Every time I pass by one of these places it's almost always empty. Considering places like Westfield charge around $1500-3000 a square metre I cannot possible fathom how these places survive.
Anyone know? Are they fronts to launder money? A simple way to get PR?
Any ideas?
Thanks, but once you consider these places are at least 4 square metres it mean they need to pay $6000 + wages even if they are cheap, plus return a bit of money to the owner…..
also there's usually at least two (my small local has 3) meaning even less $$$ for the owners.
Massages are massively overpriced given that there are no formal qualifications. If you are a recent migrant, working in a (legitimate) massage parlor is an excellent source of income, and the owners may help you avoid any restrictions your visa places on you (eg. Student visas restrict the hours you work)
Edit: Also some shopping centres are against store vacancies, so they'd prefer a short term tenant for low rental fees. Most massage places require very little modifications to the shop-front.
cheap labour only get pay if customer come in.
That's true, however if the employees have no alternative job to go to, do not know their rights, or perhaps are in debt to their employer, then they will stay
My ex worked in massage place. The owner didnt pay by hour, but by client. So sometimes she went to work for 4-8 hours but earned nothing.
She just arrived from overseas, didnt have any idea about working in Australia etc.
I might be right it could be shopping centre subsiding part of their operation similar to bistros in a bar or restaurant in rsl club for instance.
Have you seen Breaking Bad?
Kind of like that but with massages instead of car washes, and with bikies instead of school teachers.
I'm not sure the in's and out's of it all (not a bookkeeper/accountant), but I used to work next to a small cafe. The owners bought the place as a tax right off for their other businesses. It may have been they bought the land/building as an asset and kept running the cafe, mind you. That place was always dead - no way they were making money from it.
Report it as duplicate
Edit: And yea, perfectly sums it up for me - it's a write off.
someone please eli5? how can running and owning a business be so tax advantageous, people would be willing to do it at a loss?
I'm more curious about how shopping centre internet cafes survive, and I don't mean gaming internet cafes either, but those little booths which charge $2/30m with almost nothing installed and an attendant nearby. Surely everyone has a smartphone these days, that they don't need to use a mall PC for email or YouTube.
I've never seen an attendant nearby, it's always coin operated.
Anyway, i wouldnt be surprised if they've negotiated rent as a percentage of income. Considering they cost peanuts to set up.
Or they could use the equipment to subsedise their rent. i.e. processor renting, proxies, etc
A couple of my local ones have attendants because they take money and work the printer. That said, I've never seen anyone print off anything and only the attendant is ever on the computers.
I used to use these often till just recently because I don't own a printer. So anything that needs to be printed. I have to go to one of these. I thought to myself, why do i need to buy a printer with expensive ink if i just print what i need for $2 whenever i need it? I was spending an average of $2-3 per visit just to print something. I was doing this once a fortnight Till just recently. I finally bought myself a printer a few months ago.
Just be careful with using ink-jets for occasional printing.
Most of the printers I've bought (which was a long time ago so possible things have changed) but if you don't use the printer regularly, the ink dries and hardens on the nozzle breaking the whole thing. Even the manual recommended printing a test page once a week if you weren't using it regularly.
A better solution would be to just buy a cheap laser printer the next time it comes up on ozbargain.
These places are excellent to charge usb devices.
They are fronts used to launder money.
AU is not a financial hub in the same light as London, Singapore , Dubai or HK.
It would be dumb to lauder money here …LOL
Drugs are still sold here though.
Aussie Real Estate is currently the favoured Laundry.
I can only guess why RE is exempt from AML/KYC laws…
That's because there are drug users here.
"It would be dumb to lauder money here …LOL"
Eh? Go to one of those property auctions where someone who doesn't speak English pays $1 million over reserve and lives in a country where you aren't legally allowed to take out what amounts to 5% of the sale price. What do you think's going on there?? Plenty of laundering takes place down there!
