Why is EVERYTHING so expensive in New Zealand?

Question

I came over from the UK at 12 years old, and moved to NZ. Everyone said it is cheaper, you get more for your money. Anyways, I went back to the UK for a visit to see my father and auntie - And everything is 1/4 of the price than it is in NZ.

I was looking at this car audio thing, it is 100 pounds. The EXACT one in NZ is $1,500 dollars! Also, cars is another thing. You pay about $2,000 for an 250,000 km car, that won;t pass a warrant. Also, houses. My house was 4 hundred thousand. However, it is very bad. Three bedrooms, and in a not so good area, as well as badly built and rotting. In england, for that money my dad managed to get a 5 bedroom place in Kent.

I dislike how we earn less in nz, and expected to pay these through the roof prices. It is with everything, clothes, food, coffee, machinery, cars, property etc.

Nike shoes, $300.00. In british pounds, 30 pound. Same pair!

Ive started shipping my stuff over now. Also, I recommend anyone thinking of moving here for a better life style, don't. Go to Aus.

Answer 1

Is this the new way of promoting australian tourism? Haha don't think i haven't noticed. And who said it was cheaper? Perhaps, you can learn from this, not to listen to anyone. When it comes to choosing, choose wisely mate. You should've checked out the house before you got it and checked everything else, did your research properly. I do agree that a lot of things are expensive over here but if you look harder for longer, there will always be somewhere where things are cheaper and better.

Answer 2

Not EVERYTHING, I have found after living in the UK, some things are quite comparable actually eg some electronic devices, but of course you can buy online which is what a LOT of people do to get better deals.



Food is certainly more expensive in NZ, I don't really agree with the house prices however, although they are certainly not cheap, in Australia it is outrageous what you pay for a tiny house in some of the cities and where I live (South Island) my father has a 6 year old 4 bedroom house in a lovely area would sell for under $400,000, so what you are saying may be true in some places but not others.



The wages are lower, I will give you that and the pound does go a lot further than the dollar but there are different costs you pay....there is more oppurtunities in some areas in the UK and others in NZ. I think the lifestyle is a lot better in Nz and I would chose it anyday of the week to raise children compared to the uk. The climate is a lot better in NZ. Scenery is also a multitude better and lots of leisure activities that people do.

Answer 3

I earn about $25 per hr here & my gf earns about $20

I have an apartment fully furnished we live it together that cost us $265 wk incl water & our power bill works out about $15 per week..



Will probably spend about $100-150 per week on food incl takeaways.. maybe upto $200 some weeks between us..



SO food,rent,power,water = about $450 per week & we earn about 1400 per week after tax between us & save at least $600 per week towards our mortgage & save the rest towards other stuff we want,

e.g a new car etc..



Also I don't think you looked very hard for a bargain, those prices sound way over the top,

I think most Stereos cost between $80-500 & a car that's done 250K that cant get a warrant unless its a BMW or something should cost about $200..



The Shoes I can kind of believe But I brought a pair of nikes for $60 that was on special, So I think you are going into the ripoff stores with the highest prices & deciding every store is like that

Answer 4

The harbour-side town of Auckland is New Zealand's true town and the vivid financial center of the nation, know it with hotelbye . Auckland can also be referred to as the "City of Sails" and it sprawls out in helter-skelter style between Manukau Harbour (to the west) and Waitemata Harbour (to the east) with the lightweight main town district proper next to the waterway. For some visitors to New Zealand, Auckland is the idea of arrival, and a few days soaking up the cultural and outside attractions here must be on every tourist's to-do list. The monuments, museums, and art galleries listed below are some of the best in the country. The suburban coastline of the town is speckled with great beaches, and the hawaiian islands of the Hauraki Gulf give a taste of New Zealand's spectacular national park scenery directly on the city's doorstep. Auckland is surely a city worth seeing.

Answer 5

Yes its pretty expensive here - as it is in many other countries ie Switzerland etc but do you really want to live in the UK? Same with Oz, do you really want to live there? The guy that said NZrs have never been anywhere else is funny, we are the most travelled nation ive ever encountered, over 15% of our population is in the UK alone, I myself have been to 65 countries, but we come back because its beautiful here and its what we are used to. Take into consideration things like exchange rates and import costs etc as they all factor, but yes, no one can deny its not cheap! I dont beleive that a 100 pound sterio costs $1500 here and I dont beleve you can buy a 5 bedroom house in kent for 200k GBP (roughly what 400k NZD equates to) I do beleive the shoes things though, what a rip of rebel sport is! :-) Why would you pay nearly half a million bucks for a rotting house? perhaps things will improve when you get a decent job. Ive lived extensively in the UK and in Oz, the UK is a hole but yes cheap and Oz is the most expensive place ive ever been to (I can only talk for Sydney, I lived in Sydney) $30 for half an hour parking and you wont get a house within an hour of the city for under 500k good luck

Answer 6

My uncle lives in Perth,Australia. When he as in New Zealand last he was horrified at the higher prices but found that we grow better tasting food here than is available in Australia. People from Britain have told us that we don't know what a real winter is. Last winter ,it snowed in the North Island and everyone as talking about it. Snow happens in the South Island and in the North Island it is not unkon in Waiouru.

