SHAME ON YOU MINELAB

[MARG+KEN]

I HOPE YOU READ THIS POST MINELAB AND BOW YOUR HEADS IN SHAME FOR RIPPING YOUR OWN FELLOW AUSSIES OFF

I TELL YOU WHAT IF IT DIDANT AFFECT THE POOR DEALERS HERE IN AUSTRALIA I WOULD BUY A WHOLE LOT OF THEM FROM THE USA AND RESELL THEM HERE IN AUSTRALIA FOR THE CHEAPER PRICE.

i dont know why minelab do this to us i have spocken to a number of dealers here in australia and they just throw up there hands in disgust at what minelab are doing, a few dealers try to put us aussies of of doing just that buying from the usa by saying that if we buy a detector from the usa it would have to go back to the usa for any warranty work ??.
NOT TRUE I SPOKE TO THE HEAD OF MINELAB ABOUT THIS AND HE SAID MINELAB WILL HONOUR THERE WARRANTY NO MATTER WHERE THERE DETECTORS HAVE BEEN BOUGHT.
HOWEVER DEALERS IN THE USA ARE NOT ALOUD TO SELL TO AUSSIE GUYS. BUT OF COURSE THAT IS VERY EASY TO GET AROUND IF YOU HAVE A RELITIVE R FRIEND LIVING IN THE USA YOU JUST GET THEM TO BUY IT FOR YOU IN YOUR NAME IN THE USA AND SEND IT TO YOU HERE IN AUSTRALIA . DUTY PAYABLE ON THE DETECTORS IS ONLY PAID IF OVER $500 AND THEN ONLY ON THE HIGHER AMOUNT SO AN X-TERRA-70 BOUGHT IN THE USA WITH THE EXTRA 10X5 DD COIL COSTS $699.97 FROM THE LARGE DEALERS LIKE KELLY CO ECT THEN ADD POSTAGE AROUND $50 MAKES A TOTAL OF $750USA WITH CONVERSION RATE FROM USA TO AUSSIE DOLLARS = TOTAL OF $812 AUSSIE DOLLARS

SO COST TO YOUR DOORSTEP IN AUS WOULD BE $812 COMPARED TO OUR AUSSIE PRICE WITH THE EXTRA 10X5 COIL OF $1345= DIFFERENCE OF $533 SAVED THEN EVEN PAYING A BIT OF DUTY AROUND $73 TOTAL SAVED = $460

SO COME ON MINELAB WHATS GOING ON HERE. WHY CANT WE BY OUR OWN PRODUCT an x-terra-70 with an extra 10x5 dd coil FOR A DECENT PRICE

OF AROUND $885 AUSSIE DOLLARS INSTEAD OF THE PRESENT PRICE OF $1345

SHAME SHAME BLOODY SHAME. I AM TO SAY THE BLOODY LEAST DISGUSTED WITH THIS SITUATION. I COULD VERY EASILY HAVE DONE WHAT I SUGGESTED AND GOT MY FRIEND IN THE USA TO SEND ME ONE--- BUT I DIDANT BECAUSE I WANT TO SUPPORT THE AUSSIE DEALERSHIPS,WHO THROUGH NO FAULT OF THERE OWN ARE FORCED BY MINELAB TO RIP THERE FELLOW AUSSIES OF IN THIS WAY.
SO MINELAB GET OF YOUR CROOKED HIGH HORSE AND LET YOUR FELLOW AUSSIES GET A FAIR DEAL..

 

[BarnacleBill]

First question, does Oz have a VAT(Value Added Tax)? Because I know that I can buy certain items from Europe far cheaper than the residents of the originating country. Why, because the governments of those countries suspend the VAT tax for exported items, in order to increase exports. Benefits like cradle to grave health care, free university etc. have to be paid for, and the VAT is a wonderful way to make sure they extract those taxes from the populace.

