What are some particularly egregious examples 'kiwi tax' or companies creaming the NZ market vs international prices?

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#2690153 9-Apr-2021 18:18

An American friend of mine sent me some photos of his new trailer (caravan) as he’s just come home from a trip to Florida.

Nice trailer, said I. Went to see if they’re sold here. They are. I sent him the link to the dealer here. Here’s his reply:

“Very cool that you can get them in NZ, but they seem pretty pricy!
The 2670 MK, that you found in NZ for 109,000 ($76,000 USD) sells for $42,760 USD here.
Our little 17MKE is much smaller and can be had here for less than $30,000.”

Dunnersfella

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#2690163 9-Apr-2021 18:38

allio:

AV receivers are the worst example I regularly come across.

Denon AVR-X3700H is $1199 USD. Works out to $1923 NZD with 15% GST. You'll pay $2899 here.

AVR-X1600H is $599 USD. Works out to $961 NZD after tax. $1599 here.

So irritating reading about "budget $300 recivers" on US websites when they sell for over a grand here.

The new distro for the Denon amps in NZ is actually Australian... and when they took over prices went waaay up.

AVRX2700H is $2199 RRP in NZ, compare it to competing products and it's about $400-$600 over priced for a basic 2-zone AVR with 95W of power.

The AVR550BT is $999 in NZ!

The thing has push-in speaker clips! I'd be interested to see how they justify its RRP... no networking capabilities, the cheapest speaker terminal implementation AND the previous distributor sold it @ $399 on sale!

To be fair, budget AVR's in the US of A are typically Onkyo / Pioneer's and they are reportedly about to slide from insolvency and into bankruptcy... so there may be a reason for their pricing.

networkn

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#2690165 9-Apr-2021 18:46

That's interesting. I was recently interested in upgrading to the latest version of my Yamaha 2060, which I paid around $1700 for. The 2080 is $3399 on SPECIAL now.

Geektastic

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#2690286 10-Apr-2021 07:49

The distributor for Focal loudspeakers also changed to one in Australia. Prices also went up steeply!

Bung

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#2690295 10-Apr-2021 08:21

An Australian head office seems to be behind a lot of high pricing in NZ. I remember an Olympus camera that was $995 in NZ because the NZ distributor had scored a good deal but was over $3000 in Australia. When Olympus Australia took over the supply to NZ the prices went up. There is economy of scale on one hand vs being a small enough market to be able to take advantage of quantities that would be too small elsewhere.

SATTV

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#2690329 10-Apr-2021 09:17

Geektastic: An American friend of mine sent me some photos of his new trailer (caravan) as he’s just come home from a trip to Florida.

Nice trailer, said I. Went to see if they’re sold here. They are. I sent him the link to the dealer here. Here’s his reply:

“Very cool that you can get them in NZ, but they seem pretty pricy!
The 2670 MK, that you found in NZ for 109,000 ($76,000 USD) sells for $42,760 USD here.
Our little 17MKE is much smaller and can be had here for less than $30,000.”

This looks very similar to a caravan that a friend imported, buying in the US was cheap, freight was expensive at it had to go top stow in a special frame, all of the electrical wiring had to be replaced, as did the sockets and appliances, all of the gas lines had to be replaced and gas appliances had to be replaced as none of it could get certification and compliance.

There is a lot more to brining in a caravan than meets the eye. There were a lot of gotcha's and they were not very well made.

He has just sold his and is importing another one, it will cost a hell of a lot more in freight, it may not be here for Christmas.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

frankv

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#2691202 12-Apr-2021 09:54

Geektastic: The 2670 MK, that you found in NZ for 109,000 ($76,000 USD) sells for $42,760 USD here.

That is about what I would expect. When last in America, a guy wanted to sell me his very nice 427ci Shelby Cobra for US$40K. I figured it would cost me NZ$100K by the time I got it back to NZ and on the road. Unfortunately, I was about NZ$95K shy.

US$40K/0.7 = NZ$57K + GST = NZ$66K. Add on freight and insurance and Customs and fumigation & inspection and other importing ticket-clipper fees and NZTA certification and GST on all of those.

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Handsomedan

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#2691261 12-Apr-2021 10:52

Mountain Bike shoes.

My son and I have recently purchased from overseas.

Locally, they're anything from $150-250 a pair.

We paid $125 each including shipping. The ones I got are normally $245 locally and the ones my son got are normally $185 locally.

How is it that we can get them from the UK including shipping, received within 5 days for so much less?

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Kyanar

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#2691273 12-Apr-2021 11:02

Handsomedan:

How is it that we can get them from the UK including shipping, received within 5 days for so much less?

Defenders of local retailers would have you believe it's "economies of scale" (which is confusing, since if you could import them for that cheap shouldn't that mean someone who can import them at scale should pay less than you?) or "the cost of local warranty/support" (which is again confusing, since you imported them from another country that has consumer protection laws not much weaker than your own, and in theory anyone who imports them as a business is buying them without warranty, and extending warranty themselves).

