Australia is a rip off
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: aus
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Australia is a rip off
I was looking at a pair of Rayban 3267's today, from a sunglass store at the mall. Nice glasses, retailing for $259. But why would I pay that when online from the USA there between $120-142 aud, and thats including the $30 usd postage.
To give another example I need a flight bag, the Jepps captian bag looks good. $252 from downunderpilotshop.com.au, but hang on, mypilotstore.com sells them for $120 aud plus shipping.
Thinking of buying a Garmin 495? Why would you get one from Australia when buying one online from the US will save you $800 aud.
To give another example I need a flight bag, the Jepps captian bag looks good. $252 from downunderpilotshop.com.au, but hang on, mypilotstore.com sells them for $120 aud plus shipping.
Thinking of buying a Garmin 495? Why would you get one from Australia when buying one online from the US will save you $800 aud.
Sprucegoose
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Hughes Point, where life is great! Was also resident on page 13, but now I'm lost in Cyberspace....
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But if you need to claim on warranty it becomes a little difficult and expensive! 
Join Date: Apr 2006
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you will also need to get yourself:
- 4 gold bars, wont be long before your capt
- Leather flying jacket, has to be one with the wool collar
- Full set of world wide jepps just in case
- The biggest leatherman yocan find
- Pilot bag tag to put on all your bags so people know your a pilot when your checkng in
- Don't forget the wings
Sorry couldnt help myself, I buy all my stuff from the states there is even mail forward companies that will give you a US address to ship to as some companies won't accept an Aussie address
- 4 gold bars, wont be long before your capt
- Leather flying jacket, has to be one with the wool collar
- Full set of world wide jepps just in case
- The biggest leatherman yocan find
- Pilot bag tag to put on all your bags so people know your a pilot when your checkng in
- Don't forget the wings
Sorry couldnt help myself, I buy all my stuff from the states there is even mail forward companies that will give you a US address to ship to as some companies won't accept an Aussie address
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Fliegensville, Gold Coast Australia
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......I have a Leather flying jacket 
..with a wool collar removable 
...Tommy Hilfiger (?) was $900, picked up at an outlet store in Aurora, outside Chicago for $90 
I love it, will have at the very least 10 years worth out of it
warmer than for what I need mostly around my home town.....Prolly more than 10 yrs...less than 10 bucks a year........It was a good buy....I do look as though I am going to Bomb Nazi Germany though...
Remind me to post in 2018, it may need a clean by then
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I buy a lot of gear from overseas because of the ridiculous price difference. Be a well-informed consumer and learn about the warranty on each product before purchase.
My US-purchased David Clark HS has an International Warranty, and was serviced last year in Australia.
Non electronic items like Flight Bags and Sunglasses rarely require warranty claims unless they're faulty out-of-the-box (covered by seller in most cases - check before purchase).
Larger items will incur huge International postage costs in most cases, so most of the savings are had with physically smaller products.
Do your homework and shop with the company offering the price and support that suits you. I think you'll be surprised at the standard of service offered by the US sellers.
My US-purchased David Clark HS has an International Warranty, and was serviced last year in Australia.
Non electronic items like Flight Bags and Sunglasses rarely require warranty claims unless they're faulty out-of-the-box (covered by seller in most cases - check before purchase).
Larger items will incur huge International postage costs in most cases, so most of the savings are had with physically smaller products.
Do your homework and shop with the company offering the price and support that suits you. I think you'll be surprised at the standard of service offered by the US sellers.
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Just so you know the reason this stuff is expensive is because its all imported. Any business wishing to sell such goods gets robbed by the government for 5% duty PLUS 10% gst and then you add on expensive shipping from the USA and things get very costly. Non of these products are made here, they all HAVE to be imported from a distributor in the states. Now you would like to think that some of you would support AUSTRALIAN retailers otherwise when you need one they won't be there. Some of us are doing our best to be reasonable with prices but there is a limit.
Perhaps if we supported the local bloke more regularly, the price here in Australia may not be so high.
We are our own worst enemies!
Getting down from horse!
We are our own worst enemies!
Getting down from horse!
Things are no different on this side of the ditch. The only positive thing about that is it's comforting to know we're not the only ones being ripped off.
AVIATOR1982
I don't know about Oz ,but over here duty, if payable, is paid on any import no matter who the importer is and GST applies to all imports over $400.
I make the following points:
These cheaper overseas prices are retail prices, one would presume that a local agent for any of these items would be buying them at a Trade or wholesale price which would be below these retail prices.
