woaw , I just come off the NZ auction site "trade me ' and as usual my 1st stop is ' photography and optical ' , then ' binoculars and telescopes '
Anyway there is a new player in town , they are based in auckland , and sell Celestron gear ,,, woaw !!! their prices are ,, pardon my pun , astrononical ,, I will probably get barr'd from ever contacting these cowboys ever again but , dammm , they are trying to sell a moon filter for get this $49 NZ thats about $42 au , a 8x50 finder for ,,ready for this ... $399 ... for crying out loud Andrews and Bintel sell these for $59 . .
But the icing on the cake is their NZ Celestron ' Sky Scouts ' ,, ready for this , dont fall over laughing , but ...
$1190 nz , . woaw !
$399 + $30 delivered to NZ , Andrews price .
Like I said these are only a few , and I answered nearly every one of their add's with ,, WHAT??? , so I am probably banned from ever contacting them again via TM . .
Silv knows this , as she lives in Auck's .
Scary stuff , and if any Kiwi's are reading this , avoid these sharks , they are rude and are treating Kiwi newbies with total disrespect .. One more thing , the $26 , 2 inch GSO eyepieces we can get over here , these clowns are trying to pawn them off for $149 nz . about $129 au ..
Hope these rip offs read this . .
Thats my spheel . happy now . .
Brian.
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 06-09-2012 at 10:28 PM.
Reason: spelling mistake again
Not a good marketing act for the brand Celestron. The 150 Kiwis who make up the NZ telescope market will be put off by that pricing and start a seriously harmful campaign against the brand.
Hopefully, that seller will be told off by C. But then again, what do they care. They probably don't even know this country exists. Let alone trademe.
LOL, welcome to our world mate.
Simple really though, it's a consumer industry they are operating in, vote with your wallet. Most are savvy enough now to at least look around, "PriceSpy" is a great tool for camera stuff.
I don't think they will sell much at all, and this will cause them to simply fade away.
I don't normally buy local, partly because of the supply, partly because the sellers are not all that knowledgeable anyway, and mostly due to cost.
Works for me, not that I buy much anyway, LOL.
Gary
woaw , I just come off the NZ auction site "trade me ' and as usual my 1st stop is ' photography and optical ' , then ' binoculars and telescopes '
Brian.
My SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) as well .
You're right about prices in NZ though. Expensive enough anyway without these cowboys getting stupid. One of the big reasons I do DIY. I can seriously build most stuff cheaper.
I always drool over at CloudyNights prices in the US and the range of gear that is offered but most private sellers in there are CONUS only.
I've been watching for a cheapish Canon 450D or better on TradeMe for weeks but the prices are nothing like I hear mentioned over in Aust. Double or even higher for some.
I have enough gear mostly for now and I haven't looked seriously at Teleskop yet for hardware but I suspect an 80-100 APO is in my future one day and eventually a decent astro camera.
All I have to do is fund my retirement and my wine habit first ... ... and the fast cars ..
:
Hope these rip offs read this . .
Thats my spheel . happy now . .
Brian.
True that Brian, but the worst thing is that they are probably getting away with it!
And worse still, it is difficult to buy Celestron from overseas as they are restricting their distributors by not allowing them to despatch Celestron items to another country, so you are "forced" into paying local prices and dealing with the local distributor, who can charge what they like. So much for competition in a global marketplace.
Sheldon and Hammond (Australian Celestron distributors) may not be as bad as NZ, but they aren't that much better either, particularly compared to the US market. After the last debacle over a Celestron accessory, I will never buy Celestron in "Australia" again. I wanted a Celestron Astrometric eyepiece and simply couldn't get it in Australia. Bintel wasn't able to find out how long it would take to get it in either, as much as they wanted to help me. It was available from my supplier in the US, at about a third of the cost, including freight, but they couldn't send it to me. I ended up buying the Baader equivalent from Extravision in Brisbane (who had it in stock too) and thankfully it turned out to be a far better eyepiece anyway.
Other telescope manufacturers are beginning to follow suit, as Meade, among others, have the same arrangements with their distributors. If they all go that way we will be paying considerably more for our astro gear.
And, for the record, I mostly deal with Australian companies anyway, but I do like the convenience of being able to choose who I deal with and not be dictated to by manufacturers, particularly when there are vastly different prices between countries and particularly if there is no stock in Australia. I have no problem paying a little more in Australia, but two or three times, and more, is beyond a joke.
I will still get some Celestron accessories, but not until my US trip in May to attend the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference. I was going to Stellafane but have changed my times to suit RTMC and this will allow me to be in New York in time for NEAF, I hope. I still don't have the dates for the RTMC next year, yet.
Cheers Peter
Last edited by Stardrifter_WA; 07-09-2012 at 07:07 PM.
I got a smack on the hand from TM , Silv and are still able to ask questions , but TM wont get involved , they understand , and are distancing them selves from these cowboys , I wont mention any names , just 'google' , "Trade Me" and follow the links . I am sure Celestron dont know this is going on as well ? , I hope so anyway ? . , silly buggers , these people .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silv
Ooops. Horrible
Not a good marketing act for the brand Celestron. The 150 Kiwis who make up the NZ telescope market will be put off by that pricing and start a seriously harmful campaign against the brand.
Hopefully, that seller will be told off by C. But then again, what do they care. They probably don't even know this country exists. Let alone trademe.
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 07-09-2012 at 07:30 PM.
