Do you buy Australian, or do you buy cheap?
August 16th 2009 03:19
Hannah Kovacs in her $18 wedding dress
In 1991, just before moving overseas to live, I decided to consolidate all my addresses and phone numbers in a new contact book. This item, basically a few blank sheets of paper stuck together with glue, cost me just under A$10. A similar item in an Australian newsagent today will cost a fraction of the price.
How is it that, over the past 20 years, so many things have become so much cheaper?
The reason is that far more consumer products are now imported from China, India, Indonesia and other countries where wages are much lower than Australian wages. The prices we pay for the items produced reflect the lower production costs.
Many argue that this is to the detriment of Australian business and Australian jobs. Others argue that that this is to the benefit of the consumer. Economists and regulators argue that this is about free and fair markets, and reasonable business practice.
Hannah Kovacs is a consumer who stands fairly in the free trade corner. An online poll conducted by Bride to Be magazine in early 2009 estimated the average bride spends A$2,200 on her wedding dress. Kovacs paid A$18.
She's a psychology student at the University of Queensland. The wedding dress industry, like the stationery industry used to be, is notorious for abusing the lack of a competitive market by ripping off consumers. Kovacs was quoted $4,000 for a dress in a Sydney shop. Asked if the dress was made in Australia, the store was at least honest: no, they said, it was made in China.
Kovacs, still paying for tertiary studies, could not afford $4,000 but she got an idea. She went online and researched Chinese garment makers — at the Chinese end. What she found is professionalism, service, quality — and an $18 price tag for the dress of her choice. Postage and insurance brought the total price to $185.
She found the same gown available in an Australia shop. It sells for $1,500.
So do you buy Australian, and get ripped off, or do you buy at fair market value?
news.com.au
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Chris Champion
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It is, isn't it. I doubt you could buy the garter, or anything blue, for $18 in Australia.
Comment by Elisabeth Fraser
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Our tiny country town has an IGA, a newsagency/post office and a CRT. None of them stock genuine Australian goods.
There is a site, Ausbuy, which tells you stuff such as Golden Circle isn't ours now, but the overseas company which bought it still have the old labels on the products stating 'Australian owned' and 'product of Australia'.
I hate shopping, even just the weekly grocery shop, I spend so much time reading labels.
I have my own hens as I will not buy eggs from a supermarket. Even the so-called 'Organic' or 'Free Range' aren't fresh, often three weeks old.
I can't sell my eggs as I refuse to vaccinate my chooks, I also feed them scraps and not the acceptable chook food recommended by the Egg Board. I throw the spare eggs away and thus make the foxes happy.
The prepared chook food contains animal by products, antibiotics and possibly genetically modified corn. It is also hard to buy chook pellets which don't have overseas content in them.
Same with pigs - you can't feed them the scraps from the grocers any more - that's why pork doesn't taste 'porky' any more.
Sorry about the rant
Lis.
Comment by Chris Champion
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I'd love some of those spare fresh eggs. Damnit, sometimes I feel so underprivileged living in the big smoke.
Comment by Elisabeth Fraser
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Hell, you can lift my girls and they'll lay in your hand.
Oh, just to make you feel worse, we see our steak growing on the hoof, see what he eats and how he is developing.
We know where he is going, and at the right time, we take him to the abattoir 15 kms away.
Two days later we bring him back in nice little packets and tuck him in the freezer.
Cost? Around $450-$600 ( depending on dressed weight)all up from birth to plate and about 6 - 9 months beef for a family of four.
I KNOW you're underprivileged, you're also 'conned'.
Our lack is really decent vegies; we're tired of the recycled garbage from the Big Smoke.