On 6 Jan 2001, at 20:54, Joseph McAllister wrote:
> Dave, don't blame Pentax, the Japanese manufacturer. The price to the dealer of
> Pentax equipment here is set by the importer, Pentax USA. They are the ones who
> are pricing the goods out of reach. And their contracts with dealers leave much
> to be desired. Discount is based on volumes that can't be met in the SLR or P&S
> business except by mass purchases of stock by mail order and large chains. The
> low volume of the "Pro" shops prevent them from being competitive against the
> chains, so they don't bother ordering anything but one copy each of the 645 and
> the 67. Everything else is special order. And there are no discounts.
Joe,
When Dave mentioned "what happened in this country" he was referring to
New Zealand the importers I believe are C.R. Kennedy & Company in
Australia http://www.crkennedy.com.au/
Pricing on Pentax gear here has been excessive for as long as I can
remember, in most cases it is less expensive to import the goods and pay
all the insurances, shipping and taxes. Pentax brand lenses are a relative
rarity and I suspect that kick-backs to the dealers are relatively poor as most
often they will push Canon or Nikon over Pentax. You think availability and
pricing is bad in the US, it seems sometimes that it is easier to find Leica
here :-)
Cheers,
Rob Studdert
HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA
Tel +61-2-9554-4110
Fax +61-2-9554-9259
UTC(GMT) +10 Hours
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications.html
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