Quote:
Originally Posted by Outcast
A few reasons Jeremy:
1. Small population base = small market
2. Very limited number of importers = lack of competition in pricing = we get ripped off
3. Depressed dollar = crap exchange rates
Sadly, this is true across many areas, photography gear, electronics, musical gear, etc...
Last year I bought a Mark Bass 2x 10 cab from Germany, $720 AUD landed. Price in Australia $1100 AUD plus freight...
As I said, limited number of importers allows them to charge whatever they like & we get ripped!!
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The limited number of importers is not the problem, but the governments making individual importing very difficult. When ordering a product overseas, you have to pay import duty. It is even that far that when you buy anything in a shop overseas, you can refund the overseas GST, but have to play tax in your own country plus import duty in many cases.
This system is very old, but also very fraud prone.
It would be a lot simpler that when a customer buys a product wherever he wants, always pays the tax in the country where you buy it. That fits better in the current situation where end customers buy much more internationally, e.g. via internet. And that forces more equalization of taxes which also makes it hard that low tax havens like Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Luxemburg, etc to exist. These are usually used by criminals, shady webshops and rogue corporations.
But will this ever happen ???