OzScopes Query

[xstream (John)]

Bill, if you took the time to check his user ID you would find he hasn't logged in since making that post.

Originally Posted by Visionoz

After Ivan's last post (no pun intended!) no response to my query

Strange ... silence on the western front ... no more replies from Ivan, wonder why?

Cheers
Bill

[Ivan Lim]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to all who replied. I appreciate the active discussion!

First of all I'd like to apologise for my slow response. I wasn't in the office on Monday. As I'm sure most of you will appreciate, a one day absence from the office usually results in a huge workload that I just managed to clear 5 mins ago So here are my responses. Hopefully I get to each query, but if I do miss something feel free to let me know.

To Bill: I can see where you are coming from and appreciate you taking the time to reply. Pricing is an important factor in the buying decision and we do recognise that there is plenty of room for improvement in our pricing department. Ideally we too would like to offer customers great prices even without having to use our best price guarantee to match another seller. We have actually been pouring large amounts of resource to create better deals for astronomers like yourself. Be assured that we are always looking at ways to improve and hopefully we can make some strides in the coming months

Having said that however, we also know that our business is not just about lowest prices. We do aim to add value to customers by giving them an excellent buying experience. Receiving products as fast as possible, asking lots and lots of questions, and even chatting with us for 2-3 hours before making a decision are just some of the things our customers have told us they really value. I guess it comes down to placing value on the shopping experience and we really appreciate our customers who love the service we give to them. Some of our customers have said that not everything they buy in life is always about the lowest price and telescopes for them is one of those purchases.

To Stephen: Again I hope to ensure our pricing model gets more and more competitive as time goes by. We have been making some good steps over the last month and I hope this will become more appealing to astronomers. I really appreciate the honest feedback though. Thank you!

To Gary: We definitely want to be available to customers when questions get asked, so here I am Our customer service team is also available on weekdays from 9am - 5 30pm to answer questions and if you'd like you can also send me an email : ivan.lim @ ozhut.com

To Steve: No flu, thank goodness! Hopefully it stays that way.

I think that is everyone. Thanks again guys! Take care

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Originally Posted by Ivan Lim

...
To Bill: I can see where you are coming from and appreciate you taking the time to reply. Pricing is an important factor in the buying decision and we do recognise that there is plenty of room for improvement in our pricing department. Ideally we too would like to offer customers great prices even without having to use our best price guarantee to match another seller. We have actually been pouring large amounts of resource to create better deals for astronomers like yourself. Be assured that we are always looking at ways to improve and hopefully we can make some strides in the coming months
...

Thanks for posting Ivan - however my query still remains unanswered in respect to a situation when someone seeing the price (which is higher or so-called your "default price" off the webpage which you described in your first post reply) and commits an order and OzScope actually has a current "lower price", would OzScope then inform the customer who ordered that the price is actually lower?

My query is related not to so much as a customer's decision-making act based on price but is actually wanting to know how OzScope's business ethics is modelled - and how your company would handle the situation in such a case seeing that you had already had put forward a certain premise on how your company conducts its online business in regards to pricing policy

If you do now wish to reply to the query that is fine

Cheers
Bill

[Ivan Lim]

I'm glad you appreciate the response To answer your question, we never put up a "default price" on the webpage if there is a current lower sale price being offered to customers. Any sale price in the system, that is lower than the default price, will automatically appear on the site.

The way we price our products is based upon the cost of that particular stock when we bought it. Sale stock can occur when an item is either priced to clear, or when we've managed to negotiate a better price with our suppliers(which can be difficult since local distributors work on higher margins due to the smallness of the Australian market).

As such, if a customer is seeing a higher priced item, that's only because our cost is high as well. However, if the price does come down due to us being able to buy better, then it is in our best interest as well to want to give our customers the best price. We try to be as reasonable as well, and do the right thing by our customers as if we were in their shoes.

Hopefully that answers your query, and please don't hesitate to clarify further if need be

[smitty (Sean)]

The predicament of retail....sell stock at a "competitive" price and make no money, or try to sell at a "sensible" price and sell nothing, still making no money....

I think todays consumer, as savvy as they might be, forgets that buying "the cheapest" has an overall negative effect on the market. Look at the aviation industry. People pay $30 for a ticket from Melbourne to Sydney and then complain when the flight runs late due to maintenance issues......you can't have it both ways!

By reducing the number of players in a market we end up having to deal with monopolies or duopolies that control prices with no regard to the consumer (the price of petrol comes to mind).

Getting off my soapbox now.

Sean

[rigeljames (James)]

I rather resent best price guaratees, because it allows a company to be selectively competetive and only compete when they're sprung. I think it's rather hitting the retailer who does his/her best to be competetive below the belt. There is a well known hardware chain that has this practice, and down go all the competition. Now there are few to turn to to get a best price!!

Recently I was looking for a C11 , but after seeing OzScopes price for one on a German Equatorial I was offended and went shopping overseas. Had I known about Andrews Communication at the time I would more likely have done my shopping in Australia. I don't think retailer going for the maximum "rip off" do anything for the Australian retail industry or the hobby they supposedly support!