Way back you had to have a government issued import licence to import anything, they were hard to get, impossible for you or me, and consequently having one was a licence to print money. NZ middle men don't seem to have ever got the message that those days are gone.
Some things cost a similar price to overseas, others are much more expensive, and I used to wonder about that. Back when I last checked, fishing gear for instance, was hugely expensive here in comparison to other markets. It turned out that the reason for that was that the manufacturers had big minimum order quantities. No NZ importer could stock those quantities, so they bought their stock from the Australian importer, thus inserting an extra middle man into the deal between the factory and the customer, a shit load extra money on the price, but no extra value. It would be cheaper to buy from an Australian retailer (or on 'special' from a huge US retailer) and miss out the Kiwi middle man.
Another similar example, the importer of a popular motorcycle related product couldn't deal with the order requirements of the manufacturer, so he bought from a US retailer then he too added an extra mark up into the price before he unsold to NZ retailers who bunged their markup on. You could potentially buy from the same US retailer he did and save hundreds.
A comment about Blue Wing specifically. They are not owned by Honda as most other national Honda importers are now apparently. As a consequence they may miss special deals and other advantages through being outside the 'family'. That's before their own strange decision making enters the equation. I get the strong impression they just want to sell farm bikes. Road bikes are just a bloody nuisance.
I'm in favour of supporting local businesses but...
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
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