Thread: Bait For Lee Valley

I am about to embark on a regular (sort of) order till I have my fill of stuff, @ $100 per month I've got two year's worth of backorders on my wishlist at the moment!

I am happy just bringing it in slowly in small (GST free sometimes) lots and copping the freight, which is roughly the same as GST anyway!

On heavy items like the clamps, there is a big saving on freight with a bulk order which makes this method unusually attractive, but if we were to do it on a regular basis, SOMEONE would have to be paid to do it.

Don't want to bag any Aussie retailers, but (for a few minutes) I considered ordering the Tucker Vice from Veritas @ $712AUD plus freight and GST. Locally it is available for $1312.00 plus GST!!

Even with small margins, I don't think that represents a fair go, and thats' why I have decided to buy stuff direct. I will probably have spent my next $2k by the time a local distributor is appointed, and will still buy little bits and pieces direct while the service remains exemplory.

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by silentC

In the meantime, I think the idea with the bulk order currently being organised is a good one and maybe it could be a once a quarter thing? If everyone gets their purchases together and has it all shipped on one pallet, it's got to be cheaper than doing it on your own. If it works, maybe there could be another one in 3 or 4 months.

It’s a good idea. I agree that Aussie retailer mark-ups on imported stuff can be a bit hard to swallow.

As midge said, the savings on bulk order freight can be offset by import taxes/charges avoided on smaller orders. For this reason I'd personally stick to a drip-feed of smaller items in small batches shipped via surface mail, but I'd be interested in doing this again for occasional splurges on multiple large items (eg twin-screw vice, more clamps, power tool guide, etc). I'm torturing myself on whether to add the twin-screw vice to my order. Apologies in advance to Daryl if I do!

The $USD/$AUD is also a consideration. I wouldn’t even have begun to think about doing this when it was as bad as 1.70AUD two years ago! The current rate should be stable for the next 12 months given the US' economy's twin trade and budget deficit blowouts and far too many Australians having a job.

I think the most important thing stopping us from doing this more regularly is our significant others! (I'm just updating my tax records, honey, I'll be finished with the computer soon...)

In short, I'm unlikely to participate in this kind of venture again until closer to the end of this year or early next year, especially if I want to stay married

Originally Posted by silentC

I did read here somewhere a mention of a possible distributorship in Australia. The reason for the high prices of Veritas stuff is that no retailers in Australia have distribution rights, so they have to pay retail plus freight and customs and then make a margin. If someone took on a distributorship, the prices should come down.

Doesnt necessarily follow. The us market in consumer durables and FMCG is huge compared to all other markets, albeit the Japanese home market and China are catching up. Its normal for those markets to be cheaper than most as volume, critical mass,logistics etc all play a part in determining the end price. Retailers in Us will also lower prices but improve margins in other ways such as reducing warranty periods,charging for home delivery, added value promos etc which give them the margin mix necessary to achieve bottom line target.
Also, to most manufacturers, dealing with US is probably the most desirable market to be invoved in again due to high volumes and in some cases political benefits and they will always give US their best possible attention. Occasionally the same or similar prices are passed on to other customers by these manufacturers but the importers are then hit by freight charges,insurance, warranty cost, after sales service costs, marketing costs,cost of returns. duty, and of course the cost of running their own business. This usually means that retail prices can be several times higher than factory gate price.
Sorry to go on but the point Im trying to make is that even if a distributor brought then in to Aus its unlikely that he would be able to offer similar prices as the US because his cost price probably wouldnt allow.More often than not with items like this its better to buy them direct from a discounter in US and take your chance with warranty.
beejay1

http://community.webshots.com/user/eunos9

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the only reason this bulk order is happening this time around is mainly due to the good offices of DarrylF.

Will it ever happen again?

Who knows.

Ask Darryl (or maybe Rob )

For myself, I'm not counting on it.

Originally Posted by silentC

Or perhaps our local suppliers' margins have become more 'reasonable' (for them).

From a man that won't get out of bed for $60 an hour?

Originally Posted by BJ

Doesnt necessarily follow.

Hey, I was only mis-quoting Rob Lee. I know as much about this stuff as anyone - next to nothing. At the end of the day, the local supplier will buy the stuff for a price, add freight, customs, expenses and make a profit. If that all means that with 'export pricing' from Lee Valley it ends up being the same as it is now then nothing will change.

