Birthday Gift Lists

If you are an online shopper and user of gift wish list, then no doubt you will be familiar with the online book store and retailer Amazon, which has achieved almost total dominance in e-commerce.

The company recently tightened its grip on the online book retailing space having acquired the UK based company The Book Depository. Recently the company acquired Canada’s Advanced Book Exchange which is now known as ABEbooks, and links thousands of independent online booksellers globally.

The Book Depository is very popular with Australian consumers, in large part because of the company’s offer to provide what it says is free shipping on its huge catalogue to Australia.

The promise of free shipping however is a little deceptive, since the company typically adjusts the price of the books to the country where the purchase will be sent to. Despite that, the price remains competitive, and shoppers will find that the cost of book delivered to them in Australia remains well below what would be paid at a local bookstore. Whether they can continue to do so under Amazon’s ownership remains to be seen.

Says Neill Denny, editor of the UK Bookseller magazine: “The publishing industry will be worried about the concentration of power in Amazon’s hands. They don’t like the stranglehold it has over online bookselling as it is.”

DoubleClick last week put all three Amazon properties — ABEbooks, Book Depository and Amazon.com — to the test, to see which could come up with the lowest price for a copy of Tim Winton’s Breath.

This title in an Australian bookstore will cost $24.95 for the paperback edition and $45 for the hardcover.

Amazon.com offered the paperback version for $5.41 plus shipping to an address in Sydney address bringing the paperback total to $15.51, whilst the hardback version including delivery costs $24.95.

Book Depository, with its “free” shipping, offered the paperback at $11.77, the hardback at $21.94.

On ABEbooks, 270 booksellers on three continents offered us new copies of the paperback ranging from $1 to $14, and the hardback for about $22.

Compared to the price in a local store the quotes are amazing, and it comes as no surprise that Australian bookstores have been fighting an uphill battle.

Online shopping is storming the world over, with the main advantage obviously that the shopper can do it from the comfort of their couch, and whenever they feel like it, since the internet is 24/7.

Websites tend to be updated daily, and with new products, and discount coupons. Shoppers can choose from a vast variety of products, and once and item is selected simply add it to your digital cart, and the payment is made using a credit card, with the good dispatched to the address given.

Shopping online, lets you browse an endless variety of products, with some websites allowing you to make use of discount coupons, which can be redeemed when you purchase the item or on your next purchase.

If you like shopping over the internet, why not set up an birthday wishlist on a tool like boxedup.com. Its completely free, and you can save any item you see online to your wishlist with a single click, allowing you quick access to the item at a later date. Even better still, you can share your

The so called deflationary spiral that seems to be affecting major Australia retailers does not seem to have been helped by the lackluster start to the sale season.
According to analysts the pervasive culture of discount followed by counter discount was riving shoppers away at a critical time, when retailers should be fortifying their bottom line.

Retailers such as David Jones and Myer have slashed their prices by as much as 50 per cent as they seek to attract customers who are increasingly becoming frugal against a backdrop that some are calling the worst sales environment in 20 years.

This week Myer said that the current sale season has not provided any relief from the horror that the last nine months have been. “What we’ve seen is disappointing, but in line with what we were expecting,” Myer spokeswoman Jo Lynch said.

“We expected a slightly disappointing stocktake as consumers continue to save, but the whole industry is experiencing a period of subdued spending.”

Edward Butler, a retail analyst with IBISWorld says that consumers no longer operate under the belief that the traditional sale season is the best time to find cheap deals

“Consumers find it hard to believe in sales. The idea of a special – it is oxymoronic. Not only that, but discounts that looked generous in the past don’t look so much now. A 10 per cent discount today has very little impact,” Mr. Butler said.

Margy Osmond chief executive Australian National Retailers Association says it is still far to early to ascertain whether retailers will benefit from any bounce.

“There may be a lack of people moving through the stores. There were a lot of people out and about at Christmas, but they weren’t buying.”

