Would you pay slightly more for Australian built
appliances. I’m talking about dishwashers, fridges, freezers and TVs etc.
And if not, why not?
Would You Pay More for Australian Made Appliances?
Iwantthebestprice on 04/08/2023 - 23:29
Last edited 04/08/2023 - 23:29
Last edited 04/08/2023 - 23:29
Poll Options
- 183Yes
- 376No
- 113Australia makes stuff?
- 5Vegemite
Comments
Would you pay more for Australian made appliances?
We should, as it keeps jobs in Australia.
There will be a time that nothing is made here and not enough service/office jobs to go around.
We should, as it keeps jobs in Australia.
So does playing to our competitive strengths and leveraging those through global trade.
Manufacturing isn't one of those strengths.
There will be a time that nothing is made here and not enough service/office jobs to go around.
There aren't enough jobs to go around now. What's your solution? Government creates a bunch of inefficient manufacturing jobs to make stuff that's already better made more cheaply elsewhere? Do we use a swathe of protectionist measures to force people to buy said stuff, or erode their wages to make it more attractive to overseas buyers but we can't afford it ourselves? If you're going that far back in time you might as well argue for subsidised wool stockpiles, a paid holiday to Blighty every ten years and a return to the gold standard.
Manufacturing isn't one of those strengths.
We make products here, people just are not willing to pay extra for them. We make ovens/stoves/fridges etc.
There aren't enough jobs to go around now. What's your solution?
Oh well just give up then and hope you have a job hey ;)
Wouldn't want to pay a few dollars extra to save some aussie jobs.
We make products here, people just are not willing to pay extra for them. We make ovens/stoves/fridges etc.
We make some stoves. The only fridges made in OZ are EvaKool chest fridges that are for the back of 4X4s. They also do a couple of upright 95 and 110 litre type.
people just are not willing to pay extra for them
This seems to get thrown around to make everyone look like cheapskates.
People are willing to pay for competitive products ie good products at reasonable price. Whether we can make competitive products or not comes down to our own competence as manufacturers, not the 'people'.
Historically, we are shit at manufacturing with some exceptions.
This seems to get thrown around to make everyone look like cheapskates.
Have you looked at the poll results? People have voted, they are cheap.
People are willing to pay for competitive products ie good products at reasonable price
People are cheap when buying food too, they pick overseas tinned tomatoes instead of locally grown ones to save money. So I don't think they are willing to pay for competitive products.
@JimmyF: How do you explain Dyson products in Australia?
they pick overseas tinned tomatoes instead of locally grown ones to save money
Just a wild guess but arent the recipes asking for tomatos from Italian brands, and it is difficult to find such home grown tomatos in Australia?
How do you explain Dyson products in Australia?
In what way?
Just a wild guess but arent the recipes asking for tomatos from Italian brands, and it is difficult to find such home grown tomatos in Australia?
Australian grown tinned tomatoes are on the shelf in all supermarkets. Most recipes call for canned tomatoes.
My point was, people select the cheapest tinned tomatoes, rather than paying slightly extra for locally grown ones giving aussies a job.
@JimmyF: And they wouldn't believe you if you told them that the Italian brands are the shit quality that they wouldn't sell to Italians.
It only make sense if the whole chain of supplies comes Australia. No point buying Aussie made (assembled) when a large proportion of the materials comes from another country.
I wouldn’t pay more unless the product had certain features that I wanted and no competitor could reverse engineer. That’s why I’m on OzBargain. Over time my patriotism for this county has waned, I’ll let other people be patriotic.
it would be Australian assembled as everything else would be sourced from overseas
This boat sailed 40+ years ago.
I think it would depend entirely on the product and what the difference in price is. If I'm buying a fridge that LG is selling for $1,000 then I'd consider paying $1,200 for an Australian made brand, but I won't be paying $1,500.
Also, at the risk of being downvoted, I think there's a lot of Asians on this forum that don't necessarily care about Australian made products and the Australian manufacturing industry etc which won't skew your poll results.
Lol, do you think non-Asian Australians care more about products being made in Australia?
There's a lot of Australians on this forum that don't care about Australian made products.
My friends in China don't see chinese products as prestigious and would try to buy western where possible. Come to Australia and you look at Kmart etc and all of a sudden it's all about the bottom dollar even my asian mates would happily buy chinese. Hell i'd buy a chinese car.
I purchase the better product
Lots of variables…
but If it was genuinely 1970s style 100% made in Australia, not just assembled in AU, and the same bullet proof quality we used to have back then. - then yes.
When they make a bread toaster that can toast evenly, I'd pay for it no questions asked. I wouldn't care if it was made in Australia or Antarctica.
You can reword the question to: How many percentage should we charge for nationalism fee?
A better product costs more, but place of manufacture does not always dictate this. Apple products are the prime example.
