Thread: Table saw advice - which Jet to buy

Well I just bit the bullet and ordered a Jet JPS10S with the 54" Rails. It should be arriving later this week and I'll postthe forum on the installation progress so other novices can learn from my "mistakes".

I also ordered a JET JJ6CS 6" Leveller. For what I want to do 6" is fine.
Oh and a dust extraction system... of course.

The staff at Trend Timbers in Sydney were very helpful and did a good price.All handled with a half dozen phone calls.

My main interest is in joining and lots of "angles" so I ordered an Incra MITRE 1000/H as the reviews on the JET Mitre fence were average to say the least. I ordered it through Amazon as they sell it direct and ship, as well as there rulers & accurate T Square (I just couldn't resist and the price was great!)

Most importantly I ordered a Woodpeckers Table Saw Gauge so I can get it all set up perfectly (I hope) and let you all in on the results. I got that through Professional Woodworking Supplies (the price was a little dearer than I could get it given the high shipping costs from overseas) but I'm happy to pay a little bit more to support an Aussie company.

I'll post here and take some pics of the installation and setup progress.

Originally Posted by charlesetsmith

but I'm happy to pay a little bit more to support an Aussie company.

Why support them when it seems like they aren't supporting you. There doesn't seem to be a good reason for the prices to be considerably higher where the AUD is at parity with the USD.

The problem with prices in Australia I assume is the lack of competition. We are consistently ripped off (apparently) for woodworking products because there is not enough competition (either that or the distributers are ripping off the retailers). Have you noticed how all of the prices in Australia are very close to the sum of the cost of the product from a US seller, plus shipping costs, plus currency conversion? I assume this is because the US sellers are the only real competition so this is the only price they need to match/beat (if they do beat it, it is only slightly - this doesn't apply to heavy machinery of course because no matter what, they can charge what they like and it will still beat the shipping costs + duty + GST).

Sorry for the rant but as you can tell this issue frustrates me and I would love to understand the real reason we pay so much in Australia.

Originally Posted by Psych 101

Why support them when it seems like they aren't supporting you. There doesn't seem to be a good reason for the prices to be considerably higher where the AUD is at parity with the USD.

The problem with prices in Australia I assume is the lack of competition. We are consistently ripped off (apparently) for woodworking products because there is not enough competition (either that or the distributers are ripping off the retailers). Have you noticed how all of the prices in Australia are very close to the sum of the cost of the product from a US seller, plus shipping costs, plus currency conversion? I assume this is because the US sellers are the only real competition so this is the only price they need to match/beat (if they do beat it, it is only slightly - this doesn't apply to heavy machinery of course because no matter what, they can charge what they like and it will still beat the shipping costs + duty + GST).

Sorry for the rant but as you can tell this issue frustrates me and I would love to understand the real reason we pay so much in Australia.

Lack of competition yes, also the fact that Australia doesn't manufacture any of this stuff either. As a sales rep, I can objectively look at both sides of the equation... Item + shipping from overseas equals a certain amount for us. The thing is that the Australian distributors/retailers also have to factor in customs duties (as they buy in higher quantities), brokerage fees, overheads (storage of said parts, utilities, staff wages, insurance etc etc).

I see MANY threads on forums, especially when people start to organise a group buy, that people just assume that because they are buying more than one it automatically becomes cheaper. For agruments sake, my flagship product wholesales at $1.85 +gst. That is the price you pay regardless of wether you buy 4 or 300. If you start buying about 500+ every week, then MAYBE I might look at a price reduction.

On that note, look at this scenario (DISCLAIMER - I'm making this up as an example, the figures I'm about to quote are NOT legit and business names are for ease of point making only). Incra wholesales the 1000HD at $120 to Tool King in the USA, who retails it at $155 (they have a HUGE turnover so can sell cheaper), add $60 in freight and insurance and it lands on your door in Australia for $215. Incra may wholesale the 1000HD to PWS in Australia at $105 for order of 25 units+. So we are now up to $2625, add say $350 for freight and another $450ish for customs and brokerage fees. Now we are up to a cost of $137/unit. If I were to be running a small business and have any hope of feeding my family at night, I'd be needing to make at least 30% markup on this if I ran a net-only business (and was assured of a very fast turnaround time), and up to 100% markup if I have a shop front and thought I'd be hanging on to them for a while before they all sold through. This takes the cost of the item to between $180 and $280 depending on the individual retailer's setup of operations. Add local freight to that and it goes up again.

Basically, you can be assured that you will pay more for an item through a local retailer than you could bring it into the country yourself for. What extra you are paying is for the fact that if something goes wrong with it, you have somewhere you can walk into and return it, or pay minimal postage, as opposed to sending it back halfway across the globe. You are also paying for the fact that in most cases you can have it now, and not wait 2 weeks for it to arrive.