Crazy Price CGEM 1100HD $2999USD

[netwolf]

Hi All,

Kal told me about this over at CN forums, and low and behold it seems to be true.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/celestron-cgem-1100-hd-telescope-11082.html

CN thread
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3503775/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Compare it to AUD price for this and you just want to cry.

If only they could ship here.

Regards
Fahim

[Waxing_Gibbous]

I thought of getting one from Canada earlier this year, even cheaper at C$2600.
Airmail to Oz is in the region of, wait for iiiiiiit....$2000 US!
Surface mail only about half that.
Mind you a second hand unit from a reliable seller can be a steal. They're often on CN and Astromart for $1800-$2200.
Lots of people selling their monster SCTs these days.

[AlexN]

Awesome price for what it is... As Fahim said, Its a shame they wont send them here.. I have to agree... Look around on Astromart whenever you're looking for something like this... find a seller with a good rep and you can snag some real bargains... Most of the time the sellers say "Continental US only" however they can be easily swayed I've found...

[h0ughy]

3499 at adorama, and opt, and astronomics - so 500 nothing to be sneezed at

[Kal]

The cloudynights admin (who owns astronomics and astrotech) said that that is below their cost as a retailer at US$2999, so everyone thought it was a pricing mistake, but people rang up and did indeed confirm the price. It is only $100 more than the price of the OTA alone, so you get a CGEM mount thrown in for $100 extra :eyepop:

[CometGuy]

Its back to $3499.

Isn't the baggage limit to the states around ~70 KG so you could just get a cheap flight and bring back one yourself?

Terry

[AlexN]

Yes, but you pay an excess baggage fee for anything over 25kgs, and the fee from memory is something in the realms $10 per kg... I would expect you to pay import tax or customs duties on one too when you got home... It may be cheaper to get them from the states and fly them back home yourself. but not as cheap as the US buyers get them....

[telecasterguru]

What about the use of goto in the Northern Hemisphere set up scope. Would you need to make any modifications to the software or any of the settings for use in the Southern Hemisphere?

Frank

[Marke]

Not at all you can specify north or south polar allignment in handset
as well as your city or exact location.

[gazza83]

Hi,

Some allow you to organise your own courier and will allow pickup at their warehouse. Of course you have the warranty issue with large shipping costs each way if something goes wrong ...

Cheers

[Kal]

Travelling to the USA you can still get 2 x 50 lbs (23KG) checked in baggage limit on some flights, including Qantas flights. It's definitely something to verify before booking a flight if you want to do some shopping!

[netwolf]

I wonder if there would be any Astronomy Magazine in Australia willing to take up the gauntlet and publish a hard hitting article on this over the top pricing in Australia. But far as i can tell nearly all of them are sponsored by Celestron and Meade.

Is there a brave magazine out there willing to take a stand?

This issue comes up from time to time I know but i dont see it as the fault of the retailer. I think clearly the distributor has a lot to answer for.

When we start thinking of buying arifare back and forth to overcome it, then perhap the absudity of it becomes more clear. Especially now the dollar is ~90. It has dropped a few cents in the last week or so, but still even at its lowest this year the price seems over the top.

I have noticed that since Skywatcher launched there C8 clone that the pricng in this end seems to be more on par with US and Celestron pricing locally for the C8. I wonder if other bigger scopes will also come from Skywathcer.


Regards
Fahim