Much much better. I don't subscribe to any of them! I can't even get through all the free stuff that is now available.

Kyanar:

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.

Kyanar:

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".

Handle9:

Distribution doesn't pay "royalties". 95%+ they just buy and distribute products.

Let's face it...you can pick up bulk items off Ali Express/Alibaba for cents per unit that get sold in "dollar stores" for $2-5 per unit. That's a massive mark-up but they take the risk on the item, so it's buyer beware on the low-cost items at all levels - end purchaser and importer. 

For larger retail items, I just don't get it...these are not "parallel imports" or "grey market" items. These are legitimately sourced products that are distributed by official agents and suppliers worldwide. If I can get the shoes for $125, why does a local store sell them for $250? I could get behind $150.00 or similar. 

Handsomedan:

 

Handle9:

Distribution doesn't pay "royalties". 95%+ they just buy and distribute products.

 

Let's face it...you can pick up bulk items off Ali Express/Alibaba for cents per unit that get sold in "dollar stores" for $2-5 per unit. That's a massive mark-up but they take the risk on the item, so it's buyer beware on the low-cost items at all levels - end purchaser and importer. 

 

For larger retail items, I just don't get it...these are not "parallel imports" or "grey market" items. These are legitimately sourced products that are distributed by official agents and suppliers worldwide. If I can get the shoes for $125, why does a local store sell them for $250? I could get behind $150.00 or similar. 

 

Because every contact point along the chain needs to make profit, otherwise they would not touch the product. The key here is profit, not gross margin, which is what is mostly complained about in this thread.

For all the whinging about economy of scale on here it's a real issue. The volumes of product in NZ are so small that there is very limited ability to invest in systems that would drive efficiency and productivity. That means the distributor needs to make more margin to achieve a profit.

From the OEMs perspective unless they are getting a significant premium they won't even bother talking to the distributor as there is an opportunity cost to taking on a distributor. Simple things like ctick marking, SDOCs etc all cost money.

Then there is logistics, tax and duty. NZ has high sales tax and your shoes are subject to 5-15% duty as local shoe manufacturing is still a thing in NZ.

There's no doubt that there are some people making pretty good money in NZ but there's also a basic lack of understanding about how unattractive NZ is as a market.

I think I've mentioned it earlier about the number of court shoes NZ sells in a *year* is less than the sales made by 1 sports chain, in a single holiday weekend, in a single state in the USA. Asics are only here because they want to be a global brand. Interestingly though, it's more a supply issue than a pricing issue as Asics aren't that much cheaper in the USA.

networkn:

 

I think I've mentioned it earlier about the number of court shoes NZ sells in a *year* is less than the sales made by 1 sports chain, in a single holiday weekend, in a single state in the USA. Asics are only here because they want to be a global brand. Interestingly though, it's more a supply issue than a pricing issue as Asics aren't that much cheaper in the USA.

 

 

 

I have still never seen a satisfactory explanation as to why there is a 10% duty on shoes imported to NZ in addition to GST etc.

That seems like something that should have fallen by the wayside long ago.

richms: There is also logistics with containers. If you can take a whole container of one product, one size, one colour and send it to one place then you skip many of the costly steps like consolidation and pallets and container restacking.

Surely with automated systems they can mix and match multiple different sizes, styles, and colours of shoes to a single palette or container? From the stacker's point of view, it's just a stream of boxes, all the same size and weight.

frankv:

 

richms: There is also logistics with containers. If you can take a whole container of one product, one size, one colour and send it to one place then you skip many of the costly steps like consolidation and pallets and container restacking.

 

Surely with automated systems they can mix and match multiple different sizes, styles, and colours of shoes to a single palette or container? From the stacker's point of view, it's just a stream of boxes, all the same size and weight.

 

Yes, automated container-content stacking could do this but you're talking about automation which doesn't really exist in the labour-intensive factories where shoes are mainly made.

Automation in shoe factories has tended to be machine- or process-specific. Automation of packing requires a higher level of integration to work reliably. So it is less likely to exist unless it is part of a more fully-automated factory which are only starting to appear now e.g. Adidas.

Even the simpler task of automated stacking of containers is still not fully implemented in NZ ports. AFAIK, Ports of Auckland still hasn't got it working properly.

Geektastic:

 

I have still never seen a satisfactory explanation as to why there is a 10% duty on shoes imported to NZ in addition to GST etc.

 

That seems like something that should have fallen by the wayside long ago.

 

Because there are still low volume local producers eking out an existence and they will make lots of noise if a govt moved to remove it + its unlikely any left wing NZ govt will touch it either..

http://lastrite.co.nz/

https://mckinlays.co.nz/

https://www.bataindustrials.co.nz/about-us/bata-industrials-new-zealand/

I recently came across a pack of velcro cable ties in Bunnings, 4 or 5 of them in a large plastic package, for around $8.

I can get the same product in a pack of 50 for around $4, if I am happy to wait a few weeks.  Or a pack of 100 still under $8, and with free delivery.

The issue I have here is, accepting the cost of stocking and handling etc on top of their product, why not at least include a decent number of those things in the pack, the handling will be much the same if its a pack of 10 or 20, why be so damned tight and go for so much mark up?

This and so many other products I see in stores around NZ, with markups anything from 4 to 40 times what I can order from overseas, is making me start to feel like it should be our duty to order from anywhere except price gouging NZ retailers.  And GST has very little to do with it.

wellygary:

Because there are still low volume local producers eking out an existence and they will make lots of noise if a govt moved to remove it + its unlikely any left wing NZ govt will touch it either..

https://www.bataindustrials.co.nz/about-us/bata-industrials-new-zealand/

wellygary:

 

Geektastic:

 

I have still never seen a satisfactory explanation as to why there is a 10% duty on shoes imported to NZ in addition to GST etc.

 

That seems like something that should have fallen by the wayside long ago.

 

 

Because there are still low volume local producers eking out an existence and they will make lots of noise if a govt moved to remove it + its unlikely any left wing NZ govt will touch it either..

 

http://lastrite.co.nz/

 

https://mckinlays.co.nz/

 

https://www.bataindustrials.co.nz/about-us/bata-industrials-new-zealand/

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah....it's certainly worth making 99% of the shoes New Zealanders buy 10% more expensive just for the 1%...