Originally posted by Meatwad
Well the US dollar and Australian dollar are worth essentially the same. Secondly shipping costs would be cheaper because those consoles were probably made in China, so easier to ship from Asia to Australia than to the US. And lastly I would say tax alone wouldn't cause this increase in price. A big example are digital products like Adobe CE which were $1,500 more in Australia than the US for no good reason.
Shipping costs for most items in Australia is pretty high due to the overall size of the place.
Tech goods cost a bomb due to this reason they are marked up a ton due to shipping costs.
Add to this the higher price of living in Australia mixed with a strong currency due to the export nature of the economy it explains the price.
Food is cheaper in Australia due to being so hot but imported ones cost loads more.
Add into the mix taxes that explains 75% of the price. Last part is due to the profit being made.
The overall price is not that bad when you factor in all of that Sony are doing it pretty cheap and meant to be making a profit. Quite a thing to do.