Thanks for that. I knew it could be done but was not sure how.
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8th August 2012, 06:50 AM #7Junior Member
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- Aug 2012
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- NW Tassie
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They had a goverment inquiry but non of the major companies fronted to explain why. I think there is now a move to get them to explain.
Originally Posted by Platyphylla
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8th August 2012, 08:18 AM #8Master
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- Feb 2011
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I am sympathizing you guys. Unfortunately, same here in EU. Hmm...
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15th August 2012, 11:16 AM #9Junior Member
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- May 2010
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- Cairns
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- 53
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Rip off with repairs too!
Garmin US - repair price $110
Garmin Australia - No repair option only replacement $265
and its only the rubber cover over the power switch.
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15th August 2012, 12:20 PM #10Garmin/GPS Systems GMod.
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- Aug 2011
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Do what lots are doing... vote with your feet. I've used a US friend's address so that he could then 'on-ship' to me for hard merchandise; used the address of a well-know Yank uni dorm [nudge nudge, wink wink] for downloads; bought stuff from Hong Kong/China that would cost me several times what it cost me here in Oz... a recent example: Last Sunday i needed a 5.5mm x 2.5mm socket. About $3.50 from Jxxxxx who are normally the cheapest at retail level around here. I needed it straight away & couldn't wait 2-3 weeks from OS... but, if i could wait i could have gotten one posted for AU$1:
If I was happy to pay around $3.50, I could get 10 of the little beggars:Code:Please Login or Register to see the links
That's thru ebay.com.au instead of going to ebay.com where you can buy even cheaper usually. One-third to one-tenth the price if you shop around and are able to wait for delivery? A minor example i know, but it's the same with more expensive electronic parts. The Aussie retailers could stop bleating about 'turncoat' buyers and start playing the same game. Actually offer their customers the choice of 'dropship' from China and wait, or get it now and pay for the convenience. Heads up Gerry & Co!Code:Please Login or Register to see the links
In case someone feels like bashing me up over this, i'm not talking thru my hat. I had 10 years in retail straight from school, and went from 'counter jumper' to Dept Manager to State electrical buyer for a major retailer in less than 7 years, and then ran my own business for 36 years. You will ONLY get customer loyalty if you give BOTH service and value.'Thanking Posts' are banned. To thank someone, and/or to see hidden links and content, use the [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] button below left of the helpful post then refresh your browser [F5 key]. 'Thanking Posts' are banned.
Please don't spam. Posts serving no purpose other than to thank or to ask about hidden links are trashed or deleted, it's GPSPower's policy. Please don't spam.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] should make their first post as a new Intro Thread in [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].
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