Quote:
Originally Posted by janoskiss
Back in the 1990s and early 2000s there were a fair few retailers cashing in on people's ignorance and ripping customers off (and there still are, but it's becoming a lot harder for them: a lot fewer suckers left in our information age).
A lot of people realised that once Internet access and online presence of international retailers became commonplace, and have been left with a sour taste and ill will towards local dealers.  Paying 3-4x markup was not uncommon. I'm sure I could still find the odd camera shop where such outrageous prices persist though probably no telescope shop can get away with that any more.
Having hosted a lot of public astro events, I could have sold my 10" Saxon Dob many times for a couple of grand to people looking through it for the first time. They'd often ask me how much the telescope costs and expect to hear a figure in the $5-10k range. (Sometimes they hesitate and think it rude to ask but ask anyway.) When I tell them it was $800 they sometimes don't believe me. So it'd be very easy to con uninformed enthusiastic first timers. You just need the charming salesman act and be a slimy opportunist with no conscience. 
@Cheryl-Ann It sounds like you're running a tight ship and doing all the right things for your business and your customers. We need a shop like yours in Melbourne. It'd be nice for me to have a friendly shop around but more so for all the people I meet, who are eager to get started.
(I've contemplated starting my own retail outlet, and I would if not for lack of capital. Had a dream of a cafe / bar / live music venue + astro shop with observatory on the roof and nightly sidewalk astronomy in one of the northern boho suburbs.
    I have plenty experience with most of that already except the buying and selling gear and making any money bit - ie the hard bit. I think I'd be bad at that though. I'd need to partner up with or hire someone with business smarts.)
Best wishes for you and your enterprise. Hope you have lots of success and that the 20" SW will be worth the effort. 
 |
I've seen the cafe/astro shop done before (our store used to have a coffee shop attached to it years ago before we took over), and it is a LOT of work, and that coffee shop venture failed. When Astro Pete started doing his food service (in addition to coffee) the one of the things he told me on day one of said food service was "I'm regretting it already!". The food's great, but when your focus is split between two things, it's very, very hard to please everyone. Who do you serve first if two customers came in at the same time: The hungry customer who wants to order $5 plate of chips and can't wait 5 minutes longer, or the one who has $500 in his pocket and needs an hour of your time to coach him through the buying process of a scope, and you have competitors nearby in both industries that specialise in what they do... you're likely to lose either one or both of those customers. You can't ignore one because both customers are important. In their mind they're both just as important as the other so in your mind they should be too.
In some ways it's not rocket science, but a degree in business, lots of start-up capital, and plenty of common sense helps. I don't want to crush your dreams, though, just a few months ago I never thought I'd be able to to do it myself! If you think Melbourne has a need for a brick and mortar store and you're the one with the resources for it, go for it!
I know what you mean by excited newbies... I did a lot of public outreach too (still do when I have the time) and they're always surprised at the prices of new scopes. Lots of things are mass market now so they're so much cheaper than say, 10 years ago. But I still cannot in my right conscience charge them the price they want to pay if it's not a reasonable price... because sooner or later they will find out. And if they do, they'll never come back to buy accessories or their second scope from you.
And then, there's Australian Geographic...
