Just a thought--would it be feasible to adjust downward the cost of Gold membership for foreign visitors (perhaps by the current exchange rate for that country's currency)? When I read that $20US is about $36Australian, I felt that was sort of unfair.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand. $20US is EQUAL to $36AUS. $20US is also equal to 20Euros. I don't understand how that's unfair - it's just that $AUS are not the same as $US. Aren't your prices higher because your dollar is worth less in goods than an American one?

Ladymacb29, I live in the U.S. It just seemed to me that $36 is a pretty substantial expenditure for someone living in Australia. Has Terry done any statistical breakdown on what percentage of Gold membership signups are from foreign countries?

Root - but what I'm trying to say is that $36AUS is the same thing as if you were paying $20US. It's like if I go to the UK and 1 pound is equal to $1.50US. You can't compare the numbers because they are not equal - you have to compare each currency's worth/purchasing power.

Ladymacb29, I understand that $20US is (roughly) equal to $36Australian. My point was that $36 is a substantial purchase for someone earning a living in Australia and being paid wages in Australian currency. The whole point of my post was to wonder out loud if a break on Gold membership cost might be made for any foreign visitor to Q-land to make it more likely that they would sign up.

P.S. I intend to sign up myself as soon as PayPal sends me a four-digit confirmation number.

Ladymacb29, if Australian wages are in fact higher to compensate for the exchange rate, I can see how you would be correct. I've never been there--perhaps some Australian reader can comment on whether this is in fact the case.

I was shocked in the UK to purchase a paperback book at one point and it said 18.99 and then I realized it was the Australian dollar price, if it had been in pounds I'd have fainted. Don't think you'd pay that much for a paperback in US dollars, would you?


You know we could have a bit of fun and learn something by listing prices of current items in our own currencies then converting them. I'll see you in History and Geography. We had a Euro thread and I'd like to see how everyone's doing since parity with the dollar.

root, using Heathers example of a paperback, AUD$18 is a reasonable price here. Our dollar is about US$0.55, so the book would be fractionally under $10 there. Therefore membership of US$20 is the price of two paperbacks, whichever country you are in...

Our wages may have a higher number, but they would have the same buying power.
From today's paper, one Australian dollar equals all the following:-
US0.55
65 yen
35.45 UK pence
0.56 Euros


I was quite astounded at the cost of phone calls in USA. I made a local call (I think it was timed, too)in Ohio from a public phone (payphone) and it cost me US90c, about AUD$1.60. I can make the equivalent (untimed) call in my country for 40c.

A normal paperback here cost about $6.99 American ($9.99 Canadian). I know I have a few books with the Australian cost on it too but can't find them at the moment (I have alot of paperbacks).

This is interesting, I found it on CNBC's website:
Name-----------------------In US$------Per US$
Algerian Dinar-----------0.01305-----76.613
Argentine Peso---------0.27624-----3.620
Australian Dollar--------0.54780-----1.825
Bahraini Dinar-----------2.6532------0.377
Bolivian Boliviano-------0.13780-----7.257
Brazilian Real------------0.32310-----3.095
British Pound-------------1.5621-------0.640
Botswana Pula-----------0.15891-----6.293
Canadian Dollar----------0.64416-----1.552
Chilean Peso--------------0.00140------714.5
Chinese Yuan-------------0.12096------8.267
Colombian Peso---------0.00039-------2,591
Cyprus Pound------------1.7437---------0.574
Czech Koruna------------0.03297-------30.327
Danish Krone-------------0.13405-------7.460
Ecuador Sucre-----------0.00004-------25,000
Euro--------------------------0.99520-------1.005
Ghana Cedi----------------0.00012-------8,159
Guatemalan Quetzal---0.12893-------7.756
Hong Kong Dollar--------0.12821------- 7.800
Hungarian Forint---------0.00406--------246.6
Israeli New Shekel------0.21464--------4.659
Indian Rupee--------------0.02067--------48.390
Indonesian Rupiah------0.00011---------8,840
Japanese Yen------------0.00854---------117.1
Jordanian Dinar----------1.4286----------- 0.700
Kenyan Schilling--------0.01274---------78.500
Korean Won--------------0.00084---------1,190
Kuwaiti Dinar-------------3.3190----------- 0.301
Moroccan Dihram------0.09465---------10.565
Malaysian Ringgit------0.26316---------3.800
Mexican Peso-----------0.10017---------9.983
Namibian Dollar---------0.09412---------10.625
New Zealand Dollar----0.46750---------2.139
Norwegian Krone-------0.13367---------7.481
Omani Riyal--------------2.5988-----------0.385
Peruvian Nuevo Sol----0.28090--------- 3.560
Pakistani Rupee--------0.01689---------59.200
Qatari Riyali--------------0.27469---------3.641
Russian Rouble---------0.03162---------31.630
Saudi Arabian Riyal----0.26667---------3.750
Singapore Dollar---------0.57307---------1.745
South African Rand-----0.09300---------10.753
Swedish Krona-----------0.10667---------9.375
Swiss Franc---------------0.67875---------1.473
Taiwanese Dollar--------0.02921--------- 34.230
Tanzanian Shilling------0.00104---------959.2
Thai Baht-------------------0.02374---------42.130
Tunisian Dinar------------0.73730---------1.356
UAE Dirham---------------0.27228--------3.673
Venezuelan Bolivar------0.00070---------1,425
Vietnamese Dong--------0.00007---------15,325
Zimbabwe Dollar----------0.01829---------54.670

Ozzz, can you provide a few examples of a local wage in terms of a locally-produced product (something not imported)? This would make it easier to compare wages between countries. For example, a bricklayer's annual salary would buy XX kegs of Foster's beer, or a starting automobile mechanic's salary would buy YYY gallons of milk.

LOL! I'm trying to imagine how many gallons of milk my salary would buy in a year. Root! I think you may be asking the impossible! Surely I can't be the only one who would have absolutely no clue how to calculate that. If, for no other reason, the price of items is so variable. The prices of milk (beer, whatever) are so dependent on the region. On the store you buy it from. On the supply of the product (ie, if the cattle industry goes through a slump, you're going to see a temporary spike in the price of the product that those cows produce). On so many things.

I think you might be trying to do the proverbial apples and oranges thing. You're seeing $36 in Australian dollars, but you're thinking of that in the terms of your own $36 US dollars. And, it's not the same thing. You can't base their prices on what you have in your pocket. It doesn't work that way. Their dollars mean a different thing in their currency than our dollars do in ours. That's why there's an exchange rate. If they were equal, there would be no need for you to exchange your money when you go there. The prices would be the same in appearance.

I'm not even sure I would go with LadyM's "Prices are numerically higher in Australia, but so are the wages." because that still implies that there's a correlation between the US and Australia. It's putting in the US factor that's not even really there. When they pay their employees, they don't say to themselves, "I wonder how this compares with US wages. We'd better make sure it fits with their system of payment." No, they pay according to their own standards and pay scales. The US (despite our grandiose view of ourselves) does not enter into their minds in any way. I would be willing to bet that they couldn't care any less about the US when they are paying, or receiving, their salaries for the work they do. And, rightly so. Do we compare our wages with them? Do you know how much you make against someone in Outer Mongolia?! No! You don't care, as long as you're getting fair compensation for the work you do.

Linda, I was trying to do an overall thing that was simplified so everyone would be able to understand it

Yeah yeah, I know! What you said was good. I just had a continuing thought on it after pondering it for a while.

(Personally, I'd say that you're just out to cause trouble - knowing you - but then, I shouldn't say that in the forums, should I? )

I never cause trouble

root, just wondering how to do this...

The average worker is paid about AUD$20 per hour. For that $20, I could buy about 7 large beers or a nice T-shirt or a hardback novel.

A basic new car can be purchased for about $20,000, and four litres of milk (we don't use gallons, but this is roughly equivalent) is about $7. A music CD is $30, a 450gram jar of Vegemite is about $4. A large tube of toothpaste will set you back about $3. You can get an adult ticket to the movies for $10 and a kids MacHappy meal is roughly $4.

I have been to USA, and as far as I can ascertain, taking into account the exchange rates and other local factors, the prices of most things are similar. Fast food is cheaper over there, but payphones calls are more expensive.

By the way, not many people drink Fosters here.. we save the best beer for ourselves, and ship Fosters to the rest of the world- so far the Europeans and Americans have not seen the joke we are playing on them

The Economist has developed the The Big Mac Index to compare prices across currencies and countries. The cost of a Big Mac in each currency-country is converted to one common denominator .. does that mean my kids are economists in disguise, when they drag me to McDonald's?

Gtho4, your kids are sadists if they are making you go to Mickey D's!

Ozzz, I just had the exact same conversation this morning with an American on the email!

Apparently (I heard this on some television program?) The most popular beer in Australia is Victorian Bitter, with the exception of - ironically enough - Victoria. We prefer Carlton Draught down here....

...personally I don't know anyone who drinks Fosters, unless it's a case of beggars and choosers...?

Sorry, I know it's off topic, but I just thought it funny that I'm having the same conversation twice in one morning!!

This has got to be like the Toblerone that's exported is the bad stuff, the Swiss keep the good stuff for themselves!

As I've lived and traveled in many places, I find it almost always equals out somehow. A doctor's visit is 20 Euros (they went on strike to round it up to 20 as with the switchover it was about 18.50) and in the States, the last time I heard, it was around 35 on the average. 80 percent of that is reimbursed in France, the States, depends.
The SMIC or minimum wage is not very high, but most people earning it pay fewer taxes or none at all, and are totally insured by the State. They receive things that help them live at about the same level as anyone else.
Here in Europe, cigarettes and alcohol are heavily taxed in one place and not in the next. Cars have more sales tax in one place and less in the next. An extremely expensive city like Paris will have more cheaper restaurants and clothing stores, there's a market for it.
The Italians earn less salary, but have a second job on the side to pay for the gas to run their cars or their very nice clothes. They tend to manage these differences without relying as heavily on the State.
I find food very reasonable in Belgium and large portions, whereas it's more expensive to eat in a restaurant in the UK and get the same sort of meal.

The countries that tax heavily, like in Scandinavia, have the best social services and benefits. France is somewhere in between.

Now as to alcohol, isn't it odd that the countries that apply a sort of "sin tax" thing to booze, have a heavier consumption of alcohol?

Ozzz, thanks for all the info. I guess Linda has the answer--there are just too many variables to do any meaningful comparison, except maybe a subjective one by someone who has lived in both countries. Incidentally, your US phone experience is misleading. For my home phone line, I signed up for a metered line, which gives me 50 local calls per month for $7.82US. Yet, I too have seen public pay phones that typically charge 25-35 cents per local call.

PS, that traumatizing phone call is true, don't even think about making a local call from a hotel either, I did it and regretted it. You buy a phone card in the liquor store, punch in a code and it works like a charm, I got it way down to a couple cents a minute.
When I was a phone customer I had a toll free number card I could give to my family or customers of my business and it was 25 cents a minute from anywhere in the States. It was my phone number so that's the way I avoided being charged too much for emergency calls home.

I tried the phone card trick, Heather, and fared even worse! I was calling a number in Windsor, Canada from Detroit and it cost me over US$3, which is ridiculous- you can actually SEE Windsor from where I was .

The payphone experience I initially referred to was a call over about 10kms in smalltown Ohio- next time I will ask a local for the best options...