Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

inConnect

Three separate 2026 reports landed in the same week and told the same story. Australians are now deal hunters. 81% shop around. 73% wait for the sale. 79% will not buy their preferred brand at full price. The data has caught up to why we built It’s On Sale, so here is a clean answer to all of it: this is our turf. One curated map of every genuine Australian retail sale, refreshed every morning, audited at dawn. You hunt the best deals. We already did.

Australia Is Now A Nation Of Deal Hunters

The Australia Post 2026 eCommerce Report is the clearest read yet on what cost-of-living has done to Australian shopping behaviour. 81% of Aussies now actively shop around for the best deal. 73% wait for sales events before they buy. The average household now buys from 16 different retailers across a year, double what it was a decade ago. The average basket has slid to $96, down ten dollars from 2020 in real terms. Australia Post itself uses the phrase “shopper promiscuity” to describe what is happening, and Nugget Digital’s breakdown of the report calls it the end of single-retailer loyalty.

The EOFY 2026 research from Kogan and PureProfile, reported by Sue Wells in 7News, layers in the EOFY-specific behaviour. 79% of Australians say they will not buy their preferred brand if it is not on sale. 37% will actively switch to a cheaper competitor brand. 49% have intentionally delayed buying a necessary high-value item (a fridge, a laptop, a TV) for three months or more, specifically to wait for an EOFY discount. 69% are enforcing an under-$500 EOFY spending limit. Australians are not buying less. They are buying smarter, slower and more strategically than at any point in the post-pandemic period.

The third corroboration came on 2 June from the Power Retail and Arktic Fox State of eCommerce 2026 report. Teresa Sperti, Director of Arktic Fox, summed up what retailers are seeing from the other side of the counter: “The findings reveal a market at a genuine inflection point.” 97.8% of retailers now rate eCommerce growth as strategically critical. 78.6% concede their loyalty programs need to evolve. Price has officially eclipsed brand as the deciding factor in where Australians shop.

This Is Our Turf

It’s On Sale was built for exactly this Australia. One curated directory of Australian-owned retailers actually running sales right now, with the deepest headline discounts surfaced every morning. No overseas marketplaces. No drop-shippers. No expired offer pages. Each store gets a live audit at dawn so the homepage only shows sales that are actually live. The Top 6 ticker on the homepage refreshes daily. The Daily Brief lands at 8am AEST every weekday. The Top 5 Deals of the Day rotates so the same stores never run two days in a row, which is the editorial proof that we are reading the live pool, not recycling a list.

If 81% of you are already shopping around and 73% are already waiting for the sale, the work has shifted. The question is no longer “is this on sale?” but “where is the best version of this sale, today?”. That is what we do. The hunting is the platform. You bring the wishlist; we bring the map.

What To Watch This Morning: Two Confidence Reads

Two data drops land before lunch and both feed straight back into how retailers price the rest of EOFY. The Westpac Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index releases at 10:30am AEST, followed by NAB Business Confidence at 11:30am AEST. IG flagged both as the week’s key local data points. If consumer sentiment stays at the three-year low it printed in last month’s KPMG Retail Health Index (80.1, down from 91.6), expect retailers to push harder into the deferred big-ticket categories (whitegoods, tech, furniture) over the next ten days. The RBA cash rate decision lands Monday 16 June; Click Frenzy fires from 7pm AEST Thursday 18 June. EOFY closes 30 June.

Top 5 Deals of the Day

Today’s catch. Five stores, five categories, all fresh ground. Yesterday’s leaders are cooled down; the hunter never works the same patch two days running.

1Today’s Top
DiscountEckersley's Pty LtdArt & CraftUp to 70% off Eckersley’s art supplies clearance: paints, canvases, brushes, sketchbooks and student bundles from the AU-owned Melbourne family business that has stocked Australian studios since 1949.70%OFF2VERONIKA MAINEWomens FashionUp to 70% off Veronika Maine’s workwear and occasion edit: tailored separates, dresses and knitwear in the polished Italian-fabric range the label is known for, sizes 6 to 16.70%OFF3ColetteBags & AccessoriesUp to 69% off Colette Hayman’s accessories sweep: handbags, jewellery, hair pieces, travel and wallets across the brand’s clearance and current-season EOFY drop.69%OFF4MYERDepartment StoreUp to 65% off Myer’s EOFY blitz across beauty, appliances, tech, luggage and home brands, with the deepest tags landing on big-ticket appliance lines.65%OFF5DuskHomewaresUp to 60% off Dusk’s candle, diffuser and gifting range: hand-poured Australian fragrances and homewares from the AU-owned national chain.60%OFF

% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.

Other Deals Worth a Look

Three deeper headline numbers in the pool today did not make the Top 5 because their categories were already taken, but they earn a look. Sportsgirl is still at up to 90% off on its runway and EOFY clearance for womens fashion. Rebel is at up to 85% off on fan gear and footwear. Elite Supplements is at up to 80% off on protein and recovery. For homewares specifically, Glassons is at 63% on knits and basics. Original Mattress Factory is at 60% on its Cloud 9 range, and Robert Gordon Pottery is at 60% on its handmade Australian ceramics. All Australian-owned, all locally fulfilled.

Reader Takeaway

The data confirms what most households already know in their bones. Strategic shopping is the new default, not a frugality tactic. EOFY week three opens tomorrow and the deepest cuts will land between now and 30 June. Bookmark itsonsale.com.au, check the Top 6 ticker on the homepage every morning, and let the Daily Brief filter the 124 stores currently running sales down to the five worth a serious look today. You hunt the best deals. We already did.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

inConnect

Most of the country wakes to a King’s Birthday long weekend with EOFY week two firing on every category, but the mood music underneath is heavy. KPMG’s June Retail Health Index shows consumer sentiment crashed from 91.6 to 80.1, the steepest single-month drop since 2023. Three rate hikes earlier this year still bite, the next RBA call lands 16 June, and 73% of households are now waiting for sales events before they spend. The discounts are real this week. The plan needs to be real too.

Sentiment Crashes 11.5 Points As Households Tighten Up

The June Retail Health Index from KPMG, authored by Chief Economist Dr Brendan Rynne, shows the Westpac to Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index tumbled from 91.6 in March to 80.1 in April. That is the sharpest one-month fall since the cost-of-living crunch of 2023, and the index has now slipped back into clearly pessimistic territory after holding above the neutral 100 line through most of 2024.