The truth is, NZ and Australia are full of ticket clippers who add no value but inflate the cost of everything massively. It's egregiously offensive when you reach a distributor overseas who charges 30% of the price but they refuse to tell to you because old mate with both hands out in AU/NZ has "exclusive rights".

frankv

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#2691289 12-Apr-2021 11:12

Kyanar:

It's egregiously offensive when you reach a distributor overseas who charges 30% of the price but they refuse to sell to you because old mate with both hands out in AU/NZ has "exclusive rights".

To be fair, the "old mate" probably pays a lot of money to the parent company for those exclusive rights (and is passing that cost onto you), so the overseas distributor is contractually obliged to not sell to you.

wellygary

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#2691312 12-Apr-2021 11:23

Kyanar:

It's egregiously offensive when you reach a distributor overseas who charges 30% of the price but they refuse to tell to you because old mate with both hands out in AU/NZ has "exclusive rights".

As noted above, arrangements for "exclusive rights" are the creation of the offshore manufacturer, not the local distributor,

All the power in that relationship lies with the offshore vendor.... and usually when the market gets big enough they muscle the local distributor out and set up a local branch,,

A classic example of this in NZ was Microsoft products which used to be sold via a company whose name was a portmanteau of the founders "Brian and Maureen".. that ended when Microsoft opened their own fully owned local subsidiary,

Rikkitic

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#2691331 12-Apr-2021 11:39

frankv:

To be fair, the "old mate" probably pays a lot of money to the parent company for those exclusive rights (and is passing that cost onto you), so the overseas distributor is contractually obliged to not sell to you.

Which of course is a load of codswallop. Not what you are saying, but the whole concept of 'exclusive rights', which I strenuously object to. Sky has also used this to lock up content that can't even be seen here, making overseas pirating the only option.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Kyanar

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#2691349 12-Apr-2021 12:05

frankv:

To be fair, the "old mate" probably pays a lot of money to the parent company for those exclusive rights (and is passing that cost onto you), so the overseas distributor is contractually obliged to not sell to you.

That's not necessarily true in all cases, there are many distributors that pay simple royalties. Either way though, I've yet to see one of these exclusive distributors hurting for cash - they're not "passing that cost onto you", they're passing 900% of that cost onto you.

networkn

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#2691352 12-Apr-2021 12:08

Rikkitic:

frankv:

To be fair, the "old mate" probably pays a lot of money to the parent company for those exclusive rights (and is passing that cost onto you), so the overseas distributor is contractually obliged to not sell to you.

Which of course is a load of codswallop. Not what you are saying, but the whole concept of 'exclusive rights', which I strenuously object to. Sky has also used this to lock up content that can't even be seen here, making overseas pirating the only option.

Well, then a bunch of others got into the market, now everyone complains about how fragmented everything is, how many services they have to subscribe to, and how much it costs.

Scott3

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#2691361 12-Apr-2021 12:12

SATTV:

Geektastic: An American friend of mine sent me some photos of his new trailer (caravan) as he’s just come home from a trip to Florida.

Nice trailer, said I. Went to see if they’re sold here. They are. I sent him the link to the dealer here. Here’s his reply:

“Very cool that you can get them in NZ, but they seem pretty pricy!
The 2670 MK, that you found in NZ for 109,000 ($76,000 USD) sells for $42,760 USD here.
Our little 17MKE is much smaller and can be had here for less than $30,000.”

This looks very similar to a caravan that a friend imported, buying in the US was cheap, freight was expensive at it had to go top stow in a special frame, all of the electrical wiring had to be replaced, as did the sockets and appliances, all of the gas lines had to be replaced and gas appliances had to be replaced as none of it could get certification and compliance.

There is a lot more to brining in a caravan than meets the eye. There were a lot of gotcha's and they were not very well made.

He has just sold his and is importing another one, it will cost a hell of a lot more in freight, it may not be here for Christmas.

John

Caravans's are one of few products to be subject to duty on import. Its 5% (in addition to 15% GST)

USD42760 = NZD 60,727.30

+10k freight etc = $70,727.30

+Duty & GST = $75403

Re-do of all AC circuit boards, sockets etc to suit NZ power. ($5k) = $80403.

Replace all built in AC electrical appliances (microwave, TV, battery chargers, air con, fridge etc): $10k - $90403

Re do all gas $4000: $94403

Leaves a $14,500 margin for the importer (less if they entertain negotiation on price). They likely would need to cover the likes of CGA claims out of thsi too. Seems reasonable for such a niche product, and one that could have very expensive CGA claims if it suffers something like leaks out of warranty, but still in CGA coverage.

Looking at the USA spec sheet, this product seems a poor fit for NZ, so would be hard to sell. 8495lb GVWR = 3853.267kg. This is more than 3500kg, so it is not a light trailer, and will need 6 monthly COF's, will need a Hubometer, and be liable for RUC's of 4.8c/km etc. Also will need a dodge ram, or some kind of commercial truck to tow it. Empty weight is 3104kg. fill the clean water tank, and your at 3300kg, so basically no chance of keeping this under 3500kg...

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