NZ guitar prices

[Satchriossi]

Its all very well trying to impress upon the yanks how much we have to pay for things in the UK, but New Zealand is WORSE!

I've just been in a big music shop in Wellington and they had a BRMR in a glass case price tagged at.... wait for it.... $5349NZ. HOLY ****. I might sell mine if that's what they fetch here LOL!

Wages in NZ are crap, plain and simple so i don't know who they're expecting to walk into the shop and spend that sort of money but there it is.

There was also an RG1520 in another glass case up for about $2600NZ, so almost twice what i paid for mine in England with the current exchange rate.

Atleast it's made me feel much better about the import duty i paid on my BRMR when it arrived in the UK from Texas. It was an unbelievable bargain compared to NZ prices!

Any Kiwis on here know why the prices are so high? Do importers pay some sort of turbo tax or something?

[DavyH]

SR I feel your pain .... I think we're slightly more expensive than the UK, but not too bad since musical instruments don't attract import duty, just VAT and horrendous shipping costs.

I think Aus and NZ have pretty high import duties on top of this.

It makes buying guitars a real test of courage, dunnit?

[Satchriossi]

Luckily i'd already accumulated a load of guitars before moving here so i won't have to feel the burn of buying instruments in NZ.

It just makes me wonder who the person deciding the prices is and what they were thinking when they chose the amounts?! 'Oh yeah, people are gonna be falling all over themselves to pay these prices..' Seems abit daft to me. Are they just hoping for some rich idiot to buy it on impulse?

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

Yeah, it sucks to be us in New Zealand and Australia.

That N.Z price is pretty much in line with Aussie prices, maybe $100 or so more expensive.

I bought a 1570MRR in 2006 and the retail price (from the Aussie distributor) was $1899 AUD. Fortunately I had made a few purchases at my local store at the time and I managed to beat them down to $1400 by saying I would take my cash elsewhere.

If they were willing to drop the price by $499, I gotta wonder how much they make on the list price?

Rock on!

[LonePhantom]

I actually think that the prices in Australia are probably a little better than NZ.

The reason for the large cost is simply due to the population. As you have probably noticed there's not nearly as many people in NZ as you may have seen in the UK. Not as many guitars are shipped to NZ so bulk discounts aren't nearly as good as say the US.

[slashrox]

Originally Posted by HeavyMetal4Ever

Yeah, it sucks to be us in New Zealand and Australia.

That N.Z price is pretty much in line with Aussie prices, maybe $100 or so more expensive.

I bought a 1570MRR in 2006 and the retail price (from the Aussie distributor) was $1899 AUD. Fortunately I had made a few purchases at my local store at the time and I managed to beat them down to $1400 by saying I would take my cash elsewhere.

If they were willing to drop the price by $499, I gotta wonder how much they make on the list price?

Rock on!

Guitar gear here is overpriced!

I bought my MIM Strat from the local for $1000AU (price was originally $1200!) sometime later I found out I could of imported one from the US for $600-650AU! (including postage)

It's a joke!

What I'm planning to do now is if I want a guitar, I go down to the local and try it out..then Order it from the US or Japan etc.

Also if its Under $1000AU, you don't get hit with customs fees.

My next guitar will be a Kramer 1984 Reissue (from the S&D batch) (in either the white colour or in bullseye black), I can't try them out as they are only sold through Music Yo, but from what I've heard about them, they sound like a Kick-ass guitar.

[GREENMACHINE]

Hey Guys
Well I bought my Fender VG Strat from America and when I got back to New Zealand I asked my local music shop if they could get a Fender VG Strat in and how much it would cost well we don't have shipping rights to get it in or something like that but they said in New Zealand its worth $4000!!!! And I only paid $2600 New Zealand dollars.

Cheers
GREENMACHINE

[CaptainD00M]

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

I actually think that the prices in Australia are probably a little better than NZ.

The reason for the large cost is simply due to the population. As you have probably noticed there's not nearly as many people in NZ as you may have seen in the UK. Not as many guitars are shipped to NZ so bulk discounts aren't nearly as good as say the US.

Your firs point is correct.
Your second is half true. We here in the small forgotten hell hole that is New Zealand (for that matter the damp windy hell hole that is the capitol) get doubly nailed because a lot of the top brands of guitars get shipped to America...THEN back to New Zealand.
That and our wages suck... I mean I’m in a Managerial position, and a Uni grad and I'm still having to live like a student to save money for my impending move.
Further more we get trippily nailed in that the Rock Shop (an New Zealand chain store for all you seppo's and Britt’s... Seppo is old slang for a Yank in case you were wondering) Has bought up all the suppliers of most of the major brands of guitar and amp:
Marshall
Mesa
Line 6
Crate
Washburn
Gibson
Epi
ESP
Jackson
PRS
Fender
Squier (eww!)
Warwick
Ampeg
etc...

That said Ibanez is owned by the other chain... were stuck between one chain thats being choked and is desperatly holding on to their few contracts (that also it must be added double as a woodwing, PA, DJ, Sheet music, Piano, Violin family and Drum retailer) and one that is trying to own New Zealands poor musicans. Couple that with retail staff that come off holyer than thou because their jazz fusion Death Metal band has 'toured' 18 Bogan (er... cant translate that one for people who dont live in OZ or New Zealand... Wiki it there's an entry. I helped add too.) bars in the South Island and thats why i thank the Gods of Shred every day that there are friendly customer service departments that send amusing but helpful japinglish emails for several really well stocked Japanese companies that are willing to ship here.

