IMO Deanna, you are just skirting around the edges with the problem.  In a generality, people are just going to buy at the cheapest price, & there is the problem.  Government interference in our lives is costing Australian business out of existance.  As I have mentioned, on here, before, 68% of Consolidated Revenue is spent on Public Service salaries in NSW.  People overseas cannott believe that we have a payroll tax in Australia.  It is only a matter of time before our GDP will be made up of the Tourism trade, Restaurants & Mining (& the Government is trying to tax mining out of existance)

How can business compete when they have to pay double time etc to open for reasonable hours.  The minimum wage in Australia is killing us.  Retail businesses have to work on margins of 30 & 40% just to stay in existance.  You are hard pushed to get a 250 Gram steak dinner at a restaurant in Australia for less than $22 to $25, whereas you can get a full 1 kilo steak dinner anywhere in the USA for less than $20 & be eating better quality Australian beef than you can buy here.  The minimum wage in the USA is just over $7 p/h & in Australia around $15.50.  As a general rule, you can look at doubling the wage to cover  the extras to employ anyone.  You don't have to be very good at business to know that this is not sustainable.

What I believe is making it worse is that we are accepting it.  International brands of cigarettes have roughly the same wholesale price in all western Countries,  Taxes & excise make up over 65% of the retail price, BUT Aust. retail around $90 & duty free at the airport $65 to $70.  Overseas duty free for the same brands around $25.  I used to think that we are being ripped off, but if you look at the costs of running a duty free shop, you will see that it can't operate on any lower margins.

Remember the Scouts & Girl Guides lamington days.  It now costs $100s to set up & lengthy delays in obtaining DA's from Council as well as food preparation licenses & Insurance.  Result  Finished!!!

It is a total mindset that we voters have allowed to develop.  Senior Public Servant's salaries are totally based on reward for inneficiency.  If any Departmental Head were to come up with a plan to cut staff by 10%, he can look forward to a pay cut of 10%.

Members on here will point out that I am a doomsdayer.  I suggest that they read the economic history of Argintina.

 I shop for perfume online is--because it is MUCH cheaper--$198 here and I get the same thing for $60 on line from the USA, INCLUDING postage. The other reason I think a lot of places are loosing out is because so many of the big shopping areas such as Westfields charge like wounded bulls if you stay more than 3 hours--I am not willing to pay for parking if I am spending money there , so I do not go there now. As far as the Xmas carols--they drive me up the darn wall--and I can't get out quick enough--
I try and not go to the shopping centers around this time of year unless it is for food I need to get me through. I would never buy clothes or shoes etc on line as I like to try on and see B4 I buy. They also need to know that there are many that do not use computers and so will never be buying on line.

I agree that it is not just a matter of price and there are awhole raft of different reasons to shop online. Price is, however, a major driving force. It is simple economics - here in Oz, we have a low population over which to spread costs......that is often why things are much cheaper in say the USA.

I recently scoured the net for a starter motor for my outboard motor. A rusty, crook-looking second hand one was available in Australia for $250. Checking further afield, I found a brand new one (with warranty) in the USA for $74...... add another $70 for express delivery and I had it on my doorstep in a week.

I have been shopping on the internet for years and use Paypal linked to a bank account. I have never lost a cent in fraud or shoddy goods. I feel for retailers with their exhorbitant rents, high wages, GST, OH &  S, etc., etc. but like most on a fixed income, it is the bottom line price that mainly influences my shopping habits. Thank God for Ebay.

The Government is now talking about charging import duties on anything coming into the country.  So for those doing overseas shopping you had better get in quick before they do.

Wonder how this will affect goods sent by friends as gifts.  I know a friend in New Zealand who had a gift of cigarettes  sent to her from the USA costing $25.00 there and they asked her to pay

$ 80.00 import tax.

You can bet they will find some way of stopping us from getting cheaper goods, it used to be no tax to pay unless the item was $1000 or more

Mainly because of administrative problems, I don't think you will see any change in minimum import being free of sales tax.  There is not enough room to go into the technicalities of it on here, but cigarettes & liquor are a totally different subject.

BTW kfchugo you just gave a pretty good case for the bottom line being the only line.

The comparison with the USA population is not good either.  The only city in the USA bigger than Sydney is New York.  Sydney has a bigger population than LA  & San Francisco combined.

It is interesting to note that most quality goods are as cheap in the USA as in China.

I believe that it all comes down to minimum wage & over Government.

There seems to be a lot of union bashing lately, if you ever had to work

for an employer, surely you know your conditions wages and hours

were mainly because of a union. even the most anti- unionist would

have benefitted from a union.

I would say that with most of the large retailers who were able to get

longer working hours and open nearly everyday, instead of increasing

staff, have fewer now, it is much harder to get assistance.

Seth, when I entered the workforce in the Banking industry I joined the union and found it to be largely useless. I resigned when I left the bank and since that time never joined a union again. I talked with my employers and argued my case for pay increases and changes to my conditions when I thought it appropriate.

When I felt that I was not being treated fairly, I "voted with my feet" and usually found myself a better job. I understand that not everyone has the confidence to do that and many are not in an industry where it is practicable. For many, unions or collective bargaining would be the only way to go. The downside however is having to live with union recommendations or majority decisions that one might not agree with.

Deanna, I had missed your comment re tipping in the States.  You are correct,  I had forgotten about the compulsory tipping.  Let me add though that the tips make up most of the waiter's pay, so the service is wonderful.  Much better than Australia.

I must make a further comment about across the board pay rises.  Why do you think the Gov., seldom objects?  The Union pushes for a minimum pay rise of $20 p/w.  The cost of living goes up by $20 & the Gov., gets $6 in tax leaving you with $14.   Ergo, every $20 minimum pay rise means you are $6.00 worse off than if you did not get the rise.  If you do a little simple mathematics, you will realise that the only way you are actually better off is to take an across the board drop in pay, thereby achieving a net gain in income.

I know  families with children are doing it tough here in Australia so how on earth would they survive on less than the basic wage as it is now? I believe some HAVE to have a top up from Centrelink because it is impossible for them to make ends meet with rent etc. etc. SO high. Surely Pensioners would do it even tougher than they do now as it has to be a flow on?

..

I would never go out to eat or much else if things became as they are in America re tipping and more tipping. I have heard waiters will chase people down the street if the obligitary % is not given to them in the form of a tip but it also seems nobody does anything just as a service and Travellers have their hands in their pockets and struggling with ethics re how much is EXPECTED in tips to the effect many find it distressing- I know I would.

I know that it doesn't seem possible to live on the money in the States Phyl, but you have to remember that the actual cost of living in the States is so much lower than here.  The home that costs near $400K in the outskirts of Sydney & Melbourne has the equivalent tract home in most of the major cities of the USA of way below that.  The average price of homes in areas like Maine & Pennsylvania is not much more than half that.  Just look at income tax levels. An individual earning $650 P/W is hit for the net tax of 15%.  You can earn $3,400 P/W before you pass the 28% bracket.  The most annoying thing is to go into a big supermarket & find a leg of prime Aust., lamb for under $20.  Just try & find our home grown lamb for under $30.00 here.  They are screaming because petrol has just passed $3.25 /Gallon (81 cents/litre)  Sydney cheap Monday price around $1.30/litre or approx., $5.20/US gallon.  But what can you expect when over 4 million of our labor force are employed by the Public Service or it's instrumentalities.