CGEM at Bintel

[gb_astro]

I just noticed that Bintel is selling the new CGEM mount with a few of the Celestron OTAs.

gb.

[toc]

Not exactly cheap are they? :scared:

[Zuts]

All Star looks very interesting but the price!

There is a 3,000 AUD difference between the C9.25 on the pevious mount. This makes the new mount over 4,000 AUD, maybe even nearly 5,000 AUD.

Cheers
Paul

[wasyoungonce]

Considering in the US of A the CGEM is around the same price as the EQ6 (Atlas) mount...yes!...It expensive at Bintel!
Indeed at OptCorp in USA ($1399 USD), no price on it's own from Bintel yet:
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=12183&kw=CGEM&st=2

But for comparasion lets take the Celestron 9.25" OTA on a CGEM from Optcorp in USA. Their price, $2,700 (USD):
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=12181&kw=CGEM&st=2

Bintel price:
$7,950 (AUD)
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8166

The USD$ (current) rate conversions calculations to AUD$ are:
$2,700 x 1.54 (current rate) = $4,158 (AUD)

That's $7950 - $4158 = $3792 (AUD) difference!

Now take off some extra shipping and variances with fluctuations of the, $AUD, lets say $500 (AUD... conservative I know..)...that leaves $3292 extra profit on what OptCorp make...you decide and vote with your dollar!

OR

Given cheapest return flight to US of A, Los Angeles from Melbourne are $2766 (AUD, not including taxes) and extra weight costs of bringing the said same mout home...what would you do?

Fly to USA and bring it home...it is on par with Bintel prices and you could have a hoilday at the same time!:eyepop:

Makes you wonder!:shrug:

[Zuts]

Not much to wonder about in this case. If you look at AndrewsCom.Com.Au the price is roughly the same. So in this case I would say the Celestron agent is the one who is making all the money. Or he would be if anyone was dumb enough to buy one at nearly the price of a CGE.

Cheers
Paul

[Kal]

For years celestron gear in Australia has been rediculously expensive, and I believe it is because of price gouging by the Australian importer (http://www.extravision.com.au/).

What this country needs is for celestron to open up and allow a second or third import channel into the country to offer up some competition.

[Ian Robinson]

If I were in the market for an intermediate mount between the old CG5 and the Atlux , and I'm not , I'd not be buying it from Bintel unless they bring down that price CONSIDERABLY. I doubt they will be selling many of anything major this Xmas with the exchange rate so rotten.
A Vixen SDX would be a better mount I think.

[AlexN]

At the price they want for a CGEM, You're better off going the extra few hundred and getting a CGE/G11... Its nonsense the price of Celestron gear in Australia... Painful.

[Kal]

If I could find an email address to lodge my protest at celestron prices in Australia, which I truly believe are due to their one and only "dealer" (which I listed above) I would write a complaint letter and encourage everyone else to write as well. I can't find an appropriate email address however, only a phone number :(

[toc]

Given that Synta own Celestron, I wonder if its possible they could release a non Celestron branded CGEM mount for Orion or Skywatcher?

[wasyoungonce]

Maybe what this country needs is a parallel importer or a big wholesaler?

[toc]

I thought that Celestron strictly forbid that - Its well nigh impossible to order Celestron telescopes from the USA, or at least it used to be.

Even if you could import, Im guessing warranty would be a problem. (not such a massive deal for small items like cameras, but I dont fancy having to ship a huge mount back to America!)

[toc]

has anyone had correspondence with Celestron themselves about this? Im even thinking of contacting the ACCC to see what they might be able to do - perhaps they could at least ask them for a 'plueese explayin'.

Edit: I couldnt help myself - I emailed Celestron international and asked them to look into the matter. I dont really expect much, but at least it might help to discover where the markup is coming from...

[g__day]

We've been through all this before. The retailer has to insure against returns, taxes etc But at the end of the day its ridiculous.

Can anyone see this mount as seriously out competing the Vixen SXD at the low end or the G11 + Gemini at the higher end? They've priced it landed at a ridiculous rate in a world were's it all too ease to internationally price match and import. I wouldn't expect a 1% failure rate with this gear - so insurance shouldn't be a factor - only freigth costs (which is annoying as the gear probably gets made in China nowadays anyway). Our freight volumes versus USA suck so we pay so much more, even though we are next door to the ultimate manufacturer.

