Australian wholesale prices higher than American retail prices

Hi, i am having trouble finding suppliers that are economically viable.

For example i was looking at a particular type of knitting wool that is manufactured in Europe - I contacted the manufacturer direct, who said i could not buy from them direct I had to go to the Australian distributor - the Australian distributor sent me a price list - they charge $15 per ball wholesale - the retail price of this wool in America and the UK is $11 per ball - which means it is cheaper for me to buy it from retailers in America & Uk than to buy wholesale in Australia
I assume because UK/US sell for $11 that the US/UK wholesale price is $6.50


example 2 - American homewares co
cute cups that sell for $21 retail in stores
again the American manufacturer said I had to go through the Australian wholesale contact person whose wholesale price is $21 per cup
& what is really silly is that the postage from Overseas to Australia is cheaper than the delivery fees the Australian wholesaler wanted to charge me , so again it would be cheaper for me to buy retail from overseas than to buy at wholesale prices in Australia -

in both instances there is no profit in it for me

how do other Australians get around this problem?

Hi foxyroxy,

I can't exactly answer your question as I am not based in Australia nor have not bought from any Australian wholesalers.

But based on the various posts I have read it is often cheaper to buy in the US especially with the current exchange rate. Based on what you wrote in your post, I would suggest finding a wholesale supplier in the US for the products you are looking for, if the prices offered by local wholesalers are not viable.

We would love to help you search for wholesalers, please let us know the exact products you are looking for.

All the best!

Just to add to Richelle's point.

I am in Brisbane, and what is often missed is a couple of issues that Australian based Wholesalers have to content with, shipping and GST.

Those two things have an impact on Wholesale prices here in Australia, and as Richelle has highlighted The Australian dollar makes buying from the US a pretty good looking option for a lot of people currently.