Australian chainsaw and parts pricing

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

What if someone started to grey import from US and advertise on internet in AUS, you bet it wouldnt take long time before reaction would come from Stihl

Here in NZ we have consumer legislation to explicitly legalise grey/parallel importing and sale of genuine OEM product. The rationale behind it was to guard against dominant brands locking up the local distribution channels and extorting local consumers.

However, I know of one independent retailer who was set upon by Stihl's lawyers and was scared out of selling his parallel imported Stihl product. Even if Stihl cannot win the court battle, they can help empty the importers wallets in legal fees.

Not even one of the Stihl saws I own has come from Stihl NZ (and a big thanks from those good buggers overseas who have helped me purchase what I needed). If I can't buy what Stihl product I need from overseas, I'll by a Chinese Still long before ever buying a saw that came through Stihl NZ. In short, they can kiss my lily-white backside.

 

[raumati01]

Here in NZ we have consumer legislation to explicitly legalise grey/parallel importing and sale of genuine OEM product. The rationale behind it was to guard against dominant brands locking up the local distribution channels and extorting local consumers.

However, I know of one independent retailer who was set upon by Stihl's lawyers and was scared out of selling his parallel imported Stihl product. Even if Stihl cannot win the court battle, they can help empty the importers wallets in legal fees.

Not even one of the Stihl saws I own has come from Stihl NZ (and a big thanks from those good buggers overseas who have helped me purchase what I needed). If I can't buy what Stihl product I need from overseas, I'll by a Chinese Still long before ever buying a saw that came through Stihl NZ. In short, they can kiss my lily-white backside.

Theres a guy near me selling Stihls he imports himself on trademe, he's been doing it for a couple of years now.

Being a stihl dealer here isn't that great from what I understand, their tills are linked up to head office so they know exactly what they sell and my local stihl dealer doesn't have the full franchise deal so he sells echo as well. They let him do that and clip the ticket on those sales as well. I'll never buy a new stihl anyway and I source my parts from overseas mostly anyway, I think I was quoted $55 for an impulse live for an 066 from a dealer here.

 

[Tor R]

Here in NZ we have consumer legislation to explicitly legalise grey/parallel importing and sale of genuine OEM product. The rationale behind it was to guard against dominant brands locking up the local distribution channels and extorting local consumers.

However, I know of one independent retailer who was set upon by Stihl's lawyers and was scared out of selling his parallel imported Stihl product. Even if Stihl cannot win the court battle, they can help empty the importers wallets in legal fees.

Not even one of the Stihl saws I own has come from Stihl NZ (and a big thanks from those good buggers overseas who have helped me purchase what I needed). If I can't buy what Stihl product I need from overseas, I'll by a Chinese Still long before ever buying a saw that came through Stihl NZ. In short, they can kiss my lily-white backside.

we have import rules also in Norway.
Whatever we import it is 25% tax when we reach a certain value, and there is 25% on shipping cost as well.
Unlilke many other product there is no extra import taxes to pay on chainsaw here.

So in general if any grey import to Norway and sold Husky OEM jugs they could go way under oem price in Norway and still earn money. Last time I checked 346 jug cost 900 NKr in US and 2000 NKr in Norway before any 25% is added on both side.

I also own an farm, so for me it will be even easier.

This with high oem part prices alse lead so that many saws get trown in the bin instead of get repaired, so for people like me who love to collect on projects, high oem part prices is also a great thing lol

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Theres a guy near me selling Stihls he imports himself on trademe, he's been doing it for a couple of years now.

Good on 'em. Does he have a bricks and mortar store as well?

The law, if I understand it correctly, insists the parallel importer must offer warranty terms similar to the OEM retailers. How does this fellow handle warranty repairs?

There was (and may still be) someone a while back who imported cars from USA/Canada and always had spare space in his containers. Plenty of saws came through in those cans. It's only a two week transit on a fast service out of USA.

