Apparently high prices charged by some of our retailers here in Australia

[leinad (Dan)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

I wasn't trying to single out any one business as better then any other, I just believe that until you have run your own business, you dont realise what you are really up against. Running a business is hard work, the money doesnt roll in the front door in trucks.

I have never owned my own business, but I have been the right hand man of someone who does and have seen his pain when left with $100k of stock and price bottoms out due to $$ fluctuations, a manufacturer who you have bet your house on goes belly up, a store room flooded, sweltered through summers of no air conditioning as you landlord cant get the parts to fix it for 6 weeks.

It is easy to pick up a pay cheque each week, it is harder to generate the business to pay that pay cheque.

If you take your time to get to know your local retailer, then they will treat you well. If you just shop on price, then that is all you will see and all you will ever find.

huh??...

If the USD = AUD this year, do you really believe that customers will comfortably spend $100 - $2500 more for the same product from an Oz retailer then you can get by ordering from a US company out of guilt or an expected service? In all honesty, I doubt it...

Since when did the masses not shop on price? I'm not against the local/Australian market and I'm pretty sure neither is any other memeber of this forum; but the sad truth is if customers can save $$$ they will, and that's what has been the discussion of this thread.

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Well to put it in perspective.

Skywatcher ED120 scope is available from USA for $1495US ($1644 Aust with dollar rate at .90 Aust to US). Obviously this is sale price including shipping from China to USA. I'm guessing shipping from China to Australia is similar costs.

Obviously if we add GST (10%) ...this comes to the sum of $1808 Aust.

Even add another 10% for the Australian dealer markup...this is now now around $1988 Aust.

But....here's the catch...prices in Aust for this item vary from $2999 to $3099 from the biggest dealers..which is a 60+% mark-up above & beyond Australian dealer profit points.

Errrr am I missing something here? Are the Australian version of this scope gold plated?

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 5 ED120s, what is your price?"

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 50 ED120s, what is your price?"

Who do you think is going to get the best deal???

The US market is a lot bigger than ours, but if you keep buying in from the US, there is no way our market can get bigger to bring the price down.

A bit of a circular problem if you ask me.

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

You cant expect people here to swallow such large differences in retail prices in the hope that it might get better one day. The fact that you could buy at US retail prices, undercut local dealers and still make a handsome profit is a joke

[Louwai (Bryan)]

In the past, lots of people have commented on the Australian Celestron (one & only) distributor being the monopoly holder & therefore extracting large prices.
Some people thought that Extravision losing the Celestron distributorship would bring Celestron prices down.

Will that happen???

[chris lewis]

Ha ! Just across the pond in New Zealand we do now get some optics cheaper now then in Australia.
My high grade Skywatcher Equinox ED120 OTA cost me $NZ 2700 which is approx. $A 2170.
The Equivalent Orion EON ED120 is $A 3400 at Bintel. The 'lower level' Skywatcher Black Diamond ED120 are around the $A 3000 range as noted above.
Even in the USA the Orion EON ED120 is $US 1800 the equivalent of $NZ 2450.
The Equinox / Orion EON ED120's are approx 30% more then the standard Black Diamond ED120 so a Equinox ED120 for $A 2170 is extremely good value.
For some reason - exchange rates etc. the Equinox ED120 is particularly inexpensive in N.Z.
They are available on order from the below site. Even with shipping / duty etc. it may work out cheaper to get one shipped over to Australia. I am not aware if the Skywatcher Equinox ED120 is available in Oz. The Orion EON ED120 is.

http://www.southerncameras.co.nz/cat...?categoryid=17

Chris

[Louwai (Bryan)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 5 ED120s, what is your price?"

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 50 ED120s, what is your price?"

Who do you think is going to get the best deal???

The US market is a lot bigger than ours, but if you keep buying in from the US, there is no way our market can get bigger to bring the price down.

A bit of a circular problem if you ask me.

Speaking specifically about Celestron.
Extravision used to be the 1 & only Celestron distributor in Australia. (now there is a new one & only as Extravision have lost the distributorship).

Extravision supplied all of the Celestron equipment to all retail outlets in Australia. Therefore, Extravision would have had a reasonable "order" from the manufacturer.
Individual retailers do not order Celestron products direct from the overseas supplier.
I visited the Extravision warehouse in Capalaba, Brisbane, a few times. Each time I went there it was packed to the rafters with Celestron scopes & other gear.

The distributor would remove the "small order" issue you are talking about. This still doesn't explain why a specific Celestron scope is 3 times the US retail price here in Oz.

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by Louwai

In the past, lots of people have commented on the Australian Celestron (one & only) distributor being the monopoly holder & therefore extracting large prices.
Some people thought that Extravision losing the Celestron distributorship would bring Celestron prices down.

Will that happen???

If you check out the prices of the Celestron EdgeHD OTAs' etc you will get your answer I think
There was athread on this here recently
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ghlight=edgehd

[fuso (Anthony)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 5 ED120s, what is your price?"

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 50 ED120s, what is your price?"

Who do you think is going to get the best deal???

