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1. They are cheaper there because of sheer volume of sales compared to Australia.
2. Yes
3. Of all the pitfalls, lack of warranty for repairs is the worst. The various threads have shown with monotonous regularity that there are quality control issues particularly with scopes originating from China that you will have to gamble on.
4. If you want NEW, buy locally and negotiate a better price with the retailer than that which they advertise, they are usually good for a deal.
I strongly believe the best bet is to buy higher spec gear (my personal preference is for scopes with pale green focusers, which seem to be especially well cared for) from the secondhand market locally. I have bought all but 2 of my scopes secondhand from IIS classifieds and and so far those that I have resold have sold for almost what I paid for them so I have not lost as I would have with new stuff.
The people I have bought from here have so far looked after their gear quite fastidiously, I have had no regrets with any of the purchases.
As an example:
I bought a brand new Takahashi FC76 Objective unit from the Aussie dealer A.E.C. (Claude Voarino) and had it delivered to my door in Canberra for about $275 less than it would have cost to buy from the USofA.
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