Australian pricing?

A

Aussiemetaller001

New Member
Hi there.

Probably opening a can of worms here, but I'm interested in a FM3 and read that they are $1000 USD, then realised that in Australia, they are $2048.50 on special from $2148.50 usual price and I'm feeling like we're getting shafted down here.

$1000USD = $1446AUD so that's a $600 markup, or in retail terms 40-45% markup.

Is this the only way to get these units in Australia?
 
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Aussiemetaller001 said:
$1000USD = $1446AUD so that's a $600 markup, or in retail terms 40-45% markup.
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That's not a markup. That's just the conversation rate. Of you buy $1000USD worth of underwear, you're still going to pay $1446AUD. No one makes a dime on that price difference.

Add in the price to ship something from the US to Oz, and the taxes and duties that the Aussie government wants, and you can see where the price difference comes from.

And I hear you: it sucks.
 
Rex said:
That's not a markup. That's just the conversation rate. Of you buy $1000USD worth of underwear, you're still going to pay $1446AUD. No one makes a dime on that price difference.

Add in the price to ship something from the US to Oz, and the taxes and duties that the Aussie government wants, and you can see where the price difference comes from.

And I hear you: it sucks.
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I think he's talking about the difference between $1446AUD and $2048.50AUD... there's no conversion rate there ;)
 
Rex said:
That's not a markup. That's just the conversation rate. Of you buy $1000USD worth of underwear, you're still going to pay $1446AUD. No one makes a dime on that price difference.

Add in the price to ship something from the US to Oz, and the taxes and duties that the Aussie government wants, and you can see where the price difference comes from.

And I hear you: it sucks.
Click to expand...

I meant the difference between the converted $1446 and retail of $2048 is a 45% markup. Say $50 shipping on bulk units plus taxes, that's $500 profit at least for the distributor.
 
This has been done to death. Do a search. Independent Music has fair pricing. It is not an accurate picture when you just do a conversion from the listed US price to Aus. For a start add shipping then duties and gst. Your math is off, more like 300-400 extra per unit. If you dont like it dont buy, or try and buy from US and see how much it costs you by the time it gets to you.
 
Aussiemetaller001 said:
I meant the difference between the converted $1446 and retail of $2048 is a 45% markup. Say $50 shipping on bulk units plus taxes, that's $500 profit at least for the distributor.
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Haven't done much transoceanic shipping lately, eh? :)

The cheapest rate that UPS offers for a package the size and weight of a boxed FM3, shipped from Fractal headquarters to Oz, is $570.11 AUD. There may be some savings on a bulk shipment, but it's nowhere near as low as the $50 that you imagine. Then the bulk shipment will have to be broken up so that your box can be shipped to you at an additional shipping cost.

On top of that, the good folks in Canberra will want Goods & Services Tax of $208.83 AUD, and an additional $72.30 AUD import duty.

Long story short: the price difference is nowhere near the money grab that you imagine.
 
Rex said:
Haven't done much transoceanic shipping lately, eh? :)

The cheapest rate that UPS offers for a package the size and weight of a boxed FM3, shipped from Fractal headquarters to Oz, is $570.11 AUD. There may be some savings on a bulk shipment, but it's nowhere near as low as the $50 that you imagine. Then the bulk shipment will have to be broken up so that your box can be shipped to you at an additional shipping cost.

On top of that, the good folks in Canberra will want Goods & Services Tax of $208.83 AUD, and an additional $72.30 AUD import duty.

Long story short: the price difference is nowhere near the money grab that you imagine.
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That makes sense now. I remember buying my amp 11 years ago and that it was a similar difference but not double the US price. I'd be interested to know where that precise number of $208.83 comes from.

Also, I know it's agonizing for some people to hear that someone else might have an opinion or question why something is expensive, but " If you dont like it dont buy" is just a dickhead comment.

I can buy most musical products in Australia from multiple distributors and shop around for the best price. It sucks that there's one distributor in the whole country, and first thought is that they are marking it up as much as they want because they have no competition.
 
From what I understand, it'd be the current conversion for US pricing, but the numbers are upside-down. 🙃
 
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hi Aussiemetaller001,
I know how you feel however that’s the price -Andrew and the guys at independent are super cool and do their best to attend to any issues. I couldn’t believe the axefx 3 price over here either, but once you price up other alternatives, you see where the extra goes. that’s really your only option, so pony up! You won’t be sorry.
Thanks
Pauly


Aussiemetaller001 said:
Hi there.

Probably opening a can of worms here, but I'm interested in a FM3 and read that they are $1000 USD, then realised that in Australia, they are $2048.50 on special from $2148.50 usual price and I'm feeling like we're getting shafted down here.

$1000USD = $1446AUD so that's a $600 markup, or in retail terms 40-45% markup.

Is this the only way to get these units in Australia?
Click to expand...
 
Or......

AXE-FX III in USA 2000bux, FM3 1000 Bux

While AUS
III: 3693 FM3 2048

You get a much bigger "discount" buying FM3 in Australia compared to USA :D
 
I might be wrong here, but isn't the $1000 USD price the base price and then subject to the individual State's purchase tax? Sure I read that somewhere??
 
Rex said:
11 years ago, there was a period when the Australian dollar was roughly equal in value to the US dollar.
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When I got into playing in the early 2000's the Aussie dollar only got you around 50 cents and gear was horrendously expensive. The first year I went to the states (2012) the dollar was at parity - we had originally intended to hire gear on tour but it worked out cheaper to buy everything and store it. Talk about a kid in a candy store.

OP I'll second @pauly - Andrew and the IM crew offer fantastic service and go out of their way to help their customers. ALso worth considering something like the Kemper stage, which Sweetwater list for $1700USD (around @2450AU) yet they list for around $3k AU.
 
guitarmanUK said:
I might be wrong here, but isn't the $1000 USD price the base price and then subject to the individual State's purchase tax? Sure I read that somewhere??
Click to expand...

That's right, though at present certain states are still not requiring us to collect tax.
 
Independent Music and Andrew in particular are a pleasure to do deal with and they deserve every penny the make.
Their service is on par with FAS to say at least.
Australia sucks when you wanna buy things overseas but it is what it is.
I moved to Australia in 2008 and bought my Axe fx 2 my axe fx 3 my axe 8 and several atomic frfr’s from Andrew and his team and I have a Fm3 on the way as well
When ever I had a problem they were there to help.
Cheers
 
I echo what dieter has said. I have also bought a lot of Fractal units and CLRs from IM and Andrew. They are great to deal with and you get great support from them. And I’d confirm what dieter said “Their service is on par with FAS”. The cost is not driven by greed. Although the Aussie dollar was above the US dollar a couple of years ago, the Aus Gov thought that was a bad thing for our exporters. Hence that combined with a couple of other factors brought it down. It is what it is. Import taxes and freight compound the problem.
 
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