Brake pads from USA.

[cowboyz]

for anyone who cares. Brake pads arrived. Fitted. work just as they should.

All happy and still got over $100 in my pocket I wouldnt have had otherwise.

[The Pastor]

Thing I dont understand is, why dont the shops buy off ebay, and then sell them for a $10 mark up etc. costs $50 incl shipping, why not sell them at $60 maybe even $70 - i'd pay that much to have them straight away instead of wait etc.

[homer]

ok
if were talking EBC pads
which i just assume we are
i had new in my 600 rear pads when got the bike ,
pads were shit
i got a set of new EBC pads fitted , were better by about 50 % still shit
I then got another new set , that the shop were told not to get ,
i told them i dont care what price just dont get the same pads .
so they got they got the same pads , why?
because the pad compound had changed .

you know the saying , if it aint broke dont fix it
so why would they change the compound if they were good pads .
i rang the distributor, and they recken no probs with the pads they know of .
then recommended to get the hard pads which i did $ 80 .
I didnt get to fit these as sold the bike

In the knowledge i know now , I wont be buying any EBC break pads again
ill go back to the VESRAHS .

[Taz]

I like vesrah too. and retail even with a generous mark up is rarely over $60 bucks a side. I'm surprised that the shop could not have done better than $88 bucks. I have no qualms about buying from oversea's.

[Patch]

last time I bought a set of pads from a nz dealer, Coleman's charged me $99- per side.

I'd rather spend the extra peanuts on Yoshi pads if I'm going to get raped by these fucking nz distributors/wholesalers who insist on ripping us off.

I have no problem paying for those who are extremely good at what they do, but they can get fucked if they think I'm paying an idiot to do it especially if said idiot can't pick up the phone to tell me the parts have arrived (wasn't Coleman's either, they're ok, most of the time)

The service in this country is shit, and some wonder why others prefer to shop overseas. Go figure.

[geoffm]

Huh, those NZ prices are cheap. Go into the BMW $tealership, and price up brake pads - BMW original only at $130 each! I got them to order some SBS ones at half that, but still expensive.
WHen I replaced them when I did the disks recently, I had some Galfer ones off trademe. my next set will come from the UK with all my other parts - I can landstuff from the UK for 2/3 the NZ price for the same thing, to my door in 5 days. BMW NZ is a ripoff, and puts me off buying another BMW.
G

[johan]

You have to look at the whole picture. Having lived in Europe most of my life, my opinion is a lot of things are very reasonable priced in NZ.

A few examples from overseas:

Petrol: $2.60 / liter
Bike insurance: ~$450, a month! (liter bike)
Gst: 20-25% on all parts
0,75 liter of vodka: $60
Beer at the pub: $10 ~ 50cl
etc...
etc...

NZ is a small community far away from everything. Still, most costs are reasonable IMHO.

Still, I prefer to buy Ducati spare parts on ebay.

Bad service is never acceptable. I happily pay $10 extra if the store staff remember my name after have ordered my fifth spare part. $20 extra if they remember what bike I have and a bonus of $50 dollars if they remind me of oil change is due on my bike

[homer]

Huh, those NZ prices are cheap. Go into the BMW $tealership, and price up brake pads - BMW original only at $130 each! I got them to order some SBS ones at half that, but still expensive.
WHen I replaced them when I did the disks recently, I had some Galfer ones off trademe. my next set will come from the UK with all my other parts - I can landstuff from the UK for 2/3 the NZ price for the same thing, to my door in 5 days. BMW NZ is a ripoff, and puts me off buying another BMW.
G

yeah but your buying original parts

[homer]

I like vesrah too. and retail even with a generous mark up is rarely over $60 bucks a side. I'm surprised that the shop could not have done better than $88 bucks. I have no qualms about buying from oversea's.

vesrah are primo m8

[geoffm]

yeah but your buying original parts

True - because they don't sell anything else. In the case of comparing UK parts prices with NZ, I am comparing the same BMW parts with the same part numbers as here - and they are still 1/3 cheaper.

[homer]

Thats rather a surprise
i know the parts at the shop where i go are dear but i also do know they get stuff all margin.
So its the middle man doing his bit

[Max Preload]

When I told the guy $50 he said that is lower than cost for them...

They're always going to say that. But the fact of the matter is you paid retail in the US, so maybe they should start looking at importing popular models themselves if they're being so ripped off by the local agents or importers.

[Robert Taylor]

shit don't let rob taylor see this thread.
you know you've just put untold thousands of NZ'rs out of jobs...........

It shows how much a markup the importers/distibution agents are putting on.

Ya gotta pity the dealers who have to try and compete with the exorbant prices they get them for.

Or thousands departing to Australia! The free trade agreement with China could well bite certain sectors of the economy very hard. Its as well to be flippant about my thoughts on bypassing NZ business but eyes wide open to the long term damage it inflicts on our own. Think about it if you actually care about the future of this country.

As another post inferred, has he bought apples for apples? I think I know the answer to that one already.

[Robert Taylor]

You have to look at the whole picture. Having lived in Europe most of my life, my opinion is a lot of things are very reasonable priced in NZ.

A few examples from overseas:

Petrol: $2.60 / liter
Bike insurance: ~$450, a month! (liter bike)
Gst: 20-25% on all parts
0,75 liter of vodka: $60
Beer at the pub: $10 ~ 50cl
etc...
etc...

NZ is a small community far away from everything. Still, most costs are reasonable IMHO.

Still, I prefer to buy Ducati spare parts on ebay.

Bad service is never acceptable. I happily pay $10 extra if the store staff remember my name after have ordered my fifth spare part. $20 extra if they remember what bike I have and a bonus of $50 dollars if they remind me of oil change is due on my bike

Thats very relevant Johan, Europeans are also rather better paid than here and there are more people to make the money go round.
Its also an all too common misconception that distributors make exorbitant margins.
I betcha a lot of this stuff that is coming in privately attracts no gst, and no customs clearance charges and gst on those charges, all add ons that baloon the end price, sometimes significantly.
This is an imbalance that is frankly immoral, because proper recognised distributors with proper infrastructure always incur these charges.
Heck, think of the extra revenue the minister of tax theft could accumulate and he could boost the size of the civil service to police it!

[cowboyz]

Think about it if you actually care about the future of this country.

As another post inferred, has he bought apples for apples? I think I know the answer to that one already.

I buy very little from overseas and there has to be a massive margin for me to do it. Like in this case. Future of this country when businesses are charging so much markup doesnt mean the lowely wage worker gets any more in their pocket. Hate to sound like the 90s but the gap is definitely getting bigger.

And apples for apples. Honestly I dont know if these pads are the same as the $200 ones or not. Lets say they are not. Fine.

I am getting around 25000km out of a set of brake pads. These pads are the same as the ones I took out. That means that if I were to pay $200 for them I would expect 100000km out of them to get bang for buck. Doesnt sound reasonable at all.
I work the same out with secondhand tyres. Work out what it cost me and how many ks I need out of it to be worth it. Last front I paid $70 for and needed 7800km out of it to make it worth it. Got nearly 9000out of it. I say that makes me up. The rear I am just about to go put on now will owe me 2000km. Ill tell you next month if it is worth it or not.