Older people like me grew up in a society where you could only buy products such as cars, cameras & tv sets via local shops. Regional supermarkets muscled there way in on the promise of lower prices than local shops. Now the likes of Bunnings are providing no frills shopping on the promise of the lowest prices.
IMO shopping online has been the real game changer & has opened our eyes to what the real cost is for importers. IMO they profited handsomely at our expense in the past so it's a bit rich for them to expect us to to just cop it sweet in future. They need to change or 'The Market' will do it to them!
As for imported cars, IMO my wife & I have saved almsot than $200,000 buying locally built cars which have proven both good performers, reliable & cheap to service - even if they lack some of the bells & whistles of the E Class Mercedes preferred by one of my brothersher-in-law. He recently confided to me that his last 2 Mercs cost way more than $100,000 each. As precious jewels they were rarely driven to keep mileage low but still saw massive service costs & were eventually traded for less than $20,000 after about 8 years. The Mercs did look good in weddding photos though!
