Thread: WILDLY varying locker prices

Originally Posted by cookiesa

Actually you miss the point, you could stand there and WATCH the parts being machined right before your very eyes, but of course that would mean you might need to come back and post a retraction or apology, wont happen will it?

But of course your "reseller" knows best.

NO
Actually YOU miss the point!!!!!
I said that I could watch the parts being made here,and we all know that things are made here.But as we all know,a lot of companies have offshore companies also make parts "to their specifications".Ohhh yeah I guess it must have just been the boxes that were made O/S.

Originally Posted by rick130

The only way any western country can compete these days and into the future is to pursue niche avenues in small high tech or obscure areas with small markets.
I'm guessing you've do something like this, the rest of us will be working in rural, mining or service industries into the future.

I know we have gone off subject in this discussion but what the hell. Rick I struggle with this arguement that all western nations will only survive by 'pursueing niche avenues in small high tech' fields in the future.

That is fine for the highly educated and driven minority. What happens to everyone else who make up the vast majority of the populace, I think they are usualy referred to as the 'workers'.
I have been listening to Governments saying for decades that everyone has to get a better education and the future is service industries not manufacturing or industry.

What garbage, for an economy to thrive and be sustainable it has to be broadbased which includes all the 'old manual' style jobs that someone has to do not just focussed on high tech and niche industries otherwise when those industries fall out of favour or someone else does it cheaper then the country goes broke. That is exactly the same thing that happened when Australia survived economically in the 60's off of the back of a sheep. The focus was to narrow and when people stopped buying wool and Lamb Australia went broke.

One of the main differences between Australia and most of the first world is we are extremely resource rich, the likes off just about every European nation other then Russia have to import their raw materials we don't. That is the same for most of Asia.
If the BHP's and the like that own and mine our resources decided to value add to a decent percentage of their primary produce here then they would have a possible market advantage over most other international foriegn companies and we would have an even bigger national economic advantage over many other countries and our economy would be more broadbased.

I know this might be a very simplistic approach to the way the world goes around but possibly no more then the decades old arguement that every Australian in the future has to work in the service industry or high tech industries to have a future.

I'm just putting forward an arguement that is some what outside the square for this present time.

Now I wonder how cheap I can buy a ARB locker OS as I have now come to the conclusion after reading the many comments on here that all ARB stores in Australia are just terrible rip off's. Maybe all the ARB employees should wake up to themselves and go and get a job in a high tech industry rather than working in a manufacturing business that has no future.

And last but not least Lowranger there is an old saying that springs to mind after listening to many of your comments where you put 'hear say' above others actual experiences and that is 'be careful of what you wish for' otherwise if enough people decide not to buy Australian made ARB products because ARB really are just telling lies and it is actually made in China then everyone in the future will be buying Chinese made knock off's because storys like that hurt the original business.

cheers,
Terry

Originally Posted by TerryO

And last but not least Lowranger there is an old saying that springs to mind after listening to many of your comments where you put 'hear say' above others actual experiences and that is 'be careful of what you wish for' otherwise if enough people decide not to buy Australian made ARB products because ARB really are just telling lies and it is actually made in China then everyone in the future will be buying Chinese made knock off's because storys like that hurt the original business.

cheers,
Terry

Terry
I never actually made "MANY" comments.I made a comment regarding parts of one product,not the actual whole product.And as I stated earlier,and it isn't hearsay,I actually own some of the other product made by the same company.And this whole buy Australian thing is a mute point on this forum,as the last time I looked under the bonnet of my truck,it says that it was made in the U.K. And now has parts in it from all points of the globe.But hey,that was my choice,I was free to make my choice and I did.

Originally Posted by TerryO

I know we have gone off subject in this discussion but what the hell. Rick I struggle with this arguement that all western nations will only survive by 'pursueing niche avenues in small high tech' fields in the future.
<snip>
If the BHP's and the like that own and mine our resources decided to value add to a decent percentage of their primary produce here then they would have a possible market advantage over most other international foriegn companies and we would have an even bigger national economic advantage over many other countries and our economy would be more broadbased.
<snip>

Terry I don't know if you have noticed but BHP is now BHP Biliton a Global company and so a significant proportion of it's profits go to non-Australian shareholders. This is no different to other mineral exporting companies.

