DSLRUsers.com

For those of you in Sydney, you may want to check out this auction. It looks like a store has closed down and they are clearing all stock http://www.graysonline.com.au/sale.asp? ... 0&N_ID=351

This sale is "Pickup only" so will limit the bidders

Cameras
NIKON D70S, NIKON D40X + 18-55MMG II ED, SONY A100 + DT18-70MM, 2X OLYMPUS E-330 + 14-45MM F3.5, PENTAX K100D, CANON POWERSHOT A640 10MEGAPIXEL, NIKON COOLPIX S5, COOLPIX L1, COOLPIX L5, SONY DSC-H2, PENTAX OPTIO W10 WATERPROOF, FUJI F610 + A600 + E550, RICOH CAPLIO RR730

Lenses
CANON EF90-300MM F4.5, NIKON AFS DX 55-200MM F4 ED, SONY DT18-70MM, MINOLTA, SIGMA 30MMF1.4 EX DC (NIKON), SIGMA 12-24MMF4.5 EX DG, SIGMA 18-50MMF2.8 EX DC (NIKON), SIGMA 18-125MMF3.5 DC, SIGMA 55-200MMF4.5 DC, TAMRON AF28-200MM XR IF MACRO, TAMRON SPAF11-18MMF4.5 DI II LD (CANON), SIGMA 70-300MMF4.5 MACRO SUPER II, SIGMA XQ MIRROR 500MM F8 MF (NIKON?)

ACCESSORIES
NIKON MB-D100, SONY HVL-F56AM FLASH, PORTAFLASH METER, INCABLITZ 724AFM (DYNAX), MINOLTA DIGITAL FLASH 5600HS (D), SIGMA FLASH EF-500 DGST, MINOLTA GRIP VC-7D, NIKON MH-53C CHARGER, CANON GRIP BG-E1, JVC GR-D290AA MINI DV, TEICA DV2000, CANON DM50 DIRECTIONAL MIC.

Jeff,

That looks most interesting ...

Just one word of caution ....

This Sale has a 12.5% Buyers Premium ie Successful Bid Price is $100 + 12.5% Buyers Premium = $112.50 + 10% GST Invoice Total $123.75

What is this "buyers premium" all about? What a crock. Seriously. You bid x, but you pay x y, and then add GST?

Where does this come from? What is the justification?

Hmmm ....

D70s, body only.

No reserve, but minimum bid is $489? What's a reserve if it's not a minimum bid?

So, even at that price ... 489 + buyers premium 61.13 = 550.13 + 10% GST 55.02 = $600.15 for a D70 body.

Is that really a good deal? SOme of the TP lens prices look like they may be reasonable, but I'd be suggesting that one bids with caution.

gstark wrote:Where does this come from?

Typical Grays, I agree it's a total crock and people get caught by it. As long as you remember though you'll be ok.

I believe that buyers commission is the Aussie way of saying auction house commission on the sale which is quite normal. If they did not charge commission on the sale they would not be making any money

sirhc55 wrote:If they did not charge commission on the sale they would not be making any money

Yep.

But when you're buying a house by auction, it's the vendor that pays the commission. Why doesn't the vendor pay in this instance?

gstark wrote:Yep.

But when you're buying a house by auction, it's the vendor that pays the commission. Why doesn't the vendor pay in this instance?

I'd be willing to bet that the vendors pay as well, Gary.

I will refrain from calling it a "scam", but those travelling jewellery auctions use the same principle. I'm sure they catch quite a few people unawares.

Legend’s charge 19.5% buyers commission

My son bought a car from an Auction house and didn't have to pay gst at all - I don't know if this has changed in the past two years but it seems to me to be a "Gray" area - pun intended

I was under the impression that you only pay GST on new items or if you are a business selling second hand items. That's why most people don't pay GST on Ebay

The Tender Centre charges 20% fee for the vendor, plus admin charges, and the winning bidder adds 11% fee plus admin charges plus credit/debit card charges etc, so they are making 30%+ on each sale. Nice work if you can get it.

Ozi

This "plus plus" caper - while being fairly common - is a rort. I know that most auction houses add on, but I agree with Gary,
you would think that the auctions costs/fee would be payable by the vendor, not the purchaser.

Similarly, I get infuriated by items being sold on the television "plus postage and packing". Bullshit! You have no option
to not pay the postage and packing, so it is a part of the price. I do not understand how this hasn't attarcted the attention
of the relevant authorities.

Same with the small print. It seems that since full disclosure has been required in advertising, the main part of the ad has
become increasingly outrageous because the small print contains all the catches.....

ONLY $19-95
per hour over a minimum of 36 months plus administrative and insurance costs and biscuits for
the people in the mail room and drinks at the xmas party, minimium cost $1,034,000

Bastards.

Greg B wrote:Similarly, I get infuriated by items being sold on the television "plus postage and packing". Bullshit! You have no option
to not pay the postage and packing, so it is a part of the price.

And let's not forget the similar delivery charge: you walk into Myer/Hardly Normal/DJs/Wherever and buy something substantial in size: maybe a washing machine or a fridge, or a lounge suit. Something that you cannot fit into a typical car, and must, because of its bulk, be delivered.

Often direct to you from the factory: the store only acts as an ordering facility.

So they charge you for delivery, for something that must be delivered.

Er, yes. That should more appropriately be included as a part of the final price

Bastards.

Exactly!

I don’t agree with including a delivery charge in the price, if that’s what you are talking about.

If I purchase from Melbourne, as opposed to Sydney, then the final price has to be more than if purchasing a similar product in Sydney.

If a company included post and packing in their pricing structure and then stated ”Free P&P” as some do, then they would be breaking the law by not stating pricing breakdown.

A classic example of outrageous delivery charges can be found on Ebay. Buy-it-now price $0.99, P&P $89.00. Actually this is being clever as Ebay does not charge a fee for P&P

At least we are not doing what some US states do - add state tax at the till - I’ve been caught that way

sirhc55 wrote:At least we are not doing what some US states do - add state tax at the till - I’ve been caught that way

Well, that's not the states, per se, that add it at the till. That is done, by convention, by the vendor.

It's true that in most states - I think that there are just two that do not have a state tax - do charge a state tax, but in reality it's just a GST type of component, and where, in Oz, the convention is that (by government recommendation actually - perhaps they don't want to highlight that you're paying a tax?) the ticket price is inclusive of this tax, in the US the convention is that the price is exclusive of tax.

This has disadvantages when you first encounter it - your $10 purchase becomes $10.90 at the checkout - but if you're buying by mail order and you are out of state - remember that this is a state GST - in many instances your purchase may be tax exempt.

And if you're purchasing in Sydney from Melbourne, then yes, a specific delivery charge is reasonable, but that's not really typical of the examples that we've been giving.

Qantas has perfected the art of ripping off customers with the credit/debit card fee & internet bookings. How else do you pay for the flight except using credit or debit cards? Barter? Wash dishes inflight?

Or Ticketec's $4.50 charge to print your own PDF tickets.....

MATT

Greg B wrote:...the relevant authorities.

Is there such a thing?