Are we being ripped off with tackle in australia

[tunaticer]

Is it just me or has Shimano read this thread and changed it's game?
The latest Stradic FY is on offer at near the same prices globally......within about a $15 margin for the competitive prices. I can buy a 3000FY off the shelf here actually cheaper than one from the US or Malasia after the shipping is added.
Now would it not be great if the electronics groups would do the same!!??

[Stuart]

I have been in the tackle game for 20 years much to my frustration. There are offcourse many variations of the term “ripped off” but in effect we are. I have specialized in manufacture ring top shelf game rods for most of those 20 years.
I chose to specialise in game fishing gear as that was my passion, how can you go wrong if you look forward to working. In making that decision I chose not to pursue the wholesale tackle store scenario as many have done. Now there is nothing wrong with that model and many have done very well from it. Being a specialist builder I chose direct customer contact for the simple resone that no one knows my product like I do. With this plan comes a whole lot of problems with Australian distributors and trying to access supply.
I was told by certain distributors that I need XYZ and I have to beg and lick arse for the privilege of being over charged. I was forced to source my components from overseas because the suppliers here where just so over priced. For any business to remain competitive they need to maintain a certain profit margin. For example a certain component cost me landed $155 AUD, wholesale from the Australian agent with discounts cost me $350 AUD. In fact that same component retails in the States for $200 so how the hell can they justify the huge discrepancy in price. No matter how much money I spend they refuse to drop there prices, so I have no chose to vote with my money. The Australian tackle industry will have no chose to adapt and drop prices or they simply won’t be selling bugger all in the very near future.
Australia is one of very few countries that have a country agent, a state agent and then the retail sector before the customer even sets eyes on the product. In fact many American wholesalers I use have never heard of the system we have here and they are always amazed at how anyone makes money. They also understand why prices are always near double to what they sell for in the States. There is no such thing as level playing field in the Australian tackle industry. It’s run primarily by old cronies that are only interested in what’s in it for them. The large tackle chains will soon dominate with most all of there products coming out of China. In having said that there is always fisherman that knows what they want and will pay what its worth. I don’t see much of a future in the Australian tackle game. It uses to be such an innovative industry seen by many around the world to look at for new concepts and ideas. The place is just a dumping ground for the cheapest crap on the planet. Margins and discounts is what drives many shops these days, quality is the last thing on there minds. You may think I’m a pessimist and you may be right, am I jaded absolutely. There are still people that innovate and have foresight to keep them ahead of others but there are 100 times that who stand by and copy there stuff. The battle to make a living every week from the tackle game is something that many customers never see.

Stuart Mackenzie
Precision rods

[nigelr]

In respect of your comment TT, by way of an example, the domestic price of Pro Power braid has certainly dropped. Pretty much on a par with US purchasing, from an Ebay perspective at least.
I'm thinking the 'net is finally starting to really bite, and the folk Stuart refers to may just find themselves as extinct as the dinosaurs before long.
Quality remains it's own reward however, and 'ere more shall be.

[tunaticer]

I have to agree with that Stuart, from a business point of view it is hard to get in on the big deals if you aren't a bulk buyer.
I have seen over the past few years our clients outsource large fabricated plants out of China, shipped out here for a song, then had to rebuild them to make them work and in the end costing them as much as what I supply a good plant for and they have a shitty piece of altered to work gear with limited lifespan.
Those clients are now coming back to us asking for their next new plant and standing in line wanting decent gear. Mind you those past few years were difficult to keep our doors open without their service, I hope you fare well through your clients outsourcing.

[Tangles]

Well i reckon a lot you lot are far too pessimistic. Price isnt everything. I think small well run local shops, be it the local bait and tackle or specialty tackle shops will be around long after ive gone.

Why in Japan or Los Angelos, places where life is so fast paced and competitive do good local thrive?.. service

I like browsing, i like a chat, i like picking up something before i buy it, i cant do that online and i reckon there will always be a market for people like me, it maybe a diminishing market lol

Specialty shops or providers, there will always be a place for them because of service and knowledge, something you cant buy online.

If a tackle shops business model is only driven by customers seeking only a price point then they really only a wholesaler in essence and its not a tackle shop or industry provider for me.