Not dumb af all really, not being a hub means less regulation, and less competition from other launderers… i live out in the inner west, we had three yohurt places operating next to each other, in a suburb that is dead most days. No-one in their right mind would open one, let alone three, but i bet their tax takings were much higher than what they took in the registers…
Rub and tug
Question Should Be:
How the F@(K do any of these small shops survive these big shopping centers? The rents are Insane!!!
This is incredibly true. Westfield exists to send small businesses to the wall. They basically jack your rent hugely year to year, then force an expensive refit to renew the lease.
There must be at least half a dozen in Surfers Paradise and whenever I seem to go, they're always quite busy.
The labour is cheap and they're not paid in wages per hour. They get a percentage from each massage with the rest going to the owner.
And they charge from $30+ for half an hour which works out white well.
Are you sure they are struggling? Maybe there is actually a happy ending for them…
Special added services.
Come again?
Customers shoot up. Sales, I mean.
There are two in habourside shopping.
The rent would be insane.
The place are completely open and there are curtains to hide any "happy ending".
I suspect, the profit margin are high.
But are they high enough to open two in the same centre where the rent are insane?
I suspect something dodgy is going on.
But not sure what the game is?
Maybe PR?
I suspect that they pay some patrons money instead of serving them. It's a way to cash out your insurance, if you are a patron. I don't know Australia's systems well enough to tell, if they are drinking from government budget or insurance companies. But it's an easy trick to think of, so I suspect.
I also noticed some cloths stores sell dresses cheap. With 50 per piece of dress do they find it hard to scrape a living?
who is selling dresses for 50c?
Cheap labour is peanuts. according to google, minimum wage in india starts at USD $2.18/day. You can make a lot of shirts in a day.
Haha - got it, next time I'll not forget to put A$.
So I meant A$50. Problem being, they are produced in China, and such dress with that quality and location would sell at equal or higher price in China. Production labour aside, shouldn't Aussie sales cost be higher?
Wouldn't they be importing them for a lot less than they are selling them?
I get what you're saying about the cash out thing though. There was a post here a while back where someone bought a facial (tee hee) from groupon. The company was then charging it back to medicare as a treatment. Maybe it's something like that, except with your health insurance?
That is truly horrifying and makes my blood boil.
We all encouraged them to report it to medicare as fraud.
It's possible that you are passing by on the time intervals when they don't usually have customers as well.
Why people waste money on this rubbish, even with rebate from health funds, $30 buck is still $30 buck wasted. These places forever advertise to "hire" anyone with a pulse from the street (students, backpackers, visa holders). Use at your own risk, a friend needed expensive surgery after his veins were bursted in a "massage" session.
surgery after his veins were bursted in a "massage" session.
This sounds so wrong in the context of all the happy ending posts….maybe she was just thriving that little bit extra for maximum client satisfaction.
He told me it was the leg veins, but I don't know for sure !
Some are really helpful for relieving tension in the shoulders etc.
Some really aren't.
I find my local naturopath business does much better ones.
Yeah I'm a bit paranoid about this too. A friend got permanent spinal nerve damage during a massage in Thailand. Had to be sent to hospital immediately and now 20 years on he still has nerve related problems.
I have trouble getting 10 minutes around lunch time. I think they get plenty of business.
My wife once came home empty handed from shopping coz shops closed while she was getting a massage! I suspect this is why the shopping takes so long other times too :)
People have stressful lives and massage shops know they're in a boom industry.
"I suspect this is why the shopping takes so long other times too :)"
LOL!
2 words… Happy Endings…
Maybe for the small street massage parlours perhaps, but surely not in a Centro\Westifled?
Heard from someone, but it apparently happens…
You telling me a head massage is not always above the shoulders?
Hmmm, my gf gets massages from those places often. Hmmm.
Capitalism's stressful dude. People who are stressed get massages
I was with Bupa, and as part of the cover I could claim two massages per year. I didn't….
My wife used to get free massages from her hospital cover. Some $300-$400 worth each year and when she couldn't use it all she would let her sister take some under her name.
