Australians spend at least one hour a week shopping for a deal.    

    LUCY KIPPIST
    news.com.au
    July 04, 2013


AUSTRALIA, we love a bargain. At 8pm every Sunday thousands can be found scrolling through eBay - probably on our mobile phones - hitting up the 4000 different deals.      

This is the peak time for the bargain-hunting website, but according to the results of a recent Galaxy poll, the average person will commit at least an hour every week to snaring the best prices.      

Galaxy reckons Australia has become a nation so comfortable with the idea of haggling, that more than 60 per cent of us now flat-out refuse to pay full price for electrical goods, clothes, insurance, holidays and even eating out in restaurants.      

Tim Wolfenden is managing director of Make It Cheaper, a site dedicated to tracking down the best deals on things such as broadband and utility bills. He says online shopping has transformed the average consumer's shopping habits.

"Being able to jump online and do research has given people who would normally not like to ask for a cheaper price the confidence to start negogitating," he said.

"Now you can pick up the phone to any provider and say 'I am reviewing my options, what's the best price you can give me'."

What's your favourite online bargain hunting site? Comment below

Reg Whitehall is a living, breathing example of this idea in practice. The 75-year-old pensioner from Wagga Wagga in central New South Wales is convinced we have the internet to thank for our new bargaining power.

"Before [the internet] you had to go down to the shops and pick up a catalogue. Then you'd come home and compare them before heading back and getting the best price. Now I just zap on the computer and have a look for myself," Mr Whitehall said.      

Being in a regional area has real advantages for deal hunters. According to Mr Whitehall, the big stores such as Woolworths, Kmart or Harvey Norman are all within proximity in Wagga Wagga, which makes it easy for people to drive around and pick up the bargains.

But on the other hand, the distance from Sydney rules out their access to bargains from department stores that won't deliver outside metropolitan areas.

So perhaps that's where eBay comes in? Megan English, spokeswoman for eBay Australia, said that men were actually outspending women on the auction site.

"Two thirds of our customers on the site during peak times are snapping up the deals and they're mostly buying tools and electrical products," she said.

But the biggest deals by far are Apple products that apparently "jump off the virtual shelves". And here's a tip for diehard eBayers. Ms English revealed the best time for shopping is 10am Tuesday and Friday, when the week's latest deals are first posted online.

Back in Wagga Wagga, Mr Whitehall (who is also a recent eBay convert) told news.com.au that while the internet made life easier for shoppers, there was more to life than staring at a computer screen all day.

"I'm still from the old-school, so I don't use it every day. Some people I know are sitting in front of the computer all day [just to find a bargain]. But I don't want to do that. I'd rather be out fishing or walking in the fresh air, as long as the weather is good," he said.

And that sounds pretty good from where we're sitting.


Comments on this story


    Jamie of Werribee Posted at 7:20 PM July 05, 2013

        Australia is finally waking up to the fact that we've been ripped off for years.      




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