Shopping in Australia

With the effect of increasing population, the shopping habits of Australians have changed during the last years. Instead of the small scale shops, huge shopping centers, malls and arcades have been built in the big cities, giving the shopping possibility to the consumers until pretty late during the week and sometimes also on Sundays. There are some supermarkets that are open 24 hours a day during the working days and until midnight on Sundays.

Buying souvenirs is an important part of the vacation for many tourists. There are many shops in the malls and arcades that offer a wide variety of products. Nevertheless, please pay attention in order to not to get fooled in these stores. Many souvenirs are 'Made in Asian Countries' and very few products are originally from Australia. The on-sale products in Australia are marked with 4 different labels that shortly explain how much Australian industry and standards are involved in the whole process until the product has been placed on the shelf:

You can also consider having a look at the duty free shops before deciding to buy something. There are duty free shops at every international airport as well as at the big city centers. To get the product packed as "duty free", a flight ticket for travelling back home and a passport should be shown. After the product gets packed, the stamps on the package should not get damaged until it is submitted to the customs at the airport.

The payment after shopping can be done in several ways in Australia. Paying cash is the most common option. Other than that, credit cards can be used usually starting from a certain amount. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diner's Club are widely accepted. In case traveller's checks are to be used, a passport might be necessary for identification.