Canon Australia updates RRP

[Doninoz]

As a reseller I can't compete so I don't offer Canon any more. I sell some to existing customers who want to stay with my support but other than that, I just don't try.

Complaining to Canon gets a reseller exactly nowhere! I can disclose my current buy price on a 7D is $1767.00 ex tax! How can I compete with companies selling it full price for under $1,600.00 with a 3 year Australian warranty??? (that's with MACK too, not canon warranty but still as good. When I bought my 5D Mark II, I bought it cheaper from retail (JB HiFi) than I could buy it from my distributor! Of course, JB buy from a Canon distributor just like me but because they have more buying power, they get more discount...prices are tiered.

I agree that Canon Australia is just passing on the high dollar savings and that was confirmed in Canon's mail out to resellers just a few weeks ago. They haven't really lowered prices, nor will they! Canon doesn't do that.

I remember in a meeting with resellers a few years ago Canon admitted that their markups were much higher than other countries but said that this had to be as the Australian Market was so small.

I don't know whether any of you remember the Australian Government changing the law and allowing grey market competition into Australia. Well this was as a direct response to Canon Australia's cases against sellers of grey imports for breach of copyright (Canon Australia said they had an exclusive copyright on the canon logo in Australia and sellers who sold canon products were in breach of that copyright...so the Government stopped Canon - and others who were about to get on the bandwagon in their tracks!)

I too think it's about time that Australian 'brand' wholesalers woke up to the reality that they can no longer charge inflated markups any more and get with the one-world market!

[Scotty72]

A good example of how many large companies are stuck in the old business mould.

Canon will wake up eventually but, they will leave a trail of broken resellers in their wake.

[Xenedis]

Canon will wake up eventually but, they will leave a trail of broken resellers in their wake.

The other thing to consider is that there is very little profit margin in selling cameras and lenses.

Accessories is where more money is made. Y'know, those useful-as-tits-on-a-bull UV/'protection' filters, flash cards, camera cases, cleaning kits, etc.

[Mark L]

I remember in a meeting with resellers a few years ago Canon admitted that their markups were much higher than other countries but said that this had to be as the Australian Market was so small.

And this is where the real problem arises. If I can buy something from B&H for 40% less than the Canons R.R.Price in Aus. then it makes it very hard for our retailers.
If we're such a small market then selling at nil profit margin won't make any deference to the major camera manufactures bottom line. Sell more cameras and then key into making money as per ^ by Xenedis.
I need a couple of new lenses, but I can't afford the camera to put them on.

[zollo]

True...in a way. I have just closed a retail outlet. Staff costs were 30%. Rent was 30% (inc gas, elec, etc), GST 10%, Franchise costs 10%, cost of goods 30%.

Add that up....30 + 30 + 10 + 10 +30....110. YEP 110% - and that is with me working 80 hours a week for no income. Now, tell me the way to make it all work is to lower the price of my product!!!

Fact is, in order to survive I tried to reduce costs.....got rid of good staff and employed kids at $8 an hour...criminal but the law says that is their rate of pay....still not enough...raise prices........hmmm yeah that works..............OH NO, now I actually have people abusing my staff (under 16 since thay are the cheap labour) because they feel the product is too expensive!!!

"screw you I can get it online for less!"

Damn....what do I do now, I already have a 10% loss.... OH..I GET IT!!!! DROP MY PRICE!!! that means I can sell more product (at a loss) and dig myself a bigger hole.....INSPIRED!!!!

/rant.

Sorry. just got out of a retail situation losing me money hand over fist and tired of 'customers' telling me how it can work.

<for those that do not understand some of the pressures Aussie outlets face...my shop was smaller than most family rooms.......I paid $10,0000 a month for that> YEP, a month. now come tell me to my face I should drop my prices....for what? So you can get your product but I earn nothing, my staff get paid jack and we all work our butts off!!>

Lol guess my rant was not done.

Seriously guys, if you want to see it from a retailers side give me a call. I am all for consumer freedom but look at the impact to our way of life.

/rant / rant /rant......<breathes deep> ok...emotion gone...breath...breath....breath...ahhhhhhhhhh.....

Grrrrrrrr..........

not to tell you how to run your business, but did you ever think that whatever you were running out of a living room sized space @ 10,000 a month was not a very viable option?

[Xenedis]

I remember in a meeting with resellers a few years ago Canon admitted that their markups were much higher than other countries but said that this had to be as the Australian Market was so small.

Maybe the number of Canon EOS DSLRs and EF lenses Canon sells in Australia is a small percentage of the number of those items sold in the US market, but what Canon Australia perhaps ought to realise is that while this wide, brown land of ours is girt by sea, the Internet isn't.

To the kind of logical mind I have, the notion of paying a significantly higher amount of money for a given item sold through Canon Australia's authorised distribution chain -- as opposed to a much cheaper price elsewhere -- for the same item, that originates from the same Japanese factory, just doesn't make any bloody sense.

So, while Canon has dropped its RRPs for an extremely limited number of its products, the 'savings' still don't come close to beating, let alone matching, what a savvy enough consumer can easily achieve.

