Episode 6: Where is it More Expensive?
It’s been a while since I’ve done a price comparison between the US and New Zealand. I was planning on stocking up on all of my favorite US things over the July school holidays when we were supposed to meeting some friends in Hawaii, but obviously that didn’t happen. Instead, I’ve been doing a lot of research on the best ways to get things in New Zealand and thinking about whether or not I really need these items after all.
Domestic Air Fare - Since we aren’t travelling overseas anytime soon, I’ve been looking into fun domestic trips for our family. We had a blast last year in Queenstown, so I think we might try to take a weekend ski trip in a few weeks once my son’s arm is completely healed. The distance from Auckland to Queenstown is about 324 miles. A comparable city for Austin would be travelling to Oklahoma City. Time of year and advanced purchasing can make a huge difference in flight costs, but here’s what I found for a month in advance for two adult and two kid roundtrip (or “return” as its known here) tickets:
Auckland to Queenstown: NZ$1695, or US$1084.80
Austin to Oklahoma City: US$1540
Advantage: New Zealand (especially since the US trip doesn’t include any checked bags!)
Paige Denim Black Skinny Jeans - I’m kicking myself for not purchasing these while I was in the US, but alas, here I am with an old pair of washed out black jeans that kicked the bucket as soon as we got back to New Zealand. There are several options to purchase these
David Jones at Westfield Newmarket - NZ$415, or about US$269.
Nordstrom Rack - US$79.97 + tax + shipping. This one gets complicated because there are two shipping charges as I’d need to go through YouShop to receive the pants. To get the pants from Nordstrom Rack to the US sales-tax-free address in Portland, I’ll have another $7.95 in shipping. (I’d get free shipping if I was over $89, so IRL I’d probably order $10 worth of something to get around paying for shipping.) So let’s say I have a US$90 order shipped for free and without tax to YouShop in Oregon. Once it gets to YouShop, I’ll get charged GST 15% (US$13.50) on the order plus an unknown amount for shipping. An educated guess is NZ$25, or about US$16.50 - and that assumes Nordstrom Rack sends everything in one package, not two, which would then result in either two shipping charges from YouShop or a consolidation fee. So all in, I’m looking at US$120-ish and a wait for 3-4 weeks.
Revolve - NZ$318.48 (includes GST and free shipping) or about US$213.38
Advantage: US
Valentino Rockstud Purse - I hesitate to put this item on the list because it is a total and complete (potential) splurge purchase. I joke that this would be my “end of the school year” present to myself for surviving our home schooling adventure during lockdown. This is also tricky because this item simply isn’t available in New Zealand. I have to order it online, but that’s where things get interesting.
Net-a-Porter NZ site: US$1255.39 (includes taxes, duties, and shipping)
Net-a-Porter US site: US$1595 (excluding sales tax, includes shipping)
I have no explanation for this other than I did some research, and for some unknown reasons, handbags have a 0% duty in New Zealand, though they are still subject to the 15% GST and NZ$51 MPI fees. Clothing and shoes ordered from overseas are subject to an additional 10% duty.
Advantage: New Zealand
Movie Tickets - Over the school holidays, I took my daughter to see the new Trolls movie. (Ok - it is new for us, I have no idea if it is new for New Zealand of the rest of the world. It’s probably been out forever, but I do not keep up with these things.) It wasn’t exactly a trip to Hawaii, but it got me thinking about the cost of your average movie experience.
Matinee, US - US$8.00
Evening, US - US$11.00
Matinee, NZ - NZ$15.50 or US$9.92
Evening, NZ - NZ$21.50 or US$13.76
Of course, in both places there are more “lux” movie experiences with reserved seating, food and drink, so the actual movie experience can vary wildly, but still
Advantage: US
Glow in the Dark Stars - This is a bit of a random purchase, but for the 100th day of school, my daughter decided she wanted a space theme, and wouldn’t it be cool if she could glow in the dark like a disco ball? Yes it would be cool, so off I set to find the best price on glow in the dark star stickers. Here’s the kicker. We needed 200 stars - 100 for her outfit and another 100 for her poster. (Naturally they needed to coordinate because when a five year old gets her mind set on something, we must all obey or suffer the wrath. And anyway, I thought it was a cute idea and was willing to go along with it.) Here’s what I found:
The Nile New Zealand - NZ$25.99 + $3.90 for 100 stars, or NZ$55.88 for 200 (about US$35.76)
Whitcoulls - NZ$9.99 for 60 stars, or $39.96 for 240 (about US$25.57)
US Amazon site - US$12.95 + $6.04 for shipping + $2.85 GST for 200 stars, or US$21.84
Advantage: US
It is fascinating to break things down and think long and hard about where I feel comfortable spending money. One of the things I love about New Zealand is that is makes me stop and think more about what I consume. In the US, it is so easy to get on the Amazon app and have something on my doorstep the next day. Here, it requires a lot more forethought, research, and planning to not pay a ridiculous sum for something that previously I took for granted. Sometimes I get frustrated, but more often than not I realize that life feels much less chaotic at this pace, and that’s a good thing.
