The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has started an inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing practices. Since majority of us are facing cost of living crisis, it will be good to have a say on the report.
Anyone can submit about their story and what they see happening.I believe that as Ozbargainer we have lots of stories to contribute.
https://pricegouginginquiry.actu.org.au/
Most Complained Sectors:
What is a post without a poll, here you go.
Just added
Should also be a * gestures vaguely at everything poll option *
I think some states already got tax on vacant properties and short-term rentals airbnb.
As for house prices , willing buyers willing sellers , Free market that will corrects itself ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wfigMAssxw
Though not quite a free market when we have government intervention with grants/subsidy/tax/immigration.
Our sister Canada's housing woes seem to bite now, whilst Australia house prices still continue to rise.
When you have 620,000 immigrants arriving in the last 12 months and all competing with locals for a rental property its not the landlord pushing up prices.
See here:
https://propertyupdate.com.au/property-news-headlines-foreca…
Rents are determined by market forces - i.e supply and demand
Go complain to your local Labor MP about this ridiculous super-charged immigration policy.
Of course this immigration policy is going to put a rocket under rents and this current Labor government is to blame.
Shhh…lots of vested interest wants massive immigration. EDU sector, Real state sector, Supermarket sector just to name a few. Throwing small group of renters down the drain is nothing compared to the benefits.
When I went into Coles lately they wanted $12 bucks for a roast chook, but just the other day it was $11. Some of you may call that a paltry complaint, but still.
Definitely a poultry complaint
To be fair it was $10 for years, I still cannot buy, prep, and cook a chicken to same standard for $12 so still a great buy. Can’t beat the bachelors handbag, 2L of Coke, 6 pack bread roll, and a pasta salad.
Indeed. I eat a whole lot more of the Coles chooks than I probably should. At one point I thought I'd mix it up a bit by trying the Woolies ones, but there's a distinct difference in the taste between them that I'm not a fan of (possibly a difference in the seasoning)?
In any case, I imagine I'll be consooming Coles roast chickens on the reg until I die, or until I get priced out of the 'luxury' that is meat-as-sustenance and have to start eating the bugs.
I agree the Woolies chickens taste funny.
I don’t mind the Costco ones.. I really feel the Costco ones are unnaturally large though.
@Jimothy Wongingtons: I've only bought the Costco ones a couple of times and both times felt like it needed another few minutes in there oven to be cooked a bit better.
A man of culture ❤️
Still $6.99 at Costco, and they are fatter and juicier.
With a hint of roids
I'm not seeing the problem
colesworth hides their hint of roids with antibiotics
Coles and Woolworths 800gm Coleslaw, pasta salad and potato salad (all without lettuce) went from $6.50 to $8.00 overnight.
Aldi only increased their price for exactly the same salads from $5.50 to $6.50.
Only problem with Aldi was they ran kept running out of stock as they have terrible logistics management.
Aldi have put the pressure and Coles and Woolworths to bring their back down again.
Now do I pay $8.00 for a salad that is in stock, or dream about getting one for $6.50 that isn't there
My post simply agrees with OPs suggestion of price gouging
In this case by Coles and Woolworths who are guilty of ramping up prices because of their market control.
And the fact that Aldi forced them to bring prices back down again.
telco to expensive
its nothing new…
Tradies…..
ACTU might look silly if enough people complain about trades
.
Tradies? You mean the tradie who rocked up on a $150k raptor to quote $20k for two days work is price gouging me?
Wow who can you trust these days
Don’t forget the quote fee of $1k.
4k to connect 2 pipes, 1k to lay 13 concrete blocks. One guy rocked up in a 350K + G wagon to give a quote for a concrete driveway
Sigh, I wish you were joking.
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has started an inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing practices.
Without even the slightest hint of irony?
Definitely no actu covered trade based industries out there making the most of 'price increases' to also add their own but if 'price gouging' or 'unfair pricing practices' on top, right?
We need another option Kettle Chilli Chips.
Will be riots in the streets if they hit $10 a bag.
More riots if they cut down the net weight as well.
Went to NZ in early September and they were NZD$2.50 for a 150g pack
Mind you these are now at a normal price of NZD$4.45 at Countdown (NZ Woolies)
need a servo poll
prices straight up on oil price rises
down very slowly on oil price drops
but im gunna hit airlines because #qantas
Need 7 11's all over Australia mate also
There is no price-gouging nor are there any unfair practices at all. That's what the final findings will be.
Nah, the findings will be Qantas, because they sacked all their union workers.
ACTU inquiry. The result is obvious: It's all the LNPs fault, keep voting Labour and Australia will blossom.
It's actually funny how much they charge for Chips and then you go to stores that sell short dated food and the those same chips are $1.
What makes you think they are making a major profit at $1?
They are buying bulk short dated products to soften the loss to the supermarkets.
