Why are Aussies getting a raw deal on pricing?

[gareth_oau]

ozram, I'm never happy paying too much, but I'm not willing to go and work for APR locally, at the minimum US wage of say $7/hour, (oh and the 1 week annual leave etc etc) just so we can compete with US pricing.

Its a fact of Australian life that you cant have your cake and eat it

[noone]

If you walk into a store to buy some new $250 nikes, can often be sourced for < $100 landed from OS.

I am "guilty" of not supporting our local suppliers, buying from the cheapest source, etc.

I have an APR tune, but don't particularly rate it better or worse than other tunes. What I do rate is people like Guy who get involved in forums like this, supporting the scene and answering questions that yield no profit. Without participation from reputable people and companies, this forum would not be half as informative as it could be.

If you would like to know more, feel free to read up on the dyno day that Guy is organising for Polo 9n3's, to compare tunes, mods, etc. I don't see how this would be profitable for APR or Guy, but he is supporting his brand, interested in the outcome and answering a question many of us had.

[Transporter]

Its a fact of Australian life that you cant have your cake and eat it

Of course you can, but that's not good enough anymore. Some people always want to eat just the cherries of those cakes.

[brimway]

When I bought an RNS510, I had the choice of local or Lithuania/UK/Ireland. I chose local and bought it from HP. I know I paid more but if there is a problem, I know that Guy supports what he sells, not so confident with an overseas deal.

[cktsi]

That's ridiculous!
I'd rather do nothing, than pulling the ECU from your car, bench tune it for just $300, pay taxes from it and sometimes even put up with the whinge, that it's not what you expected! Do they offer returning it back to stock for free as well, if the customer is not happy?
Not meant to be personal, just used "you" as an example.

I hope that people who drive the industry to such deals, will get at the end what they deserve!

I did qualify by saying that it's not an apples for apples comparison and that the local support was sweetening the deal by offering all the options as a package. I do recognise that the locals have all these additional charges & was trying to say that they are trying to do something right by the customer by putting everything into a competitively priced package.

btw, I'm the first person to acknowledge that APR prices have come down a long way. The Stage 1 tune for the 1.4 twincharger used to be around $2k with NO options. Since the USD fall it's $1395 with the works, so the locals are trying to provide value. I'm the first to acknowledge that and good on them for doing so!

Didn't want people to focus on my first sentence about the price discrepancy as my main point is the locals are trying to do something about it.

btw Guy, thanks for shedding light on the business costs. I suppose that's what this thread is all about - trying to understand the differences.

[clicht]

If you walk into a store to buy some new $250 nikes, can often be sourced for < $100 landed from OS.

I am "guilty" of not supporting our local suppliers, buying from the cheapest source, etc.

I have an APR tune, but don't particularly rate it better or worse than other tunes. What I do rate is people like Guy who get involved in forums like this, supporting the scene and answering questions that yield no profit. Without participation from reputable people and companies, this forum would not be half as informative as it could be.

If you would like to know more, feel free to read up on the dyno day that Guy is organising for Polo 9n3's, to compare tunes, mods, etc. I don't see how this would be profitable for APR or Guy, but he is supporting his brand, interested in the outcome and answering a question many of us had.

well said !
Guy has on many occasions answered my questions and indeed supported this forum.

[DreamensioN]

Just buy it in the US and get it sent to a forwarding service.

[cktsi]

well said !
Guy has on many occasions answered my questions and indeed supported this forum.

+ 1 from me

[Ozram]

USD (on Sale) $269

Freight $90

Customs clearance, charges etc (not including GST) $132. (yes a business has to pay these)

landed cost = $491.

Aussie price:

$472.50 including GST (yes, ours is on sale at the moment too if you care to read the website) - if you subtract GST (as you are avoiding GST by not purchasing it locally), ours is $425.

Is that $132 of charges per unit? That you pay?

I did read the website, unfortunately it still had the $525 price on the relevant page, whereas the APR agent in the US had the information about the reduction clearly marked on the CAI page.

What do you charge for freight to outer Sydney for something this size?

[XQUIZT]

Here's my experience,... Few months back I was sourcing VWR springs for my GTI.
VWR is only sold through APR in Australia and i was quoted $600 incl GST (excl freight). My cuz in the US sourced the EXACT same set USD$270 + USD$120 delivered to my front door.
With the recent exchange rate in our favour the price difference was too big to pass up,.

[Guy_H]

Is that $132 of charges per unit? That you pay?

I did read the website, unfortunately it still had the $525 price on the relevant page, whereas the APR agent in the US had the information about the reduction clearly marked on the CAI page.

What do you charge for freight to outer Sydney for something this size?

Yes, UPS standard charge (you can call them - I suggest you do) - no need for a freight charge to outer Sydney - you can pick it up from any one of our 6 dealers in the Sydney area - call the closest one to you is my suggestion.

Here's my experience,... Few months back I was sourcing VWR springs for my GTI.
VWR is only sold through APR in Australia and i was quoted $600 incl GST (excl freight). My cuz in the US sourced the EXACT same set USD$270 + USD$120 delivered to my front door.
With the recent exchange rate in our favour the price difference was too big to pass up,.

I hope you are enjoying your springs & don't have any issues with them.

[Ozram]

Look what arrived this morning.



I eventually decided on this instead of the carbonio. Left the US on Friday, amazing speed really.
Cost was very reasonable too.

[Spaceman]

There is a lot to be said for keeping money local and the long term benefits of doing this are significant for the community. It's unfortunate, that for many however, a short term focus on price point becomes the determining factor.

[Lucas_R]

^ i do support local businesses when i can and when the price difference is reasonable. For example, i could buy a pair of shoes here in Australia for $150, but from the USA for $130 - in this case i would suck up the difference and buy locally.

In fact, i did this just last month with a dump pipe i purchased for my car. I could have saved myself some money by buying it directly from the manufacturer in the USA and shipping via family in the USA, but instead, i chose to purchase it locally, pay a little extra and support the Aussie business.

In the case of my lowering springs i also purchased recently, i got them delivered direct from Germany for $280 whereas the local H&R spring dealer wanted $560 for the springs and then $30 for a local courier to deliver them to me. Im sorry, but you'd would have to be an idiot to pay twice the price for the exact same thing.

It's all relative, im happy to support a local business IF they keep their prices reasonable, otherwise ill spend my hard earned money more wisely and go direct.

[Ozram]

Agree 100% Lucas.

I *will* support local business that is having a "fair dinkum" go at growing their business through good service and good pricing. I recently bought a brand new RNS510 locally for $75 more than I could have sourced it overseas. The retailer is competitively priced and has shown great service. He even replied to my initial enquiry at 10PM!

Another person that springs to mind is Greg Roles. He continually offers assistance and his prices are reasonable.

I started this thread and there have been many fors and againsts. I am trying to understand comments from all sides, I really am. However, why do some stage 1 software tunes cost three times as much in Australia as they does in the US? Surely the freight and customs costs are not close to A$900?