$300 for a pair of shoes? You're kidding! That's a much higher than average price for a pair of shoes. I would object to paying that too. Where you shop alters the price. I live in Upper Hutt. It is cheaper here than in Lower Hutt or Wellington.I won't shop in Wellington at all if I can help it. Too pricey by half !

Of course, I would expect the prices in some parts of the country to be daylight robbery. In some parts of Auckland ,I would expect the prices to be terrible.

However, I am not about to give up on Ne Zealand yet. It is a beautiful country in many different ways and on many different levels,for all it's faults.

Answer 7

I have been now in NZ for two years, I am in my 50 s and well qualified, since coming here to this date I have applied for just on 260 jobs, I am Australian born over there and raised there, I have lived in 4 countries long term, NZ is by far the most expensive, petrol here is over NZ $2.07 a litre for premium fuel, compared to Melbourne AUS $1.34 per litre, food: a roast chicken NZ $13.99 size 13, Aus $10.00 size 16, cars 10 to 15 percent cheaper in Australia, diesel price NZ $1.20 Per litre plus the 50 cents per k for road user charges, Milk for 2 Litre NZ $3.99, I can go on and on.......but Australia is FAR better to live cost wise than NZ , people on here rave on about NZ scenery, but at the end of each day, you got to have a JOB to pay for this very costly and expensive country.



There is alot of part time work here and a lot less permanent jobs with the starting rate on most unskilled or semi skilled jobs starting at NZ $10.00 an hour....

Answer 8

If you are only worried about money you would do yourself and everyone else a big favour by not coming here. People live in NZ for the lifestyle, the people, climate, environment, leisure activities and a host of other things.

Money wise we still do pretty well considering our small population and isolation (creating large transport and shipping costs), but surely there is more to life than just money.

Remember the old saying - it is not what you earn but what you do with what you earn.

Answer 9

Your price comparisons do not add up NZ dollar was 3 to the pound 10 years ago, it's now 2.5 to the pound, so your maths must be screwed up.

Answer 10

nonsense.



$400,000 NZD is about £200,000 in the UK. Your dad didn't buy a 5 bedroom palace in Kent for that.

old cars are indeed twice the price in NZ as in the UK. Getting them fixed costs three times as much in the UK as in NZ.



things imported from a distant country will cost more.



Many people cannot get their head round exchange rates.

Answer 11

seriously????? I was in europe and uk 6 months ago and i nearly died at the prices - i think your expectations are totally unrealistic and based on really weird pricings in the uk - I poaid 50pound for a one room skanky sublet bedsit in kent and full time work only paid me 120 pound. sure some things are cheaper but we don't have european smuggling rings and gypsies selling stuff off the back of trucks.





sorry for the rant but if poms don't like it #@$%# off back home - we don't need you

Answer 12

Ah, sh*t. Yet another distant paradise crossed off my dwindling list of places that are as far away from the UK as humanly possible.



I wonder what the weather is like right now in Malaysia...

Answer 13

Because New Zealand is not a rich country, and so the government wants to find ways to rip you off.

Answer 14

Nothing in New Zealand is expensive. Maybe its just because im a farmers child :P

Answer 15

average price of bread at the supermarket is $4.50

milk is more expensive than alcohol

a tiny 1 bedroom apartment outside of the city was $260, next to fellow kiwi's who were all ages up to 45 and they were still pulling gangs signs at each other and wearing their 'gang colours'



someone mentioned people go to NZ for the people, climate and lifestyle...

...taking the bus in Auckland city, kids in the back of the buses playing loud music on their stolen cellphones with a cracked screen and no charger

if someone falls over in the bus, everyone at the back laughs...

here in aussie i have never seen anyone laugh at another for falling over, people rush to help them instead



my ex girlfriend bought alot of cheap electronic devices in UK for a fraction of what they cost in NZ, but when she returned to NZ everyone in her family got jealous and stole them



kiwi's call NZ paradise, its because they havent been anywhere else...

they could have a fulltime job and still cant afford to save for a holiday because rent and food are so expensive



i am so happy i left that place, its an island for morons...sorry but its the truth

i live in aussie, pick up rubbish for $23 an hour, in 6 months it becomes $33 an hour, and public holidays are $45 an hour

NZ is a joke

Answer 16

Global inflation.

Answer 17

http://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/family-friendly/comparable-living-costs

Answer 18

Would you like some cheese with that whine?