Hi, I recently moved from Australia and was a keen Ozbargainer (the oz equivalent to Cheapies).
My question is, where does everyone do their tech (and other shopping)? Some prices are close to double what they are in Australia! Does everyone just buy online from overseas companies?
For example the Fitbit Iconic in oz jbhifi is $209 while it's $400+ here.
Cheers
Pretty much everything in New Zealand is over-priced, including stuff they actually make here (you can buy NZ-made butter and meat cheaper in the UK than you can here in New Zealand!!). :o(
The best normal pricing within New Zealand for in-stock electronic stuff is usually PB Tech, especially if you pay in-store using cash / EFTPOS (they charge a bit more for credit card transactions).
Next on the list is probably JB HiFi, which is of course an Australian brand, although the prices are still usually more expensive than in the Australian stores! (The Australian-owned The Good Guys had some cheaper prices, but they were only around briefly and closed down over here - partly due to their silliness of not advertising the actual cheaper price you pay when using cash / EFTPOS.)
There are also numerous little independent Asian stores / webstores which may be cheaper, but they may not be trustworthy or reliable, and in some cases they don't have stock and simply import on-demand so you have to wait.
Other than that, it's really a case of the expensive Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming, etc. all just price copying each other. A couple of these do have Clearance branches in the main cities that sell old stock at slightly lower prices.
You can also wait for the sales (JB HiFi currently has Apple computers at "cost + GST", which means around the usual 10% discount). The Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales aren't too far away, although prices don't always drop much, but there can be some good pricing.
But the best option for smaller items is to simply buy them from overseas webstores in Australia, UK, or USA. Even with shipping it can still be far cheaper than buying here - you'll also need a power adapter for UK and US wall plugs. The Governmental change to add GST to overseas purchases won't make any difference either since the over-pricing here already exceeds the 15% GST mark that greedy retailers claim is the reason for price differences. (Yes, the local distributors having to pay to have products shipped to the ass-end of the planet and the smaller population will mean a higher price, but in some cases the prices are double or triple, which is simply sheer greed).
Just keep an eye on Pricespy and Priceme.. mainly look at the historic prices of something you want to buy.
Most big stores have cycles of sales.. eg the same shit will go on sale every x number of weeks. Never pay full price.
Also most stores will price match/price beat if you just ask (Even if they dont advertise it)
Here is the pricespy link for the fitbit iconic for example. https://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=4457582
That is a pretty amazing price for the ionic. Cheaper than anywhere, including the sates ebay amazon etc. It would be worth your while buying in Aus and getting it shipped here. I am sure you still have contacts/family there you could do that? If I had the means I would grab a few myself to onsell.
No need to know anyone in Australia. You can buy stuff directly from the Australian JB Hi-Fi webstore yourself (unless it's an "in-store only" special of course). I've done that before with DVDs that were cheaper there than here, or simply not available in here.
Is shipping free if you pick up from JB HiFi store here?
As far as I know they simply ship to your address, like any other overseas webstore. There is no 'pick up' option.
Thanks for the comments guys! :)
Generally keep and eye on Pricespy and/or setup and alert on their for items you are keen on.
Lets you see historical pricing too which can be handy.