I have heard that investing in a small business for a number of years is part of the owner's immigration requirement. It doesn't matter if the small business is making a profit or loss it's meant to boost and benefit the economy rather than having the millions sitting in their bank account.
I used to visit a VERY expensive Chinese one. My health insurance paid for some of it but the rest was unfortunately out of my own pocket but it really worked - acupuncture and herbal tea.
I was recommended it by someone I trust but it was really expensive.
If you still do it there is a way to avoid your side of the payment if you don't need all the treatments.
Say if it costs you $200 a treatment for 5 treatments but you could only claim $500 each year. You could sign up for 5 treatments but actually only attend 2 or 3. All you need is a prior-agreement with the shop and provided you don't need all 5 treatments of course.
Thank you.
Mine is charged per visit. I spent so much they let me use different people's names.
But if I go somewhere else I will use your method.
Don't you only get paid back from your health insurance after you actually pay for it though? I'm confused.
Yes, you only can claim from your health insurance on the things you had paid. But how much you had actually paid is between you and the shop and how the shop reports their income is not your problem. Long story short. You spend $500. The shop agrees to issue you a $1,000 tax invoice and you claim on the $1,000 which could return you the $500 spent.
Please take note. If the spending is fully/partly under someone else's name(husband or wife) make sure that someone else is aware of what's happening. There is a small chance the health insurance company will call for confirmation.
I am more curious about those table storefronts that sell iphone covers, clothing, dicing machines etc..
You can find out how much they rent for here… About $1.5-$2k per week.
http://www.popupbrands.com.au/
There's a market for everything. There is a shop near me that is an Oxygen bar. They sell oxygen thru tubes that you can breath.
Oxygen Bar?
Sounds more like oxygen thieves.
They are going bust
Oh yeah those air with fragrances right.
They could mix fart in their oxygen and still no one will complaint.. Because not many of us know what pure oxygen really smell like ;)
money laundering
nothing better than getting one on ur lunch break for free….u feel like a boss
To be honest I wonder how all the clothes shops survive. There are a million of them, they all seem to be selling much the same stuff, they're always virtually empty and while you can't get a massage online you can definitely buy clothes online.
One more point about outrageous commercial rents in Australia:-
a) one thing I have noticed about Asia is that a lot of people run businesses out of their house. Really eclectic stuff. When I walk through my wife's hometown there are people selling replacement mower blades out of their front room. These shops don't do a roaring trade but they provide useful supplemental income for retirees who are usually at home anyway.
b) this makes the streetscapes far more interesting in Asia. I quite like walking through suburban streets, there are people selling wooden toys that they crafted at home, always something interesting around the corner. Australian suburbs by comparison are arid, dull and stultifying.
c) there is far less regulation in Asia regarding commercial shop fronts. In Japan if you go to a little hole in the wall noodle place they give you a paper apron to put on so your shirt doesnt get spoiled, because they dont have any extraction fans. In Australia they would just shut the place down. In Japan, if people want to go to a place without extraction fans thats their choice.
d) most consumers, especially young ones, still prefer to go to shopping malls in Asia. They like wandering around the swanky retail space in air conditioned comfort. However the fact that there are alternatives means that the malls don't charge outrageous rents like they do here.
That's four more points, just sayin'!
How do EB games survive?
Please don't neg me, it's a fair question.
Also have most video store closed down?
Exclusive stuff, game related goods and console games?
I think they might be moving towards collectibles as well, at least that news letter I've got awhile ago about Zing gave me that impression.
my wifes friend runs an eb. he says hes lucky its in a bogan suburb, so the rents are lower and also the punters are too thick to get their consoles mod chipped or to buy online.
basically eb has the games biz all to themselves except for the dept stores who do a terrible job of selling games.
i have a feeling it has.gotten tougher for them though.
