Buying from the States?

[Robert Taylor]

Have your mate take the labels off, try it on and then send it to you has a gift-but remember to remove the receipt....

If official distributors got up to that sort of nonsense theyd get caught and done like a dogs dinner. Hardly a level playing field is it?

[chrispy121]

I want to make one thing clear I asked a question. not ask for a lecture.
I have also stated that I do buy a lot of gear in NZ.

By the way Robert it is my friend a New Zealander working in the states that will send evrything from the shop with the tags and everything legal. So in fact I am keeping A New Zealander in a job if I do this.

I also posted some figures of costings and made an offer to buy this out of New Zealand if some one could not match but at least get resonably close to the pricing I can get from my friend. So far no one has sent me a PM with an offer to sell me this at a good price. Perhaps they are all to busy winging about New Zealanders losing their jobs. Remember I am also unemployed at the moment so I can not afford to go out and pay full over priced retail just to keep some one in a job but I am still prepared to put money back into the economy

Please do not respond to this thread anymore as this was not meant to be a forum for every one else to push their personal agendas I was just asking a question.

[Robert Taylor]

I want to make one thing clear I asked a question. not ask for a lecture.
I have also stated that I do buy a lot of gear in NZ.

By the way Robert it is my friend a New Zealander working in the states that will send evrything from the shop with the tags and everything legal. So in fact I am keeping A New Zealander in a job if I do this.

I also posted some figures of costings and made an offer to buy this out of New Zealand if some one could not match but at least get resonably close to the pricing I can get from my friend. So far no one has sent me a PM with an offer to sell me this at a good price. Perhaps they are all to busy winging about New Zealanders losing their jobs. Remember I am also unemployed at the moment so I can not afford to go out and pay full over priced retail just to keep some one in a job but I am still prepared to put money back into the economy

Please do not respond to this thread anymore as this was not meant to be a forum for every one else to push their personal agendas I was just asking a question.

I am not the only one who replied and if I and others have an agenda to protect NZ business and those that they employ then I am 100% guilty.

[2_SL0]

Im all for supporting the local dealers, I buy enough bikes, gear and crap to do my bit. However I have just made my first helmet purchase from overseas, it was a great deal cheaper and a very simple process. I will continue to buy the majority of my stuff locally, but I will always look at what is available.

New Helmet.

[Robert Taylor]

Im all for supporting the local dealers, I buy enough bikes, gear and crap to do my bit. However I have just made my first helmet purchase from overseas, it was a great deal cheaper and a very simple process. I will continue to buy the majority of my stuff locally, but I will always look at what is available.

New Helmet.

And how did you establish sizing?

[2_SL0]

And how did you establish sizing?

Well thats an interesting question, it certainly was not from any of the shops I visited, as they all only had a limited range of brands and sizes.

[Robert Taylor]

Well thats an interesting question, it certainly was not from any of the shops I visited, as they all only had a limited range of brands and sizes.

Yes you knew where that was leading to There are people out there who will brazenly waste a lot of salesmens time knowing full well that they are just making a convenience of them.
Dont get me started on the reasons why there is such a big price disparity, suffice to say being a motorcycle dealer is not a land of milk and honey. High overheads, low margins and being undermined by overseas parasites.

[Sollyboy]

Yes you knew where that was leading to There are people out there who will brazenly waste a lot of salesmens time knowing full well that they are just making a convenience of them.
Dont get me started on the reasons why there is such a big price disparity, suffice to say being a motorcycle dealer is not a land of milk and honey. High overheads, low margins and being undermined by overseas parasites.

The same price may not be matched Robert but some of the NZs service and back up is just bullshit , interesting that he has a pic of an a helmet he just buy , I buy a helmet at a dealer at in Auck a few years ago , and riding along the side plate broke and incidently it was the bit the salesmonkey was having trouble with in the shop so he maybe to blame him or I maybe to blame but probly him , any way it was established as not warranty within the 5 secs that they look at it , so I order a new side plate and 3 weeks later it was still not here ends up they couldnt get one and didnt give my money back so why would I support locals anymore I might as well orders from overseas and save my money and get the same shit back up.
Yo self exclude Robert I know your a good guy just dont wear your pants so high

[short-circuit]

I am not the only one who replied and if I and others have an agenda to protect NZ business and those that they employ then I am 100% guilty.

How would you feel about the introduction of tariffs then?

[dipshit]

The average NZ bike shop hasn't even got a clue what's available on the market.

For example try finding a bike shop in NZ that stocks a 1/5 quick throttle insert for a Suzuki. Will probably be met with a blank steer.

Quite often the only real option you have of getting good aftermarket parts for your bike is either make them yourself or mail order them from the US from the comfort of your home in front of the computer one evening... and have them turn up at your doorstep a few days later.

If NZ retailers showed any initiative and were proactive about it then of course many more people would purchase in NZ. Largely they only have themselves to blame.

[Katman]

If NZ retailers showed any initiative and were proactive about it then of course many more people would purchase in NZ. Largely they only have themselves to blame.

