Underthinking Adidas All Black prices.

So today the mainstream media has picked up on a story most of us knew about yesterday. Evidently you can purchase one of the new All Black jerseys from a website based in Birmingham, Alabama for roughly half the price that it costs to buy in NZ.

Whut in tarnation is Rugby?

That's what I thought you would say stereotypical redneck hick. You may not know what the sport is, but you do know how to sell Jerseys for a cheap price.
If I wish to purchase the new All Black Jersey in NZ, that would cost me $189.00 NZD.

Quite frankly I think that is a reasonable rate for body-painting.

I am sure this Young man's body painting cost at least twice that.

If you go to the aforementioned website, you can purchase the very same  for $79.99 USD, then it costs you roughly $15 USD for shipping. Now if I consult my forex trader

Underthinking it's resident Forex trader Jillian - Yes she is a hottie

 She tells me at the current exchange rate those prices convert to $92.90 and $17.42 respectively, now if I reach for my calculator.

Little bit retro, little bit modern.

 I discover those two costs together only come to $110.32 NZD. Wait what??! That is around %60 of the cost in NZ. (My abacus isn't so flash for division). That doesn't seem right, I mean I presume the shirts are all manufactured in China?
Are they using bigger boats to transport the shirts to USA, then NZ, cutting down shipping costs?

Fred, I am not sure this is the most efficient way to get shirts to NZ.

Irregardless it seems a little strange it is cheaper to ship something to NZ via the east coast of the USA, than directly.

"Wait. What about GST?"

Good point generic guy in a suit. I should add GST to my American Jersey to make this a fair comparison. This raises my American shirts price to $126.86, this is still $60 cheaper than the NZ counterpart.
Oh what about about buying power? America is capable of buying more units therefore will receive bulk discount. This makes sense for Apple products or other electronics, but All Black Jerseys?

I think the demand for All Black Jerseys in America could be fulfilled in these two boxes.

 Although now the cat is out of the bag about the price of Jerseys in America, I imagine the demand will go through the roof. Our friend in Alabama will probably be able to buy a new pick up truck, or whatever it is people from Alabama spend their money on.

A lot of Country Western Albums I would imagine.

I think the real blame though isn't the retailers, it is on Adidas themselves, as they set the wholesale price differently in each region (according to Adidas guy on radio this morning). They claim in this article it is to protect against currency fluctuations. I know the foreign markets are volatile, but for these prices to match the dollar would have to drop to 67 US cents. A drop of 20 cents, we live in NZ, not Zimbabwe or between World Wars Germany, Adidas. Why are you charging us so much??

Personally I think they are still trying to pay off Run DMC endorsement.