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Price of Minidiscs in Australia?

Luke Butcher asks: "I recently moved back to Australia and I'm appalled at the price of blank Minidiscs, here. In the UK they range to about £1 per disc and the US about $1.60 This equates in both cases to roughly AU$3. Over here the cheapest I can find them is $4.50 and average prices are $5-6. I have tried to get blanks sent from the US and UK from several online sites only to find them not able to deliver to Oz, when they can quite happily ship DVDs and the like. I have done some searching and am unable to find anything explaining this "phenomenon", other than it looks like a blatant price fixing situation. I can find no reason why consumer demand would play a part, I wouldn't mind betting all such discs are produced in Asia, so this also rules out transport costs. Perhaps someone out there can provide an explanation as to why we in Australia pay more than double the normal cost blanks."

37 comments

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    1. Re:phirst poast by jar-dee · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      ah yes, you make me laugh and spray morning coffee from my nostrils.

  2. Tax on blank media? by amorsen · · Score: 2, Informative

    Such taxes are common elsewhere, perhaps Australia has them too. The neat thing is that the tax is then usually given to private companies. I just love supporting corporations with my tax money, getting nothing in return.

    --
    Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    1. Re:Tax on blank media? by mrbrown1602 · · Score: 1

      Ah! But you do get something in return.... higher prices.

  3. i've seen them for $1 aus by elveu · · Score: 2, Informative

    i can't remember the brand name but you can get them in i think JB hi-fi. they have jewl cases which is pretty cool as well.

  4. Australia doesnt like mini-discs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Standardize or bugger off!

  5. Also, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Price of Fish in China?

  6. Minidisc just isn't popular in Australia by tdelaney · · Score: 2

    It's never really taken off here. Yeah - you can buy players. But the only actual discs tend to be imports - you won't find them on sale in places like HMV or whatnot.

    1. Re:Minidisc just isn't popular in Australia by jquirke · · Score: 2

      It's not a distribution medium, it's a medium for recording your own stuff.

    2. Re:Minidisc just isn't popular in Australia by tdelaney · · Score: 1

      That's true - but as a recording medium there are better (non-lossy) things.

      The only real advantage minidisc has is size. The disadvantages are numerous - lack of people with players, lossy, expensive.

      Yes - being expensive when there are other cheaper alternatives tends to mean that the more expensive alternative stays expensive, unless it has huge advantages.

    3. Re:Minidisc just isn't popular in Australia by funky+womble · · Score: 2
      The only real advantage minidisc has is size.
      It helps a lot that you don't need a PC to be able to record them...very useful if, for example, you're visiting someone and hear something you'd like to record. So, on that count they beat CDR and MP3 players.

      Lack of people with players isn't really such a problem for recordable media. And in quite a few parts of the world, they're not *all* that expensive.

  7. Err, wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Perhaps you shouldn't pull shit out of thin air.

    Australia has no blank media tax.

    Go back to Canada.

  8. Because the format is fucking unpopular! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Plain and simple: The demand for mini-discs is Australia is virtually non-existant.

    You had to ask Slashdot to be told this? Idiot.

    1. Re:Because the format is fucking unpopular! by jquirke · · Score: 2

      Bullshit. You obviously don't live in Australia.

    2. Re:Because the format is fucking unpopular! by tony_gardner · · Score: 2

      As an Australian (briefly overseas) I'd have to say that the fact that I don't know anyone with a minidisc player, and have only rarely seen portable players being used, that the format is not popular there. Maybe I just know too many people with CD burners.

    3. Re:Because the format is fucking unpopular! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      And thank god every day I don't. Savages. They're not even circumsized. Let's start with something more basic.

    4. Re:Because the format is fucking unpopular! by jquirke · · Score: 2

      It depends largely on the culture you are in.

      For example, in certain suburbs you would be able to spot MD players without trying (along with high end phones etc).

  9. Easy by droyad · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Australia is behind in almost everything from US and UK. Japan is infront of both of them. The reason is the amount we are willing to pay.

