Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #13655



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Richard Piotter richfile@rconnect.com
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 21:37:16 -0500
Subject: Re: 1381's in Australia


You want, service! Solarbotics has it.

I made a VERY large order. Lots of small quantities of many different items.

A mistake was made with _ONE_ item of all the numerous other items in
the order. I contacted them and they quickly sent me a replacement for
it! I was very pleased.

Unfortunately, the shipping company lost the paper work for the second
shipment. Solarbotics has already offered to reship so I don't need to
wait. That's SERVICE!!!

Now if I would just get some luck! :)


Ben Hitchcock wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> > Why bother waiting for supplies, when you can get them right here in
> > Australia!! See our web site (www.robotoz.com.au) for Solarbotics and BEAM
> > supplies. Just remember that support of locals means more support for you
> > and encouragement for us to carry more of what you want.
>
> Because for me, anyway, you cost too much. It's as simple as that.
> Sorry for being
> harsh, but as far as I'm concerned if I can ship something into the
> country for less than it takes to buy it here, then I'll do that.
>
> On Sunday I put in an order from solarbotics for about $150 (AUS) of
> stuff, which would have cost over $200 had I used the robotOZ site. I
> checked! I would like to support Australian companies but the harsh
> reality is that I would prefer to wait a few extra days and save $50 and
> support companies that give me products at reasonable prices, rather than
> supporting companies that charge an arm and a leg. I figure I'm doing my
> bit towards the evolution of companies. Rather than buying something from
> Australia 'just because it's australian', I'm supporting companies that
> offer the best service. After a while the companies that don't give good
> service will either change or go broke, which has to be good for the
> consumer. And I'm a consumer :-)
>
> I like the SolarBotics web pages - when I want some solar panels they are
> right there in "Products". I don't have to download a huge PDF catalog
> just to figure out that the solar panels are overpriced.
> The service has always been excellent, and it seems as if Dave really
> knows his stuff and wants to help others with the hobby. The RobotOz
> site, on the other hand, is definitely not oriented towards the casual
> BEAMer such as myself.
>
> I do the same thing with computer equipment - I have a CD burner, two
> gamepads, a USB-serial converter and a superdrive, all shipped over from
> the states because they were cheaper, even with shipping and customs and
> tax added in, by a factor of about 30%.
>
> I guess this means that you Yanks have a pretty good deal!
>
> Sorry about the rant but if you don't know how the consumer feels then you
> can't change. I assume you don't want to go broke :-)
>
> Ben

--


Richard Piotter The Richfiles Robotics & TI web page:
richfile@rconnect.com http://richfiles.calc.org

-- Make Money by Simply Surfing the Net or responding to E-Mail!!!
-- Click below!!!

http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=ATL147
http://www.spedia.net/cgi-bin/dir/tz.cgi?run=show_svc&fl=8&vid=329630



13656 Wed, 19 Apr 2000 13:09:42 +1000 (EST) Re: Costings in Australia beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Ben Hitchcock Hi,

Oops! I really didn't want to start a flame war here over why the
australian government is charging so much. All I was trying to do was
answer your question:

> Why bother waiting for supplies, when you can get them right here in
> Australia!!

I was very careful when writing the note to use references to "As far as
I'm concerned", "For me at least", etc. The opinions in that note are
mine, and I stand by them. I consider buying supplies from the US to be
cheaper than buying locally, and so that's what I will do. Suggesting
that I have a "lack of understanding of price setting" may be true,
however for me it comes down to the bottom line. Call me stupid, but I
don't care how the product gets to be priced that way, I just care what it
costs to buy! Should we endorse systems that are as kludgey and
antiquated as the Australian tax system?

My alliances are with
the list as a whole, rather than one individual company. Dave didn't pay
me to make the comments I did, and I haven't had any bad experiences with
RobotOz as far as service is concerned. However, I did notice a price
discrepancy, and I said so. If people choose to take notice, then let
them. If they think I'm an idiot, then that's fine as well.

