The 'Importing Stuff from Overseas' Thread

[olegmcnoleg]

Alright, you can have the sunburst one.

I'm put off by the Gretschy pickups on that one.

Yeah, I know
Really good price though, it would be around $2k landed.

[KNNZ]

$2k landed is indeed a good price

[Molly]

http://www.niconico-guitars.com/html/

These chaps come well recommended.

[NZRS-Dave]

not like the random often boring examples imported by the Rockshop

Oh cool - pick on the Rockshop - you know we're not the only Gibson dealers in NZ.

:p

[Gonzbull]

I'm with MattAnt on this. I outfitted my whole studio with nothing bought locally. My problem was I couldn't find most of what I wanted and the stuff I did find was almost double the cost of what I paid.
The exchange rate was much better when all this happened so....
Ebay was my main source with payment always via PayPal. Not a single hassle thankfully.

[NZRS-Dave]

Gonz - can I ask what you got? I am always interested in where people have bought our product (Rockshop) from overseas and what they actually ended up paying for it. So if there was anything that we do - I'd be interested to know.

[jeremyb]

not like the random often boring examples imported by the Rockshop

Oh cool - pick on the Rockshop - you know we're not the only Gibson dealers in NZ.

:p

And it's not you guys bringing it in....

[bender]

I'm with MattAnt on this. I outfitted my whole studio with nothing bought locally. My problem was I couldn't find most of what I wanted and the stuff I did find was almost double the cost of what I paid.
The exchange rate was much better when all this happened so....
Ebay was my main source with payment always via PayPal. Not a single hassle thankfully.

My experience is almost the exact opposite. I've almost always been able to find studio gear locally at extremely competitive prices. There are a few notable exceptions of course, but when I've gone looking, I've almost always bought locally.

[JHorner]

My experience with RS eons ago:
- Ask for discount, get discount.

My experience with RS now:
- Ask for discount, get offered $5 off hardcase or a lead.
- Show them actual price of item elsewhere online, get item for that price.

[Molly]

My experience with RS eons ago:
- Ask for discount, get discount.

My experience with RS now:
- Ask for discount, get offered $5 off hardcase or a lead.
- Show them actual price of item elsewhere online, get item for that price.

I've had some pretty hefty discounts at RS. Wish they did second-hand gear. It'd be cool to rifle through that week's trade-ins and with TradeMe prices going the way they are maybe that's more of an option now than it's been in the recent past.

[NZRS-Dave]

- Ask for discount, get offered $5 off hardcase or a lead.
- Show them actual price of item elsewhere online, get item for that price.

Good - the team are doing their job.

This is a simple business practice employed by many companies - it's better to give a complementary product away at a discount than to give dollars off the price of the main item. Most people need / want accessories so we can add those in as they don't cost as much. Here's an example.

I needed to buy some gear for the gym club which was $6500 and the mounting piece was $1299. The guy said 'Buy the gear and I will throw the mounting piece in free at the $6500 price.' That meant $7799 for $6500. But then we decided that we might get the mounting piece custom made so I asked what price he could do the $6500 gear for. He said $5500 if he had too but he'd rather give us the whole $7800 for $6500. Sounds mad right? Why lose $300 extra? Simply because the $1299 piece only cost him $670 including GST ... so he was only losing $670 versus losing a $1000.

Same at the Rockshop - but as you noted - if you don't need anything extra then we can match the price.

[NZRS-Dave]

Wish they did second-hand gear. It'd be cool to rifle through that week's trade-ins

I've been here since we did do that and it's not that great. We pretty much stopped doing Tradeins because they always ended up biting us in the butt. Things never sold for what we wanted them too ... so we made no money. Gear had problems ... so we made no money.

It's easy to say 'oh but if you had traded it in properly at the right price - then that wouldn't happen'. Sorry but it does - nearly every time.

[JHorner]

This is a simple business practice employed by many companies

Oh for sure, yeah I'm not complaining. I'm sure you guys know what you're doing. Successful looking bricks and mortar business for this day and age.

That said, sometimes I use the price match, but sometimes I just order the thing from the people with the lowest advertised price because I'm like "hey thanks for just straight out listing the thing at a good price and not making me jump through any hoops to get to your actual price".

[NZRS-Dave]

That said, sometimes I use the price match, but sometimes I just order the thing from the people with the lowest advertised price because I'm like "hey thanks for just straight out listing the thing at a good price and not making me jump through any hoops to get to your actual price".

Yep, I appreciate that for sure. It's a by-product of a big inventory - we don't have the staff to keep on top of the lowest price on all gear. But we can usually match it if we know.

[crowbgood1]

You-shop and Sweewaters have been a great combination for me. Thrashed the ass of this when our dollar was up.

7 to 10 day wait from purchase to doorstep.