As a final aside... I will not tolerate ANY Brit winging about how much guitars cost in you local . The only people who can complain more that NZ and OZ as far as i know are 3rd world countries...Ok that last bits been brewing for a while... nothing personal towards the Britts, what with me being one and all...and moving over there in a few months. But still! Shame on you... forgetting your colonies...going with the EU! Send us your Black Machine guitars

Also to the dude who started this thread, welcome to Welly!

[Satchriossi]

lol nice rant

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah i always thought stuff wz dear in the UK but thats only comparing to the US for example.

Its like petrol - the equivalent price here is 60pence per litre which to a Brit whos used to payin £1 it sounds amazing - but when you consider how bad NZ wages are it actually works out more expensive... In terms of how big a chunk of your wage has to go on fuel.

The guitar thing is a joke though - i felt like i wanted to ask to speak to the dude who set the prices and ask him/her if they honestly thought they'd ever sell the JEM at that price.

On the other hand i could probably make a profit on selling my BRMR in future despite th fingernail marks on the scrathplate! I might have to aswell if im ever gonna afford a house in the Kapiti area... $200K for a big 'ol pre-fab shed with no land....? Thanks to ex-pat, dollar millionaires who've sold their London terraced houses and come over here, driving property prices through th roof.

We were speakin to an estate agent who was buying a new helicoptor soon... So that crowd are making a pretty penny without ever getting their hands dirty.

Am i a typical Englishman or what? Not happy unless im stood in a queue or having a bloody good moan.

[CaptainD00M]

Originally Posted by Satchriossi

lol nice rant

Am i a typical Englishman or what? Not happy unless im stood in a queue or having a bloody good moan.

Well i want going to say anything ...
As you said above, i like a good moan as much as the next man.

Still Kapiti... yeah well.
That’s the story of most of New Zealand though, all the picturesque parts at least. Ten to twelve years ago they couldn’t give batches away, now they are the next 'big' thing.

I've always found it ironic how paranoid the government is about loosing all its people to England and Europe, when so many people from blighty want to come here. Kiwi's go for practical reasons, the Brits come for life style, you kinda just want to ring up Auntie Helen and say 'duh, look just let them go, they wont come back but you will end up with a country full of educated people like you wanted, its not a brain drain as such... more a swapsies'

Overly simplistic i know... but what do i care, after i renew my passport it's hello ACM... or whatever other music institute will take me.

Just out of curiosity, but did you find that the customer service at the aforementioned guitar store was about as awesome as Brittney’s comeback?

[Satchriossi]

Originally Posted by CaptainD00M

Just out of curiosity, but did you find that the customer service at the aforementioned guitar store was about as awesome as Brittney’s comeback?

Tbh i didn't speak to the staff beyond saying 'hi' so i can't comment really - i was just kinda pissed off about the ridiculous pricing y know?

I just looked up import duty for NZ customs and as far as i found; you only pay GST on imported guitars, no other duty needs to be paid, which is nice because i was afraid the government would have placed big import duty on things like guitars to prevent people spending money abroad rather than buying from NZ shops.

I have a custom guitar in the UK which will soon be completed and getting shipped out to me within a few weeks, i was worried i was gonna get stung by customs when it arrived here but it looks like im safe... hopefully.

[CaptainD00M]

Originally Posted by Satchriossi

Tbh i didn't speak to the staff beyond saying 'hi' so i can't comment really - i was just kinda pissed off about the ridiculous pricing y know?

I just looked up import duty for NZ customs and as far as i found; you only pay GST on imported guitars, no other duty needs to be paid, which is nice because i was afraid the government would have placed big import duty on things like guitars to prevent people spending money abroad rather than buying from NZ shops.

I have a custom guitar in the UK which will soon be completed and getting shipped out to me within a few weeks, i was worried i was gonna get stung by customs when it arrived here but it looks like im safe... hopefully.

Yeah thats why i'm fine with buying them from the Japanese. No cost on top of the bank fees and all that. Good times.

Who made you customs?

I've been trying to fins a JP parts website, to build my own shred machine, but no dice...I guess the gods of metal have foesaken me because i listen to Iced Earth

[Satchriossi]

[quote=CaptainD00M;779362]Who made you customs?QUOTE]

I've only looked into NZ custom's charging so far i haven't dealt with them first hand yet - i just hope i don't have to pay any more than GST and the actually shipping costs to get the guitar to my door! We shall see.

Who's the best Japanese business to shop with then? Is it easy to get guitars shipped over to NZ and what sort of prices are we talking in $NZ?

[wilch]

More often than not it's cheaper to buy a brand new Ibanez from one of our U.S. friend's on this site, have it shipped here, and pay the customs fee's and taxes, than it is to buy one discounted here in Australia....

I have a friend that's bought a blue RGA321, and more recently an SR bass guitar from the same person in the USA (who happens to have a banner ad above). Both guitars worked out cheaper including shipping and taxes.

Plus you get an awesome setup from someone that actually knows Ibanez trem's back-to-front. Whereas here in Aus, it's very hard to find anyone that knows how to setup an Edge or Lo-pro Edge that is a "professional" and works in a shop.

So click on that swirly banner. Get a quote.