I did
One of the last Aussie made Kelvinator fridges about 7 years ago. I believe in supporting the local industry. Harder these days.Nothing against buying overseas goods, ie car is German made. Phone is Malaysian made camera is Japanese made and most other things are PRC but I try to give as much money to local industries if I can afford it.
Edit: I probably wouldn't buy and Aussie made car…my old man had many Holden's and they all had their foibles…but a Japanese Camry made in Australia was fine.
Electrolux fridge
No, i know how to fix broken appliances 🤭
Haha, because our products were really cutting edge, reliable machines….
I think our manufacturing industry died with Holden and Ford. Even Westinghouse, Fisher and Paykel make the majority of their products offshore.
It's Australia, we specialise in digging holes in the ground, exporting dirt, dumping our life savings into overpriced houses and complaining about our biggest trading partner (China).
China knows they have most manufacturing wrapped up, India's going to fill the hole next.No, because I work with Aussies, and we like to cut corners, take the easy route. I just don't think we have what it takes to manufacture quality goods in this country.
Do you think quality control laws made people take the "easy route"?
Like unit these days are made out of cardboard and my mate who works in construction stated the material, quality and audits on new dwellings lacks. There needs to be stricter laws and audits for new dwellings to not only comply with law but also the workmanship is professional. If a business can cut corners they will.
Repairable and reliable then yes. If it’s mass produced, planned obsolescence crap, no I’d be paying a premium for no reason.
'Australian made' or 'built' is mostly an economic impossibility now, right? How could we ever be competitive? Even if you add a measure of 'patriotic loyalty'.
We cant be a country with such clean air and high wealth/quality of living and sustain a manufacturing industry.Australia is collapsing under its own weight. Plumbers making more than Engineers. Digging of dirt and sending it and not even processing it. Just flipping houses,importing migrants for anything and everything and selling Education and Tourism. Lets see how long it lasts before everything collapses.
An excellent summary of Australia in the 21st century. I'm glad there are other people who share my pessimism and skepticism.
Personally I support whoever makes the best quality for the right price. If that is Australian then great, otherwise I don't care where it is from, would rather support whoever does the best job.
I want quality products irrespective of which country its made in.Fed up of crappy China made stuff. If China made good quality stuff and stopped threatening everybody,I would have no issues with them.
China do make some of the best quality stuff (as well as some of the worst). Basically China make stuff to whatever level is requested of the various manufacturers their.
Going to have to agree with @gromit.
iPhones, macbooks and Teslas are made in China, they can produce quality, we just don't want to pay for it.
Where's the fuсk no option?
I'd pay more yes. But I'd feel we no longer have the skills to produce great electronics.
I'd go for made in jp/kr now, since China is threatening everybody, a lot of Asian countries have pulled factories back home.
The Camry is one appliance that we used to make here but now pay more for the imported version.
imported version is cheaper (inflation adjusted) and we paid a LOT more when made here through indirect subsidies.
nope, sorry but the truth is that the Australian made Camry was cheaper
Whenever a company says Australian made I run away.
I actively avoid most things claiming "made in Australia", usually the term translates to overpriced and poorly iterated junk.
made in Australia these days is exclusive for souvenirs
no because those materials are most likely imported from elsewhere so technically they're not "Australian Made"
The funny thing is this, canva the latest AI craze tool that's a substitute for Adobe, is a Sydney company that's even taking it to the big guys, as Aussies can make Australian products.
Then we have divincivi resolve a Melbourne company as big as DJI or weta work studios is Australian made company where everyone buys from. Let's all agree coal is our largest exporter and close the thread
Your free to search these facts up, the the point is it's stil expensive gear and subscription compared to the USA.
You can tell who is young in thread. Australian did make many appliances, but couldn’t compete on price and shipped their own manufacturing overseas.
Would I pay extra? If the quality/longevity is the same, yeah I’d pay slightly more to keep Aussie workers in jobs.
We didn't like paying more for poorer quality Australian assembled/manufactured products 15 years ago. No different now.
We have full employment in Australia. Where would we find the thousands of workers required to staff factories building appliances?
Should all be automated in this day and age, it's not like they would be setting up a car assembly line from British Leyland's heyday.
import more migrants. migration is always the solution for Australian politics
I recently had a customer didn't want to anything to do with China, ask me every item he is buying are they made in China. In the end he brought Westinghouse, LG, iPhone and Breville brand products. Guess which one isn't made in China or has no Chinese made components in it?
0!
I had a few customers like that aswell. No reasoning with them.
I had a guy debate iPhone's are made in USA and I'm like… No they're designed there.
The worst kind are the ones wants iPhone quality but only willing to pay Xiaomi prices and later they say the quality is not good.
I now always tells them you get what you paid for.
