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This doesn't correlate. Companies selling dodgy products in Australia will get more returns and the costs will be higher, and those dodgy products will disappe

by heretoo 10y ago

This doesn't correlate. Companies selling dodgy products in Australia will get more returns and the costs will be higher, and those dodgy products will disappear, for both reasons. Companies selling non-dodgy products in Australia reduce these costs, because they are free from defects so not returnable. It costs them nothing extra when they sell a product that works as advertised.

marcoperaza 10y ago
Your automatic extended warranty on all products is not free. iPhones have a one year warranty in the US unless you buy the extended warranty. In Australia, you get that extra warranty period for "free", i.e. baked into the price. There is no free lunch.
- cmdkeen 10y ago
  Extended warranties are a massive profit source, hence why salespeople are pushed so heavily to upsell them. It is not the case that the $X charged for the warranty is the amount the price would need to rise by if the warranty had to be included. We're talking about reducing the opportunity for extra profit being removed, not about costs being added on.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- ralfn 10y ago
  Same in Europe. 2 years. But the purpose of this is to prevent a throw away consumer culture for electronics. This has been a societal response to the economic cheat of planned obsolence. It should be econonically cheaper if we make and buy stuff that lasts a little longer. A more interesting question is: why is the free (unregulated) market not capable of establishing this economic optimum itself? But like plastic cups and plates: washing metal ones is cheaper yet the invisible hand doesnt pick this option. It may have something to do with product prices not representing actual costs. If you could pay your dishwashers the same as you could pay the chinese factory workers it would work itself out just fine. Ps. The planned obselence was a post war strategy that we should have left behind by now.

by heretoo 10y ago

marcoperaza 10y ago

Your automatic extended warranty on all products is not free. iPhones have a one year warranty in the US unless you buy the extended warranty. In Australia, you get that extra warranty period for "free", i.e. baked into the price. There is no free lunch.

cmdkeen 10y ago
Extended warranties are a massive profit source, hence why salespeople are pushed so heavily to upsell them. It is not the case that the $X charged for the warranty is the amount the price would need to rise by if the warranty had to be included. We're talking about reducing the opportunity for extra profit being removed, not about costs being added on.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
ralfn 10y ago
Same in Europe. 2 years. But the purpose of this is to prevent a throw away consumer culture for electronics. This has been a societal response to the economic cheat of planned obsolence. It should be econonically cheaper if we make and buy stuff that lasts a little longer. A more interesting question is: why is the free (unregulated) market not capable of establishing this economic optimum itself? But like plastic cups and plates: washing metal ones is cheaper yet the invisible hand doesnt pick this option. It may have something to do with product prices not representing actual costs. If you could pay your dishwashers the same as you could pay the chinese factory workers it would work itself out just fine. Ps. The planned obselence was a post war strategy that we should have left behind by now.