rip off australia

Spot the difference.....


http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=NA&model=AW2L&language=en


http://www.thenorthface.com.au/secureshop/product.php?ProductID=260

How can Northface justify charging $200 more just because you live in Australia?
sorry. wanted somewhere to rant about this.

 

Exchange rates i guess and costs of transport. Are just my guesses. Maybe they are working it off when the aussie dollar was 50cents

 

The AUD/USD has averaged around US87 cents over the past year. So the USD price translates into around A$230. If the jacket is made in China then transport costs to Australia shouldn't be higher than shipping to the US. Hard to justify the price being more than 70% above the A$ equivalent. Perhaps they did import it in 2001 when AUD/USD was below US50 cents! This and numerous similar examples of price gouging are encouraging purchases from overseas which even with freight costs result in significant savings for the consumer compared to buying from local bike shops.

 

Just compleated building a bike. Apart from the frame which was made overseas but bought through a dealer here I bought everything else from online sites at half the price I could get them here. Even with one issue with a wheel that needed to be returned it was hassel free. I could not afford to built the bike like I have from shops here.
I offered several opportunities to LBS and others to even consider coming within $1000. They couldnt and I believe them.
Im sure it's the dealers and importers who are at fault. And the LBS looses out. Its not that the overseas sites are cheap. Its the crazy mark up here! There are clearly enough "golf converts" with heaps of cash to throw at the stuff here otherwise competition would force a better price here.
Examples:-
Wheels here $1400 - shipped $700
Record group $2800 - shipped $1900
and I could go on...
I will also be buying another frame soon and will be more than happy to get a good builder here to do it for me, I'd love to see them get the buisness. I've no problems paying for a Baum or Llewellyn (and a few others) as I think what these guys do represents excellent value for money and craftsmanship as good as any in the world. But the build kit will come from overseas again.
So endith the rant
Fitz

 

Why are you buying shithouse TheNorthFace rubbish anyway?

Buy online, save yourself some cash, problem solved.

 

Sounds like a rip-off... but then again... no one is forcing anyone to buy it. Like you say, the currency would take it up to AUS$230. Then factor in about a 15% import tariff on clothing, that takes it up to about $275. the goods are probably not shipped directly from China... they probably go to the US first then are shipped out. Which means extra shipping costs compared to shipping locally in the US. Is there an extra middle man??

 

Duties on clothing is 20%, then add GST, then add the local wholesalers margin, plus the fact they don't often buy at the best prices because the amount of stock they purchase at any one time is less than an average size US mailorder house.....rising costs of freight......

Retail has a fairly bleak future.

 

I had my brother and his family over to visit me in Seppoland last August. They went crazy on the clothes shopping. They couldn't believe the prices here.

I remember when Aussie's used to go to Hong Kong for cheap clothes in the 70's and 80's. Now they can go to America...

 

It's all thanks to the great exchange rate.

Wasn't so good last time I was in the US when it dropped to .49

 

Yup, nows the time to buy up, but we Aussies are being slugged, no doubt about it.

I had a screw go through new Rubino Pro Slick. Went to my LBS and they wanted 70 bucks for one tyre. All the online sites I found in AU were similar.

I went to the Total Cycling site and all the way from Ireland they sent me 2 Rubino Pro Slicks and 2 Vittoria tubes for 74 bucks (shipping included).

I want to support my LBS, but not at those prices.

 

For the last four years I have bought all of my bikes and most parts from the US eBay.
Even with the postage/container charges it is still cheaper than what you pay here.
Seems Aussie bike shops charge roughly double what you pay in the US.

 

Buy your Northface gear from Backcountry.com, or moosejaw.com. Moosejaw are more reasonable with their postage but both are pretty steep. Mind you, it still works out a lot cheaper than buying here in Oz. I have purchased several of their 1/4 zip fleece tops and they are fantastic. Some of theitr tee shirts are pretty crappy though!

Chris

 

I've researched such a purchase around other online sellers before and found that they won't ship to Oz.

Moosejaw has this clause,

"We are pleased to offer our mail order and online shopping services to members and customers around the world. NOTE: Moosejaw cannot ship Arcteryx, Patagonia, Burton, Yakima, Thule, Quiksilver, Western Mountaineering or North Face products internationally."

So no dice with them either.

My hunch is that it's the marketing departments decision to make Australia a high price low volume market. Sell 10 jackets and make $10 on each and you make the same if you sell 100 and make $1 on each.

Their US distributors have obviously been told that it is a condition of sale that they don't ship outside the US, wouldn't want their high price Aussie products being undercut.

Screw them it makes me mad too, treating us like dirt. Certainly don't ever pay the normal Australian retail it's highway robbery paying $500+ for a raincoat which some of them go for. Would love to see an explanation from NF with reference to why US sellers can't ship.

 

We'll see how this goes. Just sent the following to the Australia NF customer contact ([email protected]).

>>>>>>>>

Hi, I write regarding the extreme discrepancy between your US and Australian pricing which seems to be the norm with most of your products.

Case in point, M Circadian PacLite(R) Jacket.

US online price
http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=NA&model=AW2L&language=en
Price: $199 ($221 AUD using rate of 0.9 - current rate 0.94).

Australia online price
http://www.thenorthface.com.au/secureshop/product.php?ProductID=260
Price: $399.95 AUD.

So in Australia we're paying about 80 percent more for the same product as the US customers.

I have also notice that US online retailers have it as a condition that they cannot ship NF products internationally.

If you don't mind can someone please attempt to resolve my concern that NF are simply price gouging i.e. taking advantage of prevailing market conditions to charge exorbitantly high prices in the Australian market.

Why does such a large discrepancy exist?

Does NF make it a condition of business that US based online retailers cannot ship NF products internationally? If so, why?

Thanks

David XXXXXXXX

 

I'm sure its something to do with the population of Aus, not many people means no need to bulk buy like other nations, meaning no large discounts by importers and distributers, meaning the price stays high, and therefore meaning the price of import and shipping gets passed onto the public.

 

I dont think so. For example, a Cane Creek 110 headset in the US is $130AUS or so retail. If you bought a bunch of stuff online and kept the cost under $1000, say 10 items, then the shipping for that item would be lets say $20AUS. GST is $15, you'd get it for $180 easy. Retail in store you will be charged over $300.

We are paying high prices because we are funding cafe late bike stores with high rents on high street. The importers are doubling what they pay and then the LBS doubles what the importer charges them. I really have little sympathy for bike stores and import protections should be removed IMO.