Why do we Aussies pay so much? Tyre Down - Kya Racing

[Mattjin]

From the other side.

At work we have problems with price difference between local and US. A product is shipped to the US where our office there sells at retail, minus GST, so 10% less. The thing is the US shops will then advterise at this price with free shipping back to Oz so we look like we are ripping off the local market. The free trade where you dont pay GST on imports from certain countries is what causes some of this problem.

Yes there are market differences too. What if an aussie manufacturer has something that sells for lets say $100 here but only sells 5 units per year, yet the US market wants 5000 per year. If you were a US distributor would you not be arguing your point for a massive discount? They might say they want to pay $60 or you can shove it! So what does the manufacturer do. He takes the offer or faces closing down, and then raises the local price to $150 to cover the loss on his exports. You would do the same wouldn't you?

The unfortunate situation we are in is that our market is incredibly small. For the most part it is insignificant to most manufacturers. I read an interview with one of the Audi bosses here in Oz and when asked why the cars are double the price of what they are in the US he said it was because we were willing to pay double! Why drop the price when people are still buying. How do you answer that, other than not buy an Audi even if it is what some people might want to buy. Obviously there are enough people who are willing to pay double, for this business model to still be working.

So back to the OP, if you want to get one cheaper find ALOT of people who want to buy it and then hit the company up. Find 5 and they will laugh, but find 50 and you might get their attention.

[Nelso]

Or keep buying from the US and the Australian distributors will get the message that they need to drop the price here to match. Yes it works both ways. They can not say prices are higher here because people are willing to pay it and then complain that you go overseas to avoid the inflated price. The only winner at the moment are the transport companies and postal services.

[dickfaber]

to add to the confusion, i was looking at getting a replacement fairing (from a drop 2 years ago, not too bad but in enough coin now to get a replacement)

fairing made in thailand (as is my er6)

fairing from local dealer $700
fairing from us dealer $400 + 300 freight
fairing from thai factory - $150 + $550 freight

hmm, i think i see a pattern here - effing freight companies!

[Sparks_333]

A product is shipped to the US where our office there sells at retail, minus GST, so 10% less. The thing is the US shops will then advterise at this price with free shipping back to Oz so we look like we are ripping off the local market. The free trade where you dont pay GST on imports from certain countries is what causes some of this problem.

If the same product was being sold through a US vendor I would agree with you completely, however this is direct from the guys who designed and made the product here in Aus. They are the ones stipulating the international price for direct-to-public sales, not a secondary vendor. That is my problem with it - Australian customers should get the same direct-to-public price as US customers.

fairing from local dealer $700
fairing from us dealer $400 + 300 freight
fairing from thai factory - $150 + $550 freight

hmm, i think i see a pattern here - effing freight companies!

Stealerships are a complete and utter rort, they charge almost double what Kawasaki charges, and that still is heavily inflated for our market.

I have bought OEM parts from Karl's Ebay store "kawasaki-ksr110com" loads of times. Great prices, fair shipping and a really good bloke. He sources his parts from the factory in Thailand and I can vouch for their genuinity. Go to http://stores.ebay.com.au/kawasaki-ksr110com?_rdc=1, send Karl an email with the parts you need and he'll fix you up with a quote.

Alternatively I have also used PartShark (http://www.partshark.com/), a touch dearer than Karl but again good prices and genuine quality. The shipping is only fair if you order a few hunder dollars worth of parts but if you're getting fairings that shouldn't be a problem.

[webcase]

I bought stuff from kawasaki-ksr110com and they were well priced.One bug bear was ,as usual,shipping.I bought a bunch of stuff and since i was buying a few things asked politely via email if he could bundle it together and save a bit on shipping costs.Point blank refused but sent it all in one package anyways .Oh well.

[Sparks_333]

That's no good you had a bad run with him. He's always been happy to bundle stuff together for me, though I've asked in advance and he's put up a special listing.