Sam,
No response to this post?
Sam has peviously responded to this type of query. I woud imagine he would rather not get into ongoing online discussions every time its brought up. His previous response is as follows:
Hi guys, I've done a bit of digging around re Air Locker pricing in Australia and the US and can offer the following.
The RRP of an Air Locker in Australia and the US is actually not all that different. Using the Landcruiser 100 Series as an example, the RRP of a rear locker in the US is US$1095.00 (web link) and in Australia it's AUS$1108.00 (+GST). Depending on the US state, there may also be sales tax on top of the listed RRP.
The heavily discounted pricing that can be found in the US actually comes primarily at a reseller level. With a much larger market (ie greater sales volume) and subsequently a higher level of competition, the resellers have a tendency to discount prices and make a minimal margin to remain competitive.
We are even aware of some US resellers using the Air Locker brand as a ‘loss leader’ due to its popularity. This means they’re happy to sell an Air Locker at a loss in order to attract new customers and generate exposure to their wider product range. This in turn puts even greater pressure on other stockists to reduce prices.
Furthermore, many of the discount sellers in the US are solely web based and therefore don't have showrooms or offer fitting services like our Australian network which substantially reduces their overheads.
Obviously, the strong Aussie dollar at the moment is exacerbating any price difference and, in the ideal world, we'd increase the price in the US to account for this. However, with current market conditions in the US, this is just not commercially viable.
For comparison's sake, our Australian pricing is actually pretty competitive with our main competitors. For example, a rear Pro Locker for a 100 Series Cruiser is $1167.00 (+GST) so it's really more a matter of US resellers discounting than Australian pricing being excessive.
Hope this helps explain things a bit.
