importing parts - stuffing our economy?

[steptoe]

Is Gerry Harvey correct in that we are not helping our retailers (job providers) by buying off shore as individuals? I think that was his message before he went quiet on the topic.

Once again I have bought from overseas as an individual, instead of local retailer buying off their supplier/importer or other middle man. Certain to be a middle man or two in the uS transaction and the fedex guys had another job to do!

Last week a mate bought a Bosch brand of TB kit for EA82, belts, tensoners, idler and four oil seals @245 trade, with a RRP of over $400 ( I suspetc that is a genune RRP). Overnight wait for it. I know of Bosch as established fuel and ignition parts supplier here, who recently got their name on TBelts and brake pads. Came in a very classy packaged box made in Korea packaged for R Bosch Aust and enclosed was an instruction sheet and diagram - diagram was not flat four specific ?The tensioners and idler were also boxed.Noticed a bend in one belt as it came out, bit tighter bend than I would like to see.

Parts replacement warranty from local retailer.

Same day last week I ordered myself a kit from the US, seen the cheapest at US65 but ended up with a trusted brand of belts - Dayco A$99 + 60 postage, got tensioners and idler as well, no seals. Came in a plain white cardboard box , tenioners sectioned off but no box, made in Korea too! Noticed both kits had a green sealed bearing on the idlers!

came in six days, think it is again - a parts replacement warranty from an OS retailer.

The clincher beyond price is ease of purchase from a seat in front of a PC and beyond that got a copy of autodata instructions on how to do this belt kit on EA82 engine, also gave time estimate - in Spanish and French to boot!!

I wonder if local suppliers need to gave glossy boxes for stuff like TBelts? Not really an impulse buy based on packaging surely? Local supplier contents would be better presented if they did same - gave dtailed specific instructions to the kit supplied!

The gear still started out in Korea for both kits, mine just has more stamp in its passport and for less. Quality. I'd hazard a guess - same

Stuffing the economy? I dunno. I can afford my hobby better , could have more to spend on same or other things - like carbon tax. I don't spend much OS at all. The fedex guy tells me people are importing tyres now from the US and saving a small fortune landed.

The internet has just allowed us or more of us to bypass some retailers whose staff are not always as informative or helpful as a web page can be. Retial pricing includs the cost of staff to help and advise a customer on a purchase, if we don;t need that, nor use it we should not need to apy same price when we buy it, and on line - we don't.
Buying OS has gone on for years even when an airmil letter had to be ent, transfer money and wait twelve weeks for books to arrive, just have bigger population and more people getting into it. Retailers may get into deliveries ?

[78sti]

Middle man mark up in aus is just a rip off!
I bought some koni adjustable inserts for my front struts and saved $300 including $100 postage over buying from a aussie retailer. They said they could not even get for that price.
I think the Australian distributors for a lot of products could simply close down and retailers would be better sourcing directly form overseas distributors to bring the price down.

[apg39]

Best example I can give.... upgraded engine/transmission mounts on my old Foz when I did the twinscroll conversion. Looking at ~$300-400 for aftermarket ones or Genuine STi Group N set from an Aus company = $230 (engine), $120 (tranny). I got mine from the US direct from a Subaru dealer for $53 each engine mount ($106) and tranny was $70. Yeah post was about $50 but I've still got them way cheaper & heap of other parts in that box as well.

I don't know why the huge mark up, but I'm not rich and if all it takes is me spending half hour on the internet to find a much cheaper item...I'll do that. I'll more than happily support local businesses when it comes to making or performing a service though.

Way of the future though unfortunately, retail stores will become less popular & more people will just buy online. Don't know if they do it in WA but back in NSW Coles did deliveries...online shop, miss out on some specials & a truck pulls up to unload, who the fudge wants to stuff around in a supermarket when they can just do that.

[tony]

i thought it was a bit rich gerry criticising the public for using the interenet to buy o/s stuff. go into one of his shops and practically everything is from china.

