Tele Vue prices up?

[gb_astro]

Am I imagining things or were Bintel Tele Vue eyepieces cheaper a week ago?

gb.

[Stephen65]

Yes it looks like they've quickly adjusted for last week's drop in the A$

[GrahamL]

They sure were :)...I have been thinking for a while that many astro items are likely to get more expensive no matter how our dollar runs ..I don't know how they price or are billed for there stock ..but the item I enquired about was there in plenty a couple of weeks back..and did jump overnight.

I have bought US $ for 49 c..so a little drop to 86 c .. dosn't hurt to much .

[mick pinner]

funny how they seem to get adjusted one way quicker than the other.

[JethroB76]

Taking their cue from the oil companies.

[AlexN]

Yeah, it happened sometime on thursday of last week.... Unfortunately it happened BEFORE i placed my order for a few things... surprisingly some prices went up and some went down... Even across the same brand name... ?? Meade ACF OTA's stayed the same price, Meade flip mirrors went up, and Meade focal reducers went down... odd.. Orion prices went up ~10%.. almost across the board with the exception of their guiding reticle.. which dropped 10%

When the prices do that kind of thing you have to wonder whats going on....

[erick]

Was I dreamin' that I saw the 27mm Panoptic for $349? I started saving for it. Back up over $400 now :sadeyes:

[matt]

Hmm.

Wonder whether that includes stock purchsed when the Oz dollar was riding high against the Greenback???

It's frustrating that there are a million and one reasons (excuses) for maintaining high prices here in Australia, even when the dollar's doing well, but the moment there's a fall in the Oz dollar ...prices go up quicker than a rat up a drainpipe!!!!!:lol:

Another reason why I buy most of my gear overseas. Not out of bitterness or resentment, just plain economic good sense and market competition:thumbsup:

[Alchemy]

(quotes)

funny how they seem to get adjusted one way quicker than the other.





Taking their cue from the oil companies





banks have a simailr system:rolleyes:

[Omaroo]

Come on guys - that's a bit unfair isn't it?

Companies that sell and trade in foreign-sourced goods know, at any one time, what their stock is worth based on the current exchange rate and sell it accordingly. Could you imagie the complexities involved in tracking every single item in stock and charging it out at a different rate to any other? Also given that not all of their stock comes from a single country of origin (i.e. USA, China, UK, Japan, etc, etc..) how complex a system would they need to monitor and adjust individual stock lines based on the country they were bought from?

"Now - let's see - we bought this in from the US on 17th April, so the exchange rate back then was XXc/AU$, so we ...." You get the idea - I would have thought that it's a totally impractical way to do business.

The fact that they (Bintel and others) do actually alter their prices as rates drop seems to be well-received by all - but when they go back up again, which is out of their control somewhat - everyone thinks te worst of them.

[matt]

Nope.

The Oz dollar was riding high for ages before there was a price drop in product.

The corresponding increase in prices happened much swifter. End of story.

Anyway...my main point is/was for everyone to shop around. Compare prices. Vote with your wallet:thumbsup:

Chris, I'm well aware of the many arguments for buying locally. However, it's up to individuals to decide where they stand on such issues.

Cheers.

[Omaroo]

You have some dates and examples there Matt? :whistle: You're a journo - you know that in order to issue assumptions like this you'll need some proof to be able to make them.

Not trying to be funny here - but I have a suspicion that our perception of how these market forces move, and how we wish them to move to suit us differ from reality in most cases...

I'm glad that Bintel and some others like them actually DO pass on price drops. Many don't!

[iceman]

It's always give and take.

I like the aussie dollar high when I have to pay server hosting fees, but want it to drop by 40c before google payday.

[matt]

I regularly vist the Oz astro retailer sites (a number of times each week) to keep an eye on pricing. Particularly with regard to eyepieces, filters, etc

My comment/s are based on general observations over many months, Chris.

I also keep a close eye on the Oz-Us exchange rate, through no other reason than I have to broadcast it (on air, on radio) as a requirment of my job as a journalist out of several news bulletins each day.

It's probably reasonable that you ask for specific dates and examples. Do you have some you can toss our way, which you are basing your counter-argument on:whistle:

Anyway...I recommend anyone who isn't content with the prices being asked by local vendors to shop around. Compare sites. It can be very worthwhile on smaller items such as eyepieces.

