The state of the economy at the street level

SirRumpole said:

That's a pretty sad report, and goes with what we have been saying over several threads.

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It's all a bit like watching someone's health decline slowly but surely or watching the death by a thousand cuts of a business.

It's a slowly creeping thing but it's plain to see for those willing to open their eyes.

Smurf1976 said:

It's all a bit like watching someone's health decline slowly but surely or watching the death by a thousand cuts of a business.

It's a slowly creeping thing but it's plain to see for those willing to open their eyes.

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and for the rest of the masses housing is making a recovery nothign to see here good times

againsthegrain said:

and for the rest of the masses housing is making a recovery nothign to see here good times

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It isn't in W.A. you know that big bit of land to the West of Sydney central, unfortunately no one over East has heard of it.
That's why we have to bring in 457 workers.

sptrawler said:

It isn't in W.A. you know that big bit of land to the West of Sydney central, unfortunately no one over East has heard of it.
That's why we have to bring in 457 workers.

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I think most of the general clever population only knows Sydney and Melbourne as Australia

againsthegrain said:

I think most of the general clever population only knows Sydney and Melbourne as Australia

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I've nothing against the big two cities but I think that is part of the problem.

The cities and those living in them are often very disconnected from what makes things work beyond the city itself. Big cities anywhere can be very bubble like.

Smurf1976 said:

I've nothing against the big two cities but I think that is part of the problem.

The cities and those living in them are often very disconnected from what makes things work beyond the city itself. Big cities anywhere can be very bubble like.

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Global warming answers, usage of pesticides etc as obvious examples
Lalaland people dictating their version of the truth based not on knowledge but on number

Smurf1976 said:

I've nothing against the big two cities but I think that is part of the problem.

The cities and those living in them are often very disconnected from what makes things work beyond the city itself. Big cities anywhere can be very bubble like.

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Yes, we know what NSW means.

Smurf1976 said:

Big cities anywhere can be very bubble like.

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Luckily I live in Canberra. No bubbles here.

Long time since I've been west of Dubbo. I did go to Adelaide for week once but I think it was closed.

Jack Aubrey said:

Luckily I live in Canberra. No bubbles here.

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There's one you missed up on the hill.

They put a flag on top to mark the location.

Long time since I've been west of Dubbo.

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Dubbo is where I learned that it's possible to cook chicken in a toaster. Don't ask.....

Back to the economy, I go for a walk quite regularly and something I've noticed is quite a few what look to be "stalled" building projects. An old house has been sold and whoever bought it has demolished it then nothing, the vacant block's just sitting there months later and a couple I see have now been put up for sale "as is" so just the land.

Smurf1976 said:

Dubbo is where I learned that it's possible to cook chicken in a toaster. Don't ask.....

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Ahhhh good old DTC (Dubbo Toasted Chicken) did you manage to Franchise it Smurf or was the competition from KFC just too much?

A large scale building development has stalled down here (900+ properties).
A few unit builds are stopping as well. The more expensive units are sitting on the market and not moving. Retail is a bit of a mixed bag. Seeing prices creep down as well.
Very slow drop.
Small business has cut down on employees. One I frequent went from 4 down to 1.

Just back from a walk around my area (inner city, mixed shops and eateries, mostly hipster) and there were two further "Closing Down Sales". Heavy discounting is obvious, including at the major retailers in the city (DJs discounts on menswear almost got ME to shop!). Mind you, the transition from winter to summer in Canberra is becoming increasingly instantaneous the past few years: overcoat one day, shorts and T-shirt the next.

Jack Aubrey said:

Just back from a walk around my area (inner city, mixed shops and eateries, mostly hipster) and there were two further "Closing Down Sales". Heavy discounting is obvious, including at the major retailers in the city (DJs discounts on menswear almost got ME to shop!). Mind you, the transition from winter to summer in Canberra is becoming increasingly instantaneous the past few years: overcoat one day, shorts and T-shirt the next.

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Yes, I put my winter clothes away a few days ago , and had to take them out again next day.