My son used to work at the reject shop as a teenager and the margins were super thin on short dated products. They are virtually loss leaders to encourage you to purchase their other overpriced Chinese shite.
not sure if you actually go to stores with short dated chips, NQR, cheaper etc…
but they raised prices too, $1.5 -2 bucks now…
I don't see how discounting food that is about to go out-of-date says anything at all about the validity of the original price? It doesn't tell you what the profit margins are like as they aren't necessarily still selling them at a profit - it's not unusual for short dated food to be sold at a loss (they're just trying to recoup something and minimise the loss).
Where is the poll for CashBack
Yes, Boost SIM profit gouging practice, exclusively found on OZB.
Coles made $1B profit on $32B revenue. I don't know if that is "fair", but basic maths tells me if they cut that in half, it would make the average grocery bill only 1.6% lower.
I reckon all the people whinging about grocery prices are imaging a much higher margin. Thieves actually take far more than shareholders, but without adding any value.
Thank you.
Australians seem to have a problem with profit, I don't get it.
Coles made $1.1b and Woolies $2.6b, there's 26m Australians.
Lets say we made a law that Coles and Woolies are not allowed to make any money at all and must return that $2.7b over every living Australian.
We'd get ……$100 each.
Wow. Coles and Woolies have 'gouged' $100 from you and me.
While obviously I agree businesses are there to make a profit, your hypothetical is irrelevant.
I have a problem (and how could you not?) when our societies health, both now and in the future, is being severely damaged and forever changed due to diet changes. And that's what's occurring from price increases at the big supermarkets. As prices go up, people adjust what they buy, cheaper bread, more carbs, less protein, less fruit and veggies, less food overall etc. The increased cost of groceries and foodstuff changes our countries health and the future pressure on the health sector. I find it quite scary when I think about the ripple effect of it all over this generation and continued. Especially at a time when health insurance cost is also increasing and people are having to make tough choices and cancel their health ins.
but people do have choice.
supermarkets dominate the dry food ends of the market, butchers and fruiters etc are everywhere. There is literally one or more fruit/veg shop next to every supermarket im at, plus there are markets too.
So i find it hard to believe its all the supermarkets fault we're eating badly.
The onus is not on Coles and Woolies shareholders to feed Australian 'battlers' with healthy food.
You will find this demographic will lean towards bad lifestyle decisions whether food is cheaper or not.
I put it to you that it is on the individual to keep their income or lifestyle relevant to the market. If you want to maintain your lifestyle, increase your income accordingly. If you cannot, adjust your lifestyle.
@tsunamisurfer: The one caveat I'd add is that, given Australia's wealth, I don't think people should need to be adjusting their supermarket purchases in order to survive.
It's absolutely our reality that inequality is on the rise with no end in sight, so I fully agree that people need to be taking some basic personal responsibility instead of living outside their means and blaming the companies they choose to buy from. But I don't think it's acceptable that they're put in that situation in the first place (not that I'm saying you necessarily do!).
given Australia's wealth
I am so sick of this statement.
Yes the country is wealthy, but that does not mean everyone gets the wealth equally or automatically shares some of the wealth to the point where they are care free.
You have to work for it and be responsible with your money.
@tsunamisurfer: And I'm sick of people flat out lying to try and make their point sound better, but I have to put up with people like you…
@tsunamisurfer: You're lying about the argument given by people saying the phrase you're "so sick of".
"Everyone gets wealth equally" - I neither believe this, said this nor hinted this.
"Everyone automatically shares the wealth to the point where they are care free" - I neither believe this, said this nor hinted this.
I call it a lie because I think you're fully aware that people don't believe this. If you do genuinely think so, you're so ignorant and out of touch that your opinions on the topic would be meaningless.
This shows that the problem is food prices, not markup at the supermarket level. Blaming Coles when your bread has gone up due to the cost of raw materials, transport, energy at the bakery, etc. is just shooting the messenger.
1.1 + 2.6 = 2.7?
Typo = $1.6b
your pendulum has swung to the other side completely
profits are ok
profits which destroy lives ARE NOT OK (this includes all the side dishes like collusion, loopholes, lobbyists, wage theft etc)
I have been thinking about this recently and here is the key problem:
Let's say I buy a cow for $1,000, and butcher it and sell everything for $10,000.
I have made $10,000 revenue, and you'd think $9,000 of profit, but you'd be wrong.
Turns out I just used $8,500 to buy a new Auto-Butcher Machine and Super Secure Anti-Cow-Theft systems. Oh no, my profit is now only $500. Woe is me.
This is what Woolies and Coles are doing.
How do you think they're paying for shitloads of cameras and "AI" and all the tech? They have cash to splash.
It is in their best interest to reinvest before posting actual profits.