There is, of course, nothing NZ can do about Stihl leaning on the overseas sellers in an attempt to shut down the parallel importer's source/s of genuine Stihls. That computer network you mentioned would probably raise a red flag if an overseas serial number was typed in, and within seconds, Stihl would be able to track back to a common retailer/wholesaler overseas who seems to have a high number os their saws washing ashore in NZ or Aussie.

I guess that's a good reason to scratch the serials off parallel imported saws.

We've had some wonderful overseas Stihl sources in the past. Some were high profile sellers. But word got out and Stihl leaned on 'em. Either people couldn't keep their mouths shut or keep the details away from the general online public or the serials eventually showed up in Stihl NZ/AUS computer systems. A classic case was a UK seller. They had great deals on some Stihl saws (not so good now) and didn't mind shipping direct to NZ/Aus. Was good while it lasted, but they got leaned on by Stihl.

 

[Tor R]

Yes, there is waranty issues to keep in mind, but chainsaw are very limited on waranty anyway, but sure, it's something to calculate on.
I think Husky/Stihl Norway only keep warranty on saws where the shop is approved from them.
If any of those shops should go solo and grey import I am also sure that this shop have to provide warranty.

 

[skip sail]

I'm sorry sir,the sparkplug on your farmboss has corroded the revombulator switch, it will cost $780 to fix.... however,we are having a special on brand new Farmbosses,for only $980!
Right over here,look at how shiny they are......

 

[raumati01]

Good on 'em. Does he have a bricks and mortar store as well?

The law, if I understand it correctly, insists the parallel importer must offer warranty terms similar to the OEM retailers. How does this fellow handle warranty repairs?

There was (and may still be) someone a while back who imported cars from USA/Canada and always had spare space in his containers. Plenty of saws came through in those cans. It's only a two week transit on a fast service out of USA.

There is, of course, nothing NZ can do about Stihl leaning on the overseas sellers in an attempt to shut down the parallel importer's source/s of genuine Stihls. That computer network you mentioned would probably raise a red flag if an overseas serial number was typed in, and within seconds, Stihl would be able to track back to a common retailer/wholesaler overseas who seems to have a high number os their saws washing ashore in NZ or Aussie.

I guess that's a good reason to scratch the serials off parallel imported saws.

We've had some wonderful overseas Stihl sources in the past. Some were high profile sellers. But word got out and Stihl leaned on 'em. Either people couldn't keep their mouths shut or keep the details away from the general online public or the serials eventually showed up in Stihl NZ/AUS computer systems. A classic case was a UK seller. They had great deals on some Stihl saws (not so good now) and didn't mind shipping direct to NZ/Aus. Was good while it lasted, but they got leaned on by Stihl.

No bricks and morter store as far as I know , yep the local stihl dealer won't touch it as far as a warranty goes but the seller does offer one . Apparently the bars and chains are different to what stihl Nz offer so that's another red flag when you get it serviced.

There was a husky dealer on trademe too, also if you want power tools there's a guy that imports most of the big name brands with a warranty. Sucks to be in retail right now.

 

[shawn022]

I understand you guys over seas get the short end on pricing, but it's not cut and dry over here in the states either. Stihl 460 and 660 pistons are $170 and$180 at my local dealer. It's not his fault it's his distributor. The distributors set the pricing.
I buy those Pistons from the next distribution district over for about $54, way under my local dealers costs. If anyone should be upset, it should be the dealers that are being gouged by their distributors.
That being said I hope they don't make the lower distributors raise the pricing to level out the playing field.

 

[raumati01]

I understand you guys over seas get the short end on pricing, but it's not cut and dry over here in the states either. Stihl 460 and 660 pistons are $170 and$180 at my local dealer. It's not his fault it's his distributor. The distributors set the pricing.
I buy those Pistons from the next distribution district over for about $54, way under my local dealers costs. If anyone should be upset, it should be the dealers that are being gouged by their distributors.
That being said I hope they don't make the lower distributors raise the pricing to level out the playing field.

Thats kind of where I was going before, the dealers are getting shafted too along the way.

