Thread: Tools and tool prices on the net-Change is coming.

I remember those encyclopaedia salesman, they said they would increase in value but you can buy those sets for $20 or get them for free now


FWIW, Lie Nielsen Australia says he will match any price on importing the same tool




cheers
chippy

HI Chook
I understand your concern on the current retail market within Au, but there were some calculations missing from your statement.

When you purchase from overseas - caveat emptor. Any issues with the product is yours to rectify. Under Au law - if you purchase the product here - the selling company is responsible for the fit for purpose state of the the product - warranty.

Now in some things an OS purchase won't be an issue, but let's hypothesize:

You pick up a Router plane and couple of extra teeth for the old girl. Pay your $60 for the freight and it arrives damaged. You call the company and explain the issue - "No problems ship it back to us and we will shop another to you" - (wish they all had service like this) So you head down to the local freight depot and find it will now cost you $80 to send back. So now you out of pocket for the extra $$ and the time it has taken to rectify the issue without your Router plane.

Local purchase - you take it to the shop and they give you another one - you go home and use it - so the extra $$ is for piece of mind.
(mind you, that was in this case only - I have seen some instances where it appears the local importer is determined to charge as much as the market can bear regardless of actual COGS!)


This is not to say the actions of the salesperson were anything other than deplorable.

It is fair to say that local bricks and mortar businesses will need to have a good look at the model they are currently using and perhaps remodeling their processes and procedures to accommodate the changing environment.

The floor people need to assist the customer in the purchase - that is their job along with the shop managers and owners.

They are there to sell products - without sales there is no business. Pretty simple equation really.

As for encyclopedia - i have them in my pocket, along with recipe books, how to books, general reference, camera (video and still), calculator, procrastination applications, music players, video players.... oh - and a phone.

Originally Posted by enelef

Pay your $60 for the freight and it arrives damaged. You call the company and explain the issue - "No problems ship it back to us and we will shop another to you" - (wish they all had service like this) So you head down to the local freight depot and find it will now cost you $80 to send back. So now you out of pocket for the extra $$ and the time it has taken to rectify the issue without your Router plane.

Not necessarily. A year or so ago I purchased a 660mm Try Square from Woodpeckers. They sent me the Imperial 26" version. When I notified them of their mistake they sent a metric one over, and did not require me to send the Imperial one back. I sold it here, and so the metric square cost me exactly $0.

Not every dealer will be like that of course.

What you say Chook , is all correct. However, it is not a new situation, it has been going on for years. Your particular example is not too bad. I can give you examples where the local price is more than double the imported cost. I recently bought some router accessories from the USA . I bought extra bits and pieces to help spread the freight costs and the total price was well under half of what the local distributor wanted for just one product.

The choice of buying locally or importing really comes down to how much you value the local warranty and service components of the purchase. I rarely buy electrical goods from OS because the possibility of problems is too high, but handtools etc. where breakdowns are rare, are a different story.

It will be interesting to see if the Government imposes a GST on imported goods .

For $30 difference in price, I would probably just buy local to be honest. OTOH, I recently bought a camera lens from overseas. It cost half as much as the cheapest online price locally. They also have warranty contracts for local warranty service within Australia. That is what will truly stuff local suppliers - when overseas retailers can provide products to Australia for a cheaper price and a warranty that is handled within Australia.

I buy all my double bass parts from a well established db specialist. Top brand db strings $126. online, in Bris. $250- $275 for the same strings. Who you gonna call ?

It is not just woodworking gear that we are paying more for, I suspect it is everything.

I am getting back into photography after a long spell without an SLR, the prices we are forced to pay here are a lot more than in the USA.

I'm not quite 20 and I do always check online for a tool I'm looking for. And it is a PITA that it's often so cheap from overseas. However I don't think I'd buy any machinery/power tools from overseas simply because of the risk and how difficult it would be to send back for repairs.

I'm personally fine with paying a little extra to buy locally but the savings can often be too much to ignore. If prices were dropped slightly locally you'd have to think that people would be willing to pay just that little bit more wouldn't you?

I think a lot of the problem is that local sellers can't compete with the range of goods sold overseas, couple that with pricing and it looks quite bleak. Makes me think tax on imported goods might be a good idea.

Originally Posted by enelef

HI Chook
I understand your concern on the current retail market within Au, but there were some calculations missing from your statement.

When you purchase from overseas - caveat emptor. Any issues with the product is yours to rectify. Under Au law - if you purchase the product here - the selling company is responsible for the fit for purpose state of the the product - warranty.