Nope. The super secure anti-cow theft system ensured they still had a cow to sell. So instead of a loss of $1000 they have a profit of 500.
The cash they are spending is to maintain a competitive edge over the competition. No listed business just spends money to reduce profit willingly every investment in a business is done in the hope of returning equity to the business.
You wouldn't invest in Coles/WW, if they don't make money right?
Most people don't know that they are shareholders of Coles and Woolies via their Super and profit from their success.
Yes but I have to eat today in addition to eating in 40 years time
Also nobody's super is (or at least should be) allocated 100% to Australian supermarkets.
I guess because gorceries are the most frequent purchase, the emotion of parting more money is far too often. E.g. groceries - at least once a week, energy bills - qtrly albeit Energy is a bigger share.
Yeah, but that's using actual research, intelligence, and insight.
Sounds too much like hard work compared to, "I'm being gouged and someone has to give me more money!!".
If people are struggling to buy groceries shouldn't the profit be going down ? the theory is that colesworth is increasing the profit by price gouging and not by selling more or reducing the cost.
May be I'm a commie but they wield too much power. The prices are set by them, not by the producer or even the free market.
Hate their (profanity) image recognition that thinks I'm a thief when I scan 2 of the same product quickly. Soon I will be stuck in the exit gate explaining that I did not steal sh!t. I'd want to see a lot more smaller grocery shops.
What is a post without a poll, here you go.
Missed an option…… All of the above!
Platinum membership has seen a number of price hikes in recent times. Surely web hosting prices haven't gone up that much. 😠
Tradies. Though fat chance they would look.at that, actu only ever target those they view as enemies.
What about an option for everything?
who cares? its the ACTU not a department that can actually do anything.
Yep not that it matters, none of those they "investigate" are answerable to the ACTU and the ACTU would never investigate any of there own who are some of the biggest offenders.
haha a union doing dodgy union stuff. shocked_pickachu.jpg
Realestate - sure
Rent - How? Besides the rents being adjusted as per interest rates and other expenses such as insurances I can’t recall seeing news on rent was called price gauged?
WARNING - BIT OF A RANT: The headlines of supermarkets making record profits and the barrage of complaints on here, reddit, Tiktok etc does not sit right with me if users were more educated about company financials, and were more fair when doing comparison shops.
E,g, 1 Woolworths FY23 had 64,293M revenue with a profit of 1,629M; yes 1.6billion is a large number but considering the revenue throughput that is only a 2.53% net profit for every dollar. If you were an investor and you had to put your money somewhere, I'd rather get 4.00%+ from a term deposit from my local bank, and possibly higher where I had access to the global brokers/ or if you treat it as an average that means that after sourcing the products, freighting it in, storing it, hiring low-skilled and lowly motivated staff, setting up the apps, lighting, paying taxes (some local traders may hide the cash under the table - remember the taxes pay for roads, nurses, teachers), etc etc they make a tiny profit.
E.g.2 Fair comparisons: TikTok users cry price-gouging where they selectively take Woolies Kettle-chips or boutique blend of teas and compare it to their local trader's apples or 1KG of instant coffee. Yes, some items like-for-like are cheaper and generally (depending on grocer) the produce is cheaper. Equally however I would find my weekly shop to be more expensive at a local for what I purchase. If you know items are cheaper, and you are able to do so, just shop elsewhere; no need to be a victim.
E.g.3 Possible point of privilege here but I do not find groceries an unfair expense. Using myself as an example of a 80KG man who eats more than most due to lifting, I could have 4 nights of dinner prepared with 2-hours of work at minimum wage.
Min-Wage VIC is $23.23 x 70% take-home (assumed 30% tax) then you've got $32.54 cash in hand for two hours of work. Four dinners are:
Beef mince 1KG (not reduced fat) $11.00, canned tomatoes 800g $4.60, red onion 1KG $3.90, frozen broccoli 500g $3.00, Washed potatoes 2KG $4.00 = $26.50 leaving $.6.04 remaining which could be the fats (less needed with beef mince), spices and herbs, more frozen veggies e.g. Carrots, Peas and Corn 1KG at 4.50.
I think you may be confusing revenue with market cap?
Woolworths has a $45b market value, to the shareholders are seeing 1.6/45 = 3.5% return on investment. That is low, but it means the price is factoring in future growth in revenue (in a rational economy).
Revenue is more relevant to the customer, as they want to know profit as a percentage of sales.
But profit is just the cost of capital, and much smaller than the costs for suppliers, wages and rent. It is naive to focus purely on capital costs, when efficiency and supply costs have far more impact on prices.
"it is naïve to focus purely on capital costs" correct hence I did not focus on it. The arguments are on price-gouging to the customer hence I looked at revenue and not market-cap or balance sheet.
The customer view is for every $1.00 we give Woolworths Group, they get to keep $0.0253. or 2.5 cents.