Saying that my last post is a "Public slam" seems a bit harsh, but i'll
let that ride. I credit the list readers with more intelligence than to
take the opinion of one person as gospel.

I won't reply to any further posts that are posted on-list, however you
are welcome to take it off the list and I'll clarify how I feel about the
matter. I don't think that those lucky americans really want to know
about the complexities of the Australian Tax system. I sure don't!

Ben

----- Forwarded message from Peter Hamer -----

Hi Ben and all,

With Ben's rant and slam I do feel quite justified to have some defence on the
list. Normally I would reply personally, but I can not let Ben's comments
pervade the list with lack of understanding of price setting etc. Please hit the
delete button if you are not interested in the Australian economy.

Let it be known that the prices we have to charge are a factor of:

What we can buy products for in reasonable quanties from suppliers like
Solarbotics, Digikey etc
The exchange rate from USD to AUD. (very poor at the moment)
Most of the products we import into the country attract 5% Customs duty and 22%
Australian Sales Tax (based on a 20% uplifted wholesale cost), because we buy in
bulk we cannot circumvent customs and the ATO like Ben does.

So a few figures for you:

Buy a product at $10 USD.
Convert to AUD at 0.60c = $16.67 AUD
5% Customs Duty = 0.83c = $17.50
Now uplift that price by 20% = $21.04 and mulitply by 22% = $4.62 = the
Wholesale Sales Tax
Now add the $4.62 to the $17.50 = $22.12

So the landed cost (without cost of shipping (varies) and importation fee $35)
will equal $22.13 AUD.

And what does that leave us to support the costs of business. So do a bit of
economics and you see that we are essentially providing a cost neutral service
and not running a business.

Now come July 1 when we move to a GST things will change and hopefully prices
can be lower because of the getting rid of the 22% Wholesale tax (although the
government has decided to now include cost of shipping etc into the things
they will charge 10% GST on) in determining the landed cost.

So how do people get things in cheaper than that? It is because you buy in small
quantities and do not pay customs duty nor sales tax - although if you are
ordering items worth more than $250 AUD customs should pick that up and you
should be paying. Customs and the Government do not support small business and
because of that customers end up not supporting small business. It is a viscious
circle. In fact if you do get to have to pay customs duty and sales tax your
$150AUD woud convert to $200!! - so our prices are purely a factor of the
government making more out of small business than what small business can ever
hope to achieve!!

Of interest is that with the poor exchange rate at present and that exports do
not attract Australian Sales Tax that international customers find it cheaper to
buy from us than elsewhere. So at least I'm doing a bit to help our balance of
payments.

I am quite happy to receive feedback and suggestions - it doesn't mean they will
all be implemented. But Ben your public slam really does make me feel sour .
Sure I'd like to have a secure server for instant shopping lists, but I got to
make that decision that the large cost will be offset by sales.

Regards

Peter
kits@robotoz.com.au
www.robotoz.com.au

> Because for me, anyway, you cost too much. It's as simple as that.
> Sorry for being
> harsh, but as far as I'm concerned if I can ship something into the
> country for less than it takes to buy it here, then I'll do that.
> Sorry about the rant but if you don't know how the consumer feels then you
> can't change. I assume you don't want to go broke :-)
>

----- End of forwarded message from Peter Hamer -----

--
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.



13657 Tue, 18 Apr 2000 21:58:26 -0700 [alt-beam]Re:Bicore for dummies BEAM David Simmons Sebastiaan,

I think, I almost, got it. Great site, keep up the good work!

Regards,
Dave

sebastiaan van Vliet wrote:
>
> I made a "translation" of the famous Wouter Brok article, so bicore
> technology is now understandable for everyone! Have a look at
>
> www.geocities.com/beamnet/tech/bicorearticle
>
> Have fun!
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Enjoy the award-winning journalism of The New York Times with
> convenient home delivery. And for a limited time, get 50% off for the
> first 8 weeks by subscribing. Pay by credit card and receive an
> additional 4 weeks at this low introductory rate.
> http://click.egroups.com/1/3102/7/_/5594/_/956084269/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------


Home