Australian Members

Good to hear. What an awful tragedy, I can't imagine what the smell must be like right now.

My GF's sister and BF just moved up their a couple of months ago and her horse went missing with the floods. Luckily they found him but all of her riding gear is gone. Small chips compared to some people though. Seems like their are floods everywhere right now, QLD, VIC, Brazil, Sri Lanka, it's surreal.

Originally Posted by Charlie's Wardrobe

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Good to hear. What an awful tragedy, I can't imagine what the smell must be like right now.

My GF's sister and BF just moved up their a couple of months ago and her horse went missing with the floods. Luckily they found him but all of her riding gear is gone. Small chips compared to some people though. Seems like their are floods everywhere right now, QLD, VIC, Brazil, Sri Lanka, it's surreal.

luckily vic's stopped raining since yesterday afternoon, and it should all clear up fine...and i have been hearing different stories about whether in general insurance covers flooding...most of the ppl i know do have that covered.

hope ppl in qld are holding up fine too.

anywayz... been to the city store diesel lately, some further discounted items were quite inexpensive compared to their normal rrp stuff...it's worth checking out...but the washes of their discounted jeans are quite awful i must say, and i just went for a pair of black ones.

Just what the country needs, another cashed up lobby group to do the bidding of rich, powerful, moronic sectional interests...

http://www.theage.com.au/business/re...116-19si5.html

Originally Posted by The Ernesto

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Just what the country needs, another cashed up lobby group to do the bidding of rich, powerful, moronic sectional interests...

http://www.theage.com.au/business/re...116-19si5.html

I've said it before.

All these guys are really hoping for is a definitive up to date ruling, so that when they open up online from HK or Singapore they are sure of the rules. Is it GST on over $1,000 or something else.

The very best they could hope for, even if the Productivity Commission and ATO turn out to be secret Pauline Hanson-ites, is to get it down to around $500. Still makes bugger all difference to the punter but a huge difference to any online stores they run offshore.

I just looked up a book I want: Chasing the Sun: The Epic Story of the Star That Gives Us Life
Richard Cohen

On Booko = Borders Australia delivered= $78.95. Book Depository UK delivered to my doorstep = $38.71

Borders notice: Ships in 24 hours directly to you from our overseas supplier - Received in 10-15 working days after dispatch

So - I would pay an extra $40 (OR 103% EXTRA) for Borders to go online and do what I will do - order from Book Depository.

Originally Posted by Saul Eslake

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For decades Australian manufacturers made the same complaint as retailers have been making in recent weeks - that is, that they faced ''unfair competition'' from those overseas who had the ''advantages'' of lower labour and other costs, which in turn threatened jobs.

Thanks in part to the relentless efforts of the predecessors of the Productivity Commission, and a few lone voices in the newspapers and in Parliament, Australians eventually came to see these complaints for what they were - a demand that consumers should be forced to pay higher prices for a narrower range of inferior products.

It would be very much to the detriment of consumers, and of the Australian economy as a whole, if retailers were to succeed where manufacturers ultimately failed. Fortunately, there's very little indication that they will.

Today in newspapers.

Will be interesting if the Productivity Commission has public hearings. Maybe this forum should send a (well dressed) delegation.

Originally Posted by The Ernesto

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Will be interesting if the Productivity Commission has public hearings. Maybe this forum should send a (well dressed) delegation.

I'll probably write a submission and appear if they come to Melb at a convenient time for me.

Convincing people the mining tax was a bad idea was relatively easy - it's not an industry that 95% of Australians have any direct truck with and as such most of us didn't feel strongly one way or another about a mining tax (it wasn't "us" they were taxing after all, was it?). Hence, a multi-million dollar PR campaign, aided by a complete govt hash-up in getting their side of the story across, was able to convince a lot of people that the tax was a bad idea, and it changed policy (or rather, stopped it changing for the good of a lobby group, possibly at the expense of the nation).