Its certainly not BinTels fault - and I don't even know if the Australian Distributor is price gouging - I think its Celestron hitting the Distributor too hard because Steve's volumes are too low when compared to the USA. Celestron International seem to be pricing themselves out of the market for some short sighted reason.

[netwolf]

I would seriously warn anyone against buying this mount. You would be far better of with a Vixen SXD or even a GM8 with ArgoNavis.. And I doubt very much that the CGEM will outperform an EQ6 mount. So an EQ6 is also an excellent price performance alternative. Especially when your starting out in Shorter FL DSO imaging or Long FL Planet imaging. I wish William optics would bring back the GT-1 mount, that is another fantastic used mount option.

The Australian importer has for far to long gone unchallenged. But I would say to people dont buy Celestron unless your importing it when the dollar rate is higher. Or better buy used or 2nd hand from the US or Canda when dolar rate is higher.

Vote with your wallet, if they don't get any sales the will get the message.

Regards
Fahim

[AlexN]

Theres a lot of talk on CN about the CGEM... Every 2nd person is singing its praises and labeling it the new "best bang for buck mount" before any of them have even seen one in the flesh. Let alone used one.

There was one image posted that I saw with a CGEM + C11. 10x1 minute unguided exposures of Orion @ F/6.3.. Everyone was ranting and raving about how incredible it was etc etc etc.. I posted my pic of orion EQ6+C11 @ F/6.3, 10x2.5min unguided exposures, and nobody responded, commented, asked questions, they just went on ranting about how good the CGEM will be without even acknowledging my post...

I dont think Celestron 'really' care about the australian market when they have the US market wrapped around their little finger like that.... That being said, Im sure its not a bad mount, may even have some great features, however untill I see one in action myself, I wont be one of the CGEM fan boys...

EQ6 + EQmod wins in my book until I say otherwise :D

[matt]

It's a disgrace. pure and simple.

Won't change until there's more than one distributor for Celestron gear in Oz...and/or we can buy direct from the USA.

[Ian Robinson]

Those ranting about how good it is may be Celestron's Marketing Department , or the sales people at Celestron dealerships pretending they are users - in an attempt to drum up sales - ie marketing spin.

[robgreaves]

There was a similar price-fixing thing in the UK on Meade gear - a single importer who drip fed all the outlets, so they could set the price.

I complained to the Office of Fair Trading, who 'investigated' the 10" LX200 at the time, and came back and said that as the prices differ by as much as £5 ($11 AUD) it couldn't be considered price-fixing.

Then it turns out the guy at the OoFT that did the investigation is an amateur astronomer...

Rumbled!

There are many ways to buy from the USA... I use my mother-in-law as a middle-man (woman?!) to send parcels on for stuff that the seller won't ship out of the country for fear of threats from their suppliers. I have saved loads of money over the years. Or you can rent one of these USA addresses in Miami FL for around $10 a year, have it sent there, then they send it on to you. It's a real address too, not a PO Box so sellers are non the wiser. Plenty of places on the web that offer that service.

A friend back in the UK flew to the USA to hand carry back a Tak Epsilon 180 back when flights were cheap. Walked straight through customs at Heathrow with it under his arm - no dramas. Saved a fortune...

At the end of the day, you're the customer, and make a learned judgement on where you spend your money.

Regards,
Rob

[dugnsuz]

https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Images/Stock/8165X.jpg

That looks like a C8 on top of a re-housed EQ6 to my eyes.
Same tart up job Celestron did on the EQ5...voila a CG-5!

From their website - looks like they've beefed up the guts a bit...not too sure how significant it is or just sales pitch.
http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?ProdID=548

And, even at current Bintel prices one could purchase a Meade LX200-ACF 8" SCT OTA and an EQ6 Pro mount for...$4845.
Heck, you could buy the 10" model with an EQ6 and still scrape under the $6K mark!!