This is one of the parallel imported saws, 18 month warranty http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...restry/chainsaws-parts/auction-1055490929.htm

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Stihl 460 and 660 pistons are $170 and$180 at my local dealer. It's not his fault it's his distributor. The distributors set the pricing.
I buy those Pistons from the next distribution district over for about $54, way under my local dealers costs.

Crazy. Must infuriate the dealers. The thing is, they have in many cases invested a huge sum of money. If they haven't done their due diligence, why should the public pay for that incompetence? It bugs me the sense of entitlement some have. I have seen it first hand here, where one guy owns a few stores and *b-wordes about the costs of maintaining that association but then thinks nothing about demanding $ from customers to provide the level of return he, not the customer, has decided to chase.

Ultimately, the only reason it can continue along those lines is because the customer endorses it. If the market told them it was unacceptable, they'd have to find another way.

One thing I'm quite excited about is the rise of some good quality alternatives in some of the saw classes. Good, hungry brands eating away at some of the duopoly's market.

 

[peter92]

I'll 2nd shipping parts to you if needed. I used to ship pipe tobacco to a buddy in London as their prices where insane.

so wheres my pipe tobacco then please , 70.00 AU here

 

[jake wells]

so wheres my pipe tobacco then please , 70.00 AU here

that is insane last 1lb bag i seen at my local store was 19.95
carton of cigarettes is 50.00 here for name brand and the cheap brand is 30.00

 

[peter92]

that is insane last 1lb bag i seen at my local store was 19.95
carton of cigarettes is 50.00 here for name brand and the cheap brand is 30.00

gee i only need 100 grams , thats about 2 tins here

 

[Tor R]

1 cartoon cigarette is about 120 US $ in Norway.
One of the few things they put more taxes on each a year.

 

[ajschainsaws]

We got the same problem over here makita uk parts are so expensive compared to parts in Germany sometimes nearly double on some smaller parts and most of the time the parts from Germany arrive quicker than the uk parts
Which works in my favour to a certain extent now as 90% of the Dolmar parts fit the equivalent makita model, it's a lot of unpaid time for me researching and cross referencing but it makes a few sales when the price is right

But on the other end of the scale makita saws are coming in so much cheaper than the Dolmar saws which is crazy

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Boycott their assess off. When they sit around getting bored and have to start laying off their staff to pay rent then they'll figure it out.

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Have bought a bunch of Makita 18v cordless tools from US sellers recently because it's still way cheaper than NZ.
Did the same for a paslode framing nailer without realising the US version doesn't fire 90mm nails and needs another part swapped out. The NZ distributor refused to supply it. Fair enough. Have it being sent to me from overseas. Still considerably cheaper than buying locally. It was an interesting stance taken by the local suppliers. They have decided anyone buying offshore is a lost cause and wont ever be buying from them locally, so no risk of alienating such buyers through a passive agressive stance of refusing them sales or service. So, I'm currently lining up a few pallets of paslode nails and fuel cells and will flick them off at markedly less than the local prices, as my little one-finger-salute to the local reps. *f-word 'em.

 

[CR888]

I have a few little top handle Makita 231t's. They retail new here between $400-$720au. These saws are super light, reliable and great removal saws. I needed a few little parts like sprocket, clutch/bearing, clutch cover etc. As these saws are'nt that popular parts kinda need to be obtained through the dealer network and cannot be sourced from the US as they don't sell this model. I was quoted $378 for the parts, I bought the saw new for $200 from classifields. Long story short its just easier/cheaper to buy a new saw that pops up under auction on EBay than it is to buy some basic parts. So now I have 3 of these saws for this reason which kinda suits me fine. I really want a new CS-2511TES echo top handle (new model) but MSRP is $799 for this plastic case 25cc top handle.

 

[CR888]

BTW everything kiwibro posted I agree with 100%, so true and well said!

 

[super3]

It's because y'all have those awesome hard ass F'in trees down that way.



Seriously though I feel for ya getting raped at those prices.