shipping

Its gotta be shipping. 30" is gonna weight around what, 30kg?

Not to mention you wouldn't want it to get broken.

Also what happens if you buy overseas, and you have to claim warranty. Then apple tells you you have to ship back to retailer you bought it from. Ouch.

I had an experience like that recently with a CRT monitor. Lucky it was only Melbourne <> Hobart, still, I was out 100 bucks in shipping costs...

Ah, yes. Because it costs so much more to ship something from China to Australia than it does from China to the USA.

The Australian did a report on this a while back...

about 10% of the price buffer is foreign currency hedge; this helps to buffer the prices somewhat against the fluctuations of the Aussie dollar, and means that they don't have to redo their catalogs in a hurry when the dollar collapses _again_.

Shipping isn't that large a factor; they're made and assembled in SE Asia, after all. Australian orders are just sent to Australia, instead of the US. Shipping is a little more, however, due to lack of volume.

Inventory space counts as well; the Australian market is smaller, so the units don't turn over as fast. And this largely accounts for the remaining 10%; it's to offse the risk that the units will have to be dumped or sent elsewhere to sell.

Finally, a good buffer zone is there to allow Apple to do targeted marketing campaigns with discounts; if you're heavily into graphic design, for example, and thus really need a 30" Cinema Display, it's highly unlikely you'll need to pay retail.

2: ...
3: Profit!

Try $AUD to $NZD:

According to XE.com $AUD 5,999 is about $NZD 6,670.33 (at the time I did the conversion).

That makes the $NZD 6,540+GST price on the NZ site - http://store.apple.co.nz/public/product/item.php?itemcode=APPM9179X/A - seem not so bad, except for that "+GST" bit on the end.

Multiply by 1.125 (12.5% GST) and you get $NZD 7,357.50 - about 10% more expensive!

Try $USD to $NZD:

$USD 3,299 is about $NZ 5,002.28 - so the $NZD price is 1/2 as much again!!

Admittedly the $NZD is relatively strong right now. Still, I was browsing a copy of Domain Driven Design in Borders' Auckland store the other day. Its price sticker was $NZD 133 which didn't quite cover the $USD RRP of 44.95 printed on the back of the book. I can order this same book from Bookware in North Sydney for $AUD 60 (excluding postage which comes to around $20, but they take off the GST because I'm ordering from outside of Australia). Explain to me how Auckland is a less expensive city to live in - http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/11/pf/costofliving/ - than Sydney or Melbourne again (and I haven't even mentioned the price of a beer from a pub here)?

Walter,

Shocking. Time for you to re-locate to Bondi.

;)

Walter, I realise that this is only topical in that regional prices may differ, but just out of interest, how much does a pub beer cost in Auckland?

It's been creeping up here in Wellington, where a standard handle would set you back $4-$5 a couple of years ago, but nowadays you'll be lucky to get change out of $6 or even $7 for something as basic as a Macs.

I was looking at a data cable for my telephone recently - USD40 if bought from a US address, or AUD120 if bought from an Australian address. Outrageous.

However, this is capitalism doing what it does - distributing rare resources through the mechanism of massively parallel self-interest :)

Over the road from where I work is a Monteiths pub - i.e. all their tap beers are varieties of Monteiths - and it's about $5.50 for a handle. That's the other thing that freaks me out about pubs in New Zealand - I'm not entirely sure if there are standard serves, at least in New South Wales you have schooner, midi and mini (I always get the order of those last two confused), while a handle is more than a schooner I wouldn't be 100% that a handle at pub A would be the same size as a handle at pub B.

The enterprising beer drinker can find $AUD 2 schooners (happy hour) in such "reputable" establishments as The Vegas in Kings Cross (go upstairs - other than the smoke wafting up from downstairs, there's no one there and there are pool tables and a video jukebox at your disposal); for $AUD 1.50 (happy hour) you can get a schooner at the Hampton Court (also in the Cross - should be familiar to New Zealanders as an 18 year old Kiwi was killed after drinking there a few years ago, but hey, I never got in any trouble). That's why I'd be living in Elizabeth Bay (cheap beer, really nice parks, close to town), rather than Bondi if I lived in Sydney again.

Find yourself a bowling club or an RSL and not only will you get cheap beer, you'll also get free/cheap food! Your average Sydney pub would be charging less than $4 a schooner most of the time.

What New Zealand does seem to offer to the beer drinker is a lot more variety (or at least a lot more accessible variety). You can get "imported" (often brewed under license locally) often get Heineken, Becks and Kronenburg on tap; it's easy to get Lowenbrau, Leffe, Corona etc. And there seems to be a wider range of domestic beers - which receive the Mike Cannon-Brookes seal of approval - http://blogs.atlassian.com/rebelutionary/archives/000276.html - which is different to your average Sydney pub which might offer New, Old, VB and Reschs.

The crazy thing is a six pack in Auckland from the bottle store is cheaper than a six pack from the bottle store in Sydney.

Two things;

1. "And this largely accounts for the remaining 10%; it's to offse the risk that the units will have to be dumped or sent elsewhere to sell." - But the units are made to order and then dispatched. There is no inventory overhead so they should never have to be sent elsewhere (and I'm conveniently ignoring Apple Stores). You pay more because Apple are capitalists.

2. Who cares about the price of beer in NZ, you have to look at sheep whilst you drink it. I (will) gladly pay the extra to get my beer in Manly thank you very much.

Speaking on behalf of all New Zealander's I'd like to support Andy's decision to stay in Manly. We export all our duds to Sydney's Eastern and Northern beaches and we certainly don't want any Australians back in exchange.