Now, if I only had $6K sitting around, I wouldn't buy it!!!!!!:P
Cheers all
Doug:thumbsup:

[AlexN]

I paid less than 6k for my EQ6 and C11... hell I rekon I got my EQ6, C11 and Megrez 102 for less than 6k.. umm... no, $6200 for those 3.. :D

[Ian Robinson]

What a great idea :thumbsup:.... I might look into that .... when the exchange rate improves again.

[Stephen65]

I refuse to buy from manufacturers who engage in price gouging against Australians. As a result, of the many thousands I have spent on astro gear Celestron has not seen even one cent.

Fortunately there are manufacturers who price fairly and they get my business. The internet is a wonderful tool to uncover pricing rip-offs.

[wasyoungonce]

Big add for CGEM in this months Australian Sky and Telescope by Extravision

....and a warning about buying from non authorised dealers:rofl:

They must be viewing this forum:lol::welcome:


edit:
no price given and load rating is given as "over 18 kg"

[Ian Robinson]

Well if they priced them more reasonably people wouldn't be so tempted to go for "grey" market stuff.... if they can find someone who is prepared to ship overseas (they do exist BTW and aren't that hard to find if you are in the know. ... hint : some very big places in the NY area or via Ebay).

Locals can't stand a little competition ? :rofl:

Or just take a very quick (overnight or two day) holiday in the USA, and buy one while there and arrange for it to be shipped home while there if you can't find someone willing to sell overseas and ship overseas by email or by fax or by phone. If you are there, they can't refuse to sell you one if you've got a credit card or debit card or the cash to buy it. Heck you probably wouldn't even need to leave the secure foreign terminal at the airport , it could all be done over the phone.
Could probably call them just prior to departing Oz , buy it , tell them you want delivered to the motel you'll be staying at or the local removalist depot to packed in a container with a few houses full of peoples firnature to shipped to Oz by sea or got the front desk, and take it from there (get the motel to arrange shipping for you) when you arrive in the USA.

Where there's a will there's a way. Talk with your money , by buying elsewhere if you're not happy with the local price ..... it is supposed to be a free market and we are supposed to have a free trade agreement with the USA are we not ?

[netwolf]

Seriously why bother with this, get yourself a Gm-8 goto for a little more and or without goto still a far better mount than the CGEM. Or go with a Vixen or Tak mount, you could also import these with no restrictions. Or if your budget is tight and your only starting out and short focal is your game then an EQ6 is a proven mount. Take a look what EzyStyles and many others have turned out with this mount. I think even discussing this mount on this forum is giving it more credibility then it is due. Given there is no real data from any tests with this mount. An more than likely it is made in the same factory where the EQ6 is made. Seriously manufacturers who want to place such restrictions on distribution dont deserve the air time we give them.

If you really want a Celestron or Meade (who have similar restrictions but they dont use one distributor only) then you could easily buy through various methods from the US or HK or Used market from overseas.

Regards
Fahim

[wasyoungonce]

Well we do not yet know the proposed price of the CGEM here in AUS.

Nor do we yet know how good or otherwise it is. But, it's good to see a new mount around the EQ6's capabilities. This can only be good for competition.

Price and performance is all important...lets wait and see. Our American cousins at Cloudy Nights are in a state of apoplectic infatuation over this mount...and it isn't yet released!:lol:

Apparently they are now shipping in USA for $1399 USD which is 1399 x 1.52 = $2152 AUST.... ($AUST at .65 $USD) :

http://www.highpointscientific.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=6322

[toc]

And you can expect that price to be closer to $4500 Australian dollars (at least), if the price of the CGEM C9.25 scope is to be believed.

[Domol]

You don't need to travel OS, to buy it just use Google + a credit card!:lol:

The CGEM might be a great mount for astrophotograph, but i'm sure it would make a great visual astronomy mount, sounds a lot better than the CG5 it replaces!

[Ian Robinson]

There are restrictions on Vixen imports . But they are much better gear than anything Celestron or Meade too.

[Ian Robinson]

It's just a slightly beefed up version of the CG5-Goto which they still sell from what I've read. I quite like my old NON GT CG5 for visual stuff.