Importing gear

[jimmy 2006]

just before you buy,........ think about who you are screwing.
the more everyone buys overseas the smaller our local market becomes, therefore increasing prices.

also what about the fact that spending your money locally is helping a fellow kiwi and their family (our country) instead of boosting the profits of a huge US based company........

[Katoomer]

Fair comment and I do buy bikes and most of my gear in NZ ,however when you are paying nearly double here for some items who is screwing is screwing who.

[Coyote]

blame the nz wholesalers mate. Your average bikeshop doesn't import from abroad. In fact, a lot of them aren't able to import due to wholesaler restrictions.

There's a law protecting the middleman?

[Voltaire]

Years ago ( early 80's).....before Visa and when you could not easily get overseas funds the motor industry had it soooooo good. I used to look at the mags from overseas and cry at the prices and what was available.
I went to Aussie and bought a Ducati 900 for about 1/2 what they were here, and the wages were higher.(...no change there then.)
Its great now having the choice.
I own my own business and some of the suppliers still try to milk me, but they only get to do it once. I am an electrician and use lots of cable, but I can get it cheaper at Bunnings and Mitre 10 than my Electrical Wholesalers ....I now get it on Trade Me, and its the same quality.
I bought 'kiwi made' the other day and had that all afternoon robbed feeling, made worse when I found it for 1/3 less a day later. Needless to say I will only go there if I have too. ( it was not motor related).
So if you offer indifferent service, charge too much and treat your customers like they owe you a living....sorry tough.
Rant over.

[jimmy 2006]

fair comment, but i have never been treated poorly at a motorbike store here. the service that i get is usually very good. and i value the relationship i have with my dealer. they look after me and i spend most of my cash there.

[Rupe]

So if you offer indifferent service, charge too much and treat your customers like they owe you a living....sorry tough.
Rant over.

Couldn't agree more.

[dammad1]

The market has changed, the world has effectively become smaller and goods from overseas are now very easy to access. If local business wants to survive then they need to adapt their approach and look for ways to add value to their customers. Jimmy if you get good service from your dealer then thats great and thats obviously something you value, but I personally have found most dealers to be pretty hopeless so I dont really have a lot of loyalties to any of them.
I dont really blame the bike shops for the high prices though, that really lies with the importers, they generally set the RRP's, so if they set the prices to high compared to what you can get it for overseas and then they lose sales they've only got their selves to blame.

[gordons]

Try www.btosports.com, great service! No problem with refunds etc. real good prices. Thumpertalk OEM store is the cheapest I have come across so far for OEM parts, I know there is a min. charge for registering but man the prices are good! If you want to compare prices without registering you can price for free at www.servicehonda.com, bit more expensive but very close to Thumpertalks OEM store.

[charles23]

[QUOTE=jimmy 2006;1405722]just before you buy,........ think about who you are screwing.
the more everyone buys overseas the smaller our local market becomes, therefore increasing prices.

get real, do you like being screwed or do you have so much money you can throw it away? why don't you just make a donation to your local bike shop? I work too hard for my money just piss it into the wind, your a dreamer!!!!

[takitimu]

The market has changed, the world has effectively become smaller and goods from overseas are now very easy to access. If local business wants to survive then they need to adapt their approach and look for ways to add value to their customers. Jimmy if you get good service from your dealer then thats great and thats obviously something you value, but I personally have found most dealers to be pretty hopeless so I dont really have a lot of loyalties to any of them.
I dont really blame the bike shops for the high prices though, that really lies with the importers, they generally set the RRP's, so if they set the prices to high compared to what you can get it for overseas and then they lose sales they've only got their selves to blame.

Well my only bad experience with online trading has been F2 Racing ( US ), the online traders in NZ in my experience are great, whether trademe or shop & for alot of things ( eg. Knee Pads ) it's cheaper in NZ.

I think there's a difference between the shops who have a genuine online presence & work to keep prices down ( dirtbike.co.nz, mrmotorcycles.co.nz being my two picks ) and deliver next day & the shops who are charging a margin that's not sustainable or warranted by extra service/range.

It's things like boots, helmets, bars where I buy US ( I travel there for work so cheap delivery ) & the differences in price can be huge, Twinwall Renthall / Leatt being two classic examples, but even so the real bargains are the US close out sales, their RRP is often not that cheap in my experience anyway.

P.S. I'd add denniskirk.com as a site worth checking, got my helmet from them.

[jimmy 2006]

[QUOTE=charles23;1406376]

just before you buy,........ think about who you are screwing.
the more everyone buys overseas the smaller our local market becomes, therefore increasing prices.

get real, do you like being screwed or do you have so much money you can throw it away? why don't you just make a donation to your local bike shop? I work too hard for my money just piss it into the wind, your a dreamer!!!!

thanks. i am a dreamer. i dream of a stong local economy and bringing money into this country, not letting it go offshore.