Reason: spelling
they will ' Ghost ' away , idiots , blind leading the blind ? . this sort of thing really gets my goat up Gary, Guys and Gals like us know what makes the world go round equipement wise , but I feel so much for the average Joe or Jane out there that want to learn about our place in the universe , and get ripped off , . by these sharks .
. Our hobby dont need people like this , especially in NZ , where the skies a pretty good , , and money is short .
Have you checked them out yet Gary ? its a fun read .. .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gbeal
LOL, welcome to our world mate.
Simple really though, it's a consumer industry they are operating in, vote with your wallet. Most are savvy enough now to at least look around, "PriceSpy" is a great tool for camera stuff.
I don't think they will sell much at all, and this will cause them to simply fade away.
I don't normally buy local, partly because of the supply, partly because the sellers are not all that knowledgeable anyway, and mostly due to cost.
Works for me, not that I buy much anyway, LOL.
Gary
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 07-09-2012 at 07:38 PM.
Reason: spelling
I hear you Brent , as i am an x-pat Kiwi , It's a sad suituation , but keep an eye on the IIS classifieds , you will be suprised how cheep it is to send gear to NZ via , TNT and others .
When I lived in NZ I was just like you , DIY and love it , my 10 inch f/10 newt , is a great scope ,you want to see Jupiter at 300x thru that baby , or my 125mm f/13 newt on pipe mount ( here is a photo ) is getting used a lot by a friend of mine showing his neighbourhood the night sky , out reach , nice , in Whangarei .
dont be shy to look into the shipping costs , Brent and everyone else in NZ who is looking on .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroID
My SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) as well .
You're right about prices in NZ though. Expensive enough anyway without these cowboys getting stupid. One of the big reasons I do DIY. I can seriously build most stuff cheaper.
I always drool over at CloudyNights prices in the US and the range of gear that is offered but most private sellers in there are CONUS only.
I've been watching for a cheapish Canon 450D or better on TradeMe for weeks but the prices are nothing like I hear mentioned over in Aust. Double or even higher for some.
I have enough gear mostly for now and I haven't looked seriously at Teleskop yet for hardware but I suspect an 80-100 APO is in my future one day and eventually a decent astro camera.
All I have to do is fund my retirement and my wine habit first ... ... and the fast cars ..
Last edited by brian nordstrom; 07-09-2012 at 08:51 PM.
:I am sure Celestron dont know this is going on as well ? , I hope so anyway ? . , silly buggers , these people .
Brian.
Frankly Brian, I don't think Celestron care that much, as I have had correspondence with them over this and their response was, basically, tough, they don't set local prices as that is up to the distributor. For a start it would be illegal for them to do so anyway, as that would be considered price collusion. They can only set Recommend Retail Prices.
But, I am sure Celestron WILL notice when they don't sell as much as they probably wish.
As for Sheldon and Hammond, they are not optical specialists either, as they mostly sell homewares. Go figure OK, they do sell through people who are specialists, but I truly wonder how much they know about the Australia astronomical market
sorry for saving you for last there Peter , but you hit the nail on the head ,, again my friend ..
This sort of carry on gets my pulse running , mate .
Thanks for your imput , see the Kiwis that have responded , as Silv said all 150 Kiwi amateur astronomers wont buy from these clowns , ( but the uneducated will get stung !!)
I am pushing for our Kiwi Bro's and Sis's to take a good look at our Australian suppliers , mate Andrews will ship there for $30 , under the 1k gst threshold of course ..
got to love these GOVT's . .
I will be watching these cowboys closely and keep all up with the happenings .
Thanks Peter.
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stardrifter_WA
Frankly Brian, I don't think Celestron care that much, as I have had correspondence with them over this and their response was, basically, tough, they don't set local prices as that is up to the distributor. For a start it would be illegal for them to do so anyway, as that would be considered price collusion. They can only set Recommend Retail Prices.
But, I am sure Celestron WILL notice when they don't sell as much as they probably wish.
As for Sheldon and Hammond, they are not optical specialists either, as they mostly sell homewares. Go figure OK, they do sell through people who are specialists, but I truly wonder how much they know about the Australia astronomical market
Unfortunately Larry, they don't have to justify it. The people will vote with their wallets. Those that are savvy, and not everyone is, will go elsewhere and those that are not, well, it is a case of "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware".
Growing up, I quickly learned to find a bargain......but that is because I never had much money, still don't!
woaw , I just come off the NZ auction site "trade me ' and as usual my 1st stop is ' photography and optical ' , then ' binoculars and telescopes ' 
their prices are ,, pardon my pun , astrononical ,, I will probably get barr'd from ever contacting these cowboys ever again but , dammm , they are trying to sell a moon filter for 
get this $49 NZ thats about $42 au , a 8x50 finder for ,,ready for this ... $399 ... for crying out loud Andrews and Bintel sell these for $59 . 
. 
.
One more thing , the $26 , 2 inch GSO eyepieces we can get over here , these clowns are trying to pawn them off for $149 nz . about $129 au .. 
.
.
... and the fast cars ..
, silly buggers , these people .
they will ' Ghost ' away , idiots , blind leading the blind ? . this sort of thing really gets my goat up Gary, Guys and Gals like us know what makes the world go round equipement wise , but I feel so much for the average Joe or Jane out there 
nice , in Whangarei .
bring it on , The buyer is always 'Right ' , thats our motto Anny ? this filled a page of chapter on telescopes , , pg190 I think 
