Australian tech products a rip-off, says Choice | Epou

Posted by Eta Phi Sports on Jul 25, 2012 in Rip Offs | 0 comments

Updated July 19, 2012 11:23:54

Consumer watchdog Choice says Australians are paying approximately twice as much as they should for computer hardware, software and digital downloads.

The consumer group says its research shows Australian prices for products such as music, personal computers, console games and computer software are much higher than those in the United States.

In a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into IT pricing, the group noted that across 44 software products, Australian prices were 34 per cent more expensive on average.

One piece of Microsoft software was nearly $9,000 more expensive in Australia than the United States.

?For this amount, it would be cheaper to employ someone for 46 hours at the price of $21.30 per hour and fly them to the US and back at your expense ? twice,? Choice said in their submission.

Choice also used the Australia iTunes top 100 list to compare the pricing of 50 individual songs, finding Australians, on average, pay 52 per cent more.

Choice has identified rental, labour and transportation costs, as well as GST and profit margins for the disparity. It also noted international price discrimination, which increases the cost of Australia retailers? purchases, had the greatest impact on retail prices.

But the watchdog says these cumulative costs do not account for the doubling in prices for IT hardware and software.

In its submission, Choice also notes that Australians in more remote regions and those who are lower-paid are affected by the digital price discrimination and are less likely to have a computer at their home.

The consumer watchdog says the Australian market is targeted for price gouging, with the most likely reason for that being Australia?s relative affluence.

?Global companies [are] pricing these products at a point where they think people are going to buy it, regardless if that?s at parity with other countries,? Choice spokesman Matt Levey said.

?They use a number of technological barriers to actually prevent Australians from accessing these products from parallel importing them and direct importing them from cheaper markets.?

The watchdog recommends:

• Greater focus on consumer education

• An investigation into whether measures such as region-coding or IP address identification, which may discriminate against consumers, should be allowed

• The low value threshold for GST remain unchanged to prevent parcel processing disadvantaging consumers.

Consumers have taken to News Online?s Facebook page to tell us what they think about the pricing disparity, saying they are dismayed that games and downloads continue to be more expensive in Australia.

?The only time I buy in Australia is if I need it quickly,? Tony Bunce wrote in a post.

?It?s a vicious cycle ? they say we can afford more, so upcharge us, then we have to go for wage increases to be able to afford them. thanks for nothing guys!? Lea de Groot said.

?Get rid of ?region coding? and allow parallel importing and we can see cheaper prices again. but as usual the Government will not shift from its current practices,? says William Falconer.

Topics: computers-and-technology, information-technology, consumer-protection

first posted July 19, 2012 08:48:31

Australian tech products a rip-off, says Choice

Source: http://epou.net/?p=39061

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