[Omaroo]

LOL! I'm not making the accusations Matt! I've not provided a counter argument nor have I stated the opposite to yourself anywhere. I've not stated that I believe that Bintel or any other company we buy from has or has not done right by us. I've merely suggested that without substantiated data, the argument is only based on your own perception.

[matt]

BTW Chris...when I'm on IIS....I'm just me...an enthusiastic amateur astronomer. Not a journalist, and certainly not a financial expert by any means.

[matt]

No-one's accusing you of making 'accusations', mate.:lol:

And I would have thought it was clear that the comments of most people in this thread are perceptions. Sheesh!!!

Funny how there seems to be so many people with the same 'perception'.

And as for not providing a counter-argument or the opposite, the "that's a bit unfair" aspect of your earlier post would tend to suggest you do not agree, which would be an opposing position.

Anyway this is a boring semantic 'argument'....

My point being....again.....vote with your wallets people! If you are not happy with prices ... vote with your wallets!!!!!!!

[Omaroo]

Sheesh indeed! :lol:

Truce Matt - we're all on the same side here!

I guess at the end of the day, we'd need to be privvy to the businesses involved to be able to judge what their motives, if any, are. We're not - so we just have to hope that they are doing their best to ride the monetary tides and keep their customers in the loop.

[matt]

True, Chris:thumbsup:

[Ian Robinson]

banks.... greased lightning when bumpup LOAN interest rates , not so fast when the rates are going the other direction.

[GrahamL]

A current account payable in US dollars would likely suffer an adjustment over a calender month if the aus dollar slips a little ..and my bet is you and I will pay the differance;).. These small changes don't bother me as all my astro purchases are done for a few years... another 10/20 c fall will make this discussion look a little mild IMO.:)

[ColHut]

Just out of curiosity - and only slightly related to this. Is Bintel the only Australian outlet for Televue eyepieces?

cheers

[Zuts]

Hi,

My understanding is that televue released a new price list; but since the formula re dealer discounts and such is quite complex that Bintel incorrectly calculated the list price. By the time they found out what was wrong they had already sold many eyepieces at basically a loss. They honoured the unbelievably low price, less than what OPT charge until they managed to get the web site updated.

So, good on em and congratulations to anyone who managed to snag one at that price.

Cheers
Paul

[madtuna]

I also wonder how much they lose when our dollar rises.

My 31 Nagler has a price sticker on the bottom of the box $939.00 yet I paid a smidge over $600.00

[AlexN]

mmm much the same I paid $225 for my 5x powermate and the sticker on it says $295.. not quite a $339 difference. but still, its a fair loss to be making.

[Kal]

I've been watching the US dollar closely, since I will be holidaying there soon. The rise upwards had been slow and gradual, from 70/75c up to the peak of 98.5c took around 3 years. Once it hit that peak, it dropped by over 10 cents in less than 3 weeks. I would imagine alot of people, seeing this sudden currency drop, would have hit retailers like bintel to 'grab the bargains while they can' clearing out alot of on-hand stock that may have been purchased when the dollar was good, and forcing them to rapidly adjust their prices upwards as they ordered replacement stock.

I don't see any foul play or intent, just a retailer reacting to the market and sales :)

[Ian Robinson]

I doubt they would have actually incurred a loss on anything they sold , they have a handy markup (I expect in the order of 50-100% depending on the product) which will have buffered them nicely from any such error.

[Zuts]

On what do you base this? I reiterate, the eyepieces were going for less than what they cost at OPT. When you add in shipping and exchange rate they were around 100 AUD less than OPT, a fantastic bargain.

I think you have stars in your eyes if you think they are making 50-100 % on TV eyepieces.

[Ian Robinson]

\

Experience.

[Omaroo]

That's not an answer.

How about instead of a blanket statement, you qualify your answers. It's so easy to leave your opinion and walk off. You don't have to provide reasoning - but just live in hope that someone actually thinks "WOW! This bloke must know what he's on about!"

Noone is saying you're not right - we just want to know why you think it.

[AstralTraveller]

I don't know what the markup is on eyepieces but 50% would not surprise me. In my limited time in retail markups of that magnitude were typical. In fact a mate recent got a $600 battery at cost through his work for ca $150. However that isn't to say that they make 50-100% profit on the item. The markup has to cover wages, rent, power, phone, internet, insurance etc etc. The amount of markup needed will also depend on the number of items sold (probably relatively few) and the amount of time spent on each customer (probably relatively high). [BTW I suspect one reason Andrews is a bit cheaper is the cost of that dog kennel of a shop they have compared to the shopfronts that Bintel and York support.]

