Episode 10: Where is it More Expensive?
I’ve really gone down a rabbit hole with the introduction of Amazon Australia into my shopping options. I’ve also recently had two kids’ birthdays to plan for, so this episode is a mashup of what I’ve run across birthday party planning and in Australia.
Lego Ghostbusters Ecto 1 set - This is a birthday present for my son who is having a Ghostbusters themed birthday party. It’s all about slime, hot dogs, and marshmallows. He’s very skilled with Legos and I’m hoping this set - with over 2,300 pieces - will get us a day or two of engagement from him.
NZ - ToyWorld and the Brick MegaStore both carry this set, with ToyWorld being less expensive at NZ$297.99 (or US$211.57)
Australia - Amazon doesn’t appear to have this item to ship to New Zealand on the Amazon Australia site. If you read my initial reaction post, you’ll know that there’s a lot missing from the Ozzie site.
US - Of course Amazon carries them for US$199.99+tax or US$216.49.
Advantage - New Zealand
Grocery store birthday cake - I’ve got a Ghostbuster’s theme cake ordered for my son’s birthday party, but for our family birthday celebration, I’m going the easy, grocery store cake route.
NZ - At our local New World, a 9 inch chocolate cake runs NZ$37.99 or US$19.87
US - I checked out our old local grocery store, HEB, and found a 10 inch cake for US$26.76 and an 8 inch version for $20.58.
Advantage - Hard to say as the cakes are different standard sizes. We’ll call it a tie.
Mousetrap - This game seems to be all the rage with the under 9 set, and even though it never seems to work quite right, we keep playing. And playing. And playing.
Amazon Australia - AU$20 + $5.45 shipping, or about NZ$27.23 - assuming you have no foreign transactions fees from your bank. With my bank’s 2% fee, that would end up at $27.77.
Amazon US - US$19.92 + $21.31 shipping + GST, or about NZ$66.78. Definitely not worth it.
NZ - the game is available a number of places for a wide variety of prices. Whitcoulls will charge you NZ$414.99 while Farmers charges a mere NZ$29.99
Advantage - Amazon Australia
Geronimo Stilton - Both kids are really into Geronimo and Thea Stilton books right now, and since grandparents like to gift things like books, I’ve been looking at the best places to purchase them. To try to make an apples to apples comparison, I’ve researched Geronimo Stilton, Happy Birthday Geronimo.
NZ - Whitcoulls carries this title for NZ$14.99. The Nile carries it for $12.99 with $3.90 shipping for a total of $16.19.
Book Depository - I’ve often used this site for books not available in New Zealand, but covid has slowed shipping down so much that is is painful. However, Book Depository has Geronimo Stilton for NZ$17.78
Amazon Australia - This title is available for AU$9.97 + $2.27 shipping, or about NZ$13.11, with a 2% foreign transaction fee, it would be NZ$13.37.
US - Carries this book for US$6.32 + $8.84 shipping + 15% GST, or about NZ$24.90.
Advantage: Amazon Australia
Laser Tag Party - Every eight year old party these days seems to be at one of the laser tag locations around Auckland. I couldn’t help but look up what the same type of party would cost in Austin. (Australia is out of the mix for this one.)
US - Blazer Tag has a ten person party package with two games and pizza for US$330, about NZ$471. You get a party room for two hours and some arcade tokens, too.
NZ - Megazone has a two game party package with pizza that goes for NZ$30 per person, so 10 people would make for a NZ$300 party. The party room is for one hour, though a second hour can be purchased for NZ$40 and party bags can be added for NZ$3 per person.
Advantage - New Zealand, even with paying for extras on top of the party fee.