If you are one of prefer getting good deals shopping online rather than from physical store sales, then you should think about setting up a birthday gift wish list using a tool like boxedup.com. It’s completely free, lets you save all items you see online to your wish list with a single click, and is a quick and easy method of accessing to all your birthday gift wish list items. Even better you can share yourbirthday gift wish list with friends and family, so that you never again receive the same gift twice or a gift you simply have no use for.

So you like to do a lot of online shopping huh? Or perhaps you have never done it before, worried about the safety aspect of handing your credit or debit card deals over to an anonymous computer on a website. Well here is a check list for safe online shopping

Check list

• Use anti-virus, and anti spyware software so your computer is protected.
• Make sure you are on the lookout for common scams that ask for your personal information.
• Make sure that the website you wish to purchase from is secure before you transact
• Don’t forget to include the cost of delivery, and compare prices before deciding to buy
• Use your credit card to pay for the transaction, since it provides additional protection.
• There is a cooling-off period should you change your mind about something you have bought online
• You have the same rights when buying online as you do on the high street

Why not set up a birthday gift wish list Australia using a tool like boxedup.com, For a start it doesn’t cost a thing, you can save any item you see online to your list with a single click, enabling quick and easy access to all your birthday gift wish list Australia items. Even better you can share your birthday gift wish list Australia with friends and family, ensuring you never receive the same gift twice or a gift you simply have no use for.

The Australian retail worker’s union is backing a call being made by major department stores for the goods and services tax to be levied on all imports.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association – which represents 230,000 retail workers says that the current tax structure means that traditional retailers have to compete on an uneven playing field.

Consumers who make purchases worth less than $1,000 from overseas are exempt from paying GST. As a result, Australian retailers are lobbying the government to remove the threshold as they face intense competition from online stores based overseas.

”The government should impose a GST on all overseas purchases. This would mean all goods purchased in Australia, whether from Australian or overseas suppliers, would be subject to the same tax regime,” says the submission.

If you like shopping online, why not set up an online wishlist, using a tool like boxedup.com. Its completely free of charge.

Online shopping and its growing popularity in Australia is a way for an increasing number of Australians to cash in on the strength of the local currency, whilst also helping contain both inflation and interest rates.

The ability of Australian consumers to safely source and procure cheaper goods internationally has broken the tyranny of distance that has saddled consumers with opaque pricing and higher costs.

Brick and mortar retailers have found that in recent months Australian consumers were increasingly switching to online retailers where they were finding their dollars stretched a lot further.

Whilst reliable data is hard to find, the Reserve Bank of Australia estimates that online shopping accounts for approximately 3 per cent of the A$700 billion in domestic consumption, and is growing rapidly.

A recent survey conducted by the central bank found that 80 per cent of those polled had made purchases online, and that the total value of purchases made internationally has been growing by 15 per cent a year since 2005.

The temptation to buy from overseas is certainly understandable with the cost of books and DVD’s routinely between 30 to 70 per cent cheaper internationally, even after taking account of shipping costs.

The current Amazon.uk top selling book, for instance costs just A$6.20 at current exchange rates. In Australia however, the very same item retails for A$23 online from one of the biggest book chains.

Scenting the potential, the UK arm of Amazon recently stopped charging postage on the 11,000-mile trip to Australia and New Zealand on all orders worth 25 pounds ($41) or more.

Obviously feeling threatened, billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey joined a campaign pushing for the closure of a loophole which allows Australians to purchase up to A$1,000 of goods online without having to pay the standard 10 percent goods tax.

That move resulted in a deluge of criticisms from angry consumers who derided Australian retailers, with such vitriol that Mr. Harvey was forced to withdraw from the campaign saying his involvement had been “suicidal”.

One newspaper poll on the controversy drew 35,500 replies with 99 percent favouring online shopping.

If you are love online shopping why not setup an online wishlist, on a tool like boxedup.com. It’s free and you can share your heart’s desire with friends and family and ensure you never again receive the same gift twice.