Source: Financial report Page 102 [53]: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/content/dam/wwg/investors…
I only brought in the investor storyline to show if I was an investor in the company, I'd be getting better returns from an Aussie bank; which goes against the outcries of an investment that gouging.
hence I did not focus on it.
Yes, we agree. I was just saying that in the specific instance of comparing investor profit to interest rates, you need to use share price, not revenue. Investor is getting 3.5% ROI, plus any capital gains. The 2.53% is apples/oranges.
Speaking of Apples, Apple makes around 25% profit, so $400 on a $1600 phone. More profit than the supermarkets make per customer in a year. So boycot Apple, I guess? :-)
Speaking of Apples, Apple makes around 25% profit, so $400 on a $1600 phone. More profit than the supermarkets make per customer in a year. So boycot Apple, I guess? :-)
If only that were true in Australia, Apple like most big multi nationals ensure their profit in Australia is tiny compared to revenue by using tax havens and profit shifting. they reported less than 3% profit in Australia and that was a massive increase from previous years.
Regarding 1 net profit and share price is irrelevant in this discussion because they are useless indicators of price gouging.
Woolworths posted a group sales increase of 5.7%.
It's entirely possible that Woolworths are price gouging and losing customers in the process.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/23/woolworths-…
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/content/dam/wwg/investors…
CPI for 2023 was 4.9% so sales adjusted only increased by .8%. Population growth was 2.2% so in reality their sales are pretty flat.
Sales is measured in dollars correct?
So tell me what happens when they increase prices and people buy less items due to these price increases or other things increasing like their mortgage repayments, rent etc.
Does group sales increase, decrease or stay the same?
@TightLikeThisx: If people buy less it stands to reason that sales will drop, however food is slightly different as it is not a discretionary purchase. What would likely be occurring is that people will tend to buy cheaper food items, so chicken instead of lamb or beef. Cheaper alternatives or the same food like past rice etc.
it is not a discretionary purchase
See. So it's possible that people are cutting back on expensive items or treats etc, buying cheaper brands etc but still spending the same amount per week due to the price increases.
add option - ATO
Well it's dependant on the economy unless you get rid of it and change the entire system.
maybe a controversial opinion - is it really price gouging when:
a. the price of everything else has gone up 10% in one month, and
b. increased prices has not slowed demand (people are willing to pay the new prices);
This is just how the system works.. if you're not increasing your prices (including demanding higher wages), you just end up falling behind.
The biggest factor enabling it all is the still comparatively low interest rates - if RBA &or govntmnt really cared about curbing inflation, interest rates would have continued to rise 50pts per month for another 3-4%.
Until then, this is the way..
Energy price hikes are ridiculous and needs to be dealt with
The steepest, and most unreasonable in my opinion, has been car insurance.
Same car, same house, same drivers, no accident history and the increase year on year was just over 50% with the same insurer. I shopped around and ended up getting it around 30% higher than previous.
IAG profits rose 37% last year, no surprise there.
Fuel costs under Servo? Or under transport or energy? Would have thought more people questioning fuel costs.
OMO laundry powder 2kg:
It was $20 last year,later $24, $26 beginning this year (covid tax) and now $29.
Even with Coles half price promo it's not worth.
And I don't think this is Colesworth increase, more like manufacturer.
Kangaroo mince:
@local butcher: $9/kg, no change since 2021
@colesworths: $11/kg during 2021, now $13/kg.
Strawberries 250g punnets:
@local grocer: $1
@colesworths: $2 (and a big sign saying it’s great value!)
It’s more where and how you shop. Vote with your money. Supermarkets are only good for sim starter packs at this stage lol It’s great too because my grocer doesn’t stock processed food either, so there’s no impulse buys.
Hired from Kennards Hire on the weekend, checked online and it said the equipment I wanted wasn’t available but to call, so I called, they said it was, it was X amount, I said sweet I’ll be there. Go in, pay, take it away. Leave and get the invoice and see I’ve paid for Equipment Waiver Plus for $25 to reduce the excess in the event of an incident. I was never advised of this charge or option. When I took the equipment back I questioned the worker on it and his response was we always include that, we only take it off if you specifically request to not have it and I said how I can request to not pay for it if I don’t know I’m being charged for it and his response was “I’ll let the boys know”
Never understand the complaintsabout Woolworth's profit on here? Is australia a communist country? Can't they make profit? Should they shut their business and all of their stores down?
What do you want? Lol.
Hall of shame:
Budget Direct - Home & Content insurance $900 -> $1500
Australia Post - comprehensive car insurance $515 -> $965
No changes in details between 2022 and renewal notice in 2023.
Everything is being price gouged I’d say
There should be a price cap for everything so people aren’t being destroyed by wanton greed
Where is the poll option for rental/ real estate sector