I Refuse to Shop at Farmers Trading until They Change Their Ways

Related Stores

Farmers

• 

  Anarchy on 30/07/2021 - 14:30

  +11

  Not just Farmers, most NZ retailers are the same. And the majority of people still prefer going to a physical store and buy it there, so these retailers don't like cheapies.

  NZ overall is a lowly competitive and information asymmetry market, so these retailers can make higher margin by pricing higher. It applies to almost every industry here.

  For me, I only buy something locally when it is at a huge special price. THANKS, CHEAPIES! Anything under 25kg, I would buy from AU & US or ship directly from China.

  As a Chinese migrant here, I feel like I live and work in NZ but shop almost everything (except vegs and meat) outside NZ.

  If I need something soon, I would buy it from Amazon AU, cost of shipping is only a few dollars. If I can wait, I just buy them from China. Sea freight cost from China to Auckland is only 2-3NZD/KG. Yes, it is even cheaper compared to Auckland to Hamilton. I buy snacks (half price compared to what they are sold in Asian supermarkets here), electronics, branded clothes, and all sorts of stuff. Plus cheap shipping and 15% GST, I still manage to get them at 20-30% off on top of the NZ special price or 50% off on the NZ RRP.

  I have cousins living in Melbourne and Houston, either of them has to live a life like this. On the contrary, they often brought a lot of stuff back to their Chinese friends, like Alienware, Bose were sold cheap in the States.

  Do you know that most NZ brands sell goods cheaper in China compared to NZ itself? Anchor Milk Powder Standard Blue 1kg is $14.69 in Countdown today, my dad is drinking the same milk powder at an equivalent $13 NZD this morning. Chinese GST is 16%, NZ is 15%, and plus the cost of shipping, how ironic?

  • 

    paehc on 03/08/2021 - 13:51

    +2

    Out of curiosity, can I ask what other websites you recommend to buy things from? Thanks

    • 

      notmyname13 on 03/08/2021 - 15:06

      I'm in the same boat, please share some of the sites even if it's through DM. Thanx

      • 

        saxasianguy on 03/08/2021 - 15:30

        Most likely Taobao with shipping through Fenglin

        • 

          CheapThingsAreNice on 05/08/2021 - 20:08

          @saxasianguy: I use superbuy for taobao; a little expensive (although ive never bought small items, just some boutique PC cases) and around $140 for their service + shipping.

          I was happy enough, they have agents whose english varies

          • 

            saxasianguy on 05/08/2021 - 21:55

            @CheapThingsAreNice: Luckily I have a chinese bank account so can use Taobao

• 

  The Hound on 30/07/2021 - 13:34

  +4

  And their loyalty programme/card is worse than Flybuys lol.

• 

  moxpearl on 30/07/2021 - 12:22

  +1

  "Farmers have been doing these forever"

  Yes.

• 

  doggos2 on 31/07/2021 - 09:27

  +1

  I used to be a Farmers customer for years. They then started sending statements telling me I owed them $0 and charged me $1.50 each time for the privilege. When I contacted them they advised I could go to a lot of trouble to stop that happening. After hearing my response they promised to do it for me. When it became apparent they had done nothing and I got another one I cancelled everything with them and have never gone back. It has worked for me. I am curious to know how that works as a successful business model. It reminds me of Sky years ago, they had me for years paying huge dollars, best thing I ever did was cancel because of their terrible attitudes and practices, along with many other customers. Vote with your feet.

• 

  Drcspy on 03/08/2021 - 07:54

  +1

  Many retailers are the same now here. The 'High/Low' pricing model is bloody annoying. Retailers overprice things ridiculously and then put them 'On Sale' at prices that might be just maybe reasonable, (you can bet they're still making a profit though even at 70% markdowns). My wife works part time at Briscoes and she says that even when things are not 'on special' some people will buy at 'full price'. Crazy. She also worked at a clothing retailer for a while and said that they put about 1000% markup, (yes that's ONE THOUSAND percent), on most of the clothes they imported. That T-shirt you're paying $50 for, (if you're silly enough to do that - and some are), cost them about $5 LANDED in NZ.

  I must say I LOVE the web community of CC's !!!

  • 

    akrotohur on 03/08/2021 - 21:42

    Instant gratification is priceless to most consumers, they are happy to pay for that.

    • 

      Drcspy on 04/08/2021 - 07:51

      Some are.

• 

  bren on 03/08/2021 - 09:05

  +1

  The company I use to work for retailed a recognised brand for a RRP mark up of 30%.
  They then purchased exactly the same item, from the same factory in China, with their own sticker on it, landed here and marked up 60% and still sold it less than the price they could purchase the branded item.

• 

  akrotohur on 30/07/2021 - 15:52

  What is Farmers?

• 

  nevergofullretail on 31/07/2021 - 10:31

  I only buy the occasional clearance item from them these days. They are very similar to Briscoes where they are typically overpriced and the repeating sales bring them down to normal levels. I don't expect them to change anytime soon as they seem to convince enough people to buy from them during these sales. Their click and collect and delivery charges are way off point compared to the rest of the retailers. The only silver lining is if you buy many heavy items to be delivered it tends to be capped at $60 as long as you don't live too far away. Until people wise up they will continue to get business.