Next what is your tariff situation for commercial importers of metal detectors? Do tariffs raise the price of say a White's, Tesoro etc so that it is much more than in YankLand?

I found an Oz dealer online and compared three prices compared to a large mail order US dealer.

Fisher ID Edge $639usd $1485ozd
Terra X50 $549usd $860ozd
Bounty Hunter Time Ranger $449usd $1250ozd

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[MARG+KEN]

i dont know all i know is i have spoken to a couple of aussie dealers and they are extremly upset about the fact that they cant offer the same prices as you guys in the usa get, as i said the x-terra 70 from say kellyco you can buy for $699.97
we get charged $1,150 aussie which = $1062 usa
A DIFFERENCE OF $362 USA SO GO FIGURE OH WELL KEEP ON DETECTIN ii just thought these facts should be pointed out. regards ken

 

[John LA]

A X50 for about 2/3 the cost of a Bounty Hunter. That makes the X50 a good deal doesn't it?

 

[kris]

Marg+Ken I have complaining about this for a number of years, its a bloody rip off especially now the Oz dollar is almost the same as the US.
kris.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day Ken and Bill.
Although it might sound like you are just complaining Ken, you are right on the money. I have spoken to several dealers as well, and none of them are too happy, Not so much as just about price, but the fact that minelab don't tell them when they have released new models eta. I have spoken to a couple of dealers just after a release, and they are totally unaware of it. The same applied to the accessory coils for the X-Terra's. Even after they had been in the market for several months.
Bill. We don't have a VAT tax, but we do have GST (General Consumption Tax) of 10% on almost all items. This is always included in the retail price and not added onto the price you see. Before the free trade agreement came in a couple of years back, anything that cost more than a $1000 Aussie, attracted a 22.5% import duty.That is now gone between the US and Oz at least).
As far as the prices you saw on the Aussie dealers of other brands, there is no other costs apart from freight, that they pay, that causes the prices to be so high! On average, the Aussie dollar is worth 66 cents US, but at the moment, it is around 91 cents and expected to reach parity with the US dollar over the next couple of months. In short, these dealers are just overcharging by a large amount and expecting us to pay up. Minelab is actually the smaller offender in this case. Whites have just change dealership and the new dealer has massively slashed their price, back to a realistic price. If you want to see by how much, just go to the Bounty hunter dealers web site and see the prices for Whites that he has on his web site. He may have upgraded it by now, but doesn't sell the Whites any more. As an example, a Whites DFX used to sell for a bit over Au$3000, but under the new dealer, is $1689. A big drop indeed and not that much more, than if we imported from the States. The other prices you quoted, simply show up how much we are being overcharged. So when you see us buying from the classified section below, you can see why.
Mick Evans.

 

[Digger]

The articles I''ve read indicate that most dealers are provided with a "list price" and are "encouraged" to not discount the product more than a certain % below that "list price". That rate is typically around 20% for most makes and models. Every US dealer I found advertising online are discounting their products from one of three different "list price" figures. They ranged from $799.95 to $899.95, up to $949.95 USD. In searching for Australian dealer prices, I could only find the one "list price" of $1150.00 AUD, which you mentioned in your post.


If you take the highest "list price" advertised in the US, ($949.95 USD) and convert the currency at today's rate of exchange, ( USD = 1.08355 AUD 1 AUD = 0.922892 USD) the advertised "list price" for this US dealer equates to $1,029.32 AUD. Now, if we were to add an extra 10% (such as being done with your Import Tax : e.g. Ireland to Australia), it comes to $1132.25 AUD. End result.....the difference between the taxed and converted "List Price" of this specific US dealer at $1132.25 AUD, and the $1150 AUD "list price" of the Australian dealer, is only $17.75 AUD. Now, the good news for US buyers is that this dealer is selling the package for $679.97 USD. That would be $736.78 AUD. The bad news is that the Australian dealers are apparently not discounting their product. I don't know what pricing arrangements your dealers have with Minelab. But if their list prices can be discounted proportional to the discounts given in the US, it appears to me that your gripe is with your dealer for not offering that discount. And, I don't know if your dealers are paying an extra 10% for their product due to an Import Tax on the X-Terra or not. If they are made in Ireland and imported to Australia, then I bet they are. And if that is the case, your other gripe is with your Government for imposing the Import Tax. In either case, your annomosity toward Minelab is being misdirected.