Trying to convince people they should be paying more for goods they have recently enjoyed at very competitive prices due to the discovery of online shopping and strong A$ is a much harder ask... this issue impacts people's daily lives and most of us are strongly in favour of keeping the current duty free threshold - because we see real benefits from the status quo. Throwing money at an ad campaign to change our minds on this issue was always going to be a risky strategy and prone to backfire, especially when fronted by an arsehole who thinks giving money to charity is a waste of time.

Having said that, if they want to put 10% GST on imports, I can't argue with the principle. Perhaps if the retailers would like to fund the extra customs officials etc. needed to enforce such a policy change at our borders, then the added expense to protect one industry could be justified, because as has been pointed out, extra GST revenues most likely won't come near to funding the imposition of the tax on every single import.

Having said, history would suggest that the $A will probably tank before there is any real consideration given to the issue by the govt, rendering the whole argument null and void...

Prince

The problem is not that an extra 10% makes any difference - no one cares about it and in the case of my book below (just ordered) it only adds less than $4, as opposed to $40 saved.

Its the extra buggerising around. The seller won't want to collect the GST as its a pain administratively. So they pass the responsibility on to a third party in OZ - that would be the courier.

The courier charges a fee roughly equal to the cost to them to collect, pay and monitor GST. That could easily be $30 a pop - no matter what the cost of the order.

Added to this is the delay in clearing customs - has to be inspected for value and customs has to ensure all GST etc payments are made. More time.

So what we have then is a system like Canada whereby online OS purchases can take weeks to clear, there is an extra $30 at least (and I've heard of more) on top of price for processing.

The knock on is that some merchants wont be bothered selling to certain countries, customers are encouraged to try and avoid GST, customs then have to increase surveillance of small parcels like socks and books and perfume and shoes, and everything grinds slowly.

Thats what the Harvey Normans want - to punish customers by making it so bloody ridiculous to shop online that you can only be bothered doing it in OZ.

Originally Posted by fxh

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I'll probably write a submission and appear if they come to Melb at a convenient time for me.

Good to hear. I have emailed my local MP and will start up with Senators as well.

Expect the standard form letter non-response but still worth the effort I reckon.

So I just went on down to Mc Clouds to check out what my fit would be in Church’s. With the casual January look that I was sporting, the SA gave me one look up and down and kindly directed me to their ‘clearance’ rack! I said thanks and started to look around, but each time I picked up a $800 pair of Church’s I could hear their heart rate rise a little! I decided I would have to go back when I was a little more presentable.

Originally Posted by CHECKstar

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So I just went on down to Mc Clouds to check out what my fit would be in Church's. With the casual January look that I was sporting, the SA gave me one look up and down and kindly directed me to their "˜clearance' rack! I said thanks and started to look around, but each time I picked up a $800 pair of Church's I could hear their heart rate rise a little! I decided I would have to go back when I was a little more presentable.

Bizarre isn't it? I mean clothes maketh the man as far as they are concerned. Ability to pay is mirrored by attire.

I am thinking now that I might just save my cash and wait for Pediwear to start stocking C&J's again....

Originally Posted by CHECKstar

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So I just went on down to Mc Clouds to check out what my fit would be in Church's. With the casual January look that I was sporting, the SA gave me one look up and down and kindly directed me to their "˜clearance' rack! I said thanks and started to look around, but each time I picked up a $800 pair of Church's I could hear their heart rate rise a little! I decided I would have to go back when I was a little more presentable.

You're the customer, you should just walk in and fondle whatever shoes you want.

Originally Posted by CHECKstar

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So I just went on down to Mc Clouds to check out what my fit would be in Church's. With the casual January look that I was sporting, the SA gave me one look up and down and kindly directed me to their "˜clearance' rack! I said thanks and started to look around, but each time I picked up a $800 pair of Church's I could hear their heart rate rise a little! I decided I would have to go back when I was a little more presentable.
You're a knowledgeable guy, why didn't you just engage the SA in conversation about the Church's? They'll know you mean business. Better yet, call them out on it next time.