The headline RHI itself nudged from -0.41 to -0.39 over the December to March quarters, which Dr Rynne notes is technically an improvement, but everything except sentiment is moving sideways. Inflation-adjusted retail turnover fell 0.6% in the March quarter. The household saving ratio dropped from 6.9% to 6.4%, suggesting families are dipping into savings rather than building them. KPMG does not expect a sustained recovery in retail until late calendar 2027.

For shoppers the takeaway is twofold. First, 73% of Australian households now actively wait for sale events before they buy, and 81% shop around for the best deal. That is a structural shift toward EOFY, Click Frenzy and Boxing Day as the only viable buying windows. Second, the spending that does happen is concentrated in essentials: groceries alone now make up 32% of total online spend, fashion 20%, health and beauty 11%. Deferrable categories (furniture, white goods, big-ticket tech) are where the deepest EOFY discounts will land this week.

King’s Birthday Long Weekend: Two-Speed Retail

Today is the King’s Birthday public holiday in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, which gives most of the country a three-day shopping window. Queensland and Western Australia trade as normal (Queensland observes the holiday on 5 October, WA on 28 September), so Brisbane and Perth readers are looking at a regular Monday.

The practical retail consequence is timing. Southern-state shoppers should expect quieter physical stores at opening, then a midmorning surge through David Jones, Myer and JB Hi-Fi, with online traffic running heaviest from late afternoon. David Jones is currently flagging up to 50% off fashion and homeware (offer expires 8 June, today). Myer’s EOFY runs to 30 June with savings across appliances, beauty, tech, luggage and home brands.

The smart play if you are in a holiday state is to lock in your one or two biggest planned purchases this morning (online beats the queues), then leave the smaller browsing for tomorrow when the rush has passed. If you are in Queensland or WA, your weekly shop sits in the quietest day of the EOFY window, which is its own advantage.

What To Watch This Week: Rate Decision, Business Confidence, Click Frenzy

Three macro signals land between now and next Monday that all feed back into how aggressively retailers price the second half of EOFY. The NAB Business Confidence release lands at 11:30am AEST on Tuesday 9 June (tomorrow), and the read on retailers’ own outlook will shape how willing they are to discount deeper into late June. IG flagged this as the week’s key local data point.

The RBA cash rate decision lands Monday 16 June. The cash rate currently sits at 4.35% after three hikes earlier in 2026, and consensus is leaning toward a hold, but any hawkish commentary from Governor Bullock would tighten consumer spend immediately. Then on Thursday 18 June at 7pm AEST, Click Frenzy returns for a week-long EOFY event, free for retailers to participate. Co-founder Gabby Leibovich confirmed the platform expects a broader retailer lineup than 2024 thanks to the no-fee model.

Top 5 Deals of the Day

Five stores. Five categories. The deepest headline discounts surfaced from a sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale, audited at dawn.

1Today’s Top
DiscountSportsgirlWomens FashionUp to 90% off Sportsgirl’s runway-leaning sale floor: party dresses, knits, denim and accessories with EOFY clearance running deepest in the popular size 6 to 14 range.90%OFF2RebelSport & FitnessUp to 85% off Rebel’s fangear, plus a deep sweep through running, training and basketball footwear from mid-tier and tier-one brands.85%OFF3Elite SupplementsHealth & SupplementsUp to 80% off Elite Supplements’ clearance: protein, pre-workout, creatine and recovery from Australian-made brands in stack-friendly sizes.80%OFF4Kick Push SkateSkate & WheelsUp to 79% off the Kick Push Skate sale: complete decks, trucks, wheels, helmets and apparel from skate-owned Australian labels.79%OFF5BakuSwim & BeachUp to 70% off Baku’s swim and beach clearance: bikinis, one-pieces, rash vests and resort wear, AU-owned with local fulfilment.70%OFF

% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.

Other Deals Worth a Look

Beyond the Top 5, a handful of strong supporting acts are running in the Today’s Sales pool. DECJUBA is at up to 70% off sitewide fashion. Veronika Maine is also at 70% across its workwear and occasion edits. Colette Hayman is at 69% across bags and accessories. Glassons is at 63% across knits and basics. For homewares specifically, Dusk is at 60% on candles, diffusers and gifting, and Original Mattress Factory is at 60% on its Cloud 9 range.

Reader Takeaway

Sentiment is at a three-year low, but the discounts are genuinely deep this EOFY week. The discipline that has been forced on households (planning, waiting, shopping around) is the same discipline that turns a sale event into actual value. If you have a long weekend, use the quiet morning for the one or two big-ticket items you actually planned for. Keep the rest of the browse for tomorrow. Watch NAB business confidence at 11:30am AEST Tuesday, the RBA decision next Monday, and Click Frenzy from 7pm Thursday 18 June.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

inConnect

Consumer group CHOICE has filed a formal complaint over banned and unsafe products still listed on Amazon, Temu, AliExpress and eBay. The ACCC has ordered four marketplaces to delist magnetic chess-style games carrying a deadly ingestion risk. Amazon’s Mid-Year Sale ends tonight, which is exactly the moment to step back, breathe out, and look at the AU-owned EOFY catalogue running deeper than anything on Haul.

CHOICE Calls Out Amazon, Temu and AliExpress Over Banned Kids’ Products

Consumer advocacy group CHOICE has lodged a formal complaint with the consumer regulator after finding that prohibited and unsafe products continue to be sold through Amazon, Temu, AliExpress and eBay, ABC News reported on 3 June. The items flagged include novelty cigarettes that emit smoke, toy-like lighters, detachable tongue studs with choking risk, flammable clothing and toys containing potentially lethal button batteries.

CHOICE campaign director Andy Kelly told the ABC that online sellers often portray themselves as intermediaries to deflect responsibility onto third-party vendors. “This legal gap permits online marketplaces to continue selling these unsafe items with minimal repercussions,” Kelly said. CHOICE wants the federal government to introduce a general safety provision that would force every business, marketplace included, to take responsibility for the safety of what they ship.