In the future, I would appreciate it if posts made to this forum were about the usage of the X-Terra products. Questions? Answers! Finds!! Other topics, such as your pricing issues, should be posted elsewhere. Thanks. Randy

 

[kris]

Yes you don`t want to loose your minelab sponsorship do you ? so hit the censorship button Mr Bean.
kris

 

[a1mine]

This is the issue. The US dealers loose their Minelab agency if they sell into Australia or New Zealand.
Minelab in Australia can therefore cream their Australian buyers.
Seems a restraint of trade to me.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Randy.
You make an interesting argument. While I have said in my post, that Minelab are a lesser offender at this and you have correctly directed that our misgivings should be directed toward the dealer. The Miners Den is the major supplier of metal detectors in Australia, with the Minelab brand capturing around 80% of the Aussie market. Most of the Miners Den stores are directly owned by Minelab. So I guess that our "gripe" must have been on target. Thanks for the input on the discount system. So I wonder who is holding out on us?
Mick Evans.

 

[Digger]

It pretty well speaks for itself.

For those who don't know what Kris is referring to, I was part of the Initial Field Tests for the X-Terra product line. Since the original question concerned pricing variations on the X-Terra, Kris apparently thinks my being part of the testing process may have clouded my opinion. Frankly, with a little research and a few phone calls, he could have come up with the same answers as I did. HH Randy

 

[Hungry]

Hello Marg & Ken . Welcome to the dissenters club. LOL I too am disgusted with the pricing here in Aus, It seems everyone wants to be a millionaire overnight. Its not only Detectors. I bought some woodcarving rotary burrs from the states for $14 each, to buy them hear they are $40 each. It seems all businesses in AIs are ripping us off. BUT one thing I have noted from reading the posts on these forums { apart from Mick in Dub } we don't seem to have the Detector or coil problems.So are they selling the rejects in America at Discount prices? LIL HHS

 

[Farmercal]

I have three Minelabs bought used from other detectorists here in the USA and they work flawlessly. I love my Minelabs and glad I made the choice to switch to that brand. I think it is a shame what they are doing to people in their own country. I can't see them selling at a loss over here so something is up.

 

[Tony]

Get on the internet and do your homework...only then can you make an informed decision.

This "No warranty" from overseas products just doesn't wash. It's scaremongering by local dealers.

I have bought numerous articles from the USA and saved thousands of dollars.

My latest purchase was a high end radar detector (legal here in WA)....locally they wanted $850....I purchased direct from the manufacturer for $450 US dollars which included shipping and insurance....that equates to $478 against $850...full warranty should something go wrong.

Our main problem here in Australia is "volume of sales" for a specific product. The profit margin can be considerably less if your market is potentially 300 million people (USA).....but there is no doubting that Aussie consumers are screwed big time.


Like I said, do your research via the web. Nothing will happen unless enough people decide "enough is enough"...but I just can't see that happening in all honesty. But you can do something for yourself !

Good luck,
Tony.

 

[a1mine]

The option of buying detectors into Australia is an attractive one as there are many of the top detectors that are not even available in this country.

There is no option to buy a Minelab into Australia for unlike all other brands Minelab Australia (not the Australian government) restrict sales from the US into Australia.
They do this by restraints on the US agents. The issue is therefore with Minelab Australia not the retailers in either country.
Minelab are not aware of the free trade agreement that operates between the two countries.
If the suggestion is true that Minelab own the "Miners Den" stores that are the main retailers of Minelab in Australia the protectionism is even more extreme.

Ken