I always try to buy local, but as you put it - it's difficult with such large cost differences. Unfortunately the retail model is failing in many areas and 'local' shops just aren't moving with the times.

I'd like to buy on-line, but when it comes to warranty, I'm equally prepared to throw it out and buy local. Especially when I spend the savings I boast about on postage.

I buy online for smaller items as it's a 2 hour drive to my nearest retailer, but I buy online from Australian shops and local ones if possible.

If I'm buying a board or some sails I make the effort to go into the shop as I believe you will get a better deal if you go and talk to the retailer. If they have the stuff in stock you can often get a 10% discount on current model gear or more if it's superseded stock. The only time I've had retailers balk at discounts is when the have to freight stuff in from overseas and the transport costs don't allow them to cut you a deal.

What matters to me most is good professional service. If the service is good I don't really care to much about the discount. I'll fish for one but if the retailer takes the time to talk to me and find out what I want to do and offer suggestions about gear, I consider that kind of service worth paying for. I've had advice from retailers that saved me from buying gear that wasn't ideal for what I wanted to do and I ended up with better gear and I saved a bunch of cash in the process.

Having said that, Let me add this, a top notch website is absolutely vital. If your website isn't up to scratch you are probably losing business. Even though I like do my bigger purchases face to face I also like to do my homework and shop around on the net before I buy and Websites with limited product information and not much pricing info tend to turn me away.

In regard to the 40% cheaper price Sputnik mentioned, there are a few things to consider, the strong aussie dollar, even against the pound. You may also have avoided import tax if the value was below the threshold. As you all well know we get the crap taxed out of us on most imported items.

I don't really agree with Sputnik in regard to local retail needing to get it's act together, The boys at windsurfnsnow treat me like a relative and I practically leave with one of their kidneys every time I go there. I have had an equally good experience with fletch and the boys at SHQ. I believe our retailers do their best on price but are handicapped by our high rates of taxation.

Sputnik does however have a very valid point on the convenience and price competitiveness of buying online. I'm not getting in the car for a few small items and if a website doesn't have online ordering then yeah.. like I said they are probably losing a bit of business.

cybersoak said...
Here's the deal. Yes its cheaper to buy online but what happens when shops start closing on mass because of declining sales. People become unemployed and the government receives less GST. The government has to pay these people the dole and if GST is not coming in to state governments, guess what? Yes, the government will raise our taxes so we end up paying big time anyway so at the end of the day we will be no better off. With the 12 billion $$ deficit, people are already talking Austerity measures in OZ. Just my loose take on things.

a lot to think about when going shopping...........

It seems as though almost everyone is partial to their brands but occasionally for me those brands are not supported locally. I buy my sails online from WA - convenience (closest local shop 2 hour there and back), great service, great product and no hassle with warranty or returns on the very rare occasion it's needed. Almost everything else I buy locally from whatever shop has them in store. I've ordered a few fins from OS as it's often quicker and more convenient (again the distance from shop factor) than ordering from my local shops. Quality and service is top on my list, so I go where I get that. Seems like those two things are becoming more and more scarce these days as everyone is after a bargain and not happy to pay for a superior product or service.

cybersoak said...
Here's the deal. Yes its cheaper to buy online but what happens when shops start closing on mass because of declining sales. People become unemployed and the government receives less GST. The government has to pay these people the dole and if GST is not coming in to state governments, guess what? Yes, the government will raise our taxes so we end up paying big time anyway so at the end of the day we will be no better off. With the 12 billion $$ deficit, people are already talking Austerity measures in OZ. Just my loose take on things.

I'm assuming you're referring to OS online? In which case I agree to some extent, however I don't get why local retailers (especially the big ones/franchises) aren't cashing in on the 'buy-online' retail system?

An example - recently our local Mitre10 closed the doors due to "sales dropping" and "people doing their shopping online"...and all that crap! My wife went in to the store a month or so before we knew it was closing to buy some items and was served by a non-interested employee that had no idea if the items could even be sourced through their store (which I later found that they could be once checking online).

I got online to the M10 website to look for the items & was going to do the employee's job for them - walk in with the cat no. & just ask for it to be ordered in. The issue was that the price wasn't listed online, so in the meantime I looked on another retailer's website for a cost (Masters). The ease & use of their website combined with the good price & 1-day free delivery basically sold me & I ordered it straight away. The item turned up 2 days later (as we're in the sticks) in perfect order.

As a contrast - a week later, I was looking for a MFC (multi-function) printer. As it was night, I searched online for the one I wanted, but this time approached a local retailer with the model number whom told me that they could get it in and also gave me a price (actually cheaper than I could buy online). 2 days later they called me to let me know that it had come in and I could pick it up.

