Celestron AU prices

[Neutronstar]

Hi,

I haven't visited this forum for a few months and upon coming back I clicked on a few retailer links (yes the advertising here does work ;-) ) I notice one retailer has new Celestron prices in Australia that seem - reasonable? - perhaps I could go as far to say in line with US prices. This leads me to ask what has happened? has Celestron woken and realised there is a market here they are missing out on. I profess to being partially "a noob" so maybe I have missed something.

After looking at these I am considering a Celestron C8-SGT at $2100 as a first time for me for a scope of this type. I am concerned the mount may not be the best choice for smaller childern to use - a fork mount may be better? - any advice here?

Thanks in advance.
PS: please be gentle!

[casstony]

Hi Tim, the retailer you're referring to is not authorised by the Celestron Australia distributor, thus he is able to under-cut the standard Celestron rip-off pricing. I've shopped at Andrews, Bintel, Sirius Optics, Star Optics and been happy with all of them; different retailers are more competitive on different brands.

Regarding which scope to purchase, perhaps you should buy what suits you, and the Bosma 80mm refractor/tripod ($350) from Andrews for the kids. The refractor is something they can use with minimal supervision to look at the moon and planets, and for supervised viewing of sunspots (Baader solar filter included) or terrestrial use.

[wasyoungonce]

I reckon for that price...don't walk in ...run in...that is an excellent price!

That said..Bintel (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=8134) have it cheaper ATM, $1999.

Maybe they are cleaning these scopes out to make way for the edge scopes. But they are still very good performers, especially for the price.

[bobson]

Who is that retailer that Tim is referring to? If not a secret :) I mean others mentioned Andrews and Bintel. I suppose its Andrews but I might be wrong?

cheers

bob

[Neutronstar]

sorry guys I should not be so elusive, its the yellow Ozscopes.com.au link to the right, its just that last time I looked here Celestron was unaffordable.

[Neutronstar]

Cheers for that, goes to show it IS worth asking these questions here, I feel like such a noob though!

[bartman]

Just had a look at the site myself.....
Not that I'm in the market for buying a scope right now but the Celestron 9.25" cpc 925xlt sct from $10649 down to $3830!!!!!!!
I would buy it just for the sake of it at that price...... or am I just being sucked in by the whole "64%" off tag?

That is interesting.......
What the? how the?
Bartman

[casstony]

I incorrectly assumed Tim was talking about Andrews. Without Andrews providing competition there wouldn't be any pressure for Celestron Australia to be more reasonable with it's pricing(IMO); perhaps they're finally starting to adjust their pricing policy (but I wouldn't hold my breath).

[casstony]

$3500 at Andrews.

If you can't see the deception in advertising, you've fallen under the marketers spell (seen house prices lately:rolleyes:). I have a 1999 commodore that's easily worth a million bucks but I'd let it go for 30,000; have to be quick though, someone else is interested:).

Don't feel bad though, we're all tricked more often than we like to believe. A good starting point is to think that every seller has invented a product specifically to get his hands on your money, then ease up from there.

[OICURMT]

Sorta supports the view held by a few here... http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=62414 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=62414)

[bartman]

Sorry guys....I was kinda being sarcastic.... I sucked at that subject in English (lit).
....but I still wonder at the huge price drops...maybe they are clearing old stock and have hocked up the 'original' price and then put an arbitrary low price for the killer sell !
OICURMT- I did see that post and had a skim over it when it was posted. Shall read more thorough after this.
CASSTONY - I have a C64 for sale at half that price!!!!atm on ebay. I'll throw in a ZX81 with a 16kb expansion module and tape drive for an extra privately agreed amount!
Seriously ...I do have the ZX81!
offtopic sorry
Bartman

[taxman]

From Fair Trading QLD website:

http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/pricing.htm

If they state a product is on sale, any comparisons they make to the product’s previous or usual prices must be realistic. The product must also have been available at the higher price for a reasonable amount of time before going on sale.

[lynporter]

its like casstony said - this retailer does not purchase stock from the authorized wholesaler here in Australia or direct from Celestron in the States. therefore - should you have any warranty issues - forget about support from Celestron -especially here in Australia. maybe (& I stress maybe) the retail outlet you speak of will have a service agent that they can call on but again, they won't be the authorized service agents. have known others that have gone down the path of picking up a bargain - only to have it come back to haunt them big time! by all means - grab a bargain - but be aware!!!

[AG Hybrid]

This thread died on the 17-7-2010. Nice thread resurrection.

We have had multiple discussions about this issue. Everyone knows the score.

[casstony]

Hi Lyn, I guess it doesn't matter where a retailer gets their stock from providing they can offer good after sales service and Andrews does offer good after sales service. The Celestron Australia mark-up is so high there's plenty of room for independent retailers to cover warranty issues themselves.
Oh, and welcome to IIS Lyn :)

[OICURMT]

+1 :)