Australia/New Zealand Australians urged to bypass online geo-blocks that can double price of IT products.

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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Interesting parliamentary report on opportunistic IT pricing courtesy of geo-blocking by Apple, Microsoft, Adobe etc!

Not that we didn't know we're being stitched up for a lot of software in Oz ... but good to see the facts.

LINK
 
Good.

How are you supposed to get around geo blocks? Adobe will go to cc and not sell disks so there is no ordering a disk fromUSA.
 
I feel you man, even here in Canada, not so far from the US you'd think we'd have similar consumer prices...nope :(
 
I gather you may be able to download from the international sites by using a program that disguises your IP address ... I can't really think of any other way!
 
Interesting story, with little information about why the prices are so different.

Does the population size have anything to do with the traditional pricing of imported goods?


I've never been able to work it out ... some stuff is outrageously expensive and other stuff not so. When I got the X100 it was priced cheaper than the US and my DP3M was as cheap as anywhere in the world. ($748.00 AUD)

As for IT and software ... Apple, Microsoft Adobe and co. gave reasons but nothing that sounded reasonable to me.

I haven't bought film in this country for five years .... last time I checked a 36 exp roll of HP5+ was twelve dollars at one the largest suppliers in Oz.
 
I haven't bought film in this country for five years .... last time I checked a 36 exp roll of HP5+ was twelve dollars at one the largest suppliers in Oz.

Exporting from the US is such a PITA that shipping anywhere is 3 to 5 times more expensive :(
 
There is no reason for downloads to be any more expensive from Australia and Europe than from USA other than the suppliers have been able to get away with it.
 
1 roll of portra 400 in Australia - $26.

That is terrible. I guess I'm ordering from the USA once I move out. If I order a year's supply at a time, then I guess the shipping is less of a big deal, especially if you time it with other purchases.
 
That is terrible. I guess I'm ordering from the USA once I move out. If I order a year's supply at a time, then I guess the shipping is less of a big deal, especially if you time it with other purchases.

from the US ? I'd double check that before and not count on it
 
BMW m3 coupe pricing compared - same model.

New Jersey zip code - $58,022us
Victorian zip code - $168,043aud
US price converted to AU dollars - $64,735

Where exactly does the extra $100,000 go? Its not just IT and tech gear that we Aussies get raped on - check and compare housing prices for a serious shock. Half a townhouse across the road from me on the outskirts of Melbourne just sold for 1.4 million. 2 Bedroom and not that great.
 
Its not just IT and tech gear that we Aussies get raped on - check and compare housing prices for a serious shock. Half a townhouse across the road from me on the outskirts of Melbourne just sold for 1.4 million. 2 Bedroom and not that great.


A friend just moved from Melbourne, I thought she was exaggerating when she said housing here is affordable ! :confused:
 
Gavin, where do you get your film from ? where do you get it developed in Melbourne ?

I buy it from Hong Kong sellers on ebay. Works out to be about the same for 5 packs of film as it does for 1 pack bought here. I get it developed at Bonds imaging lab in Richmond however they just cut back c41 development to only 2 days a week and their output has gone downhill - scratches etc so I need to find a better solution.
 
I buy it from Hong Kong sellers on ebay. Works out to be about the same for 5 packs of film as it does for 1 pack bought here. I get it developed at Bonds imaging lab in Richmond however they just cut back c41 development to only 2 days a week and their output has gone downhill - scratches etc so I need to find a better solution.

Is the development a result of less color film being used in Australia? From the prices you guy quote for film, that would be understandable.

As to Geoblockin, I hadn't heard that but the three companies mentioned are known to try squeezing blood from a turnip at any opportunity that pops up or that they can create. Nor are they known to care about security unless someone really puts pressure on them. One of the reasons I like Linux. It's free and so are many of the most useful programs.

Sorry for you guys down under. I hope your government isn't as bound to lobbyists as ours in the USA. Maybe they can do some geoblocking of their own.
 
Australia has become a very expensive place to live ... generally IMO. I was chatting to a young Scottish tourist a while ago who was absolutely dismayed at how far his funds 'weren't' going!

In Queensland electricity prices that were already through the roof just took another 22% hike and it's now costing me very close to a thousand dollars per year to register my car ... and our roads are atrocious! In certain parts of Australia rents are ridiculous ... a friend visiting from Darwin was telling me that a decent three bedroom house can rent for as high as seven hundred dollars per week in that city.

Oh yes and I just heard this morning that the government intends raising tobacco taxes again and while I'm not defending smokers we already have some of the highest prices in the world.
 
Well they originally sent all the thieves and scoundrels to OZ, I guess they have flourished working for big US corporations which value their inborn abilities. ;)
 
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