[Ian Robinson]

Let's leave it at - I spent several years in the trade until the exchange rate went down the tubes and then Howard and his cronnies brought in the GST at which stage I decided to call it a day (retiring the business). So I have some inside knowledge of these things (no , I never became a dealer for Tele Vue , I particularly didn't like the terms they expected complied with.)

I also come from a family where 3 generations were in the retail business (different to telescopes though - they were jewellers .)

[Ian Robinson]

A mailorder business will always be cheaper , as they have lower overheads to support - shop rentals (in major cities like Sydney) are extortionate.

Unfortunately , companies such as Tele Vue demand a shopfront as one of their criteria of becoming a dealer and you must display their products.

[Omaroo]

What business was that? You're obviously stating that you were in the telescope optics trade so, just out of interest, may I ask what were you selling?

[Ian Robinson]

PM me and I'll tell you.:D

[Omaroo]

Nah. If it's that secret I don't need to know. I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to give some substance to your statement & I was curious because you used that position as leverage within your argument. If you can't or don't want to tell us what your experience is based on then I understand...

[Stephen65]

Actually the until-recent prices were almost exactly the same as OPT's factoring in the exchange rate at around 95 cents. USPS shipping for a single eyepiece is about $20, Bintel would buy in much larger volumes and have lower shipping costs so that's not going to be a major difference.

The main difference I suspect is that Bintel's prices have to include 10% extra for GST while OPT's do not include California's 7% sales tax.

[Ian Robinson]

Locals who know me know , I suspect some of the old hands here will have figured it too, it is just I am now retired and not interested in restarting the business (was very time consuming though quite profitable , I was strickly an importer , focusing on high quality astrogear , no Tasco , I also quickly ditched Celestron and Meade (because the biggies had them tied up and it wasn't worth persisting with them) and I was 100% mailorder , and worked with a very modest margin (mostly under 20% , no overheads so I could do this - I often never saw the product , arranging shipping direct from the manufacturer to the client and only taking a small margin on the wholesale price).

I still get regular calls from old customers asking me for quotes or enquiring about the business , even asking if I plan to restart (though I haven't traded since 1998).... so I must had done good things in my nitch.

I think the boss would divorce me if I even hinted at restarting the business.

Just a privacy issue.

[Ian Robinson]

Think you'll find because of larger population in the USA and because there are many more compeditors to OPT and the like, that they will be operating on smaller margins than Bintel and mostly selling by mailorder all over. The GST here doesn't help either. I am not saying there is anything wrong with what they do (in the main), more compeditors to them would help drive down prices locally.

Here because there are a very small number of dealers and only one of two distributors , who essentially have monopolies , so the larger metro based companies can and do get away with a larger margin because we have no option but to buy locally in many cases (Meade, Celestron, Vixen, Tele Vue (?) etc) due the restrictions imposed on foreign dealers (who risk loosing their dealerships if they ship product here and get found out).
In my view , and has been for some time , that this policy is anticompedative. So much for the USA - Australia FTA.

[Zuts]

Hi,

I give up. It's only my opinion but this is why people are deserting ice in space. I had some simple information to impart; as to why Bintel lowered and then raised the price of their eyepieces. Now you can call me a liar or you can call my source a liar but if this is the response I get to a simple informational statement then i probably wont bother in the future.

I thought people may be interested in the why of the price rise and fall, obviously no one cares and most (not all) here seem more interested in espousing there own opinions.

[matt]

Who's specifically called you a liar?

Why would you say 'obviously no one cares..."???

I've read your post/s and appreciate your input.

What evidence do you have to support your claim that people are deserting this forum?

[Zuts]

I have had my say, and dont wish to pursue the matter any further; as is my right.

so

good night all........

[iceman]

I found your comment (about IIS) a bit odd though too, Paul. It's a pretty unusual thing to say simply given the comments in this thread.

I don't agree with it either, but that's my right too :)

Regarding Televue/Bintel, your facts sounded accurate to me - they weren't in question as far as I'm concerned.

[Zuts]

No problem :)

Paul