buying gear in NZ

[silv (Annette)]

what telescope shops are you "using" here in NZ?

I know of
* Langwoodsphotography.co.nz in ChCh
* photodigital.co.nz in Auckland, Browns Bay
* astronomy.org.nz - the Auckland Astronomy club shop, I believe. selling the brand GSO.
* trademe.co.nz with 2 sellers operating from Auckland and Wellington.
I think all take credit card and also normal bank deposits.
They all have only a tiny product line in their online catalogues.

ebay.com for adaptors, camera remote, small items.

Do you know more?
(Let's not list the yellow pages here, shall we. )

Do you know a walk-in store anywhere that has a certain product display?

Do you have knowledge of shops outside NZ where it's worth looking for this or that?

I feel a current list of options would be very helpful.

[loc46south (Geoffrey)]

Hi - Depends how serious you are about astronomy and what sort of gear you are after - most who have been in the sport for a while tend to import their own gear from overseas suppliers - it is quite easily done these days online with either direct bank deposit or a Credit Card

Cheers
Geof Wingham

[silv (Annette)]

Cheers Geof,

The shops outside NZ I looked on for scopes, mounts, accessories either did not deliver to NZ or the shipment costs were (almost understandably) horrendous.

Would you mind listing some of the places overseas that you had dealings with?

[silv (Annette)]

come on, guys

I'm from Europe/Germany. I am used to live in big cities where I find at least 1 shop for any specialties to just walk in and browse the shelves.
And then all the European online shops and easy shipment to everywhere...

I'm not used to the general buying-stuff-environment, here in NZ.
Share your scoring skills, will ya, please?

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Try living in Perth, then. It's just as bad if not worse! Just about everything has to come from "elsewhere". I don't think they're hiding anything from you, you just don't have a choice, sorry to say. I know here that I have have to factor freight into anything I buy, its just a fact of life when you live at the extremities of the world.

[Astro_Bot]

I can't tell you what the best experience is buying online, since I haven't bought from all vendors. But I can tell you that I have had good purchasing experiences from Bintel (Aus), Agena Astro (USA) and Astroshop.eu (Germany).

Of course, there's eBay - I've bought there too - but generally only for "commodity" items.

I expect that shipping to Aus is the same as shipping to NZ (Bintel excepted, of course).

[silv (Annette)]

I hear ya, Jacquie

[silv (Annette)]

Thank you Astrobot!!!

I've emailed some shops yesterday but they haven't replied, yet.

[silv (Annette)]

* http://www.Langwoodsphotography.co.nz in ChCh
* http://www.photodigital.co.nz in Auckland, Browns Bay
* http://www.astronomy.org.nz - the Auckland Astronomy club shop, I believe. selling the brand GSO.
* http://www.trademe.co.nz with 2 sellers operating from Auckland and Wellington.
They all have only a tiny product line in their online catalogues.

http://www.ebay.com for adaptors, camera remote, small items.

from outside NZ (assumption - they deliver to Oz, so...)

* http://www.agenaastro.com (USA)
* http://www.astroshop.eu (Germany)

[BPO]

I've had excellent experiences in my dealings with Southern Cameras in Dunedin.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I hate to tell ya Silv but that's about it for NZ suppliers. And the range of stuff HAS improved over the last few years. I've used Bintel in Sydney for importing a bit of small stuff and that 's been ok re freight coststec. I'd hate to think what it might run to for bigger gear. That's probably one of the reasons I build so much of my own stuff. The only import for SK II was the mirrors. The 2" focusser was through an ICE advert but the rest is local. I did pickup some bits last year while in Sydney.

As I said in another thread I cry when I see whats available in the USA both from new and second hand listings.

There is another seller based in New Plymouth on TradeMe and there was I think one in Palmerston North but that might have been a local astronomer shifting some stuff to cover expenses, not sure.

Small elite market over here, not much you can do about it I'm afraid.

[silv (Annette)]

* http://www.astronomy.org.nz - the Auckland Astronomy club shop, I believe. selling the brand GSO. (They will add new items, refractors, mounts, within a month from now)
* http://www.Langwoodsphotography.co.nz in ChCh
* http://www.photodigital.co.nz in Auckland, Browns Bay
* http://www.southerncameras.co.nz/cat...p?categoryid=4
* http://www.trademe.co.nz with 2 sellers operating from Auckland and Wellington.
They all have only a tiny product line in their online catalogues.

http://www.ebay.com for adaptors, camera remote, small items.

Stores outside NZ but known to deliver:

* http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/...strumente.html Germany, big collection.
(their freight cost is only accurately stated on TS brand items, apparently. All other brands show wrong shipping cost with 998.99Euro. Can be clarified by email contact.)
* http://www.astroshop.eu (Germany - much higher prices than the TS store above)
* http://www.bintel.com.au/ Australia

assuming - they deliver to Oz, so...

* http://www.agenaastro.com (USA)

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I've heard good feedback on the Teleskop-Express re price and delivery to anywhere in the world.

[silv (Annette)]

that's good to know.

I compared prices on several low-end 80mm APO refractors both, on the TS site and the other German one, astroshop.eu.
astroshop throughout was more expensive than TS - by 100E and more. On these cheap scopes, even!

(that makes you think that astroshop.eu may have better service than TS - or something like that. how else would they be able to compete?)

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by silv

(that makes you think that astroshop.eu may have better service than TS - or something like that. how else would they be able to compete?)

Prices vary considerably across product lines and vendors, even among domestic vendors. What one vendor may sell cheaply, another won't, and the reverse may be true for a different product line.

Based on what I've been told, informally, one distributor/manufacturer may do preferential pricing deals with one retailer, while another distributor/manufacturer may do the same with another retailer.

My recommendations aren't about the cheapest listed price - anyone can google that - they are sites where I had made a purchase and rated the experience, including advice, shipping and the state in which the item arrived, as good. And I'm not the most prolific shopper.

[silv (Annette)]

ah, this puts some balance into the findings. cheers.

[pixelsaurus (Mike)]

[QUOTE=ZeroID;879973]
As I said in another thread I cry when I see whats available in the USA both from new and second hand listings.

There is another seller based in New Plymouth on TradeMe and there was I think one in Palmerston North but that might have been a local astronomer shifting some stuff to cover expenses, not sure.

QUOTE]

There is a trademe seller based in Porirua. Sells off mirrors,eyepieces,coma correctors and all sorts of kit.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Lis...member=1345258

[silv (Annette)]

cheers Pixelsaurus.

when shops advertise a scope/mount assembly, did you guys ever ask whether they would split and only sell one or the other to you? what did they say?

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Ask and you shall be told ...
Retail operations, generally not. Private sellers, depends.
One can but try ...

Basically Silv, there are no hard and fast rules, work out what you want and then start searching for the deals, be prepared to compromise and bargain. If that doesn't work there is always DIY...