Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunter_Killer
I guess its the fact that demand for such products here just are not sufficient for most distributors and sellers to give a low mark up.
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Exactly.
Australia is tiny in terms of population, but large in size and very remote.
Wholesale prices work on volume, so the more you buy the cheaper it gets - it makes sense
To give you an example - for me to offer better pricing on etymotic products, I would have to order 20 times the amount I currently order in a batch and a quantity that large would not only send be broke, but last me a very, very long time even at discounted rates.
Then of course there's freight costs, import duty, gst, customs fees etc. It all adds up.
I remember talking to the National wholesaler for Klipsch speakers a few years back, Klipsch had recommended they stock around 5000 units of a particular model as an initial order, the supplier took 200 and still had stock after 2 years. The discount rate on 5000 units was pretty large as well, but there's no way in hell they'd move that many in a reasonable amount of time.
Also, arguments about the $AU are tough, people complain when prices rise due to a weaker dollar, yet it normally takes a while to filter through. Prices don't jump overnight when the dollar falls. On the other hand, the second the dollar is stronger everyone expects prices to drop instantly along with it.
Prices are dictated by the rate of the dollar at the time the wholesaler (or retailer) purchased the goods, not the current going rate.
It can take months or years for price changes to filter through.
H_K - you'll find that some brands have strict recommended retail pricing, NAD and Cambridge are 2 of them - it's always worth asking for a discount, just don't expect to always get one