Now unless someone has got $61 for me, I'm going back to bed.

Originally Posted by silentC

Now unless someone has got $61 for me, I'm going back to bed.

I think that's the point!!

No one is prepared to work for a supplier in this country and give great customer service for wages commensurate with the prices we want to pay.

Until we all realise that, and replace minimum wages with "you ought to be greatful we kept you out of the rain today", our retailers are going to have to keep charging what to us is outrageous margins, just so they can drive cars like we do, and go to restaurants like we do and generally have a lovely life.

Retailers should be caste as "never to rise above poverty", then we'd all be happy with their prices, at least at bankruptcy sales.

P

No-one was forthcoming with the $61 but I couldn't sleep worrying about this issue, so I'm up again.

Perhaps an illustration based on a recent experience of mine. We have two builders, let's call them builder A and builder B. We actually have lots of builder B's but let's keep it simple. Builder A is a very well respected builder. He quotes $10,000 a square. Builder B is also a respected builder but he quotes $14,000 a square. They both do the same job in the same amount of time, so why is one so much dearer?

Builder A is the kind of person who doen't need lots of money and flashy cars. He is happy if his wife and kids have everything they need and a good amount of the stuff they want. He takes pride in his work and thinks he offers a fair price.

Builder B will charge as much as the market can stand and at the moment, that is a lot.

Builder A thinks B is ripping people off but Builder B just thinks he is being enterprising and making the most of a peak in an easy come easy go business. He probably thinks A is a fool.

Do they still quote in squares? :eek:

A square is 10' x 10' isn't it?

Sorry drifted off topic again

Yes. Something to do with the graduations on their tape measures I think

Silly 'square' is 3 yards square, methinks.

Originally Posted by ndru

I'm torturing myself on whether to add the twin-screw vice to my order. Apologies in advance to Daryl if I do!

Do it - I did. Figured I'll be a long time dead, fcuk it! Also same thought with the large shoulder plane, holdfast, 36" straightege....oh dear.:eek:

Ahh I love a Friday rant!!

Good old builder A. He's the salt of the earth and I only wish other people would take his approach. He not only gets out of bed, but buys all his tools, maintains a car and works two hours for $60.

See my post above... if the guys in the hardware shop would only say, "I'm happy walking to work and earning less" then our prices would go down!!

1) Quoting anything by the "square" or square metre in this day and age is fraught with danger. It can only be used as a guide and can easily be 50% out at the end of the day. Square metre pricing can only be calculated on the basis of the "last job we finished" and as such must be months, sometimes 6 months or a year out of date. When subcontractors or suppliers put up their prices on the current job, it can take two, or even three "generations" of houses for the builder to catch up and by then often the inevitable has happened, and he discovers he's been using the cash flow from the last house to pay for the one before.....crunch time.

On the other hand, the guys who have the seemingly inflated prices, often buy flash new utes, and think they are making a quid, the difference is that when the crunch happens for them, what they thought was profit is actually spent on the price increases they didn't know about as well, and they have a new ute and a bit of debt, but at least they aren't bust.

2) When builder A makes a quoting mistake, as he inevitably will, is it likely that his customer will say "No problems, A, you were the cheapest price and the fairest by far, we'll pay to fix it?" - probably not.

3) I've seen many instances of the same sorts of differences, rarely is the actual end cost reflective of the difference at the start. There just isn't 40% margin in a house, even in stupidly bouyant times.

What happens is that when the Builder A's of the world eventually discover that they can't pay their bills, their customers are faced with long delays, while new builders are appointed, and/or paying more to get the job finished.

I'm not saying don't go with builder A, you'll probably get a great job at a great price. Just hope you are the first one in the sequence though!!

Ever wondered why compulsory house builder's insurance is so expensive (apart from idiot insurance co management I mean)?

Sometimes the more expensive price can prove to be the bargain.

Cheers,

P (Who is a lot happier than he sounds!)

To get approx. sq. metres from squares, you multiply by 9.25. A square metre is roughly 10.76 square feet. 22 squares = 203.5 square metres = 2190.46 square feet. Divide by 100 gives you pretty damn close to 22....