It should be about sense not dollars!

Debate is reaching fever pitch around the local price of All Blacks jerseys in New Zealand in the lead up to the world’s third biggest sporting event (insert Tui billboard here!). As first reported by the New Zealand Herald – the official Rugby World Cup All Blacks jersey is available for purchase overseas from $104 (NZD), yet “on sale” in New Zealand for a staggering $220.

I am a stoic All Blacks supporter and footy fanatic but there is a part of me that says it’s the All Blacks, it’s adidas, it’s commercialism so just put up with it – but I’m sorry $220 for a jersey that has a lower thread count than its predecessor is ridiculous! What’s really sad is the jersey debate is adding fuel to the fire to people who aren’t excited about RWC as people become more despondent about the pending tournament. Apparently only four in ten people are excited about the footy! The real shame is that the grassroots fans who can’t afford the tickets, can’t afford the travel, can’t afford the accommodation, now sadly can’t afford the new jersey!

adidas New Zealand Country Manager David Huggett was quoted on Stuff saying “The reasons for these types of price differences are many, such as the costs associated with running a business in each country, for both the manufacturer and retailers as well as external factors such as currency exchange.”

I find this really had to fathom. Every business has its overheads but I highly doubt that adidas runs off the smell of an oily rag. Manufacturers? I wonder how much of the $220 from an All Blacks jersey the manufacturers receive. Surely adidas sets a RRP for its retailers… and currency? Our dollar is strong and stable!

By no means am I an accountant (my fiancée looks after the finances), and I have no idea what the price elasticity of an All Blacks jersey is (no pun intended) but surely it makes sense to lower the price so more people can enjoy the All Blacks jersey. Who knows, addias might just sell more of them.

If I wanted to be really cynical, I’d tell fans to hold off on purchasing their All Blacks jersey until quarter-final or semi-final time because they’ll be bargain basement if the All Blacks form in previous world cups is anything to go by! Kidding. The All Blacks will do the business this year. In Richie we trust.

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Comments:

Peter Heath

Comment #1 · Aug 04, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Nice one, Des - you got there before I did. There’s a serious issue in all this - for too long Kiwis have become used to price gouging disguised as market economics. “The consumer will tell us when we’ve got the price wrong” is the much-worn refrain. Trouble is, our low consumer base restricts competition and the poor old consumer has learned that complaint too frequently just doesn’t bear fruit.

Not for nothing is NZ known by retailers around the world as the “Land of Specials”. The term has nothing to do with our rugby players and everything to do with our conditioning into believing that you just don’t buy it till it’s “on special”. Because it’s just too damn expensive otherwise.

But t’InterWeb - God bless it - combined with the strong Kiwi, is introducing a fabulous new element to the discussion. And Kiwi retailers may yet - just maybe - learn the true value of consumer loyalty.

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