Didn't you know that Australia is a rich country and that we can afford to pay more!
And if you think things are bad here in Australia, check out some of the prices in the UK, they appear to be even worse than ours.
About a year ago, I wanted to buy a Celestron Astrometric eyepiece, only to be told that it isn't stocked in Australia. The Australian distributor couldn't even give a delivery time, according to Bintel, at the time. Frankly, after this episode I will never buy Celestron in Australia again, because of their Australian pricing practices, particularly given the US prices.
And I am a Celestron owner, so let me be clear here and say that I am not saying that there is anything wrong with their telescopes or accessories, as there isn't. I like my Celestron gear, they make great stuff.
Anyway, it was in stock in the US at a third of the price, however, US dealers are not allowed to ship outside the US. I took this matter up with Celestron and they said that the price difference is due to freight and GST, however, this doesn't equate for the price difference, as it is far in excess of freight and GST, particularly given the value of the Aussie dollar.
On the matter of their unfair practices, I questioned their policy of restricting dealer sales outside of the country of origin. I raised the matter that this restricted competition and basically, they said that was their policy. In their defence, it comes down to sales volumes, they just don't sell that much in countries like Australia and the UK, as compared to the US, therefore prices are higher in order to make a profit, and companies have to make a profit or go out of business.
I wonder if this actually contravenes Free Trade Agreements, particularly in relation to US dealers not be able to sell outside their country? I am not going to bother to ask that question anyway. I am going to the US, for 6-8 weeks next May (in time for the RTMC), so will pick up any Celestron I want then.
Basically, the story is this, Australian distributor, can set whatever wholesale price they like and there is nothing we can do about it, as there is no competition at the wholesale level. It isn't the retailers fault, as they are governed by the wholesale price set by the Australian distributor.
Bottom line, we live in the antipodes, so if you want access to this type of equipment, then you have to pay for that access. Or, it may be cheaper to fly to the US and buy it there and then ship it back (you could make a holiday of it). OK, you won't get a local warranty, and as previously mentioned in another post here, I too wonder how much that is actually worth. It is well made gear and I haven't had anything go wrong, except with a hand control, which was outside of warranty anyway, so I had to pay for a new one. Although power compatibility may be an issue in some circumstances.
In the end, I bought the Baader equivalent from Extravision in Qld, who had it in stock, and frankly, it turned out to be a much better eyepiece anyway. For the record, I mostly support Aussie companies anyway, except where there are wide pricing differences, and find some to be quite good to deal with, such as Bintel.