This little thread has got me alarmed. In fact when I looked once more on the Elecraft site (to see if I could in fact theoretically afford a K3) I now see that Japanese orders can ONLY be made through the official Japanese distributor. "Note: All Japan orders (including K3) must be placed through our distributor: EDC" I urge Elecraft NOT to enter into any exclusive deal with a UK based radio dealer. I suspect that many K3 orders will be initially for the basic unit but with a view to adding (many) extras over time. If I thought that a UK dealer would be the only outlet for Elecraft K3 accessories in the future it would stop me from even not ordering the basic unit in the first place. In the USA you earn considerably more than us in England and it is a sad fact that out dealers (albeit they provide a service so I am not just making a cheap criticism of them) still charge the same in £ as you pay in $. Effectively twice the price. There is no escaping the fact that here in England a K3 even at your current prices is a luxury product likely to be bought by those who would otherwise desire, but be perhaps unable to afford, an Orion II (currently $7,200 with ATU though to a US citizen ordering from the Ten-Tec site direct the price is $4,395). If you make an exclusive deal with a dealer here I think you will kill the market entirely: Kill it stone dead. To make matters worse, unless you are able to reassure potential customers now that they can add extras to be bought directly from you in the future then sales to the UK will be further reduced. When I saw the reference to orders from Japan it stopped me in my tracks. I cannot afford a K3 right now (although I was considering a transverter kit) so you have not actually lost a K3 sale but I believe that you will lose many sales (maybe even most of them) if you follow the Japanese route. I am not just being a miserable doom merchant. I have no regrets at buying my K2 from you and would consider the K3 in the future (if I have the money). I wish your company every success.
Dominic G4SLW K2 #3071 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