The results of a survey undertaken by Nielsen Netview suggest that Australians prefer domestic retailers when shopping online, with giants Woolworths and Wesfarmers dominating the list of most popular online shopping sites.

The results contradict the claims made by Australian retailers that online shopping is killing their businesses.

The most popular site for Australian shoppers is eBay, which had 5.58 million unique visitors in January, according to Nielsen NetView.

US-based retailer Amazon came in second with 2.19 million visitors, the remaining sites in the top 10 visited are all Australian retailers. Woolworths placed third with almost 1.49 million unique visitors in January and Woolworth owned brands Big W and Dick Smith also made it, coming in at six and eight respectively.

For those of you who do a lot of online shopping, why not set up an online wish list using a tool like boxedup.com. Setting up an account is completely free of charge, and once you have a wish list, you can save any item you see online to your wish list with a single list, and access the product whenever you want. You can share your wish list with friends and families, ensuring you never again receive the same gift from two different people, or receive that gift that never gets used.



The Australian central bank says that the number of Australians using the internet to buy goods from overseas was tiny compared to those who spent locally, with the bulk of international spending made by Australian tourists travelling abroad.

“It is likely that much of this growth in international purchases reflects the significant increase in the number of Australians travelling overseas. A reported 6.25 million trips were made by Australians in 2010 which naturally resulted in greater overseas expenditure. Although it is not possible to specifically identify online offshore purchases, the data suggests that the share of this type of purchase in total spending remains relatively low,” the RBA said.

So clearly the trend of shopping online in the country is growing and the claims that people are using the internet to avoid paying GST a little dubious.

For those of you who do a lot of online shopping, an online wish list tool like boxedup.com is a great way to organize your shopping to a single list. Simply sign up for an account, and whenever you see something you like on the internet, save it to your wish list with a single click, which will give you quick access to all the product details and where you saw it in an easy to use format allowing you to purchase it when you are ready. Even better, you can share your wish list with friends and family, ensuring that you never again receive the same gift twice from two different people.

If you have not already, sign up for your account today, it’s free of charge

Australia is rapidly emerging as a global destination for online shopping, with eBay the internet retailing giant suggesting that the country represents a stand out market.

eBay chief executive John Donahoe made the comment which comes against a backdrop of a Australian retailers such as Gerry Harvey which are lobbying the government to impose the GST on online purchases that originate from the country.

For those of you who do happen to use the internet to do a lot of shopping, setting up an online wish list with a tool such as boxedup.com is a convenient way to window shop online, save items you find interesting but don’t want to purchase immediately. Boxedup lets you save any item you see to a single list with a single click enabling you to access all the information of the item, and quick access to the store page when you decide you want to buy it. Moreover you can share your wish lists with friends and family so you can ensure you never again receive a gift you do not want or the same gift from two different people.

If you haven’t already, set your online wish list up today.

A new survey by EpiServer suggests that nearly 40 per cent of British shoppers will take to the internet for at least half of their holiday season shopping this year. A lot of the increase can be attributed to just a general rise in the number of people shopping online, but price is also a large motivating factor. 45 per cent of respondents say they check multiple prices for comparison before they make a purchase.

35 per cent of all UK shoppers says they look for discount codes before making a purchase.

“While the increase in online shopping is positive for British retailers, the survey also reveals a critical challenge, with a significant number of consumers shopping around and comparing products before making a purchase,” says Neal Perry, EpiServer’s U.K. country manager. “To convince these savvy shoppers to buy, retailers need to deliver an engaging and satisfying online experience, otherwise they’ll merely migrate to the competition.”

If you are a keen online shopper, than using an online wish list tool like boxedup.com is a great way to keep track of things you want to buy either for yourself or as gifts of loved ones, you can create specific lists for specific occasions, and with a single click you can save an item to an aggregate list with all the price and site details for the item you want to buy, enabling you to quickly navigate to the page the item was located for quick purchase. Moreover you can share your wish lists with family and friends, ensuring you never again receive a gift you have no use for, or have two people buy you exactly the same item.