The complaint follows the ACCC’s recent Federal Court action against Amazon over unicorn toddler backpacks missing button-battery warnings, the first time the watchdog has tested an online marketplace under product safety law. Kelly called that case a significant test of Amazon’s accountability. For Australian parents the shopper takeaway is consistent. If it touches a child, prefer an AU-owned retailer with local fulfilment, a phone number that rings, and product compliance you can verify before checkout.

ACCC Orders Four Marketplaces to Delist Magnetic Toys

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued removal orders to Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo, requiring them to delist magnetic chess-style games that contain small high-powered magnets banned under Australian Consumer Law since 2012, Retail Insight Network reported on 1 June. The ban covers any product with detachable high-powered magnets small enough to be swallowed, including toys, games, construction kits and jewellery.

ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe warned that “high-powered magnets can cause life-threatening injuries, particularly to young children. Magnets can link together in the intestine or tissue. They are also a choking risk.” All four platforms have agreed to remove the listings and contact affected customers with safety notifications. Kogan, Amazon and Fruugo have either issued or agreed to issue refunds. The regulator is also seeking commitments that the same or similar items will not be relisted by other sellers.

For parents and grandparents currently shopping for school holiday and birthday gifts, the practical move is simple. AU-owned toy stores like Mr Toys Toyworld and Showbags carry compliance certifications and Australian product safety standards on every listing, and customer service is reachable inside business hours rather than via a global help-desk queue.

EOFY Week One: What’s Still Live and Worth Chasing

End of Financial Year 2026 deals are in full swing across every major Australian retailer, with the deepest discounts of the year now visible on big-ticket categories, Homes To Love updated its tracker on 5 June. The genuine standouts among AU-owned brands this week: Lounge Lovers running up to 50% off sitewide, MCM House at 20 to 50% off, and Sleeping Giant pushing 30 to 60% off storewide on mattresses. Pillow Talk has 40% off sitewide, Koala has up to 30% off across mattresses and sofa beds, and Linen House opens at up to 50% off from 15 June.

The veteran shopping tip worth repeating: discount depth does not deepen as 30 June approaches, but choice gets dramatically thinner. Popular stock such as mattresses, laptops and TVs sells out well before the final week. If you have a specific item in mind this is the weekend to lock it in rather than gamble on a deeper price on day 25 of a 30-day sale.

Last Call: Deals Closing This Week

A handful of strong AU-owned promotions wrap inside the next seven days, according to the Australian Women’s Weekly EOFY 2026 tracker updated 4 June. The Body Shop has 30% off all full-priced skincare ending today, 7 June, with selected exclusions. Lovehoney’s up-to-60% off wellness sale also closes tonight. MoveActive has up to 60% off selected activewear styles ending today. Papinelle’s end-of-season sale runs to 8 June at up to 60% off, City Chic has 30 to 50% off almost everything to 8 June, and MARAIS has an extra 20% off selected full-price and sale items closing 7 June.

Looking one week ahead, Linen House opens 15 June with up to 50% off, Yoto launches 20% off players and accessories from 16 June to 22 June, and Click Frenzy returns 18 June for the first time in over a year, the platform’s first major outing in over a year. That week-two cluster is when EOFY pivots from soft-launch to peak shopping volume, so if you can defer until then, the catalogue widens substantially.

Top 5 Deals of the Day

Five stores. Five categories. The deepest headline discounts surfaced from a sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale, audited at dawn.

1Today’s Top
DiscountSportsgirlWomens FashionUp to 90% off the Sportsgirl sale floor: party dresses, knitwear, denim and accessories with the deepest clearance running in mainstream sizes through to size 16.90%OFF2RebelSport & FitnessUp to 85% off Rebel’s footy fan-gear clearance, plus a strong sweep of running, basketball and footy boots from mid-tier and second-tier brands.85%OFF3Kick Push SkateSkate & WheelsUp to 83% off complete decks, trucks, wheels, bearings and apparel from skate-owned Australian labels at Kick Push. Free shipping over $80.83%OFF4Elite SupplementsHealth & SupplementsUp to 80% off the Elite Supplements clearance: protein, pre-workout, BCAAs and recovery from Australian-made brands in stack-friendly multi-tub sizes.80%OFF5BakuSwim & BeachUp to 70% off the Baku swimwear sale: one-pieces, bikini separates and rashies sized 8 to 22, with end-of-season clearance prices on resort prints.70%OFF

% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.

Sourced from a daily sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale. Ranked by headline percentage, one store per category for fair coverage.

Other Deals Worth a Look

• Eckersleys: up to 70% off art, craft and stationery. Strong picks for winter-holiday craft packs and journaling supplies.
• Grahams Jewellers: up to 70% off selected diamond, pearl and gold pieces. Family-owned Australian jeweller since 1907.
• Veronika Maine: up to 70% off polished workwear and event dressing. Australian-designed, sized 6 to 16.
• Decjuba: up to 70% off winter knits, denim and outerwear. Melbourne-founded, AU-owned, free delivery over $99.
• Dusk: up to 60% off home fragrance, candles and diffusers. The reliable EOFY hostess-gift restock.

What to Watch Tomorrow

Two markers for the week ahead. Click Frenzy is expected to publish its participating-retailer list around 11 June, which will tell us how broad the free-to-list model has pulled smaller AU labels into the platform. And the Fair Work Commission’s 5.97% minimum wage increase from 1 July is now driving the deepest pre-EOFY clearance from small AU-owned retailers most exposed to payroll inflation, so the next three weeks are when their margin-led discounts hit hardest before the 1 July reset.

Tomorrow’s brief: a parent’s compliance checklist for spotting unsafe marketplace listings before they hit the cart, plus week-two EOFY winners as the Lounge Lovers and Linen House Mid-Year drops kick off.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

inConnect

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has dragged Amazon’s local arm into the Federal Court over toddler-backpack safety, the first time the watchdog has tested an online marketplace under product safety law. EOFY week one is open, 69% of Aussies are running a hard spending cap, Click Frenzy returns 18 June, and the 1 July minimum wage tick is locked in at 5.97%. Plenty for shoppers to read carefully before reaching for the card.

Amazon Hauled Into Federal Court Over Toddler Backpack Safety

The ACCC filed proceedings against Amazon Commercial Services in the Federal Court on 30 May, alleging that Unicorn Toddler Backpacks sold through amazon.com.au were supplied without the mandatory button-battery warning labels required under Australian product safety law, according to Paul Drecksler at Shopifreaks. The backpacks contained a detachable light-up unicorn plush powered by button batteries. Amazon Australia sold 41 of the products between June and November 2022, with another 267 units still sitting in its fulfilment centres at the time of investigation.

The watchdog says this is the first Federal Court case it has brought against an online marketplace operator under product safety laws. An ACCC deputy chair noted that button batteries “can cause severe internal burns and in some cases death if swallowed by young children”, which is why the warning-label standard is mandatory. The ACCC is seeking declarations and penalties from the court.

For Australian parents the practical takeaway is the one this brief has been running since the start: if it touches a child, prefer an AU-owned retailer with local fulfilment, a returns desk you can phone, and product compliance you can verify in writing. Marketplaces can be convenient, but accountability for what arrives on your doorstep is still being tested.

EOFY Week One: How Aussies Are Spending This Year

EOFY 2026 is now live across every major Australian retailer, but the spending pattern looks tighter than last year. 7News reported on 5 June that 69% of Australian shoppers are enforcing a hard cap of under $500 for the whole EOFY window, with 31% running an even tighter $50 to $200 limit and 38% sitting in the $200 to $500 band. Cost-of-living pressure is driving genuinely strategic behaviour, not impulse hauls.

The brand-level deals worth knowing about this week include Dyson sitewide at up to 50% off, Samsung running a full-store EOFY event, and Kogan flagging up to 70% off across the catalogue. The category playbook for shoppers on a sub-$500 budget is simple. Buy the one big-ticket item you have been deferring (vacuum, headphones, kettle), pair it with a planned wardrobe replacement, and skip the small impulse adds. That is how a strict cap still delivers the year’s best value.

Click Frenzy Returns 18 June, Free for Retailers

Click Frenzy has confirmed a week-long EOFY event launching 18 June 2026, the platform’s first major outing in over a year, Retail World Magazine noted on 5 June. Co-founder Gabby Leibovich wrote on LinkedIn that “Click Frenzy is officially returning with a massive EOFY event starting on 18 June”, and confirmed participation will be free for retailers for the first time in the platform’s history.

For shoppers the practical signal is timing. Genuine sitewide percentage deals on AU-owned brands tend to hit Click Frenzy’s first 48 hours, then taper. If you are watching a specific store that participates, mark 18 and 19 June as the peak window and set price alerts before then. The free-participation model should also pull in smaller AU retailers who normally avoid the platform’s listing fees, so the range of stores is likely to be broader than 2024.

What Changes 1 July: Minimum Wage and the New Financial Year

The Fair Work Commission has confirmed a 5.97% lift to the national minimum wage from 1 July, taking the base rate to $25.44 an hour from $24.95, according to ABC News on 2 June. Award workers get a 4.75% adjustment. The change lifts pay for roughly 2.9 million Australians and feeds directly into retail wage-bills from the first pay cycle in July.

For shoppers two things follow. Retailers facing higher payroll costs tend to thin staffing on weekday daytime hours first, so factor extra time into in-store browsing in July. And the small AU-owned stores most exposed to payroll inflation will be the ones running the deepest pre-30 June clearance to clean inventory before the cost step-up. If you have been watching a small label, the next three weeks are the window before margin compression forces a price reset rather than a discount.

Top 5 Deals of the Day

Five stores. Five categories. The deepest headline discounts surfaced from a sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale, audited at dawn.

1Today’s Top
DiscountSportsgirlWomens FashionEOFY clearance across party dresses, knits and denim, deepest in size 6 to 14.90%OFF2Rebel SportSport & FitnessFangear clearance plus running, footy and basketball footwear.85%OFF3Elite SupplementsHealth & SupplementsProtein, pre-workout and recovery from Australian-made brands.80%OFF4UGG ExpressShoesClassic and short ugg styles, slippers and kids’ sizes. Melbourne dispatch.80%OFF5Kick Push SkateSkate & WheelsComplete decks, trucks, wheels and apparel from skate-owned labels.78%OFF

% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.

Sourced from a daily sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale. Ranked by headline percentage, one store per category for fair coverage.

Other Deals Worth a Look

• Costume Box: up to 75% off party and costume range. AU-owned, sensible to lock in school-event gear before term 3.
• Betts: up to 70% off mens and womens shoes including leather formals and winter boots.
• Eckersleys: up to 70% off art, craft and stationery. Strong for kids’ holiday-prep packs and journaling supplies.
• Myer EOFY: up to 60% off beauty (including 40% off selected premium brands) and 50% off bed linen through 30 June.

What to Watch Tomorrow

Two signals to track. The Federal Court is expected to set first-mention timing on the ACCC v Amazon matter within 14 days, which will tell us whether this becomes a fast-tracked test case or a 2027 hearing. And Click Frenzy’s participating-retailer list typically previews 7 days before launch, so 11 June is when the size of the 18 June event becomes concrete.

Tomorrow’s brief: a working-from-home EOFY claim checklist for the self-employed, plus the Sportsgirl 90% mark broken down item-by-item for the sub-$500 budget.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

inConnect

The Reserve Bank flagged a 4.5% inflation peak in the June quarter on Wednesday, while Treasury locked in 1 October 2026 as the day card surcharges disappear from Australian point-of-sale terminals. Shoppers also got the ACCC’s first Federal Court action against an online marketplace, and Woolworths quietly turned on a Gemini-powered shopping assistant. EOFY 2026 just got more interesting.

RBA flags 4.5% inflation peak, card surcharges end 1 October

Governor Michele Bullock told the Senate Economics Committee on Wednesday that headline inflation is on track to peak at 4.5% in the June quarter before easing through the second half of 2026, according to her prepared remarks published by the Reserve Bank. Bullock used the same testimony to confirm the Treasurer’s earlier announcement that surcharging on Visa, Mastercard and EFTPOS debit and credit cards will end at all Australian merchants from 1 October 2026, with interchange caps also lowering on the same day.

For shoppers the cards reform is simple money back. The Reserve Bank’s own modelling pegs the annual saving at roughly $60 per adult, with the heaviest gains landing on households who tap-pay at hospitality and small-merchant terminals. The interchange cap reduction (capped at 0.30% for credit, 0.06% for debit) should also feed through to lower headline prices over the following 6 to 12 months as merchants reset menu boards and shelf tags. If a retailer in your local strip still surcharges you 1.5% on a debit tap on 2 October, that is now the merchant absorbing it as a loss, not the law.

