outragous prices for Celestron gear in NZ

[brian nordstrom]

:confused2: woaw , I just come off the NZ auction site "trade me ' and as usual my 1st stop is ' photography and optical ' , then ' binoculars and telescopes '
Anyway there is a new player in town , they are based in auckland , and sell Celestron gear ,,, woaw !!!:screwy: their prices are ,, pardon my pun , astrononical ,, I will probably get barr'd from ever contacting these cowboys ever again but , dammm , they are trying to sell a moon filter for :question: get this $49 NZ thats about $42 au , a 8x50 finder for ,,ready for this ... $399 ... for crying out loud Andrews and Bintel sell these for $59 . :shrug:.
But the icing on the cake is their NZ Celestron ' Sky Scouts ' ,, ready for this , dont fall over laughing , but ...

$1190 nz , . woaw !
$399 + $30 delivered to NZ , Andrews price .
Like I said these are only a few , and I answered nearly every one of their add's with ,, WHAT??? , so I am probably banned from ever contacting them again via TM . :lol:.
Silv knows this , as she lives in Auck's .
Scary stuff , and if any Kiwi's are reading this , avoid these sharks , they are rude and are treating Kiwi newbies with total disrespect ..
:P One more thing , the $26 , 2 inch GSO eyepieces we can get over here , these clowns are trying to pawn them off for $149 nz . about $129 au ..
Hope these rip offs read this . :help:.
Thats my spheel . happy now .:thumbsup: .
Brian.

[Octane]

Small market + middle men (distributors) = violent congress.

H

[Larryp]

Big mark-up Brian! Wonder how they justify it.

[silv]

Ooops. Horrible:(

Not a good marketing act for the brand Celestron. The 150 Kiwis who make up the NZ telescope market will be put off by that pricing and start a seriously harmful campaign against the brand. :lol:
Hopefully, that seller will be told off by C. But then again, what do they care. They probably don't even know this country exists. Let alone trademe.

[silv]

On that note:
all astro gear is expensive, over here. Or unavailable.

Buying plus shipping from a German shop is still much! cheaper than buying plus shipping from local shops. Cheaper than Bintel, too.

The advantage of local easy return if DeadOnArrival is worth something, of course.

[gbeal]

LOL, welcome to our world mate.
Simple really though, it's a consumer industry they are operating in, vote with your wallet. Most are savvy enough now to at least look around, "PriceSpy" is a great tool for camera stuff.
I don't think they will sell much at all, and this will cause them to simply fade away.
I don't normally buy local, partly because of the supply, partly because the sellers are not all that knowledgeable anyway, and mostly due to cost.
Works for me, not that I buy much anyway, LOL.
Gary

[ZeroID]

My SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) as well :thumbsup:.
You're right about prices in NZ though. Expensive enough anyway without these cowboys getting stupid. One of the big reasons I do DIY. I can seriously build most stuff cheaper.

I always drool over at CloudyNights prices in the US and the range of gear that is offered but most private sellers in there are CONUS only.
I've been watching for a cheapish Canon 450D or better on TradeMe for weeks but the prices are nothing like I hear mentioned over in Aust. :shrug: Double or even higher for some. :eyepop:
I have enough gear mostly for now and I haven't looked seriously at Teleskop yet for hardware but I suspect an 80-100 APO is in my future one day and eventually a decent astro camera.
All I have to do is fund my retirement and my wine habit first ...:D ... and the fast cars ..:rolleyes:

[silv]

You know what?
Brian's new service for god and country could be importer of 2nd hand gear like your 450D from ebay.com.au, for example.

All agreed? Wonderful! :thumbsup:

[Stardrifter_WA]

True that Brian, but the worst thing is that they are probably getting away with it!:mad2:

And worse still, it is difficult to buy Celestron from overseas as they are restricting their distributors by not allowing them to despatch Celestron items to another country, so you are "forced" into paying local prices and dealing with the local distributor, who can charge what they like. So much for competition in a global marketplace.

Sheldon and Hammond (Australian Celestron distributors) may not be as bad as NZ, but they aren't that much better either, particularly compared to the US market. After the last debacle over a Celestron accessory, I will never buy Celestron in "Australia" again. I wanted a Celestron Astrometric eyepiece and simply couldn't get it in Australia. Bintel wasn't able to find out how long it would take to get it in either, as much as they wanted to help me. It was available from my supplier in the US, at about a third of the cost, including freight, but they couldn't send it to me. I ended up buying the Baader equivalent from Extravision in Brisbane (who had it in stock too) and thankfully it turned out to be a far better eyepiece anyway.:)

Other telescope manufacturers are beginning to follow suit, as Meade, among others, have the same arrangements with their distributors. If they all go that way we will be paying considerably more for our astro gear.

And, for the record, I mostly deal with Australian companies anyway, but I do like the convenience of being able to choose who I deal with and not be dictated to by manufacturers, particularly when there are vastly different prices between countries and particularly if there is no stock in Australia. I have no problem paying a little more in Australia, but two or three times, and more, is beyond a joke.

I will still get some Celestron accessories, but not until my US trip in May to attend the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference. I was going to Stellafane but have changed my times to suit RTMC and this will allow me to be in New York in time for NEAF, I hope. I still don't have the dates for the RTMC next year, yet.

