Thread: Importing, Shipping, pitfalls and work arounds

Originally Posted by MassiveAttack

The blokes arguing that we should pay higher prices because we are a small market are ignoring the fact that on line shopping makes the whole world one global market so that logic doesn't apply any more. I agree with the comments around bad service, the difference between service in NZ and from on line stores in the USA and elsewhere is night and day. I brought a scope recently from H&F (had a voucher otherwise would have brought it on line) and was told that warrenties were handled through NZ Asia but there was a $50 shipping fee for any warrenty work. WTF? Shipping fee when I brought it locally. Not only is that more than it would cost me to send a scope back to the states it's technical not allowed under consumer guarantees act (retailer handles warrenty) and there have been many horror stories on here about NZ Asia batching up all their warrenty scopes and taking six months to send them to the states.

Buy local, get good service and warrenty support, yeah right.

We are a small market. Say Hunting and Fishing go to Remington and say we want a good deal on rifles because we will sell 10,000 in one year. Remington laugh at them and say Cabela's sell 1,000,000 a year take the deal on offer. Our retailers will pay more for the same product than the American retailers, then they have to ship it half way across the world. We are a market of at most 4 million, USA has 318 million. There retailers can afford to make smaller margins because their turnover is so high.
The cheap deals we can access on the internet are because of the buying power of the US domestic market.

We all want a good wage/salary for our job, but someone has to pay us, whether they are our employer or customer. We all want our money to go further, but if we all send our money overseas then that money is not circulating in NZ, there is less money to go around, and one of the first things to drop is wages/jobs. Just look at the prediction for the rural economy with the low milk payment.

If we all buy everything overseas then the local suppliers will close, then we will have to buy everything from overseas, and good luck getting someone to ship gunpowder. I can't even find someone that will ship a carbon fibre stock overseas.

If you get bad service then tell them, a letter email to head office might make a difference, if it doesn't shop at another shop in NZ.

Failing that then set up as an importer, I'll buy off you for the really cheap prices you will offer.