ACCC takes Amazon to Federal Court, first marketplace test

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed proceedings in the Federal Court against Amazon Commercial Services last week (its first case against an online marketplace operator), ABC News consumer affairs reporter Daniel Ziffer wrote on 29 May. The case centres on Unicorn Toddler Backpacks sold through Amazon Australia between November 2023 and December 2024, with allegedly unsecured button batteries and inadequate compliance warnings.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the action is a “significant test of whether online marketplaces can be held to the same standards as bricks-and-mortar retailers for products sold on their platforms”. For Australian parents the practical takeaway is the one this brief has been running since Issue 01: if it goes in a child’s hand, a kitchen, or near a power point, prefer an AU-owned retailer with local fulfilment, a returns desk you can call, and product compliance you can verify in writing.

Woolworths quietly launches Gemini-powered shopping assistant

Woolworths Group has switched on a Google Gemini-powered conversational shopping assistant inside the Woolworths app, the University of Western Australia retail analytics team noted on 4 June. The assistant handles natural-language meal planning (“dinner for four under $40 with no nuts”), basket completion, and shelf-tag price comparison across the loyalty programme. Coles is understood to be running a closed pilot of an Anthropic-backed equivalent and is expected to launch publicly before Christmas.

For shoppers this is a genuine convenience lift on price comparison and dietary filtering, but the prompt engineering matters. Ask the assistant to surface the cheapest unit-price option in a category rather than the recommended product, and verify the AU-source flag if local provenance matters to you.

EOFY 2026 deal landscape, week 2 of June

The headline EOFY catalogues are now live across the AU majors. Myer’s EOFY sale runs through 30 June with up to 60% off beauty and homewares, while TechRadar’s EOFY tech tracker is showing JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Bing Lee all running matched-pricing weeks through the month. The premium discount opportunities, the ones worth waiting for, are concentrated in the homepage retailers we audit every dawn.

Top 5 Deals of the Day

Five stores. Five categories. The deepest headline discounts surfaced from a sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale, audited at dawn.

1

Sportsgirl

Womens Fashion

Up to 90% off the runway-leaning Sportsgirl sale floor: party dresses, knits, denim and accessories with EOFY clearance running deepest in size 6 to 14.

90%OFF

2

Rebel Sport

Sport & Fitness

Up to 85% off Rebel’s fangear clearance, plus solid sweep through running, footy and basketball footwear in mid-tier brands.

85%OFF

3

Elite Supplements

Health & Supplements

Up to 80% off whey, pre-workout, BCAAs and recovery stacks. Australian-owned, Brisbane warehouse, free shipping over $150 if you stack.

80%OFF

4

Kick Push Skate

Skate & Wheels

Up to 78% off skate decks, complete setups, helmets and apparel. AU-owned, Brisbane-based, free shipping over $99.

78%OFF

5

Baku Swimwear

Swim & Beach

Up to 70% off Aussie-designed swim, resort and rash vests. Strong end-of-season clearance in size 8 to 16.

70%OFF

% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.

Sourced from a daily sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale. Ranked by headline percentage, one store per category for fair coverage.

Other Deals Worth a Look

• Grahams Jewellers: up to 70% off sterling silver and gold-plated pieces. Sensible mid-year gifting category before the July price resets.
• Myer EOFY: up to 60% off beauty (including 40% off selected Lancôme and Estée Lauder) and 50% off bed linen through 30 June.
• Dan Murphy’s: EOFY wine and spirits clearance running with up to 50% off selected packages. Worth a browse for Australian reds before the July uplifts.
• Spotlight: winter linen and electric blankets at up to 60% off for VIPs, KOO bamboo cotton sheet sets remain the standout pick.

What to watch

Three signals shape spending between now and the 30 June EOFY close. The June quarter Wage Price Index lands on 13 August, the July monthly CPI indicator on 28 August, and household consumption data through July tells us whether the cards-reform $60 a head is actually showing up in receipts. A material upside surprise on services inflation puts the RBA’s “scope to pause” language at risk, which means the current mortgage rate plateau (6.10% to 6.25% for prime owner-occupiers) is the easier half of 2026.

Tomorrow’s brief: a deep dive into the Sportsgirl 90% mark, plus a working-from-home EOFY claim checklist for the self-employed.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

The Australian economy lifted just 0.3% in the March quarter, the Reserve Bank held the cash rate at 4.35%, and consumer watchdog CHOICE escalated unsafe-product complaints to the ACCC. For shoppers, EOFY 2026 is landing into the tightest household budgets in two years, and the AU retailers running genuine discounts deserve every dollar that would otherwise wander to a banned-listing marketplace.

GDP barely budged. Spending will be picky.

Australia’s economy grew by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2026, taking the annual rate to 2.5%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed yesterday. ABC News flagged the quarterly pace as an annualised 1.2%, the slowest meaningful expansion since the post-pandemic plateau. Construction and professional services lifted, while mining and retail trade weighed (sales of goods and services fell in 5 of 15 industries, led by Mining down 3.1%, per the ABS Business Indicators release for March 2026).

For shoppers, the read is simple. Household consumption data through April already showed the first meaningful slowdown since late 2025. The wallet has tightened, and the rest of EOFY 2026 will be about choosing fewer, better deals rather than chasing every banner.

RBA holds at 4.35%, mortgage rates frozen

The Reserve Bank board voted unanimously to hold the cash rate at 4.35% on 2 June, ending six months of move probability priced at every meeting. James Mitchell, writing for Your Finance Guide, notes Governor Bullock used the post-decision press conference to explicitly leave the door open to a further hike if inflation surprises, while the board’s “scope to pause” language appeared again in the statement.

Big 4 owner-occupier variable rates remain in the 5.99% to 6.20% band for prime borrowers, with non-bank lenders running 5.79% to 5.95% on the same files. If you have not had a rate review in 18 months, the maths on a same-lender review for a $700,000 loan is $290 to $470 a month back in the household budget, according to Mitchell. That is real EOFY money before you have walked into a single store.

CHOICE escalates to ACCC over Amazon, Temu, eBay

Consumer advocacy group CHOICE lodged a “super complaint” (the one allowed each year, reserved for the most pressing consumer issues) with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week. The complaint, covered by the ABC News team, lists novelty smoking cigarettes, toy-like lighters, detachable tongue studs, flammable clothing, and potentially lethal button batteries among the items found on sale across Amazon, Temu, eBay and AliExpress.

CHOICE campaign director Andy Kelly told AAP the legal gap “permits online marketplaces to continue selling these unsafe items with minimal repercussions”. ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe confirmed the watchdog had issued removal requests for the magnet-toy listings to Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo, and all four took the items down. The ACCC’s separate court case against Amazon Commercial Services (over toddler backpacks with unlabelled button batteries) remains live, with CHOICE calling it a significant test of Amazon’s accountability.

For Australian shoppers the practical takeaway is the same one this brief has run since Issue 01: if a product is for a child, a kitchen, or a power point, prefer an Australian-owned retailer with local fulfilment, real product compliance, and a returns desk you can call. Cheap is not cheap when the listing disappears the next morning.

Special of the Day: House, 84% off Baccarat knife block

Today’s Special of the Day goes to House, the Australian-owned kitchen and homewares retailer. The deepest single deal on the page is the Baccarat Damashiro EMPEROR Hisa 9 Piece Knife Block at $249.99, down from an RRP of $1,639.99. That is a saving of roughly $1,390 and an 84% markdown, the deepest headline figure across the 13 stores reviewed for this issue.

The same Kitchen & Homeware Deals page also lists the Baccarat STONE 10 Piece Cookware Set at 76% off and the iD3 BLACK SAMURAI knife block at 71% off, plus multiple cookware sets at 70%. With EOFY claims for home-office kitchen kit on the table for self-employed Australians, and a slower economy making one-off durable upgrades more sensible than monthly impulse buys, the timing is good. Verify stock at checkout because the deepest Baccarat sets have moved fast at this discount level in prior weeks.

Other Deals Worth a Look

• David Jones: extra 50% off selected sale styles, plus 50% off selected cookware (Essteele, Anolon, Circulon) and up to 40% off bed linen. Strong EOFY pairing with the House cookware run if you want to mix premium with mid-range.
• Repco: Ultimate DIY Workshop Catalogue (ends Tuesday 16 June) with 45% off the Mechpro 120 Piece Automotive Tool Kit ($99, was $190) and 40% off the Mechpro 2000kg Trolley Jack. Rewards members also get the Invisible Glass Rain Repellent at half price.
• Dan Murphy’s: EOFY wine and spirits clearance is running with up to 60% off selected packages. Worth a browse for cellar-door pricing on Australian reds before the July uplifts.
• Spotlight: Spot-Take Sale (Wed 3 to Sun 21 June), VIPs save 50% off flannelette bed linen, electric and winter blankets, and Mygenie vacuums. KOO Bamboo Cotton Sheet Set at 59% off is the standout.

What to watch

Three data points will shape consumer pricing into Q3: the June quarter Wage Price Index (released 13 August), the July monthly CPI indicator (28 August), and household consumption data through July and August. A material upside surprise on either trimmed-mean inflation or services inflation puts the RBA hike back on the table, which means today’s mortgage rate plateau is the easier half of 2026. EOFY savings now are partly an insurance policy against a tougher H2.

Tomorrow’s brief: AU retailer EOFY claim-period guides for working-from-home shoppers, plus a deep dive into a homepage retailer’s deepest single-item deal.

It’s On Sale Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

The regulator just told four of the world’s biggest online marketplaces to pull dangerous magnet toys off Australian shelves, and the Fair Work Commission has handed the country’s lowest-paid workers a real pay rise from 1 July. Today’s brief unpacks what both moves mean for your hip pocket, where the deepest EOFY savings now sit (hint: Hello Molly), and which homepage stores are running deals worth a closer look this morning.

ACCC pulls banned magnet toys from Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo

If you have bought a so-called magnetic chess or magnetic battle chess set from Amazon, eBay, Kogan or Fruugo in recent months, stop using it and contact the seller for a refund. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday ordered all four marketplaces to delist toys and games containing small high-powered magnets that have been outright banned in this country since 2012, and three of the four have already agreed to issue refunds.

The regulator is targeting magnets small enough to swallow with a flux index above 50 kG mm squared, the threshold linked to internal injury when two or more are ingested. Reporting by PPC Land notes Kogan, Amazon and Fruugo have already provided or offered refunds, while all four platforms have committed to contacting affected buyers directly and blocking sellers from relisting the same products. ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe urged consumers to keep affected products out of children’s reach immediately.

This move lands just four days after the regulator filed Federal Court proceedings against Amazon Commercial Services (its first court action against an online marketplace operator) over alleged button battery warning failures on children’s backpacks. As reported by the ABC, the case centres on unicorn-themed toddler backpacks stored in Amazon’s Australian fulfilment centres in 2022. Two enforcement actions inside a fortnight tells you everything about the regulator’s posture toward overseas-owned marketplaces this year.

Shopper takeaway: If you bought any magnetic chess set or magnet construction toy in the last few months, check your purchase history on those four platforms. Refunds are on offer with no fight required. The safer alternative for kids’ games this EOFY is to stick with Australian-owned toy specialists with locally enforced safety compliance.

Minimum wage rises 4.75 per cent from 1 July

The Fair Work Commission has delivered its Annual Wage Review 2026 decision, lifting modern award rates by 4.75 per cent and the standalone national minimum wage by 5.97 per cent. The new minimum hourly rate climbs to $26.13, with weekly pay rising to $1,004.90 for a standard 38-hour week. The change kicks in on 1 July, the same day EOFY sales close.

ABC business reporters covering the announcement noted the lift exceeds the prevailing inflation rate, meaning the country’s lowest paid will see a genuine real wage gain rather than just keeping pace with rising prices. Nearly three million Australians benefit, including retail workers, hospitality staff and aged care assistants who sit on or near award rates.

Shopper takeaway: The pay rise lands the same week tax-deductible EOFY work purchases stop counting for FY25/26. If you are buying a laptop, monitor, work uniform or tools you can legitimately claim, do it before 30 June. Hold onto receipts. Items bought after 1 July only count toward next year’s return.

EOFY tech: the deals worth chasing before 30 June

EOFY 2026 is now in full swing across the major Australian retailers. Tracking from the TechRadar AU team shows the deepest tech discounts currently sit at Lenovo Australia (up to 47 per cent off select PCs), HP Australia (up to 45 per cent off select laptops, code FUTURE5 for an extra trim), Dyson Australia (up to $651 off vacuums, purifiers and hair tools) and Samsung Australia (up to $637 off Galaxy devices). JB Hi-Fi is running its EOFY hub with featured cuts on robovacs, TVs and smartwatches including the Garmin Epix Pro 2 at half price.

A few standouts worth a closer look: the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura at $1,299 (was $2,259, 42 per cent off), the Dyson Gen5detect Absolute at $898 (was $1,549), and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ Wi-Fi 256GB at The Good Guys for $894 (was $1,794). All ship across Australia and all are eligible work-related tax deductions if used for income-producing purposes. Hold onto your receipts.

Special of the Day: Hello Molly, up to 80% off

Today’s top headline percentage across our tracked sales pool sits at Hello Molly, the Melbourne-founded womens fashion label, which has stated its current sale runs up to 80 per cent off. The page advertises layered savings of “up to 30 per cent, 50 per cent, even 80 per cent off” across dresses, tops, knits and going-out pieces. We spot-checked product badges this morning and confirmed live 40 per cent off markers on items including the Ford Mini Dress in Ivory at $47.40 (was $79).

Hello Molly is Australian-owned with local fulfilment, so AU shipping cut-offs apply normally and returns sit under Australian Consumer Law. Browse the Hello Molly sale here. As always, verify stock and confirm the discount holds when you reach checkout, headline percentages are a guide, not a guarantee.

Other deals worth a look on the homepage

The four featured stores on the itsonsale.com.au homepage are running EOFY sales worth a scan this morning. David Jones: selected Sportscraft styles and full-priced boxed dinner sets from Ecology and Porto up to 60 per cent off, plus the EOFY beauty event still live. Repco: workshop tool and battery deals tied to its EOFY workshop event. Dan Murphy’s: rolling EOFY savings on premium spirits and wine cases. Spotlight: discounted homewares, fabrics and winter manchester. All four are Australian-owned with local fulfilment.

What to watch tomorrow

The RBA’s next monetary policy decision sits on the calendar later in June. EOFY tech sales typically peak in the second-to-last week of the month as retailers race to clear stock, so expect deeper Dyson, Samsung and JB Hi-Fi cuts from roughly the 15th. Keep an eye on whether the ACCC opens further enforcement against any of the four marketplaces named in yesterday’s takedown order. The regulator has explicitly kept penalty proceedings on the table.

It’s On Sale is Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Welcome to Issue 02. Day two of EOFY 2026 opens with a sharp follow-up to yesterday: the ACCC has now ordered Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo to pull dangerous magnetic toys, a permanent ban that’s been on the books since 2012 and still wasn’t being enforced at the listing level. Meanwhile David Jones has expanded its Mid-Season Sale, Repco’s catalogue runs another twenty-four hours, and the RBA’s monthly press conference dialled back any hope of a rate cut soon.

Today’s headline: Magnetic toys yanked from four marketplaces

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued formal takedown requests to Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Fruugo over toys containing small high-powered magnets that have been banned in Australia since 2012, according to Luís Rijo’s reporting for PPC Land. The products at issue are “magnetic chess” and “magnetic battle chess” style games: pieces marketed as toys but containing loose, high-flux magnets a child can swallow.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe framed the risk bluntly:

“Small high-powered magnets can cause catastrophic, life-threatening internal injuries if swallowed, particularly for young children.”

All four platforms have committed to removing the listings, contacting affected customers, and putting measures in place to stop sellers from relisting the same products. Kogan, Amazon and Fruugo have agreed to provide refunds to buyers caught in the investigation; eBay is not named in the refund commitments. If you’ve bought a magnetic chess or magnetic battle chess set from any of these marketplaces, the official advice from the ACCC is: stop using it now, store it out of reach of children, and contact the seller or marketplace for a refund.

This is the regulator’s second escalation in a week, only four days after it took Amazon to the Federal Court over button-battery warnings on children’s backpacks, per Nadia Daly’s reporting for ABC News. The signal for shoppers is clear: if a deal looks suspiciously cheap on an overseas-fed marketplace, the safety paperwork probably hasn’t been done.

RBA: don’t bank on a rate cut just yet

Governor Michele Bullock fronted the post-meeting press conference today and underlined that the Reserve Bank is still chasing the 2 to 3% inflation target, per the official RBA transcript of today’s Q&A. Translation: easing isn’t on the agenda. CBA, ANZ, NAB and Westpac are now all forecasting a hold at the 16 June meeting, the first unanimous bank call of 2026, according to JMD Mortgages’ June preview.

For shoppers, the takeaway is uncomfortably simple. The cost-of-living squeeze isn’t loosening this winter. If you’ve been waiting for “things to get cheaper” before pulling the trigger on a big-ticket EOFY purchase, the macro picture says: buy when the deal is genuinely good, not when the rates are.

EOFY 2026: where the real bargains are landing

Day two of EOFY has settled the noise of opening day. The strongest activity right now is in the categories retailers actually need to clear before 30 June stocktake: winter fashion, white goods, automotive consumables and homewares.

David Jones Mid-Season Sale is the standout on our homepage today (more below). Repco‘s national catalogue (50% off oils and more) has 24 hours left to run before the next promotion cycles in. Dan Murphy’s “Dan’s Best Deals” continues its EOFY wine and spirits clearance, with the strongest case-deal pricing landing on Australian shiraz and cabernet. Spotlight‘s storewide promotion remains the cheapest path to winter quilts and curtains this week.

Special of the Day: David Jones Mid-Season Sale

From the homepage roster, David Jones gets the spotlight. The Mid-Season Sale is now running across women’s, men’s, beauty and homewares. The strongest discounts traditionally land on premium skincare gift sets, designer denim and the dinnerware/cookware rails. Verified live today: stock is moving on the sale rails, AU shipping is unchanged on standard timing, and David Jones price-matches against its own previous ticketed prices, so the markdowns you see are anchored to a real ninety-day reference.