Cheers Peter

[brian nordstrom]

:D I got a smack on the hand from TM , Silv and are still able to ask questions , but TM wont get involved , they understand , and are distancing them selves from these cowboys , I wont mention any names , just 'google' , "Trade Me" and follow the links . I am sure Celestron dont know this is going on as well ? , I hope so anyway ? .
:rofl: , silly buggers , these people .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

;) they will ' Ghost ' away , idiots , blind leading the blind ? . this sort of thing really gets my goat up Gary, Guys and Gals like us know what makes the world go round equipement wise , but I feel so much for the average Joe or Jane out there :( that want to learn about our place in the universe , and get ripped off ,:mad2: . by these sharks .
. Our hobby dont need people like this , especially in NZ , where the skies a pretty good , :) , and money is short .
Have you checked them out yet Gary ? its a fun read .. :rofl:.
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

;) I hear you Brent , as i am an x-pat Kiwi , It's a sad suituation , but keep an eye on the IIS classifieds , you will be suprised how cheep it is to send gear to NZ via , TNT and others .
When I lived in NZ I was just like you , DIY and love it , my 10 inch f/10 newt , is a great scope ,you want to see Jupiter at 300x thru that baby , or my 125mm f/13 newt on pipe mount ( here is a photo ) is getting used a lot by a friend of mine showing his neighbourhood the night sky , out reach , :hi: nice , in Whangarei .
dont be shy to look into the shipping costs , Brent and everyone else in NZ who is looking on .
Brian.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Frankly Brian, I don't think Celestron care that much, as I have had correspondence with them over this and their response was, basically, tough, they don't set local prices as that is up to the distributor. For a start it would be illegal for them to do so anyway, as that would be considered price collusion. They can only set Recommend Retail Prices.

But, I am sure Celestron WILL notice when they don't sell as much as they probably wish.

As for Sheldon and Hammond, they are not optical specialists either, as they mostly sell homewares. Go figure :question: OK, they do sell through people who are specialists, but I truly wonder how much they know about the Australia astronomical market:question:

[brian nordstrom]

:DUSA elections on there way ? :lol: .
Its ****ty , I feel for our cousins across the ditch , they are getting sprung 1990 prices , today ? :question:.
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: profits before people , my friend ( uneducated people ) , it sux badly . Larry .
True .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

;) sorry for saving you for last there Peter , but you hit the nail on the head ,, again my friend .:thumbsup:.
This sort of carry on gets my pulse running , mate :mad2:.
Thanks for your imput , see the Kiwis that have responded , as Silv said all 150 Kiwi amateur astronomers wont buy from these clowns , ( but the uneducated will get stung !!:confused2:)
I am pushing for our Kiwi Bro's and Sis's to take a good look at our Australian suppliers , mate Andrews will ship there for $30 , under the 1k gst threshold of course .:shrug:.
got to love these GOVT's . :D.
I will be watching these cowboys closely and keep all up with the happenings .
Thanks Peter.
Brian.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Unfortunately Larry, they don't have to justify it. The people will vote with their wallets. Those that are savvy, and not everyone is, will go elsewhere and those that are not, well, it is a case of "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware".

Growing up, I quickly learned to find a bargain......but that is because I never had much money, still don't! :)

[Stardrifter_WA]

Hmmm, I noticed :P :lol:

[brian nordstrom]

:hi: :welcome: bring it on , The buyer is always 'Right ' , thats our motto Anny ? this filled a page of chapter on telescopes , , pg190 I think :rofl:.

Keep this idea alive sylv. :thumbsup:, follow up required .
Blardy Kiwis , sell glasses to a blind man :question: .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

;) Sony alpha510 , sweet camera , poor mans Canon , ooops ,,fun fun fun .
what meggapixel's ??? :lol:.
:confused2:diddn't hear that from me ... :screwy:
Ok .
Brian.

[Stardrifter_WA]

I got one of them Sony's too, nice camera, I keep it in my bag with my Leica 8x32 binos.:D Also have the Canon 60D...too heavy to carry around all the time. Same reason I got the Leica bino's, my Fujinon were too damn heavy too. :D The Leica are really sweet optics. For it's size, surprisingly good on the night sky. :)

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: woman?
Brian.

[Larryp]

Good one Brian!

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: what megga pixels ?? ;) something like ...
22 or more ? ,
She picked 22 metiorites , in 30 seconds , in the space between alpha and beta centarei . photo supplied , cool glass. , cooler meiotrites .
how many touched down ? :eyepop: .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:P my heart is sold ., brother thanks , for me bro , life is like astromomy , where are we ?
1 billion questions ,
yes Neal Armstrong in on the moon .
my grand children will learn this , I hope bro.
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: U2 BRO .
Brian

[brian nordstrom]

:hi: any one want to buy a telescope ? pg189.
I am a hunter .
Brian.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Nah Brian, not really.......well........maybe? They did cost me a packet, two houses and counting. Married twice and both left me for mates. The worst thing about that is, I am running out of mates!!! :lol:

Have to admit though, I doubt I would have the astro gear I have if I was still married. Only person I have to justify anything too is me. :P And that ain't hard. I doubt there will be a next time, just can't afford to lose another house. :D A little tired of making my mates rich :P

But, I do have my priorities right. Whenever, on the rare occasions, I do meet a woman I ask, do you like astronomy and do you like sci-fi? :lol: Sadly, I just don't meet many women who meet those criteria. :rofl: Most women I meet seem to lack the imagination for sci-fi :sadeyes: