Reef Discussion

[suta42]

Yep, god bless the Australia tax. IMO local importers (of all products) here, have had it easy for way too long. This country is also a very expensive place to do business, and everyone sticks their fingers in the pie, adding to the cost.
The internet has helped challenge that business model but many importers and a few retailers still cling to it.

We are now at a tipping point IMO. eg if I buy an expensive skimmer locally, you can rest assured I would expect it fixed in a few days when theres a problem. If the turnaround time is say a month or two, maybe because the local distributor carries few parts, then I will think twice before buying products offered by him again. Instead, I will most likely by the skimmer and a spare pump from Germany at an equivalent cost. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. I know of one major distributor who imports parts only as needed, which is not good enough for high value products. If they expect hobbyists to support them, then we expect outstanding service in return. :rolleyes

 

[The Reefuge]

Yep, god bless the Australia tax. IMO local importers (of all products) here, have had it easy for way too long. This country is also a very expensive place to do business, and everyone sticks their fingers in the pie, adding to the cost.
The internet has helped challenge that business model but many importers and a few retailers still cling to it.

We are now at a tipping point IMO. eg if I buy an expensive skimmer locally, you can rest assured I would expect it fixed in a few days when theres a problem. If the turnaround time is say a month or two, maybe because the local distributor carries few parts, then I will think twice before buying products offered by him again. Instead, I will most likely by the skimmer and a spare pump from Germany at an equivalent cost. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. I know of one major distributor who imports parts only as needed, which is not good enough for high value products. If they expect hobbyists to support them, then we expect outstanding service in return. :rolleyes

Exactly. Since the product remains the exact same for a higher price, the customer service must be a 10/10.

 

[MagicJ]

Unfortunately, regional pricing is a common practice - Apple, Microsoft, Canon, to name just a few, all do it.

They supply to a country based on what they think it can be sold for, rather on a consistent basis across all markets.

Why is it possible for me to buy a Canon camera from Hong Kong for less than the wholesale price in Australia :confused: Or a Tunze pump from Germany?

Luckily, the internet is making the world a smaller place and eventually these pricing anomalies should be phased out.

There may be an argument that Australia is such a small market that the importers are unable to negotiate better pricing - if so, they need to be able to provide something extra to justify the higher prices or they are just leaving the gate open for a grey importer. Maybe falling local sales will make them push a bit harder!!

 

[MTG]

what ive found is most shops are importing the products direct rather then going through the aus wholesalers to keep the costs down

 

[macca_75]

what ive found is most shops are importing the products direct rather then going through the aus wholesalers to keep the costs down

I would be pissed at that. If I walked into a LFS (or purchased from an OLS) I expect to be buying goods with a local warranty, unless it was clearly marked and advertised as a "Grey Import" without local distributor warranty/service.

 

[MTG]

I would be pissed at that. If I walked into a LFS (or purchased from an OLS) I expect to be buying goods with a local warranty, unless it was clearly marked and advertised as a "Grey Import" without local distributor warranty/service.

they still offer local warranty

 

[macca_75]

The shop, not the distributor. Every tried to fix a grey import Vorech under warranty? Serial number track. I thought they even refused to sell spare parts unless you had a valid serial number.

 

[suta42]

Yeah, I once bought a product that was supposed to be covered by the australian distributor but was actually just a parallel import. Long story but I dealt with the overseas manufacturer on my own.:eek

Main thing is transparency. If a shop does a direct import and offers their own local warranty that's fine - so long as they have a full range of spares in stock to honour any warranty failures. If they don't, there's no point in me buying from them. Jm2c

 

[cnidaria_chris]

Where I work, profit margins are generally 10%-15% so it's not *that low*

May I ask what you sell? I spend 20 min to 1 hour selling a $300 product with a profit of at most $60 the - the time I spend $60-$25 -$30(tax) dose not leave a lot left over

 

[Buddy]

Holy crap, I work on a 100% - 200% profit margin where I work. Whats the point of being in business if you are gonna make 20% on something.

 

[Wrangy]

Holy crap, I work on a 100% - 200% profit margin where I work. Whats the point of being in business if you are gonna make 20% on something.

It's the greedy corporations like you that ruin this world!!

 

[cnidaria_chris]

Holy crap, I work on a 100% - 200% profit margin where I work. Whats the point of being in business if you are gonna make 20% on something.

exactly people fail to understand the real costs and think they should get everything for free

 

[suta42]

But 20% margin on a vortech is only one kind of sale???what about livestock?

Even cheap shops put a decent margin on livestock, don't they chris?

 

[cnidaria_chris]

But 20% margin on a vortech is only one kind of sale???what about livestock?

Even cheap shops put a decent margin on livestock, don't they chris?

yes, live stock is another story as there are a lot more costs involved, my mark up Is anywhere between 100% to 300% on live stock. With this mark up im more then competitive with most shops (excluding backyarders)

 

[Wrangy]

yes, live stock is another story as there are a lot more costs involved, my mark up Is anywhere between 100% to 300% on live stock. With this mark up im more then competitive with most shops (excluding backyarders)

Nice to see so much honesty mate :) What store are you Chris??

 

[cnidaria_chris]

PetQuarters mate, its in Newcastle. Just starting to look into shipping to.
Its the cheaper fish that get a higher mark up (usually) the rare / expensive don't get as much as no one would buy them.
make more money of people buying a school of chromus then a mystery wrasse

 

[Wrangy]

PetQuarters mate, its in Newcastle. Just starting to look into shipping to.
Its the cheaper fish that get a higher mark up (usually) the rare / expensive don't get as much as no one would buy them.
make more money of people buying a school of chromus then a mystery wrasse

Awesome :)
Yeah that makes sense to make more on the cheaper fish than the more expensive ones due to the way things work

 

[bimbo]

Sweet, thanks for all that Chris, now I know how much I can screw you down on prices next time I am out there :p

 

[MTG]

ive seen first hand how much stock dies and i understand why shops charge what they do. different story with the mass importers that deal with hardware tho!

 

[CodyS]

Personally, I will go to the cheapest joe when it comes to hardware or drygoods. I understand supporting local business but hey, why would I want to give my money to them for something that I don't need them to stock?

Businesses have to stay with the times, if that means something isn't viable due to competition, so be it it's the name of the game.

If they stock something I can't get anywhere else, then they are in a position to charge me more. If they offer excellent service, then they can charge for it, I might or might not pay for it (Often I wouldn't - I offer cheaper service to myself lol).