Buyers' Strike

Ian Robinson · #1 29-10-2008, 03:59 PM

Are you holding off buying astro and photo stuff right now in the hope the exchange will improve soon ?

I am - have the money set aside , and have set a target price range I am prepared to pay for my next major purchase - a EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens and am reluctant to spend more than the range I settled on.

I might buy some minor items soon , ie a filter or two , making a permanent pier for the Atlux and concrete slab or a timber deck to go around it (as a base for an observing hut) , and an OAG (sleeping on that one, it's an I want it and not an I need it item)

Wavytone · #2 29-10-2008, 04:22 PM

I bought some things from US and Japan in September when the $A was near its peak. The exchange rate should climb somewhat from where it is now.

Starkler (Geoff) · #3 29-10-2008, 05:04 PM

I did say in here a few times over the last year that "things arent going to get any better than this, so you may as well buy now."

The last couple of years have spoiled us.

As for the south pacific peso, word is its going to get worse before it gets better.

Jen · #4 29-10-2008, 05:21 PM

Well whenever i see something i would like to add to my astro collection i get this little whisper in my head that says mum i need new shoes or new summer clothes cause the old ones dont fit no more
so off to the shoe shop I go

Whizgig (Eugene) · #5 29-10-2008, 08:56 PM

Yes annoying inst it

they always need something don't they. lol

mick pinner · #6 29-10-2008, 09:08 PM

l was looking at a G11 at $5100 but now they are $6100, will l buy one? hell no. l'm still spending aussie dollars so if a dealer wants my money they will have to compromise on price as l have to. give the dollar down turn time to bite the retailers with reduced sales they will have to come to the party or fold.

monoxide · #7 29-10-2008, 09:17 PM

same here Mick...

it was a bit of a suprise to see the G11 jump that much, id assume they would have had a couple in stock and they wouldnt exactly be running out the door so what gives?
although noone actually keeps stock any more do they.. you always just use them as a middleman and wait weeks for everything.

i guess ill be re-greasing my HEQ5 and making the most of it till the $ recovers.
most retailers would still rather sell less for more though

bloodhound31 · #8 29-10-2008, 09:57 PM

I was heavily considering replacing my broken C11 with the Planewave CDK 12.5 for $15000. Two days later it went to nearly $19000 and still is.

Game over.

TrevorW · #9 29-10-2008, 10:01 PM

A lot of local dealers will realise and be affected by the drop in the $ as their bread and butter customer stop buying you might see some drastic sales happening

Whizgig (Eugene) · #10 29-10-2008, 10:03 PM

So why has our dollar gone down at all when its the US dollar that is in trouble not ours so ours should go up not down our economy is fine and getting stronger so Why???

matt · #11 29-10-2008, 10:20 PM

Well...for starters our economy is very heavily resources based.

When the rest of the world can't afford to buy our resources...our dollar tumbles.

Ford Prefect (James) · #12 29-10-2008, 10:21 PM

Because demand for coal and steel (our main exports) has weakened. People trade currencies in order to buy commodities in that currency - eg you buy USD in order to buy goods from the US. Hence, simple demand/supply dictates that if demand for Australian goods goes down, so does demand for our currency, and hence the value of the dollar drops.

Just quietly, I doubt if we'll see the Aussie buying 0.95USD again for a while...

And as for the sellers - maybe some are profiting by claiming the dollar has gone down when they're selling stock they bought months ago with a better dollar. However, if they bought that stock recently, then massive price hikes aren't actually unreasonable given that the currency has dropped ~30% in value...

That's my 2c... er.. 1c

Ric · #13 29-10-2008, 10:27 PM

That's a hefty jump Baz even with our dollar dropping.

I won't be buying much for a long while with current prices the way they are but I've been spending on our house and farm so technically I'm broke.

I have enough astronomy gear to keep me happy and the imaging gear I have is perfect for my SN search program so I'll be happy for a long while.

Cheers

Whizgig (Eugene) · #14 29-10-2008, 10:34 PM

but then so is US which means their dollar should now be less than ours not more, As we are not in as much debt as they are. I mean the US government is in trillions of dollars of debt we are not so really it doesn't make any sense at all and we shouldn't have fallen as much as it has. I mean the price of things has gone through the roof and its not right it should have only gone up by no more than 25% at the most not 30-50% like it has.

matt · #15 29-10-2008, 10:59 PM

You're right. It doesn't make sense...but take a look around. You can find a lot that doesn't make sense right now

Our fundamentals remain strong...but we're being dragged down by what's happening elsewhere. And there's a lot of panic behaviour going on.

Whizgig (Eugene) · #16 29-10-2008, 11:07 PM

yep not much makes much sense these days, The world is a mad place to be at the moment.

Ian Robinson · #17 29-10-2008, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

Well...for starters our economy is very heavily resources based.

When the rest of the world can't afford to buy our resources...our dollar tumbles.

Foreign exchange speculators (ahem : hedgefunds) buying US dollars in a vain hope saving their own bacon. Probably the very same twits who caused the financial market crisis.

Ian Robinson · #18 30-10-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorW

A lot of local dealers will realise and be affected by the drop in the $ as their bread and butter customer stop buying you might see some drastic sales happening

A lot of smaller vendors who are probably working on very small margins (not in position to bring containers full of telescopes and bulk accessory orders in without a customer order in hand) will likely call it a day and pack it in , pretty hard to remain profitable if you have long lead times on orders from overseas and the exchange rate is going downhill so fast.

The only ones who will benefit will be big dealers who can sit pat or absorb (if they choose to) some of the increased wholesale costs. This will not be good for amateur astronomy here in Oz.

centroid (Dave) · #19 30-10-2008, 04:30 PM

I'm 'holding off' until the pound is stronger against the $ US.

Not so long ago we were at just over $2 US to the pound, now its just 1.6.

The Aussie $ is good for us, as we are getting around $2.5 Au to the pound, which as I'm over here in WA for few week, is good.

Dave

TrevorW · #20 30-10-2008, 05:07 PM

I think it was the Keating Govt that revalued the AUD$ prior to that it held parity with the US$.

Unfortunately the world needs to stop using the biggest economy/ biggest debt ridden country in the world as a benchmark.

My understanding of economics is that an a decline in the value of AUD$ has a two fold affect on our economy

1. Foreign investors are more likely to invest more in Australia because it's cheaper to do so and they can buy more of our raw products at lower prices, which has a flow on effect of increasing production which means stablising employment.

2. prices go up as the value of the Aust $ declines people locally stop buying and start saving thereby reducing inflation and reduce national debt as we import less.

Although the slump in the American market sees those same investors reducing investment and this has a flow on affect of slowing the American market which also sees a reduction in imports that cause countries like China to slow purchasing raw material as production slows etc etc etc.

Cheers