From my experience I think the PS3 (and possibly PS4, I haven't owned it yet) is really hard to chip, and if succeed, you can't update it to latest firmware and can't play online. Even if you can, you will be living in fear. Being an ozbargainer that I am, and have successfully chipped xbox (1st gen) and ps2 no problems, I just gotta give it to Sony this time
I knew a person who would buy games and return them after 7 days to get a complete refund (not sure if that policy is still around).
Did that with multiple games, several times.
I guess there are still benefits of an actual physical store that exist even on the cusp of this technological age. It would be assuming that anyone who is unfamiliar/uncomfortable/and doesn't trust the internet or digital codes and keys would still like to visit a physical store for the transactions of goods and services.
Plus shoppers could be Australia's aging population buying games and gifts for the younger generation (children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews etc.) who would be willing to pay a premium (for the service, guarantee that the item purchased is what it is, that it will work, that it is the right game, that you can ask the attendant for help picking titles for a specific console, or ask attendant what would be a good gift for X, W, Z etc.).
My 2c cause I thought it was an interesting question
My ex boyfriend attended some 'how to make a computer game' or some other social club event program at one of them.
I'm 99% sure it was EB.
They would make money there too.
All good points.
I guess since most AAA titles have flopped in the last couple of years hasn't helped as well.
Otherwise they could have be doing well with pre orders and day 1 releases…
Ive got a mate who used to pre order all of his games and he keeps all of his disc/collection spot free :)
They trade games too. You bring in a game, they give you $2 credit, turn around and resell that game for $12. Same for consoles. I know it maybe hard to believe but some kids somewhere have a room full of games that is worth $20 credit.
I'm pretty sure my family single handledly funds our EB Games with Skylander and Disney Infinity purchases, not to mention used Xbox games ;-)
plenty people buy from EB games because you know the game u want will be in stock (chances are better than any other store)
rather than having to risk wasting your time by going to a store with no stock or having to call around etc
And what about those shops that pretty much just exclusively sell phone cases or plastic jewellery? People always suggest tax breaks, money laundering and investor visas but is anyone actually in the know.
Add to the list nearly every single shop on Parrammatta Rd. Surely they can't all be money laundering operations :)
Those plastic things cost like 10 cents in China and are sold here for $10+.
So if they get a lot of volume/sales, then it would be alright.
But it doesn't seem like it….
It's a way to gain pr into this country on a "business" visa. One of which requires buying a business with $x turnover per year. Yes , turnover. Not profit . Another requirement of the visa is hiring x amount of full time staff. Therefore for the overseas intent on buying their way into Australia they just need to set up shop , get the customers in , and hire staff, whether they make profit or not is not the primary goal. Oh and another requirement is also buying assets in Australia (real estate). You can only imagine how many billions of dollars are floating into this country by these types of visa requirements and what is propping up the economy and inflating real estate prices .
Explains why the property market has been shooting the roof!
Why don't the government put a stop or limit to foreign investments?
I believe that other countries have it?
https://www.immi.gov.au/visas/Pages/188.aspx
These are the latest requirements.
Similar to previous visa requirements except I believe the government has upped the ante
With regards to the government putting a stop to this, well they have a huge deficit to make up for and it all boils down to $$$
Yup, it really does boil down to money.
It is all about finding the sweet spot between the price/profit, number of immigrants and number of voters angered. It will probably never go away.
We have one of these massage parlours popped up in our local shopping centre, and every time I am in the centre which is a couple of times a day for business there is never any clients there
The word on the street is they got a small business grant of 100k and are claiming it as wages and when it runs out back on centrelink new Start until they get another small business grant
How do you get a 100K small business grant?
I want one :-)
Yes what is this "Grant"? we would all get one if it was that simple.
I have been told that these places don't need to turn a huge profit just a small one like $10k, then imagine if you own ten of those across town…
Also, I don't know about other places but the one I frequent is always busy, the customers are mostly Europeans, both male and female, they pay with their private health cover plus cash (i.e. gap).
Is it by chance the ad on this page says 'meet 100000 asian women?'
My wife is a booker keeper for one of the largest chains. Cheap "contracted" labour, and people that have health insurance are regular customers.