[Elecraft] Re： Japanese prices ('disgruntled' thread re-titled)

[Johnny Siu]

Hello Eric,

Thanks for the thorough clarification.

If you have no objection, can I translate your message in Japanese and pass it to the ham colleagues in Japan who are complaining about the excessive price differences?

I think this will let them understand more so that they can make their own judgement and customer's choice.

73 & HNY

Johnny Siu VR2XMC


 


----- 郵件原件 ----
寄件人﹕ "Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft" <eric at elecraft.com>
收件人﹕ The Smiths <notforchat at hotmail.com>
副本(CC) Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>; Wayne Burdick <wayne at elecraft.com>
傳送日期﹕ 2010/1/5 (二) 7:47:27 AM
主題： Re: [Elecraft] Japanese prices ('disgruntled' thread re-titled)

Looks like there is a lot of confusion surrounding K3 pricing in Japan. :-)

We've worked with EDC in Japan for 10 years. They are a very small 
company, owned by JA8CCL, that is honorable and that gives support above 
and beyond what is normally required to their customers. That includes 
fixing improperly customer built K1s, KX1s, K2s and K3s under their 
'warranty' at no charge. They are a high value added distributor who 
does not forget the customer once the sale is made.

I agree that the prices can look high when just comparing the raw EDC JA 
price to our web price. What many do not realize is that EDC bears a lot 
of import and transport expense that would normally be borne by the 
customer if they buy a product direct.

The K3 prices listed by EDC also include the following ALL of the 
following import and support costs that do not appear on our price list 
here:

1. The local JA consumption tax. (VAT) In the US this is added to the 
invoice at time of sale. In JA, EDC shows it already included on their 
K3 price list.

2. Import duty entering JA.

(The above two items are computed based on the total cost of the product 
on the shipper invoice, including all shipping and handling costs. )

- EDC can't fly 'under the radar' as many individuals try to do. Like 
us, they are carefully watched by the import officials and have to be 
squeaky clean - paying all taxes, duties etc.

3.. Import shipping to JA from CA. (not cheap!)

4. Cost of handling all the customs paperwork, fee payment etc.
Especially when importing larger value and size shipments, Japan can be 
one of the more time consuming bureaucracies to deal with.

5. Cost of the variation in the Yen - Dollar exchange rate.
This is significant. The exchange rate has varied between 110 and 90 yen 
to the dollar over the past 18 months, 22%, and even more so over the 
past 2-1/2 years. I know of specific periods over the past ten years 
where EDC has actually lost money importing our products due to shifts 
in the exchange rate.

6. Cost of funds to carry inventory.. EDC orders many of our products 
well ahead of time and stocks them at their cost, tying up funds that 
could be used elsewhere.

7. Cost to pay for their offices, test equipment and employees.


EDC also carries all of the cost of advertising in the JA local market. 
Ads in JA CQ are way more expensive than QST.

They also translate all of our manuals into Japanese. Not an easy 
undertaking.

On top of these costs they also need to make a small profit.  It isn't 
much, based on what I've observed. (He makes most of his revenue from 
designing custom medical equipment and custom hard disk drive 
manufacturing test equipment.)

To be honest, JA8CCL does this out of his love for the hobby, and out of 
a personal friendship with me going back 20 years. Once he sells a 
product to a customer, he supports them for life. Period. He has a large 
following of loyal customers, many who have emailed us directly to 
compliment EDC on their support.

That said, we're also always working with them to try to get the JA EDC 
price lower. Its a challenge, but we'll keep working on it. There is not 
a lot of margin to play with in the ham radio market.

While others have pointed out that its difficult, if not impossible, to 
buy most JA manufactured top end radios directly from Japan, please 
let's not let this thread degenerate into a pro-con of one manufacturer 
or government  against another.

Rather than tie up the reflector with an extended conversation on this, 
please feel free to email me directly with any comments and suggestions 
you might have.

73, Eric  WA6HHQ
----

>> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 13:09:32 -0800
>> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>> From: fumiaki at okushi.com
>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Disgrunteled Japanese
>>
>> I would personally prefer to buy from a local distributor, for the exact reason you mention.
>> So I'm willing to pay a little extra for that convenience.
>> The question is how much will I (or more generally, one) be willing to pay for the additional convenience.
>>
>> With regards to ham radio equipment, bands could be different from one country to another (and certainly the case between US and JA), so there's another reason you might want to deal locally.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Fumi Okushi/KB2KVV



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