Why we like it for an EOFY-2026 shopper: David Jones is Australian-owned, locally fulfilled, the loyalty program (David Jones Rewards) layers on top of the sale price, and gift-with-purchase is back on premium beauty for the next two weeks. If you’ve been eyeing a single premium beauty piece or a cookware upgrade, this is the window where the price actually moves.

See David Jones and the rest of today’s featured stores on It’s On Sale.

Other deals worth a look

Repco: last 24 hours on the 50% off oils and filters catalogue. Useful timing if you’re due for a service before the King’s Birthday long-weekend road trip.
Dan Murphy’s: EOFY wine clearance is genuinely deeper than the front-of-store stack suggests. Check the “Last Bottles” rail for true single-case markdowns rather than the festival end-cap promotions.
Spotlight: winter quilts and curtains storewide; the Comfort Living quilt range is moving on multi-buy pricing this week.

Reader takeaway

Two themes from day two: the watchdogs are tightening the screws on cross-border marketplaces, and the RBA isn’t coming to your rescue. The signal both ways points the same direction: spend at Australian-owned retailers who do the safety paperwork, and only when the price actually beats a 90-day reference. The homepage four (David Jones, Repco, Dan Murphy’s, Spotlight) all meet that bar today.

Tomorrow we’ll track the David Jones beauty gift-with-purchase pieces that are actually worth queuing for, plus any consumer response from the four platforms named in the ACCC’s takedown notices.

It’s On Sale: Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.

Welcome to the very first edition of the It’s On Sale Daily Brief, your morning shortcut to what’s actually worth your money in Australian retail today. We track the homepage deals, watch the watchdogs, and translate the headlines into plain dollars-and-cents. Today is the official kickoff of EOFY 2026, so grab your coffee: the calendar has flipped, the catalogues are out, and the ACCC has come out swinging at one of the world’s biggest marketplaces.

Today’s headline: ACCC takes Amazon Australia to court over button-battery backpacks

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched Federal Court action against Amazon Commercial Services (its first case against an online marketplace operator), alleging Amazon supplied 41 children’s “Unicorn Toddler” backpacks containing button batteries without the mandatory consumer warnings, with another 267 sitting in Amazon fulfilment centres between June and November 2022, according to Nadia Daly’s reporting for ABC News.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said: “Button batteries pose a serious hazard for young children. If swallowed or inserted, they can cause severe internal burns and injury, and in some cases death.” The regulator is seeking penalties, injunctions and a compliance program. The case is significant because it puts a marketplace, not just a manufacturer, on the hook for product-safety standards, as Rajasik Mukherjee and Aamir Sheik Khalid noted for Reuters.

What this means for shoppers: if you’ve bought small toys, novelty key-rings or kids’ accessories from any large marketplace in the last few years, take five minutes today to check for accessible button batteries and printed safety warnings on the packaging. The ACCC’s product-safety hub has the steps for reporting and returns.

EOFY 2026 officially opens: where the discounts are real

From today, almost every major Australian retailer flips the switch on end-of-financial-year pricing. TechRadar Australia’s EOFY tech round-up, curated by the site’s local deals team, points to genuine markdowns across laptops, TVs and small appliances at JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Bing Lee, with the caveat that the headline “up to” percentages always hide a tiered structure underneath.

For the home and lifestyle side, The Australian Women’s Weekly EOFY guide tracks linen, manchester and homewares discounts at the usual suspects, and CHOICE’s consumer team has published its annual “What to know for EOFY 2026” primer reminding shoppers that the smartest EOFY play is comparing the current price to the 90-day price history, not the recommended retail price.

Reader rule of thumb for the next four weeks: if a “was/now” sticker doesn’t survive a 90-day price-check, walk away. The genuine bargains tend to surface in week two or three of the sale, not on day one.

EOFY car deals: dealer floors are heaving

The new-car market opened EOFY with some of the heaviest factory incentives in years. Josh Nevett’s wrap for CarExpert details BMW absorbing the GST-equivalent off select SUVs, plus stacked drive-away offers from Chery, BYD, Kia, Land Rover, Hyundai, Ford and Audi.

If you’re walking onto a lot this week, three quick consumer-side reminders: confirm the drive-away figure includes on-road costs in writing, ask whether the discount is dealer-funded (more wiggle room) or factory-funded (firmer), and remember that EOFY tax-deduction rules for vehicles bought in business names tighten after 30 June. The full ATO position is on the ATO depreciation page.

Special of the Day: Spotlight EOFY Mega Sale

Today’s Special of the Day comes from Spotlight, one of the Aussie retailers featured on the It’s On Sale homepage. Spotlight’s EOFY Mega Sale is now live in-store and online with sitewide discounts on quilt covers, towels, curtains, craft and storage, the kind of categories where a winter top-up actually pays for itself in heating bills.

Why we like it for today: Spotlight is Australian-owned with bricks-and-mortar stores in every state, so click-and-collect is genuinely fast, returns are painless, and you can lay hands on the product before paying. Pair the sale with a free VIP membership (it’s free to join at the checkout) to stack an extra members-only price on most lines.

Shopper tip: manchester and curtain pricing at Spotlight reliably drops a second time in the back half of June. If your need isn’t urgent,, watch the price and pounce on the second cut.

Other deals worth a look on the homepage

• David Jones: EOFY beauty and homewares event running across departments, with the strongest cuts traditionally on premium skincare gift sets and dinnerware.
• Repco: trade promotion currently in market (catalogue valid 20 May to 2 June, per Latest Catalogues) covering oil, filters and battery testers. Useful timing before a long-weekend road trip.
• Dan Murphy’s: EOFY wine clearance with case-deal pricing on Australian reds; check the “Last Bottles” rail for genuine markdowns rather than the front-of-store stack.

Reader takeaway

Day one of EOFY is mostly noise. The signal is on the homepage retailers above: Australian-owned, locally fulfilled, with prices you can verify against a 90-day history. And keep one eye on the ACCC case: if the Federal Court rules in the regulator’s favour, every overseas marketplace selling into Australia will be on notice for product-safety standards. That’s good news for the local stores who already do it properly.

Tomorrow we’ll track the early EOFY price drops that actually held, plus any next-day movement on the Amazon proceedings.

It’s On Sale: Australia’s home for genuine retail deals. Browse today’s featured stores at itsonsale.com.au.