There's been a bit of discussion about this in the "What's on Ebay At The Moment" topic so I thought it may be worth it's own discussion.
As we know the dollar is very strong at present, possibly the strongest it has been since the historic decision to deregulate our financial markets and float the dollar in 1983.
I wonder though how long the prices in the US will stay favourable. In general US prices always seem relatively cheap (cheaper than comparitive Australian pricing) because of the size of their economy and population base. The number of offroad shops and suppliers is staggering compared to Australia but Australia does export some top shelf items that the Yanks love.
Their advantage has been while our dollar has been low they have been able to import on very favourable terms.
With our dollar almost at parity will purchasing from the US still be the cheaper alternative it is at present? Will their export prices start to rise because of their now dearer import costs?
The ebay store in question had air lockers selling for around US$820 plus shipping. They also had Richmond 'Lock Right' Lockers selling for US$399 I think? I have just found another US store who are selling the same Toyota 'Lock Right' Lockers for US$252 which seems unbelievable!
It has often been said that Australian retailers are too greedy or that products here pass through too many sets of hands, thus adding more 'margin' each step of the way and the Australian public, largely apathetic as a whole, sit back and accept it and don't object.
We all know the slogans about buying Australian made, but with every dollar earned so valuable these days, and government at all levels doing their best to make it even harder for us to survive with a new tax seemingly every week, are we a bit silly not to be buying some of our products from overseas to try and save a dollar?
As we know the dollar is very strong at present, possibly the strongest it has been since the historic decision to deregulate our financial markets and float the dollar in 1983.
I wonder though how long the prices in the US will stay favourable. In general US prices always seem relatively cheap (cheaper than comparitive Australian pricing) because of the size of their economy and population base. The number of offroad shops and suppliers is staggering compared to Australia but Australia does export some top shelf items that the Yanks love.
Their advantage has been while our dollar has been low they have been able to import on very favourable terms.
With our dollar almost at parity will purchasing from the US still be the cheaper alternative it is at present? Will their export prices start to rise because of their now dearer import costs?
The ebay store in question had air lockers selling for around US$820 plus shipping. They also had Richmond 'Lock Right' Lockers selling for US$399 I think? I have just found another US store who are selling the same Toyota 'Lock Right' Lockers for US$252 which seems unbelievable!
It has often been said that Australian retailers are too greedy or that products here pass through too many sets of hands, thus adding more 'margin' each step of the way and the Australian public, largely apathetic as a whole, sit back and accept it and don't object.
We all know the slogans about buying Australian made, but with every dollar earned so valuable these days, and government at all levels doing their best to make it even harder for us to survive with a new tax seemingly every week, are we a bit silly not to be buying some of our products from overseas to try and save a dollar?