    Everything technological is more expensive here. For example the laptop I just bought, in the US i could have a dvd/cdr (instead of just cd) and double the HDD, double the ram. For about US$300 less then in Australia (I converted properly). Plus the laptops are made in indonesia.

    The market in australia is not as big, not as technological (only about 1 in 40 IT students have a laptop) and therefore stuff is more expensive.

    1. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the fuck would an IT student (and what does that mean, by the way? Tech Support Specialist Training School?) need a laptop?

    2. Re:Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      gotta remember that Australia is a big country, but has a small population compared to other countries, about 15 million i think it is.
      So a smaller market, less being bought = higher costs that plus taxes, dont know what Oz taxes are like

    3. Re:Easy by just+another+cynic · · Score: 1
      The market in australia is not as big, not as technological (only about 1 in 40 IT students have a laptop) and therefore stuff is more expensive.

      As an Australian IT student, I can tell you that most students don't have them because of the cost. It's not that we aren't as technological, it's just hat we dislike being ripped off.

      Besides, I find I can do all my work either on my desktop system here at home, or in the labs at uni with no problems.

    4. Re:Easy by rweir · · Score: 1

      Don't be a moron. Australia has in the top ten in the world for a) home computer numbers, b) home internet usage, c) and mobile phones. Oh wait, we're ahead of the US and the UK with mobile phones.
      About the only thing I think we're behind with is broadband, but that's due to a moronic government going nuts with the largest telco in the country.

  10. Who gives a fuck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Buy a CD player, and quit whining.

  11. Because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Because it's a Socialist country.
    And don't try to buy a gun either. The state says you're not allowed.
    Suck it.
    Good boy.

  12. Minidiscs are a monopolised technology by a1291762 · · Score: 1

    Remeber that Sony owns minidisc technology. They can (and I suspect do) charge whatever they want for it.

    I'd rather have an MP3/OGG player than a minidisc player. Even a CD player and a CD burner.

    Just a thought... Does the US call them minidiscs or minidisks? If so, that might be your problem... Different spellings in different countries.

    1. Re:Minidiscs are a monopolised technology by Tet · · Score: 2
      I'd rather have an MP3/OGG player than a minidisc player.

      So would I, but there just aren't any practical options at the moment, which is why I'm still using Minidisc. My digital music is all in Ogg format, so an MP3 player isn't really an option (given that I don't want to have to reencode it all). There are currently no portable Ogg players. Also, with Minidisc, I can carry 10 disc around with me, to get lots of hours of music when I'm on the move. With MP3/ogg, the cost of compact flash, smartmedia, memory stick or whatever generally makes that prohibitively expensive. The only alternative is to get a player with a hard drive built in, which is more expensive and loses you many of the benefits of portable digital players (no moving parts, light weight, etc.). In a few years time, I expect to have a portable digital player. But for now, I'll stick with Minidisc.

      --
      "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
  13. Interesting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Post that is wrong, modded as "informative".

    Post with fact, modded as "flamebait".

    Moderators: Still on crack.

  14. Bullshit back at you. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The few people in Australia with Mini-disc players tend to be rich Asian kids. The units are generally only for sale in specialty audio stores, and importers.

    The media is also not sold at many stores. And where it is sold it's expensive. Why? Because there is no demand for mini-disc media. Why is there no demand? Because mini-disc is unpopular.

    They are totally unpopular. Very, very few people use and own Mini-disc players. People that are interested in portable audio generally would avoid a NetMD, and instead spend the extra couple of hundred dollars for the extra storage space of an mp3 player like an iPod. And then they get the bonus of not having to cart around a disc for every 74 minutes of music they'd like.

    Perhaps you should open your eyes sometime, because mini-disc players are not at all popular in Australia. If you think otherwise, then Sony's advertising has been damn effective on you.

    1. Re:Bullshit back at you. by jquirke · · Score: 2

      As I said before it depends where you are. I agree in some places people would go "minidisc?? what's that??"