True, but appliances such as washing machines, ovens and etc are made better in Germany. Not sure why they can't make the products the same in China, but the German made appliances are built better and built to last longer.
The people who claim they never buy anything from "ccpland" are usually the ones surrounded by things that are and have no clue. Even if it's built somewhere else, every component would have been manufactured in China.
Impossible to avoid.
If I remember correctly the 80s was the the decade Aussie made was in decline and this was the slogan to pay extra for better made….
I know a few companies that went under due to this and not small companies as well. It's a bloody shame that it went down this path.
I bought "Australian-made" plantation shutters thinking I'd get it faster and at a good quality from their plant in Castle Hill NSW, but it was the total opposite. Poorly made, inconsistent quality, installer couldn't even fit them on properly and I had to send them back to be adjusted (and they damaged all of them in the moving return process). Would not do again.
If you think China makes low quality stuff, you're an idiot. Goods are manufactured according to specifications from whoever ordered it. Blame the manufacturer for ordering corners to be cut, and yourself for buying it.
i recall someone on another forum did the same, had massive issues and did some research and found that the shop front was indeed in Australia BUT bulk manufacturing was in china, he/she had a nightmare of an issue with everything to the point of a complete refund from store and he went at it on his own and saved a fortune and got the shutters done 100% and self installation.
pretty bad when it comes to this.
If you think China makes low quality stuff, you're an idiot.
There are many manufactures of after market motor vehicle parts in China, 99% are crap. The rest are not much better.
Many many years ago ARB designed and built an air operated diff lock for many different brands of 4WD's. Of course it didn't take long for the Chinese to see a huge world wide market for it. Yep, they copied the ARB design and built their own right down to the ARB colour on the pump. They are complete crap.
Australia made with tax subsidies funded by my taxes. Used to employ immigrant and uneducated labourers who create an unsustainable business model.
Capitalism means work goes to the lowest cost labour. Unless I or someone else wants to work for asian wages for greater cause then I do not care who makes my things provided I can afford them and they are willing to make such things at a reasonable price without create a tax burden on me and others in society surviving on 2-3 percent payrises.
It's a broken system unless we decide to use our resource wealth to subsidise other industries and not import advanced legos (cars) and pretend we make things in Australia.
We should think about vertical integration using our resources to make things. Keep cheap energy to fund and subsidise manufacturing and people's homes.
And if not, why not?
I look at few things when I buy stuff (context of home appliances) .
price fits the budget
after sales service and support
reliability and track record
Are they compliant with standards hereWhere it’s made is irrelevant. I wudn’t spend extra $ just because it’s made in x,y or z country.
It's hard to employ people that want to work on manufacturing lines in Australia because they earn better mining, and trades. So as patriotic as it may be, it's hard to execute given the disgrace of the departure of our Auto industry.
Not exactly hard to employ people in blue collar menial work if they are compensated fairly
There are plenty of things made in Australia if you look ,
Think engineering and industrial estates .
Off hand :- the Dingo (Dalby/QLD) , Kanga (Yatala/Logan),
Superaxe (VIC).
Century batteries (Wacol/Bris)
Red Earth Solar Batteries (Darra/Brissy)
Caravans ,trailers , 4wd accessories .
Plenty of factories out thereDo bhp still make roofing iron here ?
Obviously these aren’t small appliances ,
but everyone else got off track talking about cars ect'the Dingo (Dalby/QLD)' ? I bin there once, thought to go back, but dingo … ;)
is that Margot Robbie (Barbie girl from Dalby) on the back ? - https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipPUNWX0fLpUMSGLYqGI…
+++ bin dreamin +++
Yes, I would pay more for Aussie products and avoid giving my money to china to fund their global war agenda. China is making so much money by being the manufacturer of the world. Now they are building so many war capabilities and causing problems for everyone.
I would prefer to buy things that are NOT made in china.
good luck with that… impossible
You can buy things made in the PRC instead , I hear good things ,
and it’s totally not the same country .anything that for the people(s) surely must be good, right?….right?
From a price perspective, any product made in Australia would be what you buy now plus an extra minimum 50% increase. More expensive items like electronics would probably cost at least 100% more. Life for low/middle income earners prior to 90s were bad in US/AUS for a reason. Trade unions existed but weren't really effective, cheapest TV's and computers would probably be around $2000-3000 using 1970s prices, cars would be a luxury and so on.
Thought 5% inflation was bad? This would be an instant recession for a few years.
What are you talking about ? Interest rates were 15%+ and life was good .
We all just went surfing for a few years and lived on banana milkshakes .
A lot of the manufacturing jobs will move out of China in the next 10-15 years as China will become a high income country. Once a avg Chinese person starts earning usd$20K+ which might be less than 10 years away, Vietnam, Mexico, Turkey, India, Bangladesh etc would be a lot more attractive . And it won't be a bad thing for China as that is required for them to keep moving up on GDP/capita list.
