Monopoly on Aus Astronomy gear
Hi guys, I've noticed a recent trend of every store being out of stock of the same items (in my case, 0.7x reducer for my EDGE HD). Estimated time for restock was early September for ALL Australian Celestron vendors. I thought that was absolutely ridiculous. It's the fact that every store in Australia has the same supplier (Tasco) that supplies them with all these gears. So, if one store is out of stock, theres a good possibly that ALL stores in Australia will be out of stores. What's the point of having all these different stores if they all come from the same place and have the same restrictions on stock?
Not to mention the price difference between AUS and US even with exchange rate + tax + shipping. My 0.7x reducer that I ordered from the US cost in total $680 from bhphoto shipped with import tax included. In Bintel it costs $850 (on sale mind you) excl. shipping. AND its not even in stock until September! Surely we're getting taken advantage of here in Australia. I want to support local businesses but a price difference of $270 and actually being in stock is hard to argue.
There's got to be a better way to buy some of these gears without having to pay arm and a leg and having to wait several months for it to arrive.
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