[citivolus (Ric)]

That was why my comment on shipping - when I moved here from California, we shipped a container surface & including customs clearance it was less than the price difference on this one scope. Also, to help pay for my scope hobby, I import (non-astro) stuff and resell it, so I do know about "economies of scale". Basically it just means that I can mark my stuff up more than the traditional retail mark up, and people think they have to pay it because the product was made in the USA. And I'm still selling my stuff at 2/3 Aus retail.

My point was more to single out Celestron. Compare, you can get Vixen products here for a dollar to dollar equal price with the USA. Vixen SXD mount, myastro, $2500 AU. OPTCorp, $2500 US. Vixen VC200L $1889 AU (astro-optical), $1799 US. Vixen Porta mount, $395 AU, $399 US. HAL-130-SX tripod, $285 AU, $250 US. Vixen products, being somewhat premium as compared, say, to Skywatcher, should be impacted by the "economy of scale" the same as the US products, but where is the price difference? Nowhere to be seen! If it exists for Celestron, it is only because they have manufactured the problem of poor sales by jacking the price so high.

Unlike some electrical components which require an actual power supply change or the like on import, and regulatory clearance, the CGE mounts, for example, are DC devices and therefore much, much easier and less expensive to import.

I know this subject has been done to death in the past, but I'm just tired of seeing prices extorted the way that they are. Even if everything was shipped as a one off, and they were buying at retail prices in the USA (which of course they are not), Celestron's prices would still be high.

Want proof that Australians are used to being extorted for "imports"? Adobe CS3 design premium, download version, $1799 US from the Adobe online store. $3205 AU from the same online Adobe store.

People need to stop trying to convince themselves that Australia is on another planet and start making some real noise about what companies get away with here. If I can import a product for less than Australian retail, then so can the official distributor. It is as simple as that.

Eric