[KeeFy]

Maybe the number of Canon EOS DSLRs and EF lenses Canon sells in Australia is a small percentage of the number of those items sold in the US market, but what Canon Australia perhaps ought to realise is that while this wide, brown land of ours is girt by sea, the Internet isn't.

To the kind of logical mind I have, the notion of paying a significantly higher amount of money for a given item sold through Canon Australia's authorised distribution chain -- as opposed to a much cheaper price elsewhere -- for the same item, that originates from the same Japanese factory, just doesn't make any bloody sense.

So, while Canon has dropped its RRPs for an extremely limited number of its products, the 'savings' still don't come close to beating, let alone matching, what a savvy enough consumer can easily achieve.

I don't think Canon Australia will ever be able to beat overseas prices for 1 core reason. GST. That's an extra 10% on top (which you can claim back if you're going overseas and places like Hong Kong has none). Also factor in other costings and it definitely won't. I beg to differ when Canon Australia says the Australian market is small. It's bigger than some markets and yet the prices are still significantly higher than those. It's down to greed and the top level wanting a fatter paycheck.

That said.. it was nice to see it from the perspective of a distributor thanks to Donninoz. It seems i will not be getting my cameras locally anytime soon unless it's 2nd hand.

[Scotty72]

We are a small and, importantly, isolated market. Sure, Belgium might be s small market, but it is surrounded by very large ones. So, I am maybe the Belgian supply can just piggy-back on the German shipment?????

However, Johnno is right: They have got to stop thinking in the last century. Online retail has no international borders. So, instead of talking about a Hong Kong price and an Australian price seperately, they should just set an international price.... Then, I'm sure Australians will accept a small % on top due to a slightly higher freight cost.

[peterb666]

I don't think Canon Australia will ever be able to beat overseas prices for 1 core reason. GST. That's an extra 10% on top ...

First off let me say I hate the GST. It put one of my friends businesses out of business and the company I worked for at the time was severely hit, previously being not only free of wholesale sales tax but tax exempt on purchases. Well all that changed but the budgets of the clients didn't.

On the defence of the GST (if you can call it that), our GST is relatively low compared to many other countries, for example, the UK is 20% and NZ us 15%. Funny thing is I can buy a lot of stuff cheaper from those countries than Australia.

[JM Tran]

First off let me say I hate the GST. It put one of my friends businesses out of business and the company I worked for at the time was severely hit, previously being not only free of wholesale sales tax but tax exempt on purchases. Well all that changed but the budgets of the clients didn't.

On the defence of the GST (if you can call it that), our GST is relatively low compared to many other countries, for example, the UK is 20% and NZ us 15%. Funny thing is I can buy a lot of stuff cheaper from those countries than Australia.

not to mention we can buy the stuff in Europe in certain areas and shops, and claim back the 20% VAT etc at the airport before flying back to Aus, thus further increasing our savings even more.

[Xenedis]

There have been stories in the media lately about the retail market declining.

It's no surprise, really. Consumers have woken up and taken their business elsewhere (eg, online) where they can buy goods at lower prices.

[macmich]

i went into my local camera shop
the only one in bendigo and asked the chap if he could get any more vanguard tripods with pistol heads in
he had quoted me $270 normally $299 therse
i had in my hand a brand new 7d with a 10-20 on it
he asked me where i got the 7d
i told him i got it for a $1000 cheaper than there price
he turned around and said theres the door theres no more 10% discount for you
cheers macca

[peterb666]

i went into my local camera shop
the only one in bendigo and asked the chap if he could get any more vanguard tripods with pistol heads in
he had quoted me $270 normally $299 therse
i had in my hand a brand new 7d with a 10-20 on it
he asked me where i got the 7d
i told him i got it for a $1000 cheaper than there price
he turned around and said theres the door theres no more 10% discount for you
cheers macca

The classic "I will cut off my nose in spite of my face" retailer who would like to live in a world without competition. The idiot has probably just lost a $100 profit and no doubt future income - just brilliant retailing - no wonder b&m stores are going by the way.

[Scotty72]

he asked me where i got the 7d
i told him i got it for a $1000 cheaper than there price
he turned around and said theres the door theres no more 10% discount for you
cheers macca

What an idiot! Complete moron who should not be in business.

[Xenedis]

i had in my hand a brand new 7d with a 10-20 on it
he asked me where i got the 7d
i told him i got it for a $1000 cheaper than there price
he turned around and said theres the door theres no more 10% discount for you

Hilarious. His 'discount' still doesn't put the price within cooee of what you can land elsewhere.

[macmich]

he is not the owner
just a worker
i ordered the tripod and get delivered tommorow from one of our advertisers
i go to melbourne every 3 months for checkup
now it weill be checkup and camera shop stockup
cheers macca

[Longshots]

I know of several photographic products that can be bought from the manufacturer direct in the US - which are ludicrously expensive when sold by Australian based retaillers. Now I'm sympathetic with the retail industry, but they need to adapt. As a professional photographer Ive had to severely adapt. Its time for the retail suppliers to do the same. Having said that, I've bought 90% of my purchases in Australia, and have been faithful to a particular Australian supplier, who has adapted very well to the international market place.

