School Uniform Same Item but Different Price Based on School

Lnnishant on 01/02/2021 - 22:44
Last edited 01/02/2021 - 23:01 by 1 other user

Hi Everyone,

Keen to hear your thoughts on this "bargain". Not using names just yet.

Basically I had to change my son's school last minute. We had already bought uniforms(~$700) from a central store that supplies uniforms to other schools as well.

As I needed new uniforms for the new school, I found out they have the same supplier.

The supplier doesn't offer refunds, but I managed to get them to exchange the uniform. While organising the exchange, I found out that the same common navy pants is used by both schools, however there is a ~30% mark up between them. Meaning the supplier charges a lower amount for the same pants when the order is against the new school.

Now is this legal or have I found a bargain? Can they really have two different pricing depending on the school you go to?
Are school reimbursed by the supplier cause they have a monopoly and become an exclusive supplier?

Thanks for reading, keen to hear what you think should be done…or if anything could be done

• 

  cuteseal on 01/02/2021 - 22:51

  +5

  Hmm dodgy as. But probably the same as how brand names can put a tag on a plain white tee and charge hundreds more.

  Time to start OzUniformHacks…

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  morse on 01/02/2021 - 23:00

  +3

  Definitely an opportunity there for parents to share info and save.

  It may be that they negotiate the pricing with each school in order to get the rights to distribute the uniform and the school with the cheaper pants has done a better job of negotiating. It could also be related to scale, ie if one school has more students they are in a better position to negotiate pricing.

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  cuteseal on 01/02/2021 - 23:12

  +3

  I've done some googling to see if the manufacturers or suppliers list the school uniforms or if there's a like a database of uniform designs, but couldn't find anything. I'm sure it's in their best interests not to share that info to avoid precisely what the OP is questioning.

  But there were some sites that were listing basic patterns and designs - I suppose if your school is lucky enough to have plain or common patterns then you might be in luck by just googling "grey uniform trousers" for example and picking the closest match..

  I also found a few second hand online sites - these are the first few that came up on Google (in no particular order, and not vouching for their reliability).

  http://uniformshop.net.au/Schools.aspx
  http://www.uniformswapshop.com.au/categories.html
  https://www.schooluniformtrading.com.au/single-category/scho…
  http://www.oldschooltrading.com.au/buy/
  https://theuniformexchange.com.au/items/list/category/1/

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  GnarlyKnuckles on 02/02/2021 - 01:05

  +4

  Re:

  'Now is this legal or have I found a bargain?'

  Both are true (in a way). Under Australian law it is perfectly legal to charge different buyers different amounts for the exact same product—if specific circumstances/requirements are met (in the case you describe, they are). So that's a definite 'yes' for question 1. Re question 2, I don't think 'bargain' is an appropriate word to use. You have simply encountered something that has been rife in the Australian private school system for about 100 years—blatant and shameless profiteering thinly disguised as 'the cost of the required uniforms'. I am yet to encounter a single Australian private school (in Melbourne at least) that only charges parents twice (double) their cost of acquisition for the required school uniforms. Instead of that, all private schools I have encountered shamelessly and opportunistically profiteer by a much larger factor (3, 5, 10) … for reasons that are never explained, and seldom even discussed.

  It would be better for all concerned, and foster a more trusting/'good-faith-based' relationship between the parents and the schools if the schools only made a modest/reasonable profit on the sales of uniforms; and made up for the shortfall (once and forever more) that permanently ditching this farcical/artificial 'uniform-based economy' resulted in, by adjusting the yearly school fees.

  The current ludicrous pretense that it is justified to charge $50 or more for a basic school shirt (etc.) is transparently laughable, and there will come a point when parents demand that the costs of uniform items be at least vaguely reflective of the costs of their acquisition by the school.

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  thatonethere on 02/02/2021 - 06:46

  +1

  Probably found a good hack. Let the other parents know!

• 

  Danstar on 02/02/2021 - 06:47

  To my knowledge, schools make a profit from uniform sales…So I'm also assuming, if it costs more from one school to the other, it is because one school wants to make more profit from parents / caregivers

  • 

    nakahanap on 02/02/2021 - 07:43

    +1

    If the school does the selling on-site they have complete control of this. I’m guessing that schools who feel their community can afford it view it as an easy way to make some money to pay for their programs. Otherwise their negotiation skills suck. Or the order has minimum order numbers per size that are annoying.

    Personally I like how some schools specify a colour and allow families to hunt out their own because how fast (and unexpectedly at times) kids grow.

    I’d let someone (parent) at your previous school know. Up to them if they follow up.

• 

  stringbean402 on 02/02/2021 - 07:50

  +1

  In Queensland schools (including State schools) license the logo to selected manufacturers.

  This could well explain the cost difference if one school is charging a much larger licensing fee .

  https://ppr.qed.qld.gov.au/education/management/Procedure%20…
  Licence the school logo to manufacturers to reproduce the school logo for the purpose of manufacturing
  school uniforms, and maintain all licences on record.

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  pjetson on 02/02/2021 - 09:29

  +2

  Is this legal?

  It's how capitalism works.

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  GrueHunter on 02/02/2021 - 09:40

  +1

  It's called price discrimination, and as a business practice it's old, widespread, and legal. The Productivity Commission observed back in 2011 that it's "…sustained through sufficient demand from consumers, lack of competitive rivals, and the ability for market and/or consumer segments to be kept separate". (They were talking about international price discrimination, but the same thing happens in local markets.)

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  pharkurnell on 02/02/2021 - 09:55

  is it legal? why wouldnt it be?