The new Nikon US pricing policy

[cupic]

With Nikon USA coming into effect 16.10.2011 this policy is a strict enforcement/reinforcement of pricing policy on Nikon product.
in short its the end if discounting/grey importers.

While this means slightly higher prices in the States for now weather it comes to Australia another thing.

I say this because Im after a 70-200 f/2.8 VRII and looking in the states its going to be just under $US2400 where here its towards $AU3200 .
I mean fairs fair will thing mean parity in product
We will be the judge

Comment anyone


cheers

[knumbnutz]

Yeah, I dont mind the USA policy, but there is now no excuse for the Aussie market to be more expensive than the US or anywhere for that matter with the AUD consistently above parity for so long.

At the end of the day, if their was not much difference in price <10% between countries everyone would be happy to buy in Australia.
It is just greed.

[I @ M]

Cupic, if you are serious about buying the 70-200 and like the idea of the US price against the Australian price then maybe you should consider a couple of points.

At usd 2400.00 you are still faced with freight, GST, and the fees charged to recoup that GST.
So assuming that the GST was applied on the freighted price of the lens from the US and not on the retail price in Aus. ( as customs are entitled to charge ) then you would be looking at roughly

Lens $2400.00
Freight $100.00
GST $250.00
Charges $60.00

= $2810.00

That is assuming parity on the USD with the AUD. and of course doesn't take into account foreign currency exchange on credit cards etc

So how does the Australian market shape up.

Well without doing anything more than checking the first two Australian retail sites that I normally do when looking at Nikon products I find it listed at $2949.00 drive away no more to pay with a local warranty.

is that $139.00 difference too high a price to pay for a lens that you want?

[ricktas]

It is also worth remembering that Customs do not work out the GST etc based on the price paid (in this example $2400 USD), they use a database of what is considered the "Australian Price" and work out their taxes, fees and charges based on that figure. So your $2400.00 USD lens, that has a $3499.00 AUD price in the Customs database, has all its fees and charges calculated at that $3499.00 value, thus increasing the charges even more.

[Bennymiata]

That is IF your are charged anythig apart for freight.

I've brought in lots of camera stuff from OS, and even when one invoice was for around US$3,000, it just got delivered to my door with no further expense.

I'm not saying you won't be charged anything, but chances are you won't.

Top Buy have this lens for sale for around A$2280 including freight.

[geoffsta]

It is also worth remembering that Customs do not work out the GST etc based on the price paid (in this example $2400 USD), they use a database of what is considered the "Australian Price" and work out their taxes, fees and charges based on that figure. So your $2400.00 USD lens, that has a $3499.00 AUD price in the Customs database, has all its fees and charges calculated at that $3499.00 value, thus increasing the charges even more.

Just Googled "Import Tax Calculator" Answer is from the ATO..
Tax is calculated by what is the cost of the item, plus freight, insurance and other charges. All this data is supplied by the supplier on a export declaration form Which is then given to AU customs.
The way it is explained is...
Item $2,400
Freight (Including Australian freight charges) $100
Import Insurance $60
Total Value $2,560.00 = Tax Payable is $256.00 = Total value of Item = $2,816.00

[Art Vandelay]

It is also worth remembering that Customs do not work out the GST etc based on the price paid (in this example $2400 USD), they use a database of what is considered the "Australian Price" and work out their taxes, fees and charges based on that figure. So your $2400.00 USD lens, that has a $3499.00 AUD price in the Customs database, has all its fees and charges calculated at that $3499.00 value, thus increasing the charges even more.

That's interesting. Has that changed just recently ? Bought a lot of stuff when restoring a car a few years ago and never had it applied that way, the times it was applied was just the regular way of item cost & freight. It seems like a can of worms if ATO are now deciding on the price you would have paid for the item here.

[I @ M]

Art and Geoff, the way the GST may be calculated hasn't changed as far as I know. The concept that it is calculated on the suppliers invoice price is probably the method used most frequently.
There is, or was an explanation on either the ATO or customs website that detailed an example of why they may charge taxes / duties on a generally recognised Australian retail price and that went along the lines of -- An item that retails for $5,000.00 in Australia but has an invoice from the supplier valuing it at $1100.00 may be subject to taxes at the Australian retail price --- This is obviously designed to prevent people importing goods and paying a token tax amount and appearing to be complying by the rules when in fact they are still avoiding tax.
Not knowing the exact circumstances of your car restoration Art I would suggest that the taxes were calculated that way because the parts you were importing were possibly not even for sale in Australia so there is really no "local" value to judge them against.

One thing is for sure, the govt. hates losing money on easy pickings like taxes and tries as hard as they can to make everyone suffer.

[I @ M]

And getting back on the topic of the new pricing policy by Nikon, one must remember that it applies to US retailers and such an attempt to enforce a similar or the same policy here may fall foul of our retail laws.
I seriously don't think for one minute that this will impact on grey market importers here as they generally come form Asia and until Nikon can ( if they actually want to ) crack down on that line of supply into this country then things will pretty much stay the same.

[Art Vandelay]

Thanks for the explanation Andrew, was sounding something Gerry Harvey had cooked up in his recent whinging. I'd never heard of those rules before, though I keep most purchases lately under the threshold.

[Bennymiata]

From my dealings with Customs (and my company has been importing goods for over 40 years), they will ONLY charge you duty and tax on the Australian retail price IF they think the supplier's invoice has been undervalued.
They fully realise that something that retails here for $100 can have a true street price in Hong Kong of $50. But, if the invoice value is only say $5.00, then they get suspicious.

A couple of times in the past, where I have have personally imported something for myself, Customs reckoned the invoice was undervalued, but when I showed them through e-mails and bank transfer papers that this was indeed the correct price, then duty and tax was only charged on the invoice cost, and not including freight.
If freight is listed as a seperate item on the invoice, they will only charge duties etc on the price of the item, and not the freight as this was payable overseas and has no bearing on GST. There is an international convention that says that freight is not to be calculated as part of the dutiable price.
If, however, the freight charge is in the unit price, then they will charge duties on the entire amount, as they can't be bothered to work out what the freight component is.
If you bring something in, and you have to go to Customs to collect it, arm yourself with the relevant e-mails and bank transfer papers to prove the true cost, and make sure that the freight is charged seperately.