I'm a very small NZ retailer and I do exactly that.

It's unfortunate that the majority of New Zealand motorcyclists can't see past the big flashy shops that don't give a shit about customer satisfaction.

[TLDV8]

I'm a NZ retailer and I do exactly that.

It's unfortunate that the majority of New Zealand motorcyclists can't see past the big flashy shops that don't give a shit about customer satisfaction.

Would you regard this as good service.
The final straw was having to pay the postage because someone had no quality control and sent a defective product yet continuously blow their own trumpet.
Support local retailers when i get back to NZ,yeah right.

The reality is American retailers know how to succeed when there is competition.
A lot of NZ and Australian retailers seem to think it is their god given right.
Shit service equals no custom.
Integrity and accountability will get loyalty from the customer,that has got US retailers over US$20000 of my hard earned money to date.

Neil,that whole episode was crap from the time i payed a NZ$2200 deposit site unseen to the time i finally received it last year.

It is the same suspension package you and Jamie purchased.

I was never told it had been sent so it was sitting in customs in Brisbane and came close to being returned to sender by 3 days.

My postal address was not on the package so could not be sent the paperwork/contacted. (i had made it clear regards the PO Box)

Payed $90 for tracking post but was not told the tracking number yet there was time to be posting on KB (archive post tracking) the day it was put in the post.

It was only an inquiry to see how it was coming along that alerted me that it had been posted weeks earlier.

It took another 4 days for the tracking info to be sent,without it i could do nothing because it also was the package ID.

The value on the customs docket had been inflated (why ?) over the actual cost so i got reamed on duty/GST,the shock had 2 turns of bubble wrap and was in what was basically a paper bag.
It came with no build spec sheet.

When i finally got the package,the race tech springs and emulators were simple over the counter items which i could have got from the US for a lot less and done via their online spring rate calculator(exchange rate was over 90 cents AU to the US$)
There was no set up info which is why i went this route after all the hype on KB.

The Ohlins shock was defective and would have been when sent,i had it regassed at my own expense,it leaked out within 2 days.
I was then told to send it to the Ohlins agent in Victoria over 3000 kms away.

Wait for it i had to pay the cost to send it ie NZ$100 for the regas and post. (fully insured with tracking for obvious reasons)
Lucky for me the return post and repair was not charged to me.

I had taken the time to wrap the shock in cardboard then bubble warp, then put it in a box with packing so there was no chance of damage.
On its return the shock had been jammed into the corner of the same box and all of the packing used to push it into that corner.
The box looked like it had been dragged behind a car and did the shock no favours.

All in all it cost me over NZ$2700 for a old model shock,fork springs and emulators.
As you might have,the shock is borderline unless you are carrying a major load,for dayly riding it is bone jarring and the damping way off.
The set up info repeatedly asked for,the point of the whole exercise was never supplied,all i got in the end was a sorry that must have been a nightmare for you.

All in all it is something i try to forget about but am reminded every time i ride the bike (my only transport bar the treadly)
$hit happens.

There are also plenty of helmet charts on the internet for fitment,my US purchased Arai XD3 ($899 here) fit like a glove and saved over $400 on the current price.
When i asked here why the large difference, i was fobbed off.
the only saving grace for some is the latest imports will be closer to RRP due to the major decrease in the exchange rate,it was total piracy before when i purchased my one.



.

[TLDV8]

The latest purchase from the US.

Excellent communication with all questions answered quickly.
Excellent packing.
Fast shipping.
No drama.



Of course i have supported retailers here,as mentioned somewhere in this thread i had been waiting for some Acerbis hand guards and fitting kit.
Around NZ$260 !!!
I get a phone call asking if i still wanted the order,yes i do being i payed you on the 13th of last month.
They then look it up and find the payment,sorrryyyyyyyyyyy.

[Katman]

The reality is American retailers know how to succeed when there is competition.
A lot of NZ and Australian retailers seem to think it is their god given right.

The reality is that I have learnt through recent experience (and knew prior to that from 25 odd years as a NZ motorcycle consumer) that there is no shortage of NZ motorcycle shop that can't see anything past their overheads, turnover and profits.

There are some small businesses out there, like mine, who recognise that without customers we have no business.

The onus is on NZ motorcyclists to search out those businesses.

[jono035]

I don't really know about bike gear, I never even considered buying anything from overseas given that I'd much rather be able to try it on, or take it back (as with the case of the boots I just bought with a improperly stitched seam on the inside).

As for other stuff we have had to try to source through work (mostly electronics related), sometimes it is a combination of everything that makes buying off-shore much easier. We frequently have all sorts of hassles with distributors who use their manufacturer-granted monopoly on the local market to massively gouge prices while at the same time not holding stock, not supplying support, not stocking the full range, not procuring stock on back-order in a reasonable time frame and not being easy to deal with in any way, shape or form. There are a lot of businesses in NZ that deserve our support (Quasi, when are those winter SPS gloves ready?). There are also a lot of places out there that don't need to exist and serve no purpose.