HOOKLINEnSINKER, do me a favour and pm me that info too please...cheers baldy
HOOKLINEnSINKER, do me a favour and pm me that info too please...cheers baldy
I'll add my 2 bobs worth to this by describing my latest purchase. I am one of the biggest tight-arses around when it comes to buying items of substantial cost, I'll shop around for weeks to find my best price and JB (and now Heath) can vouch for that. I was in the market for a VHF radio and after some shopping around discovered the cheapest I could get a VHF from an Australian retailer was $199 for a Uniden on special at Whitworths, however the Uniden is bottom of the range and not water proof. So I turned my attentions to a US site and discovered that, for $142US + $38US, I could have myself an Icom IC-402S. This unit retails here for $544.50 or $419 'on special'. Exchange rates at the time put my costing for the Icom at $246AU saving me $173 which, for those who like %-off discounts, is around 41% off what I would of paid here; AND, from what I understand, is a far superiour unit to the Uniden for an extra $47.
Now here comes the impressive part, I ordered the radio late Wednesday night, order was confirmed early hours Thursday morning and the radio arrived at my door Monday afternoon. Needless to say I'm a happy overseas shopper
DC
Just for the sceptics we are not dodging this post due to Heath's information.What we are doing is gathering information from various state and Commonwealth government sources to give a difinitive end to this string from us.
We stand by the fact all of the information we have provided here is correct and not rumor.
The fact there are so many out there that have very quickly targeted us to defame us was something we allready knew would happen and were prepared for,such is the nature of this industry.
For those that use our services and are happy with it (see tackle chat also) we thank you for your support through this site.
Sundown Marine.
Sundown Marine.
Cnr Anzac Ave and Regency street
Redcliffe QLD 4020
(07) 32033007
Sundown, I hope through my post I wasn't seen as targeting you. I was simply stating my recent experience. I am glad you have jumped on the Ausfish bandwagon and are supporting the site (you'd be mad not to given the potential customer base) and if I was nearer to you I have no doubts you would be recieving my business at one time or another.
Cheers,
DC
Sundown Marine,
These chat sites have for a long time needed some big players such as yourselves to be involved. It's all healthy debate ( sometimes heated
It's great that you guys are doing that bit extra for your customers.
Just one more problem too consider...and it can happen also with mail order within oz also...
I purchased items from the states..saved big bucks...when the first item was sent airmail.. I was issued with a tracking number from USPS, the item never arrived.
USPS can only track (in my case anyway) the item till it leaves the United States then it is on its own. It was stolen or lost after that...(not pointing my finger at anyone in Australia)
I was lucky as the Seller paid insurance for me, and the item was resent again...this time it arrived.
But was a big hassel as had to wait for USPS to investigate where it had dissappeared.
I have bought several big ticket item since then ....and have had no problems at all.
Cheers,
Tony
When you get a tracking number via USPS, you can track it once it enters australia via Australia posts website.
Have done it several times.
I stand by my original post, which has had no response.
It was not an attack on you Sundown Marine, but an expression of frustration from an ordinary Aussie bloke. I guess when you read back thru most of the posts we're all talking marine electronic's, not hooks, sinkers, some general fishing gear or even boats for that matter. Aussie businesses still have to make a dollar too, I know.
But the dollars we're talking are not small to the average bloke, so when it comes to electronics why is there such a huge price difference and am I wrong in reading into your responses, that you seem to be offended by some Ausfish members who have bought from os or challenged the aussie prices for these products.
Someone is making bucks from us, be it the distributer, the Gov or the companies themselves, but we are in a global economy now and if I can legally buy the same product for 40 or more % less, why wouldn't I?
Its great that you guys have come onboard (excuse the pun) to support this fantastic site, and I wish more dealers would join you .... who knows this could be a start of a new marketing strategy for the marine industry and you guys are at the forfront. Rest assured guys, where your compeditive, price or service wise, you'll get our support too.
Cheers,
Tony
Light travels faster than sound, that's why some people seem Bright ...... untill they speak
Well to my delight my garmin 178C arrived today. it was sent on the 22nd of nov. it took 8days and cost me $731 aussie bucks.now thats what i call a great service and an unreal saving. to top that off NO GST or anyother costs. dont know about a c-tick but i give it a big tick
daniel
Skippa,
The problem is not being offended by those who buy OS in any way, shape or form.
We say again if you can save money and get what you need from the States and it can be done legally and with no problem then do it.
Trouble is we can compete on most things as there are things we can do here that are simply impossible from far away,such as service and after sales service.
What frustrates us is when we see an imported unit come to us because it has failed and we cannot help that customer.
