Amazon’s arrival is good news for consumers. And, while the launch prices aren’t as amazing as we hoped, there are still plenty of good deals out there for us to take advantage of. If you’re looking for a new smartphone, tablet or fitness tracker, here are some good deals we’ve spotted.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/12/amazon-australia-launch-most-of-the-prices-suck/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/Amazon-2-410×231.jpg” title=”Amazon Australia Launch: A Lot Of The Prices Suck” excerpt=”This morning, Amazon finally launched its online shopping portal in Australia, putting an end to months of wild speculation and shopper anticipation. Unfortunately, the prices we’re seeing aren’t nearly as revolutionary as we were hoping. In fact, some of them are downright terrible.”]
The key to getting the best deal on Amazon is to balance price, delivery fees and delivery times. What may look like a bargain on Amazon can still cost more than you expect once shipping is added. (On the plus side, purchases over $50 come with free shipping as standard.) Or, you can order something only to find you need for instant gratification is crushed by a long delivery time.
But with that in mind, here are some of the best tech deals I’ve spotted.
Google Pixel 2: The local street price is around $1550. On Amazon, you can save almost $200 on the same device with free delivery.
iPad Mini: The iPad mini on Amazon is going for $539, a $40 saving over Apple’s price and that includes delivery. Interestingly, this item is being sold by Kogan for the same price once you add delivery (at least to my Melbourne metropolitan postcode) showing that retailers can use Amazon as an extra channel, rather than seeing it purely as a competitor.
Computers: Amazon’s range here is really thin at the moment and finding comparable models with other retailers is tricky. For now, it looks like there aren’t any great deals out there but we’ll keep looking.
Even accessories like monitors aren’t well represented on Amazon’s store yet, suggesting the company might be missing one of their target demographics and may have rushed their “go live” in order to be here for Christmas.
Running watches: If you’re after a new running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 35 is a decent entry level device and Amazon has it for just $211 including shipping. That’s about $25 cheaper than most traditional retailers.
But if you’re looking for the more upmarket Forerunner 235 – Amazon is overpriced at the moment.
CPUs, graphics cards and RAM: There are some solid bargains if you’re looking to upgrade your PC. The ASUS AMD RX 550 RX550-2G card sells for just under $190 on Amazon compared to $215 to MSY, who, despite a couple of infringements with the ACCC, tend to be the cheapest parts place near my place.
It’s a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to processors. For example, the Intel Core i7-7700K is about $100 dearer on Amazon than I can find at other parts resellers. And the story looks to be similar with AMD power plants as well.
I suspect this is a sign of Amazon’s hasty entry and how local margins on parts are so tight that the overhead of integrating backend systems to Amazon could be more than many parts resellers can manage.
Memory paints a similar picture. For example, Intel Optane 32GB is about 10% dearer on Amazon than other retailers but I expect those gaps to narrow over time.
Lego: This is one of the products most likely to see some credit card love at my place. A quick scan of items such as the First Order Heavy Scout Walker suggests you can save a little over 10% compared to retailers like BigW. But BigW adds another $10 to the shipping making Amazon a better option.
And the Classic Medium Creative Brick Box (Set 10696) is a little cheaper on Amazon than Kmart who then add either $3 for Click and Collect, or $10 for metropolitan shipping, or up to $16 if you’re not in a metropolitan area.
This is a great example of how local retailers are messing up – by charging for you to pick up your own goods!
Naturally, this is just a small sampling of what’s available. Are there any great deals you’ve spotted? If you’ve tracked down a bargain, it would be great to share it with the rest of the Lifehacker family.
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