Sleeping mats - avoid the ripoff

I don't know what the answer is, but it ****es me off.

The end result is that the cost of living is higher in Aus than in other countries. So I need to be paid more than my US colleagues. So the stuff we sell has to cost more than the stuff sold in the US...

If there is a nasty chain of middle men each taking their percentage we should cut them out. Modern shipping and distribution means that it is acceptable to ship directly to the door from a factory. Why should I pay for a local warehouse when the shipping from there will cost almost as much as from overseas?

The local shops thing is a problem. Jackets are a classic example. You either need to try them on first or have a great returns policy. It is a shame that shipping from Aus back to HK costs much more than HK to Aus...

Maybe manufacturers who wish to sell in Aus will maintain their local showrooms and ship from overseas?

Or why not open a store front with a 5 day delivery policy to your door? The experience of a good shop, the ability to see things in the flesh and try the on and the low costs of shopping from overseas?

I recently bought a Spot satellite locator. Aus pricing varied from 250-350 + postage for the device alone. I paid $50 +$15 postage. It probably arrived sooner than if I'd ordered locally.

Whatever the answer is the model must change. Businesses who cannot adapt will close.

Cheers, Steve

many people are still nervous about shopping online .... I'm one ...probably unfounded.

also a lot of people need to touch and feel the goods prior to buying.

i guess while those people are still around the local resellers will get a quernsey.

but the savings are amazing.

meanwhile more and more ppl will be out of jobs as local stores close down due to ppl wanting to save a few quid buying direct instead of supporting local retailers. On one hand we have aussies being proud of being aussie and on the other hand we have ppl here effectively putting other aussies jobs at risk by bypassing all the local retailers.
in the words of a famous aussie arse****
"Shame Shame Shame"
and these ppl are complaining about the crap quality of cheap korean products etc, yet then turn around and complain at having to pay decent money for decent products with decent backup and service.
theres an old saying in retail.
" Three things customers look for in products, Price, Quality, Service. please choose the 2 you want." not gunna get all three. if all we are concerned about is price, then say goodbye to customer service, and also to local jobs through retailers, transport, etc.

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Originally Posted by Rosscoe68

meanwhile more and more ppl will be out of jobs as local stores close down due to ppl wanting to save a few quid buying direct instead of supporting local retailers. On one hand we have aussies being proud of being aussie and on the other hand we have ppl here effectively putting other aussies jobs at risk by bypassing all the local retailers.
in the words of a famous aussie arse****
"Shame Shame Shame"
and these ppl are complaining about the crap quality of cheap korean products etc, yet then turn around and complain at having to pay decent money for decent products with decent backup and service.
theres an old saying in retail.
" Three things customers look for in products, Price, Quality, Service. please choose the 2 you want." not gunna get all three. if all we are concerned about is price, then say goodbye to customer service, and also to local jobs through retailers, transport, etc.

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I think retailers need to have a hard look at their business models if they want to stay in business, because consumers are more informed now than they ever have been. The internet empowers you to research a product and find the best price after just a few clicks at a time that's convenient to me.

Buying off the internet doesn't mean you are having to forgo quality or service - online retailers, the good ones, will still offer phone support and still sell quality product. I've bought Australian made tarps and tents online cheaper than any store based retailer and received excellent support from the retailers.

So I refute what you say and put it back onto the retailers to learn to move with the times and listen to what their customers want.

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Originally Posted by hoadie72

I think retailers need to have a hard look at their business models if they want to stay in business, because consumers are more informed now than they ever have been. The internet empowers you to research a product and find the best price after just a few clicks at a time that's convenient to me.

Buying off the internet doesn't mean you are having to forgo quality or service - online retailers, the good ones, will still offer phone support and still sell quality product. I've bought Australian made tarps and tents online cheaper than any store based retailer and received excellent support from the retailers.

So I refute what you say and put it back onto the retailers to learn to move with the times and listen to what their customers want.

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its simple economics that a 5th grader could work out.
if you have a retail showroom and staff, as opposed to an online warehouse, your overheads are higher, no ifs, no magic business models to look at. its as easy as 1+1.
if you don't have a retail showroom and sell over the internet, and your customers have to wait for 1 or 2 days for your goods, then you arent offering the same service as a retailer with a shopfront that has goods off the rack. thats as simple as 1+1.
I didn't say that online sellers don't offer quality products, and i didn't say they don't offer excellent service. However, excellent phone service from a warehouse in another state, or another country, is no use if you have a faulty product that needs to be sent back at your cost, and at your time waste, as opposed service from your local store, where more as likely they will send on your behalf, or if big enough store will repair or replace on the spot.
so again, i say, choose your 2, service, price or quality ?

My apologies. Your comments about inferior Korean products and about buying direct threw me.

So here's the thing, using tents as an example. Most people have 9-5 jobs so don't have time to get out during the week. So I could place an order online Tuesday night, receive your goods on Thursday. So I call that good service - I've received my goods quicker than if I'd had to wait until Saturday.

Faulty equipment, certainly from the retailers I've bought from, has had the return freight covered by retailer. So maybe I do pay a bit more for that privilege in my purchase price, but as a semi-smart shopper that's a conscious decision I make.

So from my perspective, that's 3 out of 3.

Lets see. If it's cheaper then I'm getting better value for money if it's a consumable item and not likely to require return for warranty claim if it fails and return postage will blow out any cost benefits.