Everyone pays for freight not just the agent.
The issue of warranty has been covered, but I would add that any warranty claims sustained by a local agent are more than likely to be recovered from the manufatcurer anyway. So no net loss to the agent.
So while I have sympathy for you if you are being undercut by an overseas retailer, I don't accept your argument as to why things are so much dearer in this part of the world.
Many retail prices in OZ/NZ do not stand up to scrutiny and are higher than they should be.
Oh, by the way Seregettis are over rated
AVIATOR1982
I don't know about Oz ,but over here duty, if payable, is paid on any import no matter who the importer is and GST applies to all imports over $400.
I make the following points:
These cheaper overseas prices are retail prices, one would presume that a local agent for any of these items would be buying them at a Trade or wholesale price which would be below these retail prices.
Everyone pays for freight not just the agent.
The issue of warranty has been covered, but I would add that any warranty claims sustained by a local agent are more than likely to be recovered from the manufatcurer anyway. So no net loss to the agent.
So while I have sympathy for you if you are being undercut by an overseas retailer, I don't accept your argument as to why things are so much dearer in this part of the world.
Many retail prices in OZ/NZ do not stand up to scrutiny and are higher than they should be.
Oh, by the way Seregettis are over rated
Join Date: Mar 2008
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@ 27/09
I agree with your points, however here it is not that simple. Duty and GST is only charged on imports over $1000 therefore its very hard to match the prices of overseas traders as essentially they are selling tax free.
As a retailer it is not economical with shipping to bring in under $1000 of stock at a time it simply does not work. I agree there are some shops being greedy with pricing but it is not all of us.
Also traders importing are exposed to currency fluctuations, you might buy at say .85 AUD to the USD and then a week later it is .92 AUD to the USD This effectively wipes out any margin you had if you want to compete on price.
To be honest the whole buying from the USA being cheaper thing is a bit of an illusion anyway. Shipping tends to negate any savings on anything in excess of 1kg anyway.
For example most of the stores in the states will charge around USD$90 to ship a Jeppesen bag to Australia. So yes the prices look inviting there but in reality you will pay the same if not more by the time you have changed your money.
I agree with your points, however here it is not that simple. Duty and GST is only charged on imports over $1000 therefore its very hard to match the prices of overseas traders as essentially they are selling tax free.
As a retailer it is not economical with shipping to bring in under $1000 of stock at a time it simply does not work. I agree there are some shops being greedy with pricing but it is not all of us.
Also traders importing are exposed to currency fluctuations, you might buy at say .85 AUD to the USD and then a week later it is .92 AUD to the USD This effectively wipes out any margin you had if you want to compete on price.
To be honest the whole buying from the USA being cheaper thing is a bit of an illusion anyway. Shipping tends to negate any savings on anything in excess of 1kg anyway.
For example most of the stores in the states will charge around USD$90 to ship a Jeppesen bag to Australia. So yes the prices look inviting there but in reality you will pay the same if not more by the time you have changed your money.
Join Date: Mar 2008
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And to the MODS that altered my most, Fair enough although I did not exactly ADVERTISE, I deliberately refrained from mentioning any names or posting any links. I was simply offering a fellow aviator the option of supporting a business in his own country instead of sending his money overseas.
Like I said though fair enough!!!
Like I said though fair enough!!!
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There are also other costs borne by Australian distributors, which US operators don’t have. Most electronic equipment from USA/China/EU comes with CE and FC certification. However that is not acceptable in Australia. To offer most types of electrical equipment for commercial sale in Australia, the distributor must submit the equipment to a designated testing laboratory for Australian C Tick and/or A Tick compliance approval. (Look for a symbol with black circle and white tick, or white circle and black tick with N number beside on your power adaptor / computer / almost everything)
This testing costs $x000 which is paid for not by the manufacture but the Australian distributor. N certification numbers are only provided to resident individuals/companies/businesses.
Do you break the law by importing equipment from USA without C Tick approval? For personal use probably not, but for commercial resale, definitely yes.
Don’t know if sunglasses have compliance certification requirements different to the rest of the world?????
This testing costs $x000 which is paid for not by the manufacture but the Australian distributor. N certification numbers are only provided to resident individuals/companies/businesses.
Do you break the law by importing equipment from USA without C Tick approval? For personal use probably not, but for commercial resale, definitely yes.
Don’t know if sunglasses have compliance certification requirements different to the rest of the world?????