The US market is a lot bigger than ours, but if you keep buying in from the US, there is no way our market can get bigger to bring the price down.

A bit of a circular problem if you ask me.

There once was a hunting & fishing shop in melb that had the cheapest tackle ever, why?

When shop(a) brought 5 game reels for stock, this shop would buy 200 reels in one hit!
Yet very few people in melb buy game reels.
Shop is now only a gun shop.

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 5 ED120s, what is your price?"

Ring Ring, "Hi Mr Telescope Manufacturer, I want to buy 50 ED120s, what is your price?"

Who do you think is going to get the best deal???

The US market is a lot bigger than ours, but if you keep buying in from the US, there is no way our market can get bigger to bring the price down.

A bit of a circular problem if you ask me.

Not really an issue of order numbers at all. Both (Aust) companies are Authorised Skywatcher dealers & thus can buy at markedly reduced prices WRT Joe public. They have the "Authorised import" market nicely sewn up to the exclusion of a competitive Australian competition market.

Both companies order in large batches...that is how they do business. We are not asking them to loose money...just to loosen the grip & pass on the $ savings from a strong $Aust!

Remember early last year when $Aust was at around $.90 to $USD...the Skywatcher EQ6 was selling for $1495...ummm that's a lot cheaper than now days. Considering our $Aust has been above $.85 to $USD for the last 6 months.

Lets look at the importation of Farpoint products into Australia. These are new on to the Aust market. Lets say I want a Farpoint FDC8 (C8 dovetail) ..$79 USD (around $87 Aust). Postage from USA...guesstimate is $25 (USD...similar to ADMs costs)..thus all up $111 Aust. Yet they are $135 (+ postage from the Aust store) in Aust! How come?

I pity the Aust dealers ATM. I purchased a rather large/expensive item from OPT a few months back (to my door) & saved $1k+ ...just on 1/4 the purchase price compared to Australian dealers.

Trevor...you said "Everytime you shop at OPT or some other overseas market, it indirectly increases the cost of equipment for people who don't like to buy from overseas."

But hang on a second...these Farpoint products are new to the market...purchased when $Aust exchange was high..so why are we paying 20% (+ postage) extra for this product.

This is not correct. This is a democratic country and in this case we vote with out money. Competition is the basis of our democratic business models.

This is the Bottom line!

[mick pinner]

what would give us some insight into local retail prices is to know what discount under the list price of an item they are given.
l run a panel shop and a big part of my profit comes from the deal l do with my parts suppliers as to what discount l get on the list price for parts.
eg: i may buy a bonnet for a toyota for $400, the list price may be $500. l've just made $100 for a phone call, sounds great doesn't it, but whether l keep all of this money or split the difference to make sure l get the job is another thing, my assumption is that the local retailers are keeping the entire difference.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

We are all hypothesizing about why prices are different and complaining to each other about advertised prices. Has anyone actually gone to their local retailler and asked for an explaination or better price.

I know I didn't pay the listed price for a G11 recently.

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

We are all hypothesizing about why prices are different and complaining to each other about advertised prices. Has anyone actually gone to their local retailler and asked for an explaination or better price.

I know I didn't pay the listed price for a G11 recently.

Yes...I have from 2 big suppliers...for a big ticket item. Their answer (in not so many words)...take the price or leave it! They get very..."testy" when queried!

They also told me I couldn't do better by importing...I did and I did! By around $1k+.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Maybe i'm better looking than you.

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

We are all hypothesizing about why prices are different and complaining to each other about advertised prices. Has anyone actually gone to their local retailler and asked for an explaination or better price.

I know I didn't pay the listed price for a G11 recently.

Never pay full retail!

[Louwai (Bryan)]

Originally Posted by tlgerdes

We are all hypothesizing about why prices are different and complaining to each other about advertised prices. Has anyone actually gone to their local retailler and asked for an explaination or better price.

I know I didn't pay the listed price for a G11 recently.

Yes I have.
Also on a big ticket item. Well over AU$20k. I was told to my face "try to get it cheaper anywhere else".

The comment tells me that the retailer is confident that the AU market is well & truely sewn up & he can charge what he likes.

This was for a Celestron CGE1400 @ a little over $25k
After the above discussion I was quoted AU$12k for supply from overseas. (Delivered to my door in Brisbane)

I ended up buying a 20" SDM from Peter, & very happy.........

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

All I can say is that my family has a great relationship with our local retailer and we get good prices and support from them.

Try to make friends with them and both stand on the same side of the line. If you ask for a price, that is all you get.

[norm]

From the general gist of things, it wouldn't hurt the local suppliers to pass on the savings from time to time with some 'decent' sales. It just seems to be a sad fact this happens lot less frequently.
Its a wonder how they survive, but then again maybe not given the prices they charge.

As for service and advise - we have IceinSpace

Thats my florence worth.

Norm

[Louwai (Bryan)]

I reckon this horse is dead.................

Buy from where you wish people. If you're happy with what you get for your money, then you've got nothing to complain about...........

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by norm

As for service and advise - we have IceinSpace

I dont see Mike sticking his hand up for Warranty.