Article DetailsStihl Chainsaw Pricing Australia| Expensive Compared to USA |
| Date Added: April 09, 2008 09:44:29 AM |
| Author: Eric Frei |
| Category: Equipment Tools and Machinery |
Stihl Chainsaw Pricing Australia| Expensive Compared to USA Australian's in some cases are paying upward of double for the same chainsaws that are available in the USA.For a long time the rationale spun was things like:- * Poor currency exchange rates * High taxes * High freight costs, Australia is so far away So lets nail these "spins" one by one. Exchange rates have risen steadily from a dismal 0.48AUD to $1USD to 0.90AUD. So Australia is nearly dollar for dollar to USA. Taxes, this one is interesting. On 3 August 2004 Australia gained a free trade agreement with USA, no taxes or tariff's, but it was only 5% before anyway! Now imagine this. Paying the highest possible rate for freight from USA to Australia via UPS a ms200t saw can be shipped for $100USD and arrive in about 3 to 5 working days. You can pay less and it will take longer however we are talking singular item, no container, no ships, no 3 month wait. At about the time of writing a MS200T could be purchased retail in USA for $500USD which converted to around $550AUD. Now the retail on that saw in Australia varied between $1200 and $1500, yes double to near triple. So you could buy the saw retail in USA, pay top dollar shipping and get it to Australia half price. In a discussion thread on Tree World forum both Stihl and the Customs department were contacted and details verified. You can see this for yourself, copies of emails and peoples inputs. Stihl maintains it's defence with the above rhetoric, which we know is simply not the truth. Stihl also made sure it cleared it's position for dealer price fixing which is illegal, so if a dealer tells you they need Stihl's permisssion to discount you know they are lying. What happens is Stihl have import, wharehousing and distribution centres. They control all product coming into the country. Dealers are not permitted to sell via the internet and encouraged to maintain their local area. You cannot buy a saw directly from a dealer in the USA either. You need some-one to walk in and buy it for you and forward it on. There are issues of serial number tracking for warranty work. I'm certain if you presented the saw in Australia questions would be asked. The purpose of this article is to dispell the myths and raise awareness of Stihl's costing in Australia. If in fact it is cheaper to source saws from USA then why does Stihl not do so? Dealers cannot import from USA either, they must order via Stihl Australia. This creates a less competative environment and Stihl maintaining monopolistic control. If USA distribution and manufacturing is providing the same quality product at a cheaper price then why the blockade? It is not as though USA exploits the environment or it's workers, rather the saws be built there than China. A comprehensive discussion is available Tree World Written by Eric Frei who administers www.treeworld.info and has imported many chainsaws from USA. |
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