There are growing calls for Australia's competition watchdog to conduct an inquiry into local apparel distributors who are preventing overseas suppliers from selling their products to Australian consumers on international websites or instructing them to increase their web prices.
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The calls come after The Age last week revealed that a growing number of Australian fashion importers and wholesalers are reaching agreements with international brands to lift prices or cease shipping here.
Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just yesterday urged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to ''have a closer look'' at the practice.
''With the growth in online shopping and these emerging uncompetitive practices, I think it's important that the ACCC remains vigilant in addressing these activities,'' she said. ''
Last month, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced a parliamentary inquiry into why Australians pay significantly more for software and music downloads, where transport costs cannot be the reason. Ms Just said the inquiry should be extended to the entire online retail sector.
Meanwhile, former ACCC commissioner Stephen King, a professor in economics at Monash University, said the practices described by The Age appear to contravene competition laws by way of price fixing or resale price maintenance. He said he would be surprised if the ACCC did not investigate.
The ACCC has refused to confirm whether it will look into the practices, despite saying they could ''raise concerns under competition provisions''.
In the meantime, however, Australian shoppers are finding new ways to get around the shipping bans.
Cosmo McIntyre, who runs FetchUSA.com.au which purchases products on behalf of consumers from overseas websites that don't ship to Australia, by using a US postal address and credit card, says business has increased 30 per cent this year. ''Consumers are smart, and so if all of a sudden they can't buy a particular product online because they have an Australian address, then they'll come to me,'' he says.
Carolina Tillett who runs freight-forwarding company Price USA, where shoppers can save up to 80 per cent on some items, says her orders have increased 100 per cent since a year ago. ''Once shoppers get used to such big savings on a product then they will find ways to keep getting them.''
For example, she says, when popular American sportswear site Eastbay stopped shipping some Nike products to Australia last year she saw a huge spike in demand for Nike shoes.
American iTunes cards, allowing Australians to download music and games from the American iTunes store for up to 50 per cent less, are popular, said Ms Tillett, as are gift cards from the American Amazon store.
''It means consumers can get new-release books sooner, as well as make significant savings on e-books,'' she said.