[bobbyjimmy]

I've bought stuff from O.S for years - even a few years ago when our dollar was worth 62 cents against the USD - and will continue to do so.

The best thing I can think of I've bought as of late is a set of DBA5000 rotors.
DBA = Disc Brake Australia. The 5000 series are the ones made in Melbourne.
Did the usual ring around and the cheapest I could get them here was $400 or so each and $40 postage - didn't think that was too bad considering RRP is supposed to be somewhere near $600 each.

Jumped on the internet machine and types in the part number in the Google box - Amazon in the US had them on some "Super Special" at $149ea, that couldn't be right, could it?...
Emailed a mate in the US who'd do the "online chat" with an Amazon rep who confirmed that it was right and an order was placed and shipped to his address in New York with "Free Super Saver Shipping".
So the total so far, including shipping inside the US is US$298 (this was when the dollar was around 96 cents).
He got them a couple of days later, went to the USPS, got 2 x Large Flat Rate Boxes at US$46ea, boxed and taped up and sent them on the way.
Total = US$390.

So for around the same price as 1 rotor here, I got a pair.
Remember, that's for rotors made by an Australian company in Australia, then shipped to the US to a warehouse, then sent to Amazon (or whoever supplied on behalf of Amazon) then sent to a bloke in New York, then sent back to Australia...

[steptoe]

That made in Oz, shipped OS, sold there and shipped back as individual post item was featured on telly a few weeks back - that must be hard for retailers to swallow.
I think Gerry buys Oz where he can, his stores also supply what consumer wants or can afford. Dunno if his East Timor or Croatian stores do same - locallly made if possible.

Manufacturers may not be allowed to sell directly to public by their sales network agency agreements - tradition yet to be broken other than factory seconds guise maybe?

[Venom]

I think buying australian and supporting local jobs is a great idea. When i finish my graduate studies and i have a decent job i might even think about it. Untill then foregoing my food and rent budget to pay for a car part that is 100-200% higher price than what i can get it direct from overseas is hard to swallow. I'd rather eat and have somewhere to live.

Yet even if i could afford to buy local, what raises my suspicion is who the hell is making money on that mark up? Sure some sales people and some supply chain employees get a job out of it, but does that really warrant a double or triple price mark up? Why do i feel like someone is laying back on a yacht laughing at what australians are willing to pay for some things?

[TOONGA]

I buy online and will continue to do so until the government works out how to make it taxable(gst or whatever)

nearly everything Ive bought recently has come from the US at a third of the cost compared to Australian costs

my computer cost 600 delivered in parts those same parts would've cost 1800 in Australia and I got them quicker than the guy could get them here

32/36 weber and associated parts 120 dollars including postage (second hand but it may as well have been new) try getting a second hand weber for that price in OZLAND

a heavy duty liberty clutch kit (admittedly via Germany due to silly postal people) 350 dollars including postage. last time I was quoted a price in a store I nearly pooped myself

Living in the country makes it worse as well if it isn't in the store there is a 13-20 dollar courier charge that Im slapped with if I buy locally. the first time I got a price I was hmmmm thats ok, then he said and as well the shipping charge as it isn't in stock. which lead to the thanks but I can't afford it right now.

need I go on

TOONGA

[Venom]

The last car part i ordered from Repco was a $4 rotor button for my Valiant. Generic bosch item that was sold out at every car supplier. I was told it would be in the next day. A week later nothing so i ordered it online, it arrived in 2 days. Repco man called another 3 days later and said my part was in, i told him i didn't wanted it becaues it took too long. He went off about been stuck with a part that he won't be able to sell, and if he knew i didn't want it he wouldn't have ordered the part. I thinking WTF is he whining about? Its a $4 part that was totally sold out in ballarat, and i was stuck with a ****ing car that would move! Good attitude, i'm sure as shit never going to shop there again.

Anyway, even if the goverment does put GST on online imports then an extra 10% is still better than an extra 100%.

