I was a big user of Amazon until they forced me to deal with the Australian site. I have noticed a lot of disparity in pricing. To give you an idea I bought a Tascam DR05 recorder from the US site, not long before they stopped me buying from that site. It cost me around $147 Aussie, after conversion and freight (no tax was added). The very same item from the Australian site is $666 which is a 453% markup, and that is before tax and freight. But, here is the kicker, it is sent from the very same place (US third party supplier) that I got my original unit. That is just one example.
I have compared prices of a lot of items that I had purchased from the US site to those from the Australian site and have found wildly disparate pricing, with the item often being sent from the US anyway. Some of the percentage differences are 600%, 223%, 300% etc. Only one price I found was actually cheaper in Australia.
Now, I do understand that, in a lot of cases, this is not Amazon's fault, as it is the third party supplier that sets the price. My opinion is that we are just getting ripped off as they see us as a rich nation. Gee, I don't feel rich
I certainly will not be buying much from Amazon Australia unless the situation with pricing changes. I have alternative US suppliers so it won't matter that much to me. If it turns out Amazon is the only place I can get an item, and if it is cheaper through the US, I can use a third party to get the item for me.
Cheers Peter