Retail figurehead and Harvey Norman director Gerry Harvey has been a long-time opponent of foreign retailers shipping products to Australia, using the tactic to avoiding paying the local Goods and Services Tax (GST). Yesterday, he back flipped on the issue, announcing a new game-import website that will do exactly that.
Dubbed Harvey Norman Direct Import, the online store will operate out of the Republic of Ireland, and will ship games to Australia. At launch, the website will only stock interactive entertainment, but, in a conference call, Gerry Harvey hinted that video games are just the beginning, with plans to expand into other goods. He said, "we have to start somewhere, and it's a nice place to start".
The Australian retailer blamed consumer demand for cheaper products as the reason for its change of heart, citing the high wholesale price of local games as forcing its hand to compete with overseas sellers.
In response to a question about Harvey Norman Direct Import's ability to compete with existing online game retailers, Harvey Norman spokesperson Ben Mackintosh said that the site plans to "bring legitimacy to [grey import]".
Harvey Norman Direct is live now.
Via GameSpot AU
Via GameSpot AU
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