PCH, yes i do agree with you on the fact that if you answered every price inquiry your life would be in front of the computer.
The thing is to be able to set your business up correctly. That is make sure your customers can see the prices/products you cover. If you are getting bulk inquiry's there are 1 of 2 things happening. A. you have dumb customers...? (customer is always right) B. Your setup isn't optimized for your situation.
It would be stupid to say that some customers that make the trip out or blow by customers far outweighs the whole of Australia as a customer base that is not to say that the customers that actually make the effort to see you will not get special treatment/sales/service but to ignore the online community.
sadness.
I believe that 2 - 3 days is a good amount of time in which to reply to somebody although i generally try to do it as soon as possible