The only way multi-nationals will consider value adding in Australia is if the tax and employment costs make Australia cheaper than other countries that have no superannuation guarantee, national health and welfare systems and employee expectations for wages and working conditions. Why would you value add in Australia with our work-cover and EPA requirement costs, when you can pollute, injure and maim somewhere else at very little cost.

Really my main point in much of this discussion before it got side tracked was that it is incorrect and I think wrong to say that Australian Companys are a rip off just because you can buy the same part cheaper OS.

I was hoping someone would make the comments you have Lots-A-Landies and yes I believe your correct, why would any company value add here in Australia when as you state there are so many add on costs and Government hoops to jump through that aren't present or required in most countries around the world. Again that brings me back to the point that it does cost more to do business in Australia because of a whole raft of reasons that aren't always obvious so why do people keep saying Australian businesses are rip off's?

I have not said people can't choose to buy OS or they should just buy Australian, everyone should and does have a choice and that is the way it should be. I know I buy stuff from OS's directly when it suits but I don't go aorund bagging out the local supplier because they don't sell the same gear cheaper here.

I also know that if enough of us keep buying everything we can OS and cutting out the various Australian distributors then one day there will be no Australian distributor and lots of Australian's will lose their jobs becuase of the knock on effect both directly and indirectly.



cheers,
Terry

I work for the largest steel producer in Oz but the amount we make is only miniscule to the amount of raw ore that is exported. We can only afford to mark up our slab/ coil price in Oz by a small percentage to balance against the cost of a competitors freight and even that pricing goes out the window when the chinese decide to dump.We are one of the top ten cheapest plants in the world to take ore to the slab stage so the fallicy about western manufacturing being to expensive gets blown away.
We should from an enviro point of view force the miners to refine some of their ore here as we have first world emission standards compared to china where they had to use computer generated graphics to show the full Olympic fireworks display as their steel mills put out so much polution.
As to locker pricing compare say a winch warn 9500- $1600 in Oz and about $1300 in the U.S so about a 20% difference as compared to arb about $1250 in Oz to $850 in the U.S or a 30%+ mark DOWN from place of manufacture to point of sale.

And there are ads in the August Land Rover Owners International for 9000 lb T Max winches for 293 pounds, up to 393 pounds for 12,500 lbs.
Britpart winches are advertised for from 295 pounds for 9000 lb up to 442 pounds for 12,000 lb.
Obviously there are lots of issues involved in this including the cost of doing business, wages, size of market, strength of the local economy, if your sales are just domestic or you also export, if your business is big enough to offer price leaders to attract customers etc etc. Its not easy running a business. I know because the field I'm in is suffering because our market is international and the high $ is making it tough to compete with America.
Bottom line is companies try to price to the prevailing level in each market, but modern communications are making consumers much more savvy.
For another example, American editions of books are cheaper than the British editions, but people get around that by buying directly from America.
Internationalization helped multinationals for a while, but it can also help consumers.

Originally Posted by TerryO

[snip]

I was hoping someone would make the comments you have Lots-A-Landies and yes I believe your correct, why would any company value add here in Australia when as you state there are so many add on costs and Government hoops to jump through that aren't present or required in most countries around the world. Again that brings me back to the point that it does cost more to do business in Australia because of a whole raft of reasons that aren't always obvious so why do people keep saying Australian businesses are rip off's?

[snip]
cheers,
Terry

I did mention the lack of costs/controls in developing nations way back, but your comment on the cost and hardship of doing business in Australia does need to be challenged.

What countries are you comparing Oz to Terry when you say "....aren't present or required in most countries around the world" ?

Most all developed countries have lots of 'costs' and rules of compliance, as a society it's something we have demanded of ourselves over the years.
It's the developing nations that have minimal compliance, but their society pays for it in so many different ways.

FWIW, in independent rankings of the 'freedom of doing business' (I'll find the link eventually) Australia usually ranks second, or at least in the top four 'countries' in the world, just behind Hong Kong and alongside the US and New Zealand, believe it or not.

Anyway, you're all lucky I deleted a diatribe I wrote last night.

It was a condemnation of our current economic model based on unfettered growth under the capitalist system raping finite resources from the earth and how it will all collapse eventually unless we change our thinking