Now in some things an OS purchase won't be an issue, but let's hypothesize:

You pick up a Router plane and couple of extra teeth for the old girl. Pay your $60 for the freight and it arrives damaged. You call the company and explain the issue - "No problems ship it back to us and we will shop another to you" - (wish they all had service like this) So you head down to the local freight depot and find it will now cost you $80 to send back. So now you out of pocket for the extra $$ and the time it has taken to rectify the issue without your Router plane.

Local purchase - you take it to the shop and they give you another one - you go home and use it - so the extra $$ is for piece of mind.
(mind you, that was in this case only - I have seen some instances where it appears the local importer is determined to charge as much as the market can bear regardless of actual COGS!)


This is not to say the actions of the salesperson were anything other than deplorable.

It is fair to say that local bricks and mortar businesses will need to have a good look at the model they are currently using and perhaps remodeling their processes and procedures to accommodate the changing environment.

The floor people need to assist the customer in the purchase - that is their job along with the shop managers and owners.

They are there to sell products - without sales there is no business. Pretty simple equation really.

As for encyclopedia - i have them in my pocket, along with recipe books, how to books, general reference, camera (video and still), calculator, procrastination applications, music players, video players.... oh - and a phone.

I agree with you that apart from the price advantage there are risks and potential costs as well. This is why I personally seldom purchase on-line. And I have not yet determined if I will pay the extra and purchase the router plane locally. But that is my generation, And can assure you that my children have no such qualms. The next generation of customers will have an entirely different set of purchasing patterns and Australian companies should start now to prepare for this.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Not necessarily. A year or so ago I purchased a 660mm Try Square from Woodpeckers. They sent me the Imperial 26" version. When I notified them of their mistake they sent a metric one over, and did not require me to send the Imperial one back. I sold it here, and so the metric square cost me exactly $0.

Not every dealer will be like that of course.

I have had the same thing happen with musical instrument parts. Upon questioning the OS supplier about making the return, I was advised to sell the incorrect part and pocket the funds! The replacement part arrived within a week along with a hand written apology. All well beyond the call of duty.
Mind you, I am not so naive as to think that all long distance purchases will be met with the same attitude towards customer service. But it is warming to know there are people out there who take their commitment to service very seriously.
Retailers and wholesalers here in Australia, need to be aware of what is going on. The internet is rapidly becoming a viable option for consumers.
The Aussie dollar is no longer dragging the chain which was a hinderance in the past. Yes, there is still a place for the shopfront; Where comparisons need to be made, tests carried out and product information sought. But above all these, good product knowledge and good customer service is vital to ongoing success. The main advantage the local retailer has is the ability to talk face to face with the customer. That should not be squandered.

I think this is more true now that everyone is selling the same unit made in the the same factory.
No longer are we buying locally made items.
If the same item (usually made in asia) in US is 100, why does it need to cost 200 here.
common sense would tell you that shipping to here would be cheaper.
Its usually because we are actually a small market in the world scheme.
A smaller run of manufacture for us the 240 volt rather than 110.
They don't add our 1000 units run onto the back of the US 10,000 unit run.

They all add up to the higher price here.

Several people have mentioned after sales service as a possible reason for shopping locally and I take the point-but only so far. I have bought items locally, including on one occasion from the business I am currently dealing with and the after sales service has been terrible. And there are times when after sales service is hardly an issue. I have purchased a particular type of abrasive from England for less than I can get it in my own city. The downside risk with consumables like this is very small. I would not consider purchasing electrical goods form overseas. But as I say, the upcoming generations will not have these scruples and our Australian companies had better be prepared.

Even with a tax most things will still be better value. I found out about a new sort of guitar string that gives optimum preformance for a combined magnetic pickup / piezo system. None of the local shops wanted to know, only online I'm afraid. The manufacturer of the string is the same one that makes the strings they already stock.

Try buying computer games - and I'm talking about direct download of a game from the distributors servers in the US - and you'll find the 'penalty' for having an Australian IP address is typically 30-50% more than using a US proxy and 'buying in the US', so to speak. There's no packaging, no delivery, no regional customisation just a few bazillion electrons being zapped across the internet, yet we get to pay more.

I think we get stung to pay higher prices simply because we've put up with it so much in the past. We are relatively demand inelastic as we are too used to thinking of ourselves as isolated from the rest of the world.

On a similar vein, has anyone (with out-of-the-country-book-buying-experience) noticed if bookstores in the US or UK follow the Australian book distributors practice of releasing a new title in 'trade paperback' size (you know, that oversize, bookshelf clogging, wrist aching large format) for $30+, and not releasing the regular paperback (at $20+) until the trade paperback has been out for a year?

Is this a book industry practice unique to Australia (and yet another way of gouging us), or have distributors worldwide discovered a new way to extract money from readers?