Buying Suspension Online - USA

[mikinoz]

Until you work in sales, you really don't understand the difference between supporting local and shopping overseas. Manufacturers are not obliged to offer global support.

The primary warranty is based on the legislation of the state/country of sale and then any further warranty that the manufacturer offers. That may have limitations of locations that are supported.

That being said, I will work with my customer if they are looking to buy overseas and try to make some middle ground.

There are so many factors that you all have missed (like hedging on the dollar and holding stock) which all lead to the prices that items are offered in Australia.

[Manaz]

There are so many factors that you all have missed (like hedging on the dollar and holding stock) which all lead to the prices that items are offered in Australia.

I don't doubt that there are reasons for some of the price premium we pay locally - we're a small, geographically distant market to places like Europe and the USA. There are also running cost differences between bricks & mortar businesses vs online businesses, I'm sure.

But to take Bilsteins as an example (because I'm intimately familiar with the pricing), I think it's unreasonable that an online retail store in the US can sell PSS9s (with full warranty support in the US) for less than USD$1500, yet one importer/wholesaler of them here in Australia won't sell them retail (or let them be sold) for less than AUD$3000 (and they wanted over $400 more for them when I first enquired). I realise that there were times when the Australian dollar was worth barely more than USD$0.60, but that's not the case now, and hasn't been for some time.

Whilst I understand that stock may have been purchased when exchange rates weren't so favourable, the choice they have now is sell them at a reasonable price and make some money back on their investment, or have them sit on shelves indefinitely and cost them storage money whilst not bringing in any ROI (which is what's happening - my PSS9s are coming through other channels which still give me a level of local support, and the wholesaler in question is sitting on a cost without making any money back on it).

[Gravey]

I think the exchange rate argument & holding stock is a moot point, at least with the pricing I have received so far - ETA was 6 weeks, shipped from Germany, so the stock hadnt been purchased by the AU distributor.
I wonder if retailers purchase in AUD or a foreign currency? If it is AUD then obviously the wholesale price wont change for them, the supplier will wear the cost or reap the benefits of any change in currency. If the distributor buys using foreign currency then they should have more flexibility to adjust prices when the AUD is good.

As far as hedging goes - isnt this supposed to protect from fluctuations in currency as well as trying to profit from them? Why would it contribute to higher costs for a distributor unless they were getting it wrong?

Duty appears to be dropping in 2010 to 5%, so the distributors and wholesalers better get their act together and sort something out otherwise more and more sales will be passing them by.

[Manaz]

I think the exchange rate argument & holding stock is a moot point, at least with the pricing I have received so far - ETA was 6 weeks, shipped from Germany, so the stock hadnt been purchased by the AU distributor.
I wonder if retailers purchase in AUD or a foreign currency? If it is AUD then obviously the wholesale price wont change for them, the supplier will wear the cost or reap the benefits of any change in currency. If the distributor buys using foreign currency then they should have more flexibility to adjust prices when the AUD is good.

As far as hedging goes - isnt this supposed to protect from fluctuations in currency as well as trying to profit from them? Why would it contribute to higher costs for a distributor unless they were getting it wrong?

Duty appears to be dropping in 2010 to 5%, so the distributors and wholesalers better get their act together and sort something out otherwise more and more sales will be passing them by.

In general, importers purchase in the currency of the source, so the dollar variations to have an effect. And to be fair to the Bilstein importer I dealt with, they were selling stock they already had in place, so they did have some conversion/stocking issues to deal with, though I can't see how they added up to what they were charging.

I'd lay money that the reduction in duty means sweet bugger all to local prices.

[Gravey]

In general, importers purchase in the currency of the source, so the dollar variations to have an effect. And to be fair to the Bilstein importer I dealt with, they were selling stock they already had in place, so they did have some conversion/stocking issues to deal with, though I can't see how they added up to what they were charging.

I'd lay money that the reduction in duty means sweet bugger all to local prices.

If that is the case, and with retail prices not shifting at all in the last 12 months, retailers only have themselves to blame for losing business IMHO. Obviously they are all getting more than enough business, to not do anything about the competition.

When it is clear that cost reduction isnt being passed on to the customer, it really makes you not want to support that market. If they arent prepared to look after the customer, why should we look after them?