But take my current project of shopping for ARP head/main studs and cometic head gaskets (great quality MLS gaskets). There's two local dealers, Rocket and Fabre. Spent an hour waiting at rocket with smelly bogan types and when I offered a clean, bagged and correctly identified (by thread and length) selection of what I wanted I was greeted with "what's the part number?" Clearly if I had one I wouldn't need to have them with me. "give me what I have as bolts but as studs allowing for x depth of thread hole in block plus y head thickness plus z for the gasket and washer/nut combo as I've filled out in the attached sheet that YOU provide on your website for doing exactly this"

Response: "So you want what?"

At the other end of the spectrum I call Fabre, tell him it's a rover V8, 4.0 or 4.6 and he instantly asks me to wait while he grabs the book, correctly id's it as 44/46d block and in 60 seconds I have price in A$ and availability (on the shelf). Then asks "do I need head gaskets?" If I wasn't sitting at this stage I would have been, recommends the cometics (which they distribute and I wanted anyway) but then says they are over $250- ea retail but go to this website and you'll get them for $150-/pair shipped from the states.

Value isn't just pricing as I purchased the studs for him for more than the first retailer and but even with the saving I got on the gaskets it was dearer than buying from retailer #1. And he'll warrant the gaskets locally if there's any issues as they have a w/wide policy and I'l tell everyone not only who not to go to but who to use instead.

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Originally Posted by Rosscoe68

meanwhile more and more ppl will be out of jobs as local stores close down due to ppl wanting to save a few quid buying direct instead of supporting local retailers. On one hand we have aussies being proud of being aussie and on the other hand we have ppl here effectively putting other aussies jobs at risk by bypassing all the local retailers.
in the words of a famous aussie arse****
"Shame Shame Shame"

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The cat is out of the bag. The internet allows ordering from anywhere. There are a lot of people in Australia making a fortune on importing goods. The price differences are not primarily down to taxes and duties, it is down to poor business structures and gouging.

Do you know that a Porsche 911 is almost three times the price in Australia that it is in the US. Supporting Aussie jobs by paying 300% of the market rate for a product? Are you serious? This isn't protecting Aussie jobs, this is about making a few people massively rich. If they sold at the US price there would be more on the road and hence more people employed to sell them, service them, etc.

Remember the original question is not about buying a cheap product over a quality one. It is about being taken for a fool by the local importers. The product is the same wherever you import it from.

Cheers, Steve

For me it depends on what im buying. If I know the product im buying, I go cheapest, no if's or but's. Money talk for me, sorry but thats the way it goes. However, if I want to find out information about a product, I usually buy the product from the shop who have given me their time and knowledge, that to me is the intangible value that I am willing to pay for (basically on the lines of what Rossco says).

but dont get me wrong, I do not feel sorry for retailers and will not shell out extra dollars simply to 'support' them. Lets turn the tables around a bit, why should one support a retailer who charges loads more when they have no 'ill feeling' about charging me more!

Another example... why on earth would I pay $1200 for a detroit locker here in Oz when I can get it delivered from the states to my door step for say $900? I would not take $300 out of my family's mouths to support the importer by buying it here!

So theres a good arguments on both camps.

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Originally Posted by 300+

The cat is out of the bag. The internet allows ordering from anywhere. There are a lot of people in Australia making a fortune on importing goods. The price differences are not primarily down to taxes and duties, it is down to poor business structures and gouging.

Do you know that a Porsche 911 is almost three times the price in Australia that it is in the US. Supporting Aussie jobs by paying 300% of the market rate for a product? Are you serious? This isn't protecting Aussie jobs, this is about making a few people massively rich. If they sold at the US price there would be more on the road and hence more people employed to sell them, service them, etc.

Remember the original question is not about buying a cheap product over a quality one. It is about being taken for a fool by the local importers. The product is the same wherever you import it from.

Cheers, Steve

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actually, i beg to differ here, with your example in particular. Australia is right hand drive. US is left hand drive. Right hand drive vehicles comprise somewhere in the vecinity of 25% of world sales figures. then take into fact the local adr's and emission standards etc then aussie market vehicles are probably less than 5% of world sales. so we have a special production vehicle different to 95% of the rest of the world. is it really worth Porsche, and or the downward sales tree making a production run of 5% for a set market without making it profitable for them. so no, the product isnt the same everywhere.
Again i say, these guys are in it for one thing, and that's to make money outa us guys that buy. and in what industry or job do any of us have that doesn't involve making money out of other people ?
hypothetical challenge for anyone who owns property here for more than say 10 years to sell there property for the same price they paid for it. and if you wont and want more money now for it than what you paid for it due to the fact that it has increased in value, then is that unreasonable to ask for more or is it price gouging? i don't think so. but then i dont have an issue with honest retailers making money out of day to day business.

and yet i don't see anyone complaining about the fact that on monday i pay $1.24 for fuel and on wednesday it is $1.34. cycling week in and out. that to me is price gouging, and wrong.

also remember that any product sold in australia has to be by law of "merchantable quality" and have passed many regulations ,adrs etc to be allowed sale in aus. an importer is considered in the same class as a manufacturer in that they must offer warranty on products if they aren't distributed in aus by the manufacturers chain. and by law in aus if you import a product for sale you have to provide cover for any warranty issues. so its not only import duties and taxes.