In Australia you should be careful when visiting the local Microsoft Australia site for Office related matters. You could pay a lot more for Office products.
If you visit office.com.au be aware – it’s NOT from Microsoft and they charge more for Office than anywhere else we’ve seen.
Microsoft owns office.com but NOT office.com.au
Office.com.au is run by ‘Xi Consulting Group Unit Trust’ who use the site to sell Office related products at excessive prices. Office.com.au is linked with retailcare.com.au
It’s a ‘nice little earner’ because they charge well over the normal price for Office 365/Office 2016.
High Prices
Office 365 Home retails for AUD$119 but can be had for under $100. Office.com.au sells the same thing for $21 more than recommended retail:
It doesn’t end there. On the purchase page they add another $20 for shipping!
Believe us … Aussie postage for a small card isn’t that expensive. All up, you’re paying about $50 more than the street price.
It’s the same ‘deal’ for other Office 365/Office 2016 products.
According to the site:
“Office.com.au is affiliated with RetailCare Pty Ltd. This website is not affiliated with Microsoft
We are authorized business partner with Microsoft to provide Microsoft products easily to our Customers“
Existing Office users
Not only that, it’s confusing for Aussies looking for an Office 365 account login or other Microsoft direct services.
If you want your local Microsoft go to http://Microsoft.com or, in Oz, http://microsoft.com.au and the site should figure out your location automatically. For Aussies you’ll end up at https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/ .
If it’s not right, you can change your region / language from the bottom left corner:
To login to your Office 365 account go to http://office365.com and you’ll be taken to the appropriate Microsoft.com sub-site.
