As I am totally confused about my attempt to purchase a zwo asi camera this morning ,,, what a drama, & no one else's fault but mine
Story goes:
Made purchase through paypal from the zwo company in china = 1st mistake, as I did Not realise they are sold at BINTEL sydney ?
I had more than enough in paypal to cover the advertised price at ZWO, but after the transaction, my pp balance went to $00
- - thinking of exchange rate being the cause & not confident understanding currency change rates, I decided to tackle ceasing the transaction, 1st phoned directly through to ZWO in china, EDIT: Answered by chinese talk, then I said, Can you speak english, in which the phone changed hands to a person who spoke some english but not a lot of !! END EDIT ! finally made i believe understanding issue and cancelled the paypal ordered amount, Ill find a nice amount for that call on next bill :-) but believe we had success ?
Also rang PayPal to help confirm and have them halt the transaction if possible - that went much better and my balance is back normal with all funds available as were before this morning !
Only problem now is that the same camera at bintel is approx 1/3rd extra cost - obviously due to currency exchange, maybe also tax etc ? ?
The camera being the ASI 178MC color cooled - tiny 2.4um pixels
But both websites display prices are in with $ signs ?
How do I suppose to understand this, me thinks get from ZWO in china, includes shipping too !
Im a silly bugga when comes to this, just want to get it right !
Appreciate insight and the math currency conversions understanding if possible,
The $699 price is in US dollars. In Aus dollars that's $907 but shipping is free from ZWO direct.
The Bintel price also includes Bintel's profit margin (fair enough as they did import them). Bintel will also charge for shipping.
Plus Bintel also have GST which on an item below $1000 AU you do not need to pay on import, not yet anyway as there is talk of dropping it a LOT further in the near future.
Hey Thanx very much Philip, Nik & Colin - so much clearer now - ahhh, where'd id be without good men as yourselves,, huh :-)
So at present I'm better off purchasing from China, free air mail for over $300 purchases, saves me 190'ish plus shipping from aus sydney, so fair to say 200 plus !
I assume I have this understood correctly ?
Down side, i need add funds into paypal which takes 4-5 days to clear, so another week - all good tho, gives time to double check
Good point on Local in case repairs/faulty etc Philip, but Ill risk going against the grain as it wont be my main camera and can wait if necessary. mm, could be traumatic waiting weeks or months, but Ill breath easy knowing there a few coins in it for me, tho I will look into there warranty statement for any nasty little surprises ! Only a small package aswell to ship if need !
Really appreciative of all your helping every one, ,
Getting Rig/Obs sorted permanently at home slowely but surely !
Hey Thanx very much Philip, Nik & Colin - so much clearer now - ahhh, where'd id be without good men as yourselves,, huh :-)
So at present I'm better off purchasing from China, free air mail for over $300 purchases, saves me 190'ish plus shipping from aus sydney, so fair to say 200 plus !
I assume I have this understood correctly ?
Down side, i need add funds into paypal which takes 4-5 days to clear, so another week - all good tho, gives time to double check
Good point on Local in case repairs/faulty etc Philip, but Ill risk going against the grain as it wont be my main camera and can wait if necessary. mm, could be traumatic waiting weeks or months, but Ill breath easy knowing there a few coins in it for me, tho I will look into there warranty statement for any nasty little surprises ! Only a small package aswell to ship if need !
Really appreciative of all your helping every one, ,
Getting Rig/Obs sorted permanently at home slowely but surely !
Kind Rgrds,,,
Some of the cameras do occasionally get glitchy or faulty, especially if they're new on the market.
If you buy it from a local retailer, they will help you out when things go wrong, or even if you change your mind and want something different (they aren't obliged to, but some will). And you will be protected by Australian consumer law, which is pretty strict here.
Not that I don't think ZWO will, but seeing your wonderful grasp on Chinese and the high chance a ZWO employee will see this, good luck.
ZWO have been more than fantastic on emails and I aint Chinese. Sam, the main man is a gentleman and does go out of his way to assist whatever happens, just have a look at the cloudy nights forum and search zwo
FWIW, when I looked at this a little while back, there was about $20 difference compared to buying locally, but that was when the AU$ was weaker than now. Do your sums carefully, just in case always better (and usually quicker!) to buy locally and get support locally IMO.
Ahhh, decisions ?
I had made one very recent purchase from Bintel (my 1st actually) which started of a smidge problematic, Ironically the problem was there during the start of this thread, but since has been solved, rather neatly I might add, and in my favour, delivery was also very prompt once sorted !
I have ordered the Zwo Camera through Bintel, have become more communicative and know better by ph three personnel now, chatted & listened to one fella for a 1/2hr about everything apart from astro gear, Lol !
So going local I reconsidered every ones advise & it so happens that this particular very recent/new Asi 178 MC has not been pre-ordered from BinTel before now, so it has been ordered along with a 2nd one id say for stock !
Hence, being a very new camera to the market, think it is wise for a local purchase due to possible bugs and/or faults, plus supporting local business !
Just need to wait 3 whole weeks or so before in my hands weather is still objectionable anyway
All in all, the planets will be closer & hopefully the weather will have settle down by then
always better (and usually quicker!) to buy locally and get support locally IMO.
,,,,,,,, 
,,,,,,,,
weather is still objectionable anyway 
