Are Kiwis getting a raw deal on sunscreen?
Thursday, 10 December 2020
OPINION: Are sun-smart New Zealand consumers just lining big retailers’ pockets?
A one-litre pump bottle of sunscreen selling in Australian supermarkets for A$8.50 (NZ$9) currently sells in New Zealand supermarkets for $18.
The sunscreen in question is the Woolworths Everyday 1-litre SPF50+. The supermarket in New Zealand is Countdown. The supermarket in Australia is Woolworths, which owns Countdown.
This is a necessary product for many families, yet it's priced as a luxury one.
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**
I asked Countdown for an explanation as to why customers in Australia, which has the highest skin cancer rate in the world, pay so much less for the same product compared with customers in New Zealand, which has the second-highest rate of skin cancer.
Answer one was that Australia doesn’t levy GST on sunscreen. That explains $2.35 of the difference.
Countdown said: “There are a range of factors which go into pricing. We have checked the sunblock products we sell at Countdown and the sunblocks sold at a range of other retailers, and the Woolworths Everyday SPF50+ is the cheapest we could find on the market at .018c per ml of sunscreen.”
Okay, so is Countdown the best of an over-priced bunch?
Yes, and no.
When I looked last year, The Warehouse had some very well-priced sunscreen in large 1-litre pump SPF50 bottles, but this year it wasn’t doing 1L bottles, at least not in its online store.
But Kmart killed the category in New Zealand, selling its 1L bottles for $15.
Pricing of products in retail stores is opaque. As a shopper you never know how fat the margins retailers put on products are.
Countdown said factors going into the price of the Everyday sunscreen included the amount Countdown's suppliers’ sold it to Countdown for, shipping, transport, distribution, paying labour through the supply chain, and the cost of running stores.
I’m going to assume these costs are slightly higher in New Zealand, while at the same time noting that the supplier here must be the same one supplying its Australia sister-supermarkets.
Countdown said it was not privy to how the retail price was decided in Australia.
Not everyone is happy to use cheaper bulk sunscreens.
While my tough old skin doesn’t object to them, some people do not like them, or use them only for arms and legs, and buy higher-priced sunscreen for their faces, which they treat with more care than I do mine.
When it came to pricing of some of these other sunscreens, Countdown really was better priced than rivals.
Take the Nivea 400ml Protect and Moisture SPF50+ selling for $18 at Countdown. When I wrote this, it was selling for $20 at The Warehouse. Kmart did not stock it. And in Woolworths supermarkets in Australia it was selling for A$21 – which, considering there was no sales tax, was a bit shocking. My local Pak’n Save in Royal Oak, Auckland, was doing it for $16.99.
The Cancer Society 400ml SPF50+ was selling at Countdown for $17.50 and for $19 at The Warehouse. Pak’n Save was selling it for $16.50. At New World it was $16.99.
The 400ml Sport SPF50+ from Banana Boat (which didn’t do so well in Consumer NZ testing recently) was selling for $16 at Countdown, $16.99 at New World, $18 at The Warehouse, and A$21 at Woolworths in Australia.
The variation in price is pretty startling. It suggests to me there are some hefty margins on sunscreen, and we’re often paying the price.
GOLDEN RULES:
Sun bathing really isn’t a good idea
Remember shade, hats, sunglasses and rash shirts are part of your sun protection
Shop around as prices vary widely