Travel - To Buy or Not




Just like a Mackers Burger or a Prada handbag can be charged with varying prices around the world, so can an Apple IPhone. 


Would you factor in purchases as part of your next holiday agenda? Shopping in the USA is a significant activity for sports products, clothes and accessories. Local taxes, tips and currency exchange do figure well into such decisions of buying away from home. 


There may be no need to travel as cyberspace does offer a huge convenience and discount on prices and physical delivery. Where nations require you to be a local to be entitled to those attractive prices, there are also ways and means for foreigners to pose as such locals to qualify. The meaning of market bargaining has been expanded with various strong tactics on discounts during a tight time window, bulk empowerment and cutting out on retail front costs. 


Commercialism thrives on convincing a buyer of not to miss obtaining a product, whether through the need to have the latest version, to keep up with trends or with making passé workable but previous editions of the same product. This churns turnover, vital to pump up revenue and meet performance targets to meet shareholder approval and senior executive bonuses. The world is now the endless horizon for possibilities, requiring smart play offs in pricing and availability on markets that can increasingly have higher purchasing power. 


The Technology Price Index of 2017 lists an attractive average price of around $414 for an Apple IPhone in Japan, compared to $575 in Australia. Figures for Malaysia are $532, India 505 and China $471. (All US Dollars quoted). Does that mean just visiting your chosen foreign country to buy at a lower price? It can be more complicated than just this. 


There are product specs that can make technology products not so easily usable in another market or nation. Unlike clothes, barriers do exist to allow a typical consumer access to the best possible price with the most features. They can be compatibility, market protection of margins and economic factors like inflation. 


Overall, it makes for a very interesting and varied field when trying to secure your top ten most exciting personal purchases. A rare book, a motivating sports shoe, a car model or a unique orchid. The best markets to secure products usually synchronise with environments with high governance standards, more open trading conditions and more stable political climates. Where trade and commerce is encouraged, you can usually bet on your best prices for your personal pet list of purchases. Countering this is the high cost of living, unusual constraints on personal freedoms, state of civil unrest and small size of markets in the nations where you want to buy. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam - Some Souvenirs

Image
Vietnam is a prime exporter of agricultural products, like rice, rubber,coffee and pepper, but to individual visitors, what comes across remarkably are lacquered products , embroidery, pottery, silk fabrics, weaved craft, stone carvings, bamboo and rattan articles, ceramic, wooden contraptions and paintings.  This is a result of long established cultural traditions and a developing economy.  The majority of the current population is under 30 years old, laden with the enthusiasm, agility and promise of youth.  The centre of handicraft is still central Vietnam, with the hub around Hue and Hoi An. You can see many water colours offered by local artists in shops, markets and pavement stalls.  I was more fascinated by origami-like paper cuts which you can come across being sold by vendors all over the place.  Best of all are the hang lanterns, available in all sizes, which are made from varying qualities of Vietnamese silk fabric, the best of which a...
Read more

Aunty Gaik Lian's - Straits Chinese, Georgetown, Penang

Image
A simple but appetising egg omelette as starters. Gulai Ikan Tumis or sour and spicy fish curry. The previous long standing branch of jewellers B.P De Silva, almost at the corner of Bishop and Beach streets in the old quarter of Georgetown, has a few months ago been transformed into a hub of Straits Chinese cuisine. Straddling two shop lots, located in an evening quiet location but near to the banking district on  business days, Aunty Gaik Lian's provides a refreshing change to the Nyonya food landscape on Penang island.  I have always found that the best Straits Chinese food is found in homes in Penang, like what my Mum dishes out, and it has been exasperating to be really satisfied with commercial outlets in this cuisine.  The Penang variation of such Peranakan food tends to be more influenced by ingredients and cooking styles from Thailand and the Malayan peninsular , when compared to the Malacca version (with more of stronger Indonesian influences and the ...
Read more

85 Degrees Bakery Cafe Hurstville NSW

Image
There are several outlets of this bakery cafe for several years now in Australia.  Did they coem from the USA? Each franchised outlet is in a busy area, often in suburbs so-called by a diverse Asian demographic.   The one in Hurstville is rather roomy and lots of baked stuff on its shelves.   The base of Sydney operations is in Chester Hill, a suburb south-west of the Sydney city centre. Some of the cake creations would be viewed as rather leaning on the East Asian dimension  - Strawberry Angel (with chocolate base and top) and Mango Cheese ( with yoghurt).   However, to counter this perspective, there are also Death by Chocolate, US Cheesecake, Coffee Brulee and Blueberry Marble options.     The pastries are definitely filled with ingredients more suited to perhaps  Anime loving fans and non-mainstream cultures - for example, garlic, pork, tuna, green tea, red bean, shallots, pork floss, coconut, Hokkaido butter cream...
Read more