Tough Times For Argentine Factories As Consumers Penny-pinch

[Ries]

Most people here aren't paying tax, and certainly not on all their income anyway

less than 90,000 people in the entire country earn enough money to pay income tax. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...millions-from-paying-income-tax-as-vote-nears

 

[Ries]

The odd thing to me is that Industria Argentina products are cheaper than imports. A locally made chomba is 1/4 the price of a LaCoste, which is made in central america, not france, anyway.
Industria Argentina chomba, on mercado libre today, 25,000 pesos
La Coste, 150,000 to 200,000.

So why would Argentine factories be the ones that are going to go out of business.
I have made a point, over the last 15 years, to buy Industria Argentina whenever possible, including kitchenware, furniture, shoes, clothing, tools, and more. And its always been significantly cheaper than imports, while often the same quality.
A nice argentine made drop forged hammer, for example, is cheaper than a Stanley or one imported from europe, and it hits just exactly as well.
With the peso staying basically the same against the dollar, it seems as if imports would actually be cheaper than they have been, but the same sewing machine that costs $275 in the USA was about $325 in dollars at the october conversion rate to pesos, and now, on Mercado Libre, its $800 when using the current dollar to peso rate.
This defies most forex models I have seen.
Why would something that has not changed its dollar price, in a time when the dollar to peso rate is basically static, have tripled in pesos?

 

[Stephano]

The odd thing to me is that Industria Argentina products are cheaper than imports. A locally made chomba is 1/4 the price of a LaCoste, which is made in central america, not france, anyway.
Industria Argentina chomba, on mercado libre today, 25,000 pesos
La Coste, 150,000 to 200,000.

So why would Argentine factories be the ones that are going to go out of business.
I have made a point, over the last 15 years, to buy Industria Argentina whenever possible, including kitchenware, furniture, shoes, clothing, tools, and more. And its always been significantly cheaper than imports, while often the same quality.
A nice argentine made drop forged hammer, for example, is cheaper than a Stanley or one imported from europe, and it hits just exactly as well.
With the peso staying basically the same against the dollar, it seems as if imports would actually be cheaper than they have been, but the same sewing machine that costs $275 in the USA was about $325 in dollars at the october conversion rate to pesos, and now, on Mercado Libre, its $800 when using the current dollar to peso rate.
This defies most forex models I have seen.
Why would something that has not changed its dollar price, in a time when the dollar to peso rate is basically static, have tripled in pesos?

I too tend to buy Industria Argentina whenever possible, as quality is usually the same or better than and equivalent item you would buy in the US, which 90% of the times is made in China. It is somewhat refreshing to me buying something not made there, and because of that I am also willing to pay a bit more.

 

[FrankPintor]

I too tend to buy Industria Argentina whenever possible, as quality is usually the same or better than and equivalent item you would buy in the US, which 90% of the times is made in China. It is somewhat refreshing to me buying something not made there, and because of that I am also willing to pay a bit more.

I do the same, I feel that since Argentina has been so generous with residency, citizenship, and many other things, it deserves that much at least.

Of course it’s possible, and even easy, to find reasonably priced goods manufactured here, as you and other posters have indicated, you don’t even have to go cheap, but if someone lives in a bubble in Cañitas and wants to manufacture an alternative narrative for their own reasons, they’re going to do that . As a Mexican friend of mine once said, one should be careful the price is on the sticker, and not emblazoned on your forehead

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

I bought a pair of industria argentina football boots and they’re awful

 

[AdrianB]

but the same sewing machine that costs $275 in the USA was about $325 in dollars at the october conversion rate to pesos, and now, on Mercado Libre, its $800 when using the current dollar to peso rate.
This defies most forex models I have seen.
Why would something that has not changed its dollar price, in a time when the dollar to peso rate is basically static, have tripled in pesos?

Is this not because of very high import taxes which were previously offset by the low official exchange rate? Now the official exchange rate went from 350 to 895 and your machine went from 320 to 800.

 

[carride]

Is this not because of very high import taxes which were previously offset by the low official exchange rate? Now the official exchange rate went from 350 to 895 and your machine went from 320 to 800.

No. Even before the new administration, not all imports were allowed access to USD at the official exchange rate. Non essential items were forced to exchange at the higher MEP rate. This is why coffee prices began to climb after Fernandez removed it from essential item list in an October 2023. I suspect sewing machines were never considered essential, so always imported using USD that had been exchanged using the MEP rate.

El café ya no es esencial y preocupa el futuro de las cafeterías de especialidad

Hace dos semanas el café dejó de ser considerado un bien esencial lo que generó cambios en las condiciones de pago y faltantes. Cómo impacta esta situación en el bolsillo de los argentinos

www-cronista-com.translate.goog

 

[Ries]

I see similar prices for many different things- a Monster drink, by coke, for example, made in argentina, is now running about the same dollar price as one at a 7-11 in the USA- about 3 dollars a can.
A new Porsche Cayenne with the V8, which costs about $140,000 in the US, is on Mercado libre for a measly $615,000 USD.
This is internal inflation, not taxes. There always were taxes and fricitional costs that made foreign cars cost about double the US or Euro prices, but 5 Times the Price?

 

[elhombresinnombre]

<snip>
With the peso staying basically the same against the dollar, it seems as if imports would actually be cheaper than they have been, but the same sewing machine that costs $275 in the USA was about $325 in dollars at the october conversion rate to pesos, and now, on Mercado Libre, its $800 when using the current dollar to peso rate.
This defies most forex models I have seen.
Why would something that has not changed its dollar price, in a time when the dollar to peso rate is basically static, have tripled in pesos?

Pero - Mercado Libre

I'm sure there are bargains and straightforward pricing somewhere on Mercado Libre but there are an awful lot of bandits out there too.

Looking up the current prices of certain RapaNui products the other day, two listings in particular from Mercado Libre rose to the top of the search. They were each almost exactly double the price listed by RapaNui themselves

 

[Ries]

Obviously I am not buying a Porsche, but it has been my experience that the low prices on Mercado Libre are usually lower than the prices in "high street" stores. tools and hardware usually cheaper than my neighborhood fereteria, for example. I often use Mercado Libre to get a reference price- for instance, I needed an argentine style plug on a cord for my mac- Mercado Libre, 10 bucks USD. Electronics store on Santa Fe, 20.
Puesto up on the second floor of Galeria Jardin, 6 dollars.
Certainly there is a range of prices on Mercado Libre, for the same thing. And most people will choose the cheaper one.
Also, what is your time worth- Many things on Mercado libre are free delivery, or, at most, less than a taxi one way to a store that may or may not have what you want.
But for general comparisons of prices, its not a bad place to start.