I run my own business and work dam hard for my money also. But i get looked after well with good discounts at the LBS that i shop at. they provide value that i can not get elsewhere, are also dam hard working people that have to spend their money somewhere also. hopefully with it in some way returning back to my business. if i shop overseas, there is no way that the cash i spent is going to come full circle back into my pocket.......

[takitimu]

thanks. i am a dreamer. i dream of a stong local economy and bringing money into this country, not letting it go offshore.

I run my own business and work dam hard for my money also. But i get looked after well with good discounts at the LBS that i shop at. they provide value that i can not get elsewhere, are also dam hard working people that have to spend their money somewhere also. hopefully with it in some way returning back to my business. if i shop overseas, there is no way that the cash i spent is going to come full circle back into my pocket.......

Maybe, the counter to the full circle arguement is that you buy locally what makes sense & if you save money with other stuff from buying overseas & you then have money left over to buy more stuff locally, so you encourage locally competitive business's which are sustainable & those local businesses are able to compete globally ( from memory mrmotorcycles sell a fair bit of stuff into oz ).

My read is it's the distributors that need to sort things out, if you look at the Computer parts model, alot of the NZ online shops pass on sales to the distributor who then ships the goods to the customer, which keeps the costs down & from the outside anyway looks very efficient.

[Voltaire]

Takitimu, I agree with your line of reasoning.
The world has changed, look at Radiohead offering their album for whatever you think its worth....
My kids would never think to go into a shop and buy music...
I have found the defining point here is now service and not the cheapest price.

I generally google what I am interested in and go from there. I buy lots on Trade Me, bought a new HJC helmet, boots, armour and even the bike.
Bought riding gear on Ebay and Rockymoto close out sales.
Sold lots to the states on Ebay prior to Trade Me when the dollar was way lower ( 40 cents).
Have even imported BMW engines, frames and stuff from the US. The shipping is cheapish its just all the charges and run around you have to deal with at this end that makes it a hassle and costly.

In fact I do most of my buying and selling on line unless I need it now like inner tubes and the like.
Can't wait until Pac n Save do on line shopping and delivery..
less time shopping..more time riding.

[CaMo]

well i just ordered a 08 FOX V3 Striper helmet and a pair of thor goggles.

The helmet retails for $500 here

All up it has come to $205US without the shipping. Even with the shipping added on (not sure what it is yet) it will still be a damn good buy

[Danger]

I'm with Jimmy on this one, probably because I'm in the motorcycle industry and like Jimmy run my own business and I know its not easy to make money. Start buying all your gear over seas and see more motorcycle shops offering less service or value. Yes they make a margin on the stuff you buy from overseas. They need to earn a living like you do. Do you want to HAVE to send overseas whenever you want to buy something? No more whipping down to the bike shop on Saturday morning for that urgent part. How about you Rupert with that urgent bush for your fork. I bet you no other bike shop had that part in stock. (not trying to single you out, but as a recent example). But you got to ride that weekend, normally you would have to wait for that part at least until next week if it was in the country. Often you would be waiting a month or more if it was not.
For instance I just counted my spring selection for my suspension business. I have over 50 springs in stock. These springs do not come cheap to me and yes I make a margin on them. I could have that money sitting in the bank earning me interest! I have paid a large bill for my stock (and springs are just a small part of my stock). I could stock no springs, but then when a job comes in the customer is going to have to wait a couple of months for the right springs to come in. Yes you can buy them overseas cheaper, but you need to know what springs to get (and usually you have no idea and find out from me) and when you buy springs of me you not only get the correct springs but you also get free fitting and sag setup. I like to think I offer good service and good value for money, but I need to make something on parts because the labour charge on my suspension work sure isn't going to pay for all my food and electricity, insurance and living costs.
Then I get the odd customer that calls me up, chats for 1/2 an hour or often more (and I'm talking people from this site) and on more than one occasion, or I spend ages replying to emails or pm's giving out info (both situations where I make no money) picks my brain for info then buys their springs from over seas. Or I get springs in for their bike only to never see their bike come in to have them fitted (again even people from this site) and I have their springs sitting here with me hoping that someone else will buy them one day.
The customer thats buys springs from me gets free fitting and sometimes this takes a couple of hours of my time (taking me away from work where I can earn money) and sag setup plus the benefit of my knowledge and assistance in setting their bike up. So I need to make a margin on springs. Often the customer that has brought the springs from overseas has also benefited from my knowledge so he wins, I loose. So yeah I agree with Jimmy and I buy locally and support our motorcycle industry.
Just think about whatever industry your in and what it would be like if you could not afford to stock any product for your customers because no one buys it off you. Everyone thinks everyone else is making heaps of money. I can assure you no one that I know in the motorcycle industry is.
In the past I have brought from overseas and been stung with Customs and GST and I decided it just was not worth it for me. Also I have had issues with parts from overseas that I could not claim a warranty on. Now I buy local where possible.
So free market yeah buy where you like but think of the consequences. Rant over.