Buy from NZ? I tried but come on...

[Voltaire]

Which is good, and I would do the same, this however impacts on the margins and therefore when the worker wants a pay rise he aint going to get one, Margin is what we all live on, all of us no margin = no money, no money to pay wages or grow business.
Prices driving down down down, will result in lower wages
Importing privately and by passing the importer will also do the same, lower wages to the point where we are importing the lower wages from the outside world.
Meantime we all want more and more out of a pot that is shrinking, so whats the answer ??

I think import licencing is a possibility, privately and for business, no licence no importing just like the old days !!

I dont have any other ideas, but I am sure one day something will change either by regulation or by our standard of living that we enjoy.

Its a vicious cycle the way I see it with a poor ending

Yeah, I really liked paying triple the price at Morris Black and Mathisons for tools, unable to get decent tyres for my car as Reid rubber made them locally and you had to pay thru the nose for Michelins, Lincoln Turner screwdrivers...the list is endless. .......useless orange black and decker power tools.....having to drink that shit Lion Red and DB Export....that add on TV makes me laugh. what a load of bollocks.....boring limited selection of food....and so on...
The old days...you can have them.

[Edbear]

Scenario:
You're in the market for a new tv.
Two shops have got the identical tv.
One shop is charging $500.00 more than the other one.
Which one do you buy??

In my case, I went back to the first shop and told them their TV was too expensive. They came back with another price, beating the other shop by $50, simply because I bothered to go back.

Interesting points. We have shops we prefer to buy from due to their good service and have found that they'll always try to match or better another shop's pricing if we point it out to them as loyal customers.

Personally, I try to be as reasonable as I can with the ballance between earning a living and "meeting the market" and I'm constantly amused at the prices some charge. I did a quote for fire extinguishers where the customer was quoted $207.00 per extinguisher, (4.5kg Dry Powder), and I sold them to him for $109.00. The quote was $32.20 or the signs, my retail on them is $8.63. (Including GST). My video camera dive masks for deep scuba are $368.00 including the accessory side lights where other suppliers are charging $550.00 for them! I hope to make a living from my business, too, but surely there are retailer's out there who are a wee bit greedy..?

[Quasievil]

But just because you run a business importing gear doesnt mean you should get preferential treatment compared to an individual who decides to import something for themselves.

Yes it does

[Pussy]

When I buy stuff from overseas... it's for me.
I'm not buying it to re-supply someone else.
Selfishly, I like to decide for myself how I will spend MY money on MYself.

[Brian d marge]

....having to drink that shit Lion Red and DB Export.....

Hes got a point there

Stephen

[spacemonkey]

Yes it does

No it doesn't, not even remotely.

[rwh]

But just because you run a business importing gear doesnt mean you should get preferential treatment compared to an individual who decides to import something for themselves.

Yes it does

So you're firmly on the protectionist Left then?

Richard

[Robert Taylor]

>>we have sorted a LOT of suspension units out that were privately imported on the false belief that a huge saving was to be made.<<

And whats the problem with that?
You did charge for your services didnt you?


Seems to me from the tenor of your posts you would like to tip the playing field in your direction because you dont like the idea of individuals making purchase decisions that dont favour you.
Kiwi jobs etc have nothing to do with it

If you had bothered to READ my post you would see I wasnt referring to the services you provide, only the importing and remitting of money overseas.

Please enlighten everyone by explaining what the difference is between you sending money to Sweden an me sending money to the States.


Also if you had bothered to read the post you would see that I would have sympathy for your position if you supported a NZ factory staffed by NZ workers, manufacturing a NZ suspension system.
Or should everyone just send their money to Sweden via you so you can clip the ticket?
I am sure Ohlins could care less whether the money came via you or via the USA, as long as they get paid.

Sometimes I think people post on here for the sake of being argumentative.

I read your post and understood it. And Im not just clipping the ticket, Im adding a LOT of value. If you dont believe me come to our building and observe for a few days. If you have a huge investment in backup infrastructure why wouldnt you be concerned that you are losing a few sales to overseas companies, especially when our prices are similiar. I wasnt overstating the case when I said we see more than a few suspension units that were purchased overseas and we end up sorting them out to suit our conditions. So it ends up actually costing the customers MORE, so how stupid is that???????
I must be old fashioned in actually caring about the long term viability of NZ business and employment prospects.
Yes I dont blame people for being price concious given that we are in the midst of a recession and NZ workers are poorly paid. As Quasi has not unfairly intimated, what are some of the reasons NZ workers are poorly paid? Im not saying I agree with Quasi being so ''abrupt'' but I can understand why. But its a fair question.
This is actually a worldwide problem, not just restricted to NZ. Idle Lefty may care to elaborate as some but not all of what he says makes sense.
And btw we fabricate a LOT of suspension pieces that employ kiwis and outside sub contractors.

