Cosmetics prices: USA vs Australia.

Hello hello,

Over the past couple of weeks I have been researching the price differences of make up between Australia and the U.S. There is a buzz about the high cost of living in Australia all over the interwebb world and quite a lot of talk about beauty products that are substantially more in cost in Australia than other countries in the world. I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination so please don't take any of what I say as educated fact, however I know that the average wage in Australia is higher than the average wage in America also taxes need to be considered... And so on and so forth... However just to give a clear idea of the price difference of make up I did some research and went on to Target online Australia (http://shop.target.com.au/) and the Target online America (www.target.com) and got the prices of identical products on each website. (I viewed these sites on the 31st of May 2013).
I will also make note of the current exchange rate and attempt to give as clear a picture of the inflation of products in Australia. Please know this is not me complaining or winging about prices this is just to see side by side the difference.

Here is the link to a website that helped to put into perspective the difference between cost of living comparing a variety of every day products, it also makes note of the difference in the median salary of both countries.
www.numbeo.com

And here is a link to a forum thread about make up costing in Australia, New Zealand and other countries that have high prices for beauty products.
www.makeuptalk.com

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The exchange rate as of the 7th of June 2013 is For every $1USD it is $1.05AUD.

So that it is easy to see the difference I will put both the USD and the AUD equivalent next to each item...

These are the prices I found on the target online stores.
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Revelon colour stay make up (liquid foundation) 

Target Australia  $34.95AUD = $33.20USD

Target US $9.49USD = $9.97AUD

Loreal shine caresse (lipstick) 

Target Australia $23.95AUD = $22.69USD

Target US $7.99USD  = $8.43AUD

Maybelline volume express falsies (mascara)

Target Australia $19.25AUD = $18.24USD

Target US $4.99USD = $5.27AUD

Cover girl cheekers blush

Target Australia $9.95AUD = $9.43USD

Target US $3.74USD = $3.54AUD

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There isn't really any conclusion to this post, it is what it is, just trying to shed as much light on the topic as I can in regards to this. I am sure I am not the first to do this.
If you have a blog post relevant to this one put the link in the comments so I can check it out and if you have a request for a similar blog post for a different country then comment, I will try my best, like I said I AM NOT AN ECONOMIST.... If you are an economist/mathematician/ expert in cost of living then feel free to weigh in on the conversation.

Thanks for reading

X
Anna