Good prices on Vixen eyepieces

[matt]

Anyone looking to buy from the Vixen (LV or LVW) range of eyepieces can save themselves some good $$$ on new at the moment through OPT.

http://www.optcorp.com/productList.aspx?uid=&pg=0&kw=Lanthanum&st=2

Of course, there's also that good 2 for 1 deal going locally as well:)

[Stephen65]

I noticed the extremely good prices for the LVW's at OPT the other day and ordered the 13, 17 and 22mm LVW's. I find OPT a good place to compare prices on easily ship-able items like eyepieces and have always had excellent service from them.

Didn't know about any local 2-1 deal.

[Starkler]

Hows the shipping cost? Im after a 5mm lv.

[matt]

D'Oh!!!

I stand corrected. It's a buy-one-get-the-second-at-half-price deal.

Cheers.

Geoff - shipping shouldn't be more than about $10-$15 Oz (from memory).

[casstony]

Astro-optical were advertising LVW's at similar prices - I don't know if the deal is still available, but it was buy one and get a second at 1/2 price, working out to $262 each.

[matt]

Yep. That's the offer/deal I was thinking of. I'm also unaware if this is still available.

If not, it makes the OPT offer all the more attractive and you only have to commit to buying the 1 eyepiece.

Thanks, Tony:)

[Stephen65]

It was US$67.21 for the three shipped by UPS Worldwide Express courier, they usually arrive in about two-three days.

A good thing about OPT is that the shipping cost is individually calculated as part of the online ordering process so you can see how much it will cost including shipping prior to placing the order.

I just ran a purchase for the the single 5mm LV through and it came out at US$50 for that UPS courier delivery service! - there must be a flat base fee and then some allowance for number or weight. So that looks like its only economic with multiple or very expensive items.

However, there is an option to be checked in the ordering process though to inquire about cheaper shipping options.

[matt]

That postage is very high.

I've purchased many small items such as eyepieces from OPT in the past and the postage cost has always been around the price I indicated:)

[Stephen65]

OK, thats interesting because I paid US$200 each from OPT plus $US22.50 for shipping, though I could have picked cheaper shipping options.

US$222.50 = A$268

very comparable, even with Australian shipping which should be cheaper for the same service. If I had known about that offer I might have bought locally, except that I couldn't have got three EPs at that price, only two or four.

[Stephen65]

I tested OPT's shipping rates by running through a single $40 Celestron filter to see what the shipping was, it was still US$50 for 2-3 day courier, US$46 for 3-5 day courier, so that looks like the minimum cost, though the option to inquire about cheaper shipping is there.

One advantage of the UPS courier rates is that they come with full insurance, which is attractive if you are buying US$600 worth of EPs, plus the convenience of door to door delivery and hopefully more careful handling.

But still, its not cheap, and thus only worthwhile if the item is a fair bit cheaper than in Australia or you are buying multiple items.

[janoskiss]

It's always worth trying to negotiate a deal with local suppliers before buying from overseas. Often you can get much better prices than what's being openly advertised.

[snowyskiesau]

I bought some eyepiece cases from OPT recently and it cost me $US19 for shipping.
The weight would have been about the same as a couple of eyepieces.

[casstony]

Warranty service is one big advantage of buying locally. I've been struggling to get a warranty eyepiece replacement from Burgess Optical in the U.S. - a month of trying so far with no luck - starting to get pissy.

[Stephen65]

Now that's odd...I just ran a single plastic $1.50 filter case throught their online ordering system and got the same US$50/$46 quotes for courier delivery, sounds like its worthwhile inquiring about cheaper shipping rates.

[Rodstar]

With OPT the best bet is to email their sales team and get a specific quote for a particular item. I suspect the auto quoting facility you are referring to is not very sophisticated, and is not at all accurate.

I have in recent weeks obtained specific quotes from the OPT sales team for a Paracorr as a separate item, for a single large Ep, and 2 large eyepieces. In each case, I received a quote for a 3-5 day delivery period, and another for a 8-10 day delivery period. For any one of the items above, the price I was quoted was about 35USD for 3-5 days and 32USD for 8-10 days. For two eyepieces, there was a definite saving, with the 3-5 day rate being about 40USD only.

Buying from the US is fine is you are purchasing less than $1,000 (AUD) worth of product as you do not incur GST. Above that, be prepared to be slugged.

Lots of items are cheaper from OS, but for the low cost end, I suspect it is not that much more expensive for many items to buy from local dealers, and there is nothing like local post-sales support. Returning an item OS that is not up to stratch is a right royal pain in the derriere.

[JethroB76]

Funny that its cheaper for the quicker delivery (32US vs 35US) or is that a typo?

[Rodstar]

oops...good pick up....I've switched them around!:screwy:

[StarLane]

Just been viewing a Japanese web-site.

A 17mm LVW is 18,900 yen, that's $180 AUD at todays exchange rate.

Bit of a language barrier if you want to order one, and warranty would be a problem also.... Great price though.