So an example of a couple of products for sale in Australia

One product can still be bought from the US, or from an Australian importer. For the benefit of buying from the Aussie store, you pay an additional 120% on top of the US price. The only reason that the Aussie store started importing this product, was because they'd seen the product I'd personally imported at a cost of AUS $378 delivered - arriving to my door 2 days after ordering online. The Aussie importer, you have to order from them, wait a few weeks, and then they will ring you and you collect it from them at the price of nearly $900. So what are Australians paying for with that additional cost ? Very little if nothing - probably the reality is that they're paying for less service. The said company in Australia is I believe struggling. Hardly surprising I'm afraid

For the record, one of the two products purchased broke. The US Company supplied a replacement by international courier within 4 days and I returned the broken version back using a Courier label sent via email from the manufacturer.

Now I'm a great supporter of buying locally, but adding that amount and not supplying any additional service, and making it harder to purchase is simply lazy and amazingly greedy.



Alien Bees Studio/Strobist flash is my second example. I purchased an Alien Bees Ring Flash from Alien Bees in the US. Now they used to add an additional fee for all sales outside the US, but despite that, their prices were still very good. They no longer sell to Australia, as there is now supposedly an Australian distributor - who happens to be based in my own City. However the prices of all Alien Bees available in Australia is well in excess of US Prices - Ringflash Aus $585.20 - same item in the US US$399. Now the worse part about this is that Alien Bees will not sell to Australia because of their "Asia Distributor" - and the moral there ? Their loss. I simply wont / dont buy anymore from Alien Bees.

[Bennymiata]

If you think the differences between camera and lens prices from local and overseas suppliers is high, you should check out the prices of luxury cars.

For example, a new Mercedes that sells here for around $160K, sells in the US for $50K and the US version has more equipment on it that we get.
Porsche is the same.
In the US, the RRP for a basic 911 coupe is just US$77,800.00 + local taxes, and here, exactly the same car, with the steering wheel on the other side is, wait for it, $223,000!!!!!
How can they justify this HUGE difference?
We are certainly ripped off!

Canon and the other distributors wil learn that as their retailers close down, and major retailers no longer carrying their gear, they won't have much in the way of local sales to sustain the company, and that they will have to bargain harder with the manufacturer to get a world parity price.

I can see the time, which won't be too long, when most camera retailers will start buying their stock from OS rather than buy it here.
Sure, Canon Australia will take away their rights to retail THEIR products, but as they are selling genuine Canon gear, there's nothing they can do about it.
One of the major retailers like Harveys etc will wake up to this fact and they have the power to go and tell Canon to stick it.

Imagine say B&H decides to open a retail outlet here, and still sources it's stuff from America or Japan direct, what could Canon Australia do about it?
If Canon Japan says to them that they can't do this and if they do, they will take away Canon from them in the US, I think B&H would have the power, and the sales, to tell them they will just source elsewhere, or not carry Canon at all.
Wouldn't that be nice?

[Xenedis]

I'd have to concede that Australia seems to be seen as some sort of backwater place where consumers can be charged a lot more for the same goods than consumers in other markets.

B&M retail businesses are in general decline, with some (eg, music, video and book stores) already being marginalised and arguably living on borrowed time.

Maybe in time some more drastic results will materialise in the photography equipment arena, but fortunately in the mean time, consumers actually have a choice, and can easily and cheaply buy elsewhere. And they're doing it.

[Art Vandelay]

It's easy to have a go at the retailers in the online vs B & M debate.

But on the other side of the coin, there is a bucketload of consumers out there that are totally selfish and oblivious to reality. A couple of mates have retail businesses, 1 in fishing tackle, the other motorcycles. Both are regulary recounting tales of being used as a 'touch and feel' centre for people who have no intention of purchasing from them.

Like a lady & her son who come in looking at helmets for young johnny. The business has provided a premises, stock on hand in various brands,colours & sizes to choose from, and a knowledgable staff member to spend 20 to 30 minutes with. After trying on different sizes & giving his advice, the assistant is attempting to close the sale, when he is informed, "Oh, not we're not buying it from here, we're buying it on the interent, we just needed to see what size to order" .Or the guy who comes in wanting to swap a pair of boots for a different size because the ones he ordered online don't fit, or the chap who asks for every top end fishing reel from the display case to fiddle with and bleeds every piece of advice from the assistant on what's suitable for him, then comes in the next week bringing with him the reel he purchased online, and asking advice on how to adjust it correctly...

There are countless tales like this, and yes, most astute retailers will convert some of these over to sales from their store, but a growing number of 'customers' just don't get it. A business can't pay it's rent, staff wages and expenses by being a touch and feel centre for a drop shipping online business from Hong Kong.

I can honestly see both sides of this as I buy a lot from o/s as well (not just photographic gear), you just can't argue with the pricing differences. Most of that is from too many middlemen in our supply chains, not as excess profit by the retailer,,or even the GST. I also buy some items where I am paying a price difference,,,,,,, and getting service and advice in return. but anyway, just spare a thought for our retailers. Don't just use and abuse them. If buying online, good, go do it. If buying retail, good, go do it. Just don't go expecting the best of both worlds.