Retailers using technology as an excuse need to wake up! We all need to be competitive in our businesses, but also need to be diverse. In the current climate with particular business models changing rapidly (ie; retail), the business owners need to be pro-active and move with, or ahead of the direction that it's going. Technology will continue to affect & create an effect on retail so rather than use it as an excuse, business owners should use it as the tool that can improve their sales.

As an example - I've bought quite a bit over the years from seabreeze sponsors (retailers). As we don't have any local shops that sell the gear that I'm after, I have a tendency to go to the nearest shops (Torquay & Geelong - 3hrs drive, Melb - 4hrs). My last purchase came from WA - the website was easy to navigate, had updated prices & the freight was both cheaper than the fuel would cost to drive to the nearest retailer, and also cheaper than their freight cost! A phone call to confirm & within a week I had my delivery. That small business owner won my business & possible future sales due to making my experience simple, cost-effective and pleasant. The sooner others do the same, the sooner they will realise that they can 'cash-in' on the same market that they have been using as their excuse.

Rant over.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, drive to the shop and pay $700 for something,,
or have it delivered to your door for $450 ????

Its hard to buy local when you can save $300+ on some items and human nature to get the best deal usually wins.
I guess if your loaded, a $300 saving might not be that bigger deal , so you might support the local. But for the average Joe Smith, $300 is huge.

As mentioned above, its the after sales service you receive when you buy local.

ok a couple of dollars might be saved, but if you have an issue with the product there is no way you'll get help from an OS online retailer.

If its something cheap its ok, but for big $$ purchases, local is the way.

its a tough one.

Jman said...
There are plenty of good reasons you can use to justify buying online from overseas and I would not think less of someone for going down that path.

But at the end of the day its more money going offshore and it will cost jobs if we all do it.

Off the topic a bit but I just lost my job because our customers decided to buy from china and I can tell you there is know way we can compete because it is not a level playing field.

Your money is going offshore regardless, because almost all the gear is imported. The only difference is that if you buy local, a middle man somewhere gets to tack on a few extra $$. It's a fairly antiquated business model, and in certain industries seems to be dying a rapid death.

That said, windsurfing gear and the local retailers seem to be very price competitive at the moment for sails/boards etc. Last time I bought a major bit of sailing gear online was when the AUD first surged, and buying O/S was way cheaper. Something like wetsuits which are more of a commodity item, seem to be still cheaper overseas in some cases as well. I just bought an ORCA triathalon suit from wiggle, fits like a glove, and 60% cheaper than buying here and was posted to my door.

If you are serious about supporting local, you are best of buying something locally made. My last two boards have been local customs, a Nude & a SSD. I'm probably going to take a hit on resale, but the outright purchase price was cheaper than most production boards, and I get exactly what I want, and a lot more of the money stays local. My rig is pretty much all Severne now, thou locally designed, they aren't locally made and I'm not sure if they are actually locally owned.

End of the day, I think if you can buy that kind of stuff overseas for cheaper, and often it is significantly cheaper and not "a couple of bucks". You are better off buying it overseas, saving the money, and spending it on taking the misses out to dinner. At least that way the money you spend 'locally" will stay local.

Paul Kelf said...
I would like to see at least 100% import duty on everything.
Then your money will stay here & there will be plenty of local jobs.

So basically almost everything we buy except maybe food becomes twice as expensive, when we are already almost the most expensive country in the world.

Paul Kelf said...
Sadly people buy all the cheap crap that's imported

Sadly, when you walk into almost any retail store, it's all 'cheap crap that's imported', windsurfing shops included. Has anyone asked retailers why they don't buy local?

So basically almost everything we buy except maybe food becomes twice as expensive, when we are already almost the most expensive country in the world.

We are only the most expensive because someone is marking up the goods imported, we all know how cheap they really are.
That's why people buy on-line.
You might even get some quality goods if they were made here.

Sadly, when you walk into almost any retail store, it's all 'cheap crap that's imported', windsurfing shops included. Has anyone asked retailers why they don't buy local?

Two reasons
1.There are NO Australian manufacturers of windsurfing equipment except for a couple of custom board builders.
Because a company is registered in Australia doesn't make it Australian!!!!
2. They can make more profit on imports as they are cheaper wholesale.