People are still buying, just not in traditional bricks and mortar.
Was down Chapel street, VIC yesterday, lots of for lease signs, but this doesn't surprise me, with rents above $130K pa + outgoings, you have to sell a lot of stuff in an already crowded market place.

The internet has changed many aspects of the retail buying experience: Online shopping is convenient and fast, easy to review sites and offerings.

As a simple example of my experience yesterday.

14 year old son wanted some new VANS sneakers for skating $130 for something that is produced in China for < $10 a pair.

So we went on a data scraping exercise together :
1. Google Search allowed us to find all retail bricks and mortars stores that might have these sneakers on sale. Information that was not easily accessible say 10 years ago, would have involved large amounts of time going to each retail shop to see if they where on sale.
2. Ebay - $30 to $130 dollars, now this bought up the question of why such a large price difference for the same product. Copies maybe.

Ebay has a strict policy of not allowing fake products to be sold. Well that is their policy but it is clearly not enforced and why would they want to loose sales. If the original maker brings it to the attention of ebay, they deflect the consequences onto the merchant.

Now this alone is a very important detail. Traditional bricks and mortar stores could be easily target and prosecuted for selling fake products, however online shopping platforms is a lot harder.

So we investigate further, how to spot a fake VANS sneaker, this is where it got even more interesting.
Found a great Youtube video and the VANS Wiki page. Funny thing was VANS on website seemed to be selling fakes. The identifiable difference is 2 stitching designs.

So off we go to Platypuss Retail store, on their website they showed the fake VANS design, but in store they had what we believed to be the real VANS design - $130. The staff member was helpful, but my son found a similar VANS sneaker discounted from $120 to $50, so said, how about you buy them and we can get a second pair off ebay for $35 delivered. I agreed and we left the store with a pair of VANS sneakers and order the second pair off Ebay last night.

So what is the moral of the story, in a digital age, consumers have access to greater amounts of information and can just wait until their desired product comes on sale.

My own son then realised, that if he googles around over a period of time, he will never have to pay full retail price.

So I assume we are buying more stuff than ever before, just that we are getting it for cheaper, so most likely spending the same pa as we did years ago. However, where we are spending it has rapidly changed.

So if anyone knows, how are retail figures deteremined?

Does ebay and amazon release their sales figures per product category to the ABS.

I was at our local Coles store the other day, there were about 5 people filling the online order baskets, it looks as though that method of buying food products is increasing.

satanoperca said:

My own son then realised, that if he googles around over a period of time, he will never have to pay full retail price.

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We seem to have come to a point where paying full price, for anything, is essentially a "tax" on being in a hurry to buy it.

I won't call it a "lazy tax" because sometimes there are situations where it's perfectly reasonable that someone wants something quickly, it's more important to have it now than to save on the cost of buying it, but for those with more time than money there's no real reason to be paying full price for anything these days.

About the only thing I can think of that someone might actually need and where the price is set in stone is postage. But who posts any significant number of letters these days?

For anything else, even things like insurance there's effectively a "tax" on not shopping around when it's due for renewal. Biggest mistake anyone can make in 2019 is loyalty to a business - odds are you'll be punished for that these days.

sptrawler said:

I was at our local Coles store the other day, there were about 5 people filling the online order baskets, it looks as though that method of buying food products is increasing.

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Agreed although they do seem to have an inefficient way of providing the service.

If it becomes a big enough thing then they could avoid the step of putting the products on shelves in the first place. At some level of scale that would make sense presumably?

Smurf1976 said:

Biggest mistake anyone can make in 2019 is loyalty to a business - odds are you'll be punished for that these days.

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I found out I could save $700 pa by switching electricity companies.

Reason I haven't done it yet ? Will there be a disconnection charge ? Reconnection charge ? Termination penalty ?

I'll have to check these things out.

No, no, no to those questions.

I love electricity companies like I luv mobile carriers, talk about trying to confuse the crap out of basic pricing.

Example.
90 Day Account, connection fee has no discount applied.

Which is the best deal?