[Noelm]

I think I agree with what both Stuart and Aigutso have said, there will always be a place for the specialist shop/product that knows their customers and their product, unfortunatly that market is quite small, the specialist will never compete with the mass market, people who see a catalogue of cheap crap and rush out and buy it, that sort of rubbish usually has a high profit margin, whereas a high end item has been researched on the "net" and prices have been screwed down to a few dollars profit at best, then we have the shopper that pisses me off, and that's the one that goes to the specialist, plays with the item in question, gets all the good info (for free) then goes and buys one off ebay or some internet site overseas, how it all pans out long term is anyones gues, but my guess is, the specialist will survive (well I hope so)

[Vitamin Sea]

Well i reckon a lot you lot are far too pessimistic. Price isnt everything. I think small well run local shops, be it the local bait and tackle or specialty tackle shops will be around long after ive gone.

Why in Japan or Los Angelos, places where life is so fast paced and competitive do good local thrive?.. service

I like browsing, i like a chat, i like picking up something before i buy it, i cant do that online and i reckon there will always be a market for people like me, it maybe a diminishing market lol

Specialty shops or providers, there will always be a place for them because of service and knowledge, something you cant buy online.

If a tackle shops business model is only driven by customers seeking only a price point then they really only a wholesaler in essence and its not a tackle shop or industry provider for me.

I had a tackleworld 3 minutes down the road from my place, great stuff, good blokes good service. Just before they finally closed the door I asked what happened, seems Joe Blo would go into their shop, quiz them for 1/2 hour, what's the best rod, reel, etc, etc then say thanks very much and go 10 minutes up the road to B*F and buy it all there.

We only have ourseleves to blame for the extinction of these business's, including butchers, bakers, green grocers, etc, etc

VS

[Noelm]

I think places like BCF will kill themselves in the end (maybe) but perhaps they will survive and even get bigger simply by saturation advertising so people just have the name in their head and think they are cheap so they go there, kind of like Bunnings I guess, but it will be at the expense of the small time family owned business, exactly like the milkman and baker that used to deliver bread and stuff right to your door, and took away the empties so there was no need to recycle as such, it was all done for you.

[Stuart]

All businesses in this country need to wake up and adapt to the ever changing market place. A large percentage of tackle shops I have been in still relying on walk in traffic and add in the yellow pages, this is simply not good enough in our high - tec world.
Businesses that will do well will be the ones that adapt to these ever increasing pressures and start using the social media networks that the rest of the world are using. Face book, email, web sites are all crucial media that need to be kept up to date and to keep your customers connected and informed. I have seen tackle shops do this and they are doing very well, the ones that aren’t those that simply couldn’t be bothered and in so doing have signed there own demise.
There will always be room for the cheap stores but the larger part of the market is experienced fisherman that will always seek out quality with a personal connection with the salesmen.

After 20 years I have come to relies and understand that while many will always think they have saved a packet on a rod or reel only to relies later down the track when there cheap rod or reel fails that they now have to spend twice as much to get the good gear. Had they spent that bit extra the first time they could have actually saved some money? It’s a shame that most retailers I know have this idea that they can only remain competitive if they keep there prices and margins at a minimum. This is simply not the case; price is a small percentage but customer service, quality products and after sales service is what will keep the doors open even in the hardest financial times. Most all the tackle stores I walk into are competing over the same cheap rubbish, had they decided not to chase the smallest and cheapest products but decided to sell only good quality products that they will remain profitable. I think a case in point is Gerry Harvey from Harvey Norman. He wanted tariffs and or GST added to every import, now that’s a billion dollar company that hasn’t kept up with the times.

Stu

[Boat Hog]

Unfortunately we not only get overpriced tackle, but we get a (sometimes inferior) copy of an overseas model.

I know of one Australian distributor who brings out rods from the states etc to 'test' them with the boys (some are well known fishing 'identities'). This distributor then takes the best rods to China and gets them copied (often using the same blank as the original make) and has the colours changed to suit whats deemed popular in Australia.

Someones gone to a lot of trouble to put together a top outfit only to be ripped off and have their design mass produced and flogged in the overpriced Australian Market.

Rant over,

[sleepygreg]

I know of a number of Australian Distributors that do the same thing...have done for years. And while ever the local market shops on price only......they will continue to do so. Thats the only way they will make any money. there is no margin whatsoever for the local tackle retailer in high end tackle. Their margin comes from the cheap crap and the consumables (bait, hooks, sinkers, swivels etc).

[tunaticer]

At Redcliffe about 15 years ago there was about 6 or 7 small but good tackle shops in existence, they all sold cheapies off the rack but most would also stock relatively good quality gear and order in for you whatever you wanted at a reasonable price. Now there is three remaining that basically survive on bait and tackle supply, yet the nearest BCF is at Lawnton some 18km away and Tackleworld at Sandgate, about 8km away.

The point is you do not have to be near one of the bigger players to lose your custom, or to force you into another area of supply.

As a note, I have no problem at all with Tackleworld shops, I like them and support them whenever I am near them. I have no such support for BCF, they are just another Bunnings for fishing tackle that cover the field with the cheap stuff they choose to buy in bulk. Getting anything that is not in their stock list is always a drama. The Kmarts and BigW's have a marginal impact in my opinion as they stock very little variety and are catering for the people who go a couple of times a year for the most part, although they are a good location to buy the lures they stock as they are generally very cheap.

[malby]

I was speaking with a local lure maker here in Qld the other day who is barely able to make a living and he suggested that some of our big name lure makers may not acually be making their lures here in Oz any longer due to these issues which is understandable. I noticed one of these major name lure companies being given a big wrap for making stuff here in Oz on one of the major fishing/liesure shows just a week or so ago. Does anyone know if Halco, for instance, are made here in Oz still or have they in fact moved offshore? I'd be interested to know. Maybe someone from WA can enlighten me?

[Stuart]

Its not cheap doing bussiness here in OZ anymore. It seems everyone whants there cake and to eat it as well. We all want the lifstyle but we dont want to pay for it.

Stu

[nathank]

I have been in the tackle game for 20 years much to my frustration. There are offcourse many variations of the term “ripped off” but in effect we are. I have specialized in manufacture ring top shelf game rods for most of those 20 years.
I chose to specialise in game fishing gear as that was my passion, how can you go wrong if you look forward to working. In making that decision I chose not to pursue the wholesale tackle store scenario as many have done. Now there is nothing wrong with that model and many have done very well from it. Being a specialist builder I chose direct customer contact for the simple resone that no one knows my product like I do. With this plan comes a whole lot of problems with Australian distributors and trying to access supply.
I was told by certain distributors that I need XYZ and I have to beg and lick arse for the privilege of being over charged. I was forced to source my components from overseas because the suppliers here where just so over priced. For any business to remain competitive they need to maintain a certain profit margin. For example a certain component cost me landed $155 AUD, wholesale from the Australian agent with discounts cost me $350 AUD. In fact that same component retails in the States for $200 so how the hell can they justify the huge discrepancy in price. No matter how much money I spend they refuse to drop there prices, so I have no chose to vote with my money. The Australian tackle industry will have no chose to adapt and drop prices or they simply won’t be selling bugger all in the very near future.
Australia is one of very few countries that have a country agent, a state agent and then the retail sector before the customer even sets eyes on the product. In fact many American wholesalers I use have never heard of the system we have here and they are always amazed at how anyone makes money. They also understand why prices are always near double to what they sell for in the States. There is no such thing as level playing field in the Australian tackle industry. It’s run primarily by old cronies that are only interested in what’s in it for them. The large tackle chains will soon dominate with most all of there products coming out of China. In having said that there is always fisherman that knows what they want and will pay what its worth. I don’t see much of a future in the Australian tackle game. It uses to be such an innovative industry seen by many around the world to look at for new concepts and ideas. The place is just a dumping ground for the cheapest crap on the planet. Margins and discounts is what drives many shops these days, quality is the last thing on there minds. You may think I’m a pessimist and you may be right, am I jaded absolutely. There are still people that innovate and have foresight to keep them ahead of others but there are 100 times that who stand by and copy there stuff. The battle to make a living every week from the tackle game is something that many customers never see.

Stuart Mackenzie
Precision rods

Stu.. clear your inbox mate i cant send a message through.
Nath.