Milsy said...
ha, so confusing.....if i buy at the local windsurf shop im supporting locals? locals who import goods from overseas, that were made in semi third world countries, locals who knowingly buy these goods, bring them into australia, and sell them for a riduculous proffit, who then some how have the hyprocracy to cry that things are too tough in australia because there consumers are purchasing goods directly from oversea, ha,,,,,,

The local shop doesn't have much choice as what to buy as it's all imported & they are limited to certain brands etc that's why some have their own brand of cheap crap made/branded, then they at least cut out the middle man & pass on the savings

Harvey Norman did exactly that, sooked about on-line buying of cheap crap when he's been flogging the same crap at huge profits.
They are now selling on-line too like all the retailers that complained about not having a level playing ground.
It's basically survival for the shops.

I suppose it gets down to how much profit a shop wants or needs to make or it might be plain old competition, or the lack of.
I went to a windsurfing shop in Melb a couple of weeks ago & they were nearly 50% more expensive than a Perth retailer, exactly the same item & brand.
I told them to shove it & why!!!!!!!!!!!

At the end of day everyone wants cheap & now they have cheap.
Pity here are no jobs to make money to buy cheap.
Have a look at America to see how it's going to pan out

Cluffy said...
My boss once pointed to a mining component we were manufacturing and said "it costs us $3400 to make one of those. The same component can be delivered from china for $800. I can't even buy the steel for $800."

Maybe we shouldn't be selling our Iron Ore & Gas so cheap, they wouldn't be able to supply steel so cheap then.

We won't do that because we are making hay while the sun is shining.
Drip feed the resourses at good rates, make it worth something, don't give it away.
If we have such good quality Ore then we should be able to compete with other countries on the quality alone, I think we are just being greedy & short sighted.

Paul Kelf said...

Jman said...
There are plenty of good reasons you can use to justify buying online from overseas and I would not think less of someone for going down that path.

But at the end of the day its more money going offshore and it will cost jobs if we all do it.

Off the topic a bit but I just lost my job because our customers decided to buy from china and I can tell you there is know way we can compete because it is not a level playing field.

I would like to see at least 100% import duty on everything.
Then your money will stay here & there will be plenty of local jobs.
We might not sell as much dirt to China but maybe we could make something with it, they seem to, and then sell it to us

It's like the car industry, the government subsidise it to try & save a few jobs but then allow all the cheap crappy imports into the country to destroy the industry
Sadly people buy all the cheap crap that's imported

Sorry, but have to respectfully disagree. By protecting the automotive industry (or pretty much any manufacturing industry), the government is protecting inefficient industry in which other countries have a comparitive advantage in, they are diverting resources (from taxpayers) away from efficient industries in which Australia can compete worldwide in. So whilst it will prevent short-term structural unemployment, we are costing ourselves jobs in export efficient industries in the long run. Furthermore, it is likely to reduce Australia's economic growth and create inflation leading to lower real incomes.
Finally, it would be against the rules of the WTO.

On the topic of whether to buy gear locally, I find buying locally has the advantages of being able to try demo gear before you purchase it so you can make sure you end up with gear that you like. A local retail on the southside of Sydney has a good model whereby he is pretty much based purely online but then has some gear that people can demo.

ZackAttack said...

Paul Kelf said...

Jman said...
There are plenty of good reasons you can use to justify buying online from overseas and I would not think less of someone for going down that path.

But at the end of the day its more money going offshore and it will cost jobs if we all do it.

Off the topic a bit but I just lost my job because our customers decided to buy from china and I can tell you there is know way we can compete because it is not a level playing field.

I would like to see at least 100% import duty on everything.
Then your money will stay here & there will be plenty of local jobs.
We might not sell as much dirt to China but maybe we could make something with it, they seem to, and then sell it to us

It's like the car industry, the government subsidise it to try & save a few jobs but then allow all the cheap crappy imports into the country to destroy the industry
Sadly people buy all the cheap crap that's imported

Sorry, but have to respectfully disagree. By protecting the automotive industry (or pretty much any manufacturing industry), the government is protecting inefficient industry in which other countries have a comparitive advantage in, they are diverting resources (from taxpayers) away from efficient industries in which Australia can compete worldwide in. So whilst it will prevent short-term structural unemployment, we are costing ourselves jobs in export efficient industries in the long run. Furthermore, it is likely to reduce Australia's economic growth and create inflation leading to lower real incomes.
Finally, it would be against the rules of the WTO.

I don't agree with subsidies either, farming included, that's why I think import duties would solve a lot of our problems.
Australian car companies are only inefficient when compared with the third word & that is mostly safety & wage issues.

What efficient industries in which Australia can compete worldwide?
I can't think of one, especially in manufacturing.

On the topic of whether to buy gear locally, I find buying locally has the advantages of being able to try demo gear before you purchase it so you can make sure you end up with gear that you like. A local retail on the southside of Sydney has a good model whereby he is pretty much based purely online but then has some gear that people can demo.

Sounds like a normal shop to me