My first session here was at Bondi. When I got off the bus, I ducked into some news agent, figuring, Hey, we’re at Bondi; every shop must sell wax. I was correct.
However, I did not anticipate that when the guy rang me up, he would ask me for $4.95 (AUD, of course). I said, “Pardon me, good sir?”
He said, “Yes, you beautiful, young lady, I said $4.95.”
I scoffed.
He said, “How much you usually pay?”
“Like a dollar fifty,” I responded (scandalized).
Now he looked scandalized. “Well… uhh… give me $3.95.”
I said merci and chalked it up to a small store, a captive audience, and some good, old-fashioned gouging.
That is, until the next time I happened to check the price on wax, and it was still somewhere around five bills. I accosted my US-born, fellow surfer of a landlord and he laughed and simply said, “Yeah, everything here is expensive.”
Fair enough. At least I can say I haggled my first Aussie bar of wax. And won a 20% discount.
Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink 