Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Australia SUPREMELY Ripped off..

Geetar_Axl

By Geetar_Axl
in Gibson USA

Recommended Posts

Geetar_Axl

Geetar_Axl

Posted
Posted

Just doing some currency conversions on LP in the States and LP Here, our guitars are marked up $2,000. No seriously, right on 2 Grand. For me next guitar (after the LP hehe, I like to plan XD) and please dont kill me, a Fender American Deluxe Tele in Cherry (oh sweet...*drools*) is $1,300 AUS at MF. A friend has a friend who ships car parts from San Fransico to here in Australia, so all I have to do is have it shiped to him and then to me and I end up paying $1,700 (around about, after labeling the package a "repaired guitar", which makes it cheaper to send, new stuff has tax when shipping apparently, I know, its lying but hey.) for a $3,500 guitar (thats how much they go for here) I feel screwed over. Australia is treated like crap.

 

/rant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
heritage cherry

heritage cherry

Posted
Posted

Yes, Gibson Les Pauls are expensive in Australia, but they are very labour intensive to produce (compared to Fender - and don't get me wrong, I LOVE Fender guitars too) and there is import duty (?) to protect the local manufacturers (local manufacturers of electric guitars? Oh yes, Maton; do they sell more than about one electric guitar a week?) and the (ex-Prime Minister John Howard's) Goods & Services Tax (GST), transport costs (the Pacific is a pretty big ocean to traverse), and the local middle-man/local distributor's mark-up.

 

If a Fender strat or tele goes for about $A1900, then comparitively, a Lester for about $A3,400 (check out Allans Music deals on Les Paul standards) isn't really over the odds. It's American made, top quality, a classic & an icon of rock 'n' roll. You can always buy a Tokai or an Epi from Korea/China or Japan much cheaper. But I don't seem to recall too many international guitar rockstars, or that kind of music, coming from China, Korea or Japan in the 50's or 60's or 70's or 80's or err 90's or ahem the 2000's.....but I'm sure their guitar copies would get a conceded pass on looks.

 

I'm NOT gonna pretend GIbson Les Pauls aren't expensive or ARE good value in Australia, but I know what I'm gonna choose. We might be paying through the nose for a Gibson Paul in Australia, I don't know, but what is the alternative or the solution?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gibson CS

Gibson CS

Posted
Posted

Guys...

That is terrible to have to pay that price for a Paul.

I understand Australia is the other side of the world, and it must cost money to ship there

but that price is just silly.

At one time not too long ago tha Canadian & Aussie dollar were about the same.

Now, the Canuck buck has soared. We were above the US dollar a few months ago, now were

are par with them. We pay pretty much the same for a guitar as our neighbours to the south.

 

Btw...

I have heard of air guitar. In Oz, is there such a thing as air Didgeredoo? lol

Ill shut up now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This one goes to 11

This one goes to 11

Posted
Posted

We've got some other interesting "issues" here. The local Gibson/Epi distributor lost the franchise although I've heard they've got it back again. Couldn't care less about the politics, but they're not exactly on the ball. Their latest quoted Gibson prices (in US $) look like this:

 

LP Custom $5249.00; LP Classic $2999.00; LP Studio Plus $2624.00; SG Standard $2124.00. You don't even want to ask about ES335s.

 

Nice, huh? Throw in the fact that most of us have less disposable income thanks to the weak Rand and voila - get saving, boy. Thanks to contacts in a band I have other options, as well as friends still overseas, so I doubt I'll be going in to pay sticker price sometime soon. Unlike Australia which has the Maton excuse, we have no indigenous guitar makers, unless you count a few top-end boutique acoustics and the Afri-can guitar (which is pretty funky for an electric), so the govt. can't claim to be protecting local industry. I know at least one guy who got around it by buying an Epiphone Les Paul before a trip to the States, traded it for a Gibson, and brought it back with him. On leaving here he'd told customs it was a Les Paul, so they didn't check the difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tim Plains

Tim Plains

Posted
Posted
LP Custom $5249.00; LP Classic $2999.00; LP Studio Plus $2624.00; SG Standard $2124.00. You don't even want to ask about ES335s.

Damn!! That's around 50% more than here. You guys are taking it hard up the a** when it comes to guitar prices.

Hmmm...maybe I should look into selling guitars over seas???:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This one goes to 11

This one goes to 11

Posted
Posted

That's why I cherish my baby. Moving back to South Africa meant I couldn't take everything with me, & I talked the airline into letting my LP into the cabin with me (TIP: Find a kind air hostess who knows guitars!) Those shop prices are why I'll go through contacts here & overseas, I just can't justify the sticker price, even for a Gibson. My Marshall DSL401 was marked at $1562.00 but I got 'em down to $862.50 - and that was fortunate.

 

Hopefully we'll see some improvement - maybe if we get a better distributor & the Rand strengthens. Until then the biggest shelf occupation comes from Fenders, Squiers, Ibanez etc. with Epis & Gibsons dotted around like jewels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tim Plains

Tim Plains

Posted
Posted
It would be cheaper for one of us to buy the guitar for you' date=' and have it shipped

over to Oz.

Be nice to me guys! ;)

 

I know a cop in Loganholme, Queensland....she could vouch for me. lol[/quote']

Honestly, I would do that for somebody...stranger or not...as long as I got $100 or so for my troubles.

 

But who in their right mind would wire $2,000 - $3,000 to a complete stranger on another continent?

 

A cop can vouch for you? I'll do you one better...I made an oath to the Queen. I wasn't actually in the Queen's presence...but an oath's an oath.

That's gotta stand for something, right? ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Geetar_Axl

Geetar_Axl

Posted
  • Author
Posted
It would be cheaper for one of us to buy the guitar for you' date=' and have it shipped

over to Oz.

Be nice to me guys! #-o

 

I know a cop in Loganholme, Queensland....she could vouch for me. lol[/quote']

 

Are you trustworthy? I plan to have guitars shipped from the US in the future.

 

Your over 20 right? hehe

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hydra26

Hydra26

Posted
Posted

It's import duties aminly, i would imagine. It sucks, but not paying them is breaking the law. Theoretically, those tariffs are there to protect home grown industries, but as you said, if there aren't any homegrown industries, what's the point? The point I guess you could say, is that without those import duties in place, a home grown industry can't get itself started if it's not already established. Also has to do with politics. IF we don't like a country very much, they may well get their imports taxed mroe than another or outright embargoed.

 

I feel for you. Under those conditions, it can't make very much sense to look at a Gibson as any kind of a value and if you save up for it, the concerns with theft have to be a bigger headache as well. I live in the US so it's a domestic product, but even so, the production cost from asian countries is so much lower that even with import duties, they are still much cheaper (which is why local musicians here seldom play them although a lot may own one or two).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...