[Quasievil]

No it doesn't, not even remotely.

Really, I can claim GST back you cant

[spacemonkey]

So you're firmly on the protectionist Left then?

Richard

No he's firmly in the camp of "Me first, fuck everyone else."

Quasi is moaning about folks importing products cheaper than he wants to sell at, inspite of the fact that this is exactly what he does to anyone that wants to actually make gear in NZ instead of made in a Pakistani sweatshop and flogged over the internet...... Short version, hypocrite.

[Quasievil]

No he's firmly in the camp of "Me first, fuck everyone else."

Quasi is moaning about folks importing products cheaper than he wants to sell at, inspite of the fact that this is exactly what he does to anyone that wants to actually make gear in NZ instead of made in a Pakistani sweatshop and flogged over the internet...... Short version, hypocrite.

Wow thats a lot of attitude and assumptions
not sure why you want to go get all personal about it by insulting me.

Most of what you actually said is rubbish however, I would like to see you import a Jacket to the same Spec for significantly less money to make it worth while, Qmoto Pricing is sharp as a tack given the spec and the service we provide.

95% of gear is now made in Pakistan, I didnt realise you had been there if you did you would know that you dont have to be in a shop to sweat lol
Also the workers get paid well for their economy, not by NZ standards of course, but the cost of living is alot less.

Anyway, I was referring to the bigger picture outside just Bike gear which is sweet fuck all of an industry in the scale of things.
And my argument suggesting business deserves some protection from private imports is getting the endorsement from the government as I understand it they are looking at ways to collect GST on all goods purchased over the internet, and good job I say.

[rwh]

Really, I can claim GST back you cant

I'm not sure what your point is - are you claiming you do get preferential treatment?

It doesn't make a difference to the price, though, because you stick it back on when you sell it (with a bit added for your margin).

Richard

[rwh]

And my argument suggesting business deserves some protection from private imports is getting the endorsement from the government as I understand it they are looking at ways to collect GST on all goods purchased over the internet, and good job I say.

That's not really protection; it's just removing a loophole that currently disadvantages you.

I would probably buy gear from you, because you're local(ish) - but that's because there are advantages to me in you being local, like being subject to the same legal jurisdiction (CGA etc), and being able to visit if need be to sort stuff out. It wouldn't really be out of any hand-wavy loyalty to fellow NZers (well, maybe a bit), and it certainly wouldn't be out of respect for your KB ranting - just about everything you say would sway me in the opposite direction

However, of course, I discovered that I could get my leathers made locally, custom made to fit, by the same guy that was selling them. That put the value way up for me, even though the price was probably quite a bit more than your stuff.

Richard

[Edbear]

...
95% of gear is now made in Pakistan, I didnt realise you had been there if you did you would know that you dont have to be in a shop to sweat lol
Also the workers get paid well for their economy, not by NZ standards of course, but the cost of living is alot less....:

...I read your post and understood it. And Im not just clipping the ticket, Im adding a LOT of value. If you dont believe me come to our building and observe for a few days. If you have a huge investment in backup infrastructure why wouldnt you be concerned that you are losing a few sales to overseas companies, especially when our prices are similiar. I wasnt overstating the case when I said we see more than a few suspension units that were purchased overseas and we end up sorting them out to suit our conditions. So it ends up actually costing the customers MORE, so how stupid is that???????
I must be old fashioned in actually caring about the long term viability of NZ business and employment prospects.
Yes I dont blame people for being price concious given that we are in the midst of a recession and NZ workers are poorly paid. As Quasi has not unfairly intimated, what are some of the reasons NZ workers are poorly paid? Im not saying I agree with Quasi being so ''abrupt'' but I can understand why. But its a fair question.
This is actually a worldwide problem, not just restricted to NZ. Idle Lefty may care to elaborate as some but not all of what he says makes sense.
And btw we fabricate a LOT of suspension pieces that employ kiwis and outside sub contractors.

Maybe some are missing the fact that pretty much everything we buy is made overseas and imported by both local distributors and local manufacturers. Otherwise we'd have nothing to drive/ride/ wear/ watch/listen to/build with etc.

Few local manufacturers use exclusively local "bits and pieces" made here and what they make is to a larger or lesser degree, compounded of overseas componentry and/or materials. We live in a global era and cannot afford to be insular. We can make "stuff" here using local content where possible, but everyone has to weigh the balance of cost against market acceptability, and if we could manufacture and sell goods at competitive prices acceptable to the end consumer completely within NZ, we would!

[steve_t]

Sometimes I think people post on here for the sake of being argumentative.

Sometimes?

Basically, anyone who owns/runs a business has a totally different perspective to someone who has only ever been an employee.