We had a gent in yesterday who is a regular here (Ausfish)who purchased some Furuno product,he got his Ausfish discount and then went on to say it is just not worth the effort to get it from the states,he went on to mention his job revolves around importing product and he still won't do it because he knows of the hastles involved if things go wrong.
So at the end of the day the trouble is the consiquences of the initial purchase that we then see after the fact .Customers that had no idea of the costs imparted when having to fix such a unit then have a crack at us because we can't help them......that is frustrating.
On the margin thing.
Rest assured if there was that much margin for the industry here in marine electronics you would see the prices drop to U.S. levels at super competitive events where there is many retailers in the same place such as boat shows and this just does not happen because we simply can't sell product at below what we pay for it.
Thankyou for your comments.
Sundown Marine.
Sundown Marine.
Cnr Anzac Ave and Regency street
Redcliffe QLD 4020
(07) 32033007
Originally Posted by Heath
When you get a tracking number via USPS, you can track it once it enters australia via Australia posts website.
Have done it several times.
Heath,
That is great..it has been about 18 months now since I bought my gear OS.....to track a postal item from the US to the front door will save on anxiety and sleepless nights.Hope AP did not have it back then, cause it was a lot of worry.
Thanks for that info,
Tony
Been well over 3 years
Sundown Marine,
You have hit the nail on the head. A lot of people simply do not realise that some Australian distributers will not warrant a unit purchased OS. Some manufacturers have gone as far as not even repairing a unit bought from OS. Now that I class as down right rude. Where should it matter where the unit was purchased, if I am footing the cost of repair? Anyway thats a different story. Back to warranty.
My mate had a Garmin fish finder that he bought locally with a crook transducer. Took him over a month to get a new one. My Lowrance unit I bought from the USA had a transducer go faulty as well. I simply emailed the Lowrance USA help department, they emailed back a few things to try, which I tried & I even tried the transducer on a mates boat to make sure it was the issue. From the time I notified Lowrance USA that I had proved the transducer to be the issue, to the time I receieved a new transducer on my door step was 5 days. Sent email on Monday night & had a new transducer on my door step on Friday morning. Now this was dealing direct with Lowrance USA. When overseas companies are providing service like that, it raises the stakes immensly for the Australian suppliers.
I honestly beleieve retailers such as yourselves are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to this, for you can not simply even buy the units at wholesale cost for less than we get them from the USA. Just have a look in this thread as too how many people asked for a PM to where to buy these units OS.
I can see Australian distributers suffering from this global economy. Some say it is their own fault, profiterring from us working class Aussies. But us working class Aussies, are getting just that little bit smarter.
Welcome aboard Sundown Marine. If you really want to hear what the consumer thinks this is the right spot.
Interesting post and I look forward to your response from your research to gather some more facts.
Customers are funny creatures, I went to a local shop to buy a $3000 sounder, well they were a little busy behind the counter talking to each other, after 10 minutes of checking the sounder on display I left. I purchased it direct from the states for $2000 all up.
I also contacted another Brisbane retailer who was advertising good prices on Lowrance products via a monthly fishing magazine. The prices were pretty good, too good. Being a bit sus I called Lowrance direct and was advised the model on sound was superseded. If it failed they would not repair it, only offer an upgrade to the next model at an additional cost. Not 100% on the name of the company but I am sure if provoked it will come back to me.
Good luck with the all boys here, they really are a friendly mob, but very passionate
Al
Guys, I think you are being a little tough on Sundown Marine and the Aussie retailers. You would have to expect these dealers to have a higher price than a mail order outfit.
The Oz dealers are generally well informed in respect of the products they sell and they carry the stock, paid for from the proceeds from previous sales. They also carry all the brochures, they sometimes have repair facilities and they have a premisis where you can check out the gear and do the comparisons, etc. You can't touch and feel over the net and you certainly can't make a judgement on the honesty and integrety of the man in the USofA who is able to offer the discounted goodies. How pissed off would Sundown be if HookLinenSinker did all his research in their shop then bought o'seas followed by severly bagging Sundown? I'll bet this happens every day.
Lets face it, there are very few people who go into the Oz instrument dealer, fork out $1,000 on a widget without having obtained a few prices.
I WANT Sundown and the Oz dealers to make a profit. I want them to compete like hell between themselves so that the Oz punters get the best price. I WANT them to make a profic because I want them to survive, because I love going to marine shops. Don't be afraid to screw them down: they know the extent of their bottom line price. As a matter of interest, Sundown Marine are very competitive with their prices on rods & reels, so my guess is that they are not over-the-top with prices of their electronics.
My view, anyway
Neil
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