I remember hearing Gerry Harvey was the reason for the death of white goods manufacturing in this country, when he decided to start importing products from overseas.
And then tells people they're un-Australian if they don't buy Australian made.I remember everyone owning kelvinator and Westinghouse products growing up. Good quality and were built to last too.
un-Australian if they don't buy Australian made.
*Australian sold (specifically by him). Gerry couldn't care less where they come from, as long as he gets a cut.
We dont make shite, how would I trust the quality of stuff made here?
Only if they have a reputation of quality.
Economies of scale can contribute to being able to make higher quality products for cheaper, but these days I rarely if ever see any appliances that are locally made, so they'd have to establish that reputation first.
I don't think I'd want to pay more for a worse product.
assuming equivalent quality, i generally am happy to pay a 25-50% premium on stuff to get it from australia or another country with labour laws i can trust.
you mean Autsralian "assembled" appliances
Depends on the quality vs price like anything else.
yeh nah mate
All else being equal, I would buy Australian.
if domestic is more expensive than imports then something else is wrong
wrong? you mean like increased labour costs, higher local taxes, increased costs from not manufacturing at the same scale and being to far from other markets to be viable for most products or wrong like many of the parts have to be imported and assembled here anyway. Australia for pretty much all electronics, cars and appliances is pretty much guaranteed to be more expensive to manufacture locally.
Yep certainly would and have. My oven and fridge are Australian made.
really? are you sure?
- heating elements made in Australia?
- compressor for the fridge made in Australia?
- wiring, conductors, chip boards, switches and knobs made in Australia?
- plastic and rubber made in Australia?
your appliances are assembled in Australia at best, by components and materials sourced all over the world.
he may have very very old Oven and fridge. even then though a few of the parts were probably imported.
I will disassemble them and let you know.
no need, basically if it is anything made in the last decade or so they will be more Australian assembled rather than made.
@Brick Tamland: yep, that doesn't mean much. As mentioned if it is recent purchase it would have been little more than assembled here.
@gromit: You can only do so much to try and buy Australian made. I am not really fussed if some parts are imported. Today there is nothing made in Australia. I’ve always been happy to pay a bit extra to support Australian business.
Yes as long as it's not from the very unAustralian Gerry Harvey
The general consumer is way too addicted to cheap stuff, that the era of cheap chinese manufacturing brought in.
Just look at all the japanese powerhouses that either went out of business or got sold in name to chinese companies.
At this point, Australia is so behind in manufacturing that it's mostly a dream. Plus, the Australian market isn't large enough to justify manufacturing white goods that people buy every 10 years or so
This is the wrong place to ask the question. It does not matter whether Australian would buy Australian Made Appliances or not. Our market is tiny compared to the world. In order to survive and be competitive, any Australian appliance manufacturer must be able to reach a significant market world wide. Would other countries pay more for Australian made appliances? I would very much doubt so.
If the product was built with the ethos of Mark Henry's Solidteknics company that makes multigenerational cookware from iron, then there would be markets. Henry is a savvy marketer too, but the point remains, building things to last should be how things are made, but the bankers, corporations & governments have the aim of extracting wealth by focusing on competition & planned obsolescence & global outsourcing. It's one giant con, a race to the bottom, but people bought it (literally) because they were given the opportunity to buy cheap goods.
Is solidteknics profitable? But yes that's an example of an Australian origin product that has overseas market. It has a differentiating perk though: one piece seamless cookware. Not much competition in that regard.
I mean its a great product, but a Lodge is a shitload cheaper and is likely to also last my lifetime.
@havabeer: Lodge has a few different types at different price points. Their Blacklock series is comparable or even more expensive in price to Solidteknics, at least here in Australia.
Solidteknics is lighter to handle, as it's mainly wrought iron rather than cast.
People's obsession with a nation having a manufacturing base as a source of national pride is a bit unfounded. De-industrialisation is actually a sign of an advanced economy. If Australia goes back to building fridges and other low value appliances we would just be a more expensive version of China unless the quality was significantly better or it was sufficiently innovative. If we opened a cutting edge semiconductor foundry or precision steel mill now that's another story, but pretty much every nation around us has got the jump on us in those industries.
That's not the case and one of the reasons why Toyota eventually ceased manufacturing here.
Toyota themselves stated that Australian-built vehicles were not suitable for export to most overseas markets due to persistent quality-control issues and lower reliability over time compared to JDM/USDM vehicles and as such, their extremely limited target market made them sell at a loss, further contributing to Toyota's decision to pull of Australian manufacturing. The well-known cabin noises/rattling and poor interior trim quality on Australian-made Toyotas was a common complaint.