      Jump on a train in Melbourne, open YOUR eyes and you WILL see lots of minidisc players. Yes a lot of them are "rich asian kids" but a lot of them aren't. I know lots of people in my age group (13-19) who own MDs.

  15. Numbers. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's 19 million.

    10% GST.

  16. Not really. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Two words: "import duty". If you take, for example, an Apple Powerbook (the G4 titanium model), and get the US price, it converts to Australian dollars at about 80% of the Australian price. But if you then add on the import duty, the two prices are actually pretty damn close.

    I doubt it's popularity. More likely is that there's duty payable, and that that's what is pushing up the price.

  17. "lossy" is relative by jo_ham · · Score: 1

    "lossy"

    Indeed, ATRAC is a lossy compression format, but it is superior to mp3 and a few others, although there are no doubt people who disagree, people who agree, people who think that only CD quality is acceptable and others who think CD is too crisp and that vinyl is king. You can't win.

    Marking "lossy" as a reason for the supposed cost of MDs doesn't address it. It's certainly no worse than high bitrate mp3.

    1. Re:"lossy" is relative by funky+womble · · Score: 2
      Also, ATRAC can use a greater resolution for sections where the music demands it (up to 20 bits on most recorders, 24 bits on ATRAC 4.5), whereas redbook CD is fixed at 16 bits. (Obviously this is only useful where you have source material with better resolution than CD).

      Some more info here.

  18. Where are you looking? by cafeman · · Score: 2

    I've seen them for around $1 at JB-HIFI. Bought 'em too ...

    --
    This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.
  19. You're still wrong. by Xenex · · Score: 2

    I have an iPod. I watch out for people wearing headphones each day to check out what they're using. This happens to be something that interests me (once you've spent $1100 on a music player, they quickly become interesting).

    I also travel into the CBD each morning and out of it each night via the train, and get around on foot and on trams during the day. (All inside Zone 1, so don't push any of your "cheap suburb" crap onto me).

    Almost no-one has Mini-disc players.

    The majority of people that are listening to portable music have either CD players, tape players, or tiny radios.

    Look, I don't care about your high school age friend and what they happen to be using to listen to music (even though I'm still just inside the age bracket you mentioned). I don't care if three or four of your friends happen to have Mini-disc players, because they are not everyone in Australia.

    There is virtually no demand for mini-discs here, because no one uses them. If you'd like to show me otherwise, come to the next Slashdot Meetup and show me some Mini-disc users. Although I've missed the last two meetups due to picking up people from airports for nodermeets, and because of being at work a few hours too long, I'll be at the next one. Really. I'm sure...

  20. Minidiscs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    JB Hifi's in the Brisbane Street mall, sell them for $20 for 10 disks.. which is not a $1 a disk ($AU)

    The minidisc players themselves are NOt that popular in australia, although sony has started a marking campaign to boost the sales of minidiscs and accessories.

    I get the feeling that Australia is where Sony and other MultiNats are sending their excess stock when they cant sell.

    I belive australia DOES have an IT market, but the problem is.. its so very expensive. I dont know why, and im not going to pretend I know why, but someone is making a big proffit.

    Back to the topic, people are taking up the minidisc format, but it is not as frequent as other countries.

    On the upside, is ther ANY way you can use these suckers uneder linux, the Windows software is TERRIBLE.

  21. I Think It's A Southern Hemisphere Thing... by TheZookieMan · · Score: 1
    ...'cause they stiff us for prices for conmsumables here in Cameroun as well. I hear prices are a bit more reasonable in South Africa, but that's to be expected, isn't it?

    You think the price for MiniDiscs is exorbitant in Oz? You oughta try buying a decent tech mag in Nigeria or Cameroun. .net Magazine is available in the UK for £ 4.49 an issue; I bought my last copy from the newspaper vendor for the equivalent of £ 16 an issue. Accessories and reading material -- it's scalper's prices all the way out here. Sigh!

    So. I feel your pain....maybe you oughta switch to CD-RW or CD-Rs instead.

    --
    "More music, less talk."