[RSR 555]

I think Gerry went quiet because his shops are probably filled of stuff not manufactured in Aus.

[niterida]

I used to live in a tiny little town (2500 people) miles away (500km) from the nearest reasonable sized town and I was faced with the same dilemna - do I buy from and support local business or buy online or whenever I went to Perth.

And it comes down to the same thing with buying OS or here in Aus - if prices were slightly more say 5 - 10% or service was exceptional then you wouldn't have a problem buying local but how do they justify it when prices are sooooo much higher and service is crap or non-existent.

Its because people haven't had a choice in the past and so retailers have been able to get away with bumping prices up - now that they have real competition maybe they will start to look at their pricing, business structure and service - but I doubt it.

[tony]

the kia dealers wanted near 300 bucks for a top overhaul kit for my 99 sportage, got 2 sets from the us for $120 delivered to my door. had to wait about 5 weeks for them tho.
as far as retailers in oz are concerned a fair price is whatever the market will bear, and when times get bad and people don't spend retailers complain about it.

[TOONGA]

completely off topic but who else is refusing to pay nearly 16 dollars a kilo for bananas?

when in Carnarvon they are 3 dollars a bag probably around 2-3 kg (a teacher I know was just there on holidays)

TOONGA

[steptoe]

tony said it - whatever the marklet will bear.
thread breaker - I have thought powdered muscle food would have far more healthy stuff in it for the price at the moment compared to bananas and this week ate my last $3 banana for a while.Read that the B growers were getting $4 a box coz that was what the market was paying, even though break even cost was $8 a box, now selling Big B location B's at $140 a box!

[FROG]

Come to Griffith , we have wineries selling cleanskin wines for two dollars a bottle - cheaper than water!!! Ridicularse!

[steptoe]

Oh, and the retail industry has some stellar bods in it too don't forget. FROG is one of them. I am sure Griffiths economy is a little healthier as a result - who else could sell a bonnet badge to a UK resident from a country dealer?

[FROG]

Someone with similar interests and great resources at work

[Backyard_Brumby]

And it comes down to the same thing with buying OS or here in Aus - if prices were slightly more say 5 - 10% or service was exceptional then you wouldn't have a problem buying local but how do they justify it when prices are sooooo much higher and service is crap or non-existent.

I completely agree, I buy alot of "brat" items from America and alot of my BMW items from europe and America. This was while I was working at Super Cheap too. I would get items from there if they were cheap enough and I must admit some of their specials are actually a really good deal (that is looking at their cost price and what I could get as an employee). My biggest problem is that I was the most knowledgeable person there when it came to cars.....now something isn't right there haha

I like to think I know a bit these days but to be honest in the scheme of thing s I was constantly learning off regular customers (those with a good attitude). There was just terrible service towards customers and no interest in learning more about cars and how the products were applied it was all just sales and stocking shelves....I could learn more on the net in 30 seconds then I could at my work in an auto store.

If I had to pay more and really got genuine help and good customer service I would definitely buy more here (or at least consider it ) but until that can happen the old ebay gets a good workout

[Silverbullet]

Just had a read through here, just thought I'd share something that's against the flow of this thread:
Looking around on the net for a new clutch kit (disc, cover and bearing) Cheapest I found online was $199 or thereabouts. Spent 2 minutes, called autopro Friday and found the same kit for $99, had it Monday. So it ain't all bad

But I agree mostly and it's not just car parts. Something else I do is fly R/C planes which regularly require new parts (motors, batteries and hardware etc) and the few shops in Adelaide that actually sell the parts I require are over 3x the price I actually pay from Hong Kong. Different brands sure, maybe slightly less quality but for the price of 1 brand name battery I can buy 3 cheapies that last for 1000 cycles each if you look after them.

[subybrumby]

Guitar strings in a music shop...$17.00 a packet...on line...2 packets for $6 each with postage free same product. Could give you countless other examples...and no I don't feel guilty..that's just the market.