Televue price increase in January

[johninderby]

Have seen notices on some American dealers websites advising of a Televue price increase in the US on January 1st. Here's the announcement from one American dealer. If the US prices go up can the UK be far behind?

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Fair warning! TeleVue prices are going up January 1.

Tele Vue has held eyepiece and telescope pricing relatively stable for the past five years in the face of a 32% cost of living increase and a Japanese Yen value that has jumped 45% compared to the average Yen value for the years 2000-2005. But the times they are a’changin .

Due to recent dramatic price increases for raw materials and a “weak dollar,” TeleVue can no longer absorb price increases as they have in the past. Specific areas of markedly increased costs include the price of the rare earth materials that China supplies to Japanese glass makers, the after-effects of the tsunami in Japan on TeleVue’s small specialist manufacturing subcontractors, as well as the raw cost of aluminum and increases in the cost of machining and anodizing components made of that more expensive aluminum stock.

These increased costs, along with higher freight costs (UPS and FedEx have averaged a 6% price increase each year for the past five years) have all left TeleVue no choice but to raise prices, since they are committed to continue to use their existing trusted American, Japanese, and Taiwanese parts suppliers, rather than hunt around for the lowest bidder (since lower bidder often equals lower quality).

With a few minor exceptions, TeleVue prices on virtually all products will increase across the board on January 1. However, TeleVue products that are ordered before the end of December will be shipped at their current prices, even if they cannot be shipped until after January 1.

Partially offsetting the increase in eyepiece prices is the fact that all eyepieces, Barlows, Powermates, and Paracorrs bought after January 1 will have a limited lifetime warranty. Telescopes will continue to have a 5-year warranty.

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John

[John]

I've read about these increases too John - some of them are quite large

[AndyH]

Yeah. Read that last week.

I'm sure the UK and Europe will follow suit, in time, I'm afraid.

[Anders]

Good thing i bought a 21 Ethos a few weeks ago then, but I also planned on getting a paracorr in January... It looks like it could be a rather large price bump

[CGolder]

This is bad news indeed, would certainly make the es alternative that big more appealing

Sent from my A101IT using Tapatalk

[JamesM]

I never quite understand these types of statements from manufacturers. So far they have absorbed the increases in production costs and clearly that has to be congratulated. However, Televue isn't a charity and clearly even with the rise in recent production costs they are still able to make a profit - be it for less than they would like. My point here is that surely there is a limit to how much a premium product can charge given the world economic climate as it is. Of course there will always be someone somewhere with enough money to purchase their products but are there enough of them to sustain long term production by securing sufficient economies of scale? A high price for a high end product is, for me, what Televue has always stood for but I believe they are already at that price ceiling and I hate to think what this will mean for retailers who are already under pressure with ever tightening margins. Collectively, I fear this can only mean one thing, that Televue in the longer term will more than likely fold. Heresy I hear you cry but I believe this is a distinct reality given the world economy is not going to change for a number of years and with China's emerging economic strength putting increasing pressure on all manufacturing resources. In addition, I'm not sure what the reduced warranty period has to do with anything, given that the product is that good to surely negate the need for an extended warranty in the first place (unless cheaper parts are to be used?) and I believe that this sales component features fairly low on the list of any price comparison given that they have very few competitors operating at their level of product.

At the prices they are now, for many (including me) they can just about be secured, though only at the fingertips but at a higher price, they will sit well out of reach for many and simply represent works of fantasy and fiction. Very sad news but as has been mentioned many times before, we have all been a little spoilt on kit prices over recent years and the party was bound to end at some point.

James

[Ags]

Looks like my salary is falling further behind the TPI (Televue Price Index). I'm never going to be able to afford on of those things.

[m.tweedy]

If you buy one now with the money you have saved by buying it before the increase you can then afford to buy something else with the difference.

That's what my wife says after she has been to the sales

[ronin]

Suspect that the top end pieces will continue but I am curious about the lower priced bits, namely the TV plossl's.

They are already significantly more then any other plossl. Just wonder if people will decide that paying the increased cost is not worth it as the price must get close to £100 for a plossl after the increase.

[hunterknox]

John - thanks for the heads up.

RE: the spectre of £100 plossls - the nearest comparators are orthoscopic eyepieces, which run from about £50 to over £200. At the top end of any market you can usually get something incrementally better than the competition for a lot more money. Whether it's worth the difference is a matter of opinion.

[Tinker1947]

Well if Tesco's start selling them it will be buy 2 get 1 free...

[faulksy]

as if there not dear enough now

[4lefts]

what james said.

a lot of people on here have some nice tv eps. i could just (i mean just) afford a second hand ethos if i thought i'd get my money's worth from it. but if the ethos 13 was £600? no way. say 300 for a type 6? i can't see how, like james said, they are going to maintain a big enough market share.

[Adz]

I think they are worth the money that they go for now second hand tbh. The ethos is probably worth a bit more than I paid for mine. But in general, a large price increase -whether decided upon or forced, cannot be good for sales...

[andrew63]

There could well come a point where the shift from Japan to China to save cost, could see a shift again - say India - lots of high tech expertise and skilled workforce. No reason for firms like TV not to move production - Philippines, Vietnam...

andrew

[ismangil]

TeleVue is a premium brand, just like in cars, hand bags, home cinema and shoes.

Their target market is not price sensitive

[Adz]

TeleVue is a premium brand, just like in cars, hand bags, home cinema and shoes.

Their target market is not price sensitive

Premium or not, if their price increases absurdly higher than it already is, surely even more people will consider other products that deliver 95% of the performance at a fraction of the cost.

Also, based on my buying and selling experience. Even the most dedicated amateur astronomers on this site, with plenty of money to spend on eyepieces, still build a collection from buying second hand. I wonder what affect this price increase will have on the market there?

[smudgeball]

I think if you've decided to buy a TV product, you'll still buy it.

The people that purchase high end TV EPs have already weighed up many factors such as the number of times it will get used or the ratio of the eyepiece cost to the OTA cost.

In the end, if you can afford it you'll get it.

If you're not sure about the quality or value of these items, well there's always plenty of healthy discussion here !

Neil

[nightfisher]

Im so glad im lunar/ planetary orientated and i dont own or ever will own TV ep`s

for me a BGO is a top end premium lens!

Although we are in the grip of hard times, there is still a lot of people with healthy bank balance`s, i see them in my line of work every day, so i dont see TV suffering to hard with low sales

[kirkster501]

TeleVue is a premium brand, just like in cars, hand bags, home cinema and shoes.

Their target market is not price sensitive

Precisely. BMW, Audi, Apple... Televue. Premium brands at the top of their game and market. Second hand buoyant too. Folks will still pay.

Harsh reality...

Looks like I will order a brand new Nagler 17 then before 1 Jan (and not even got scope yet) !

Steve

[ronin]

TV may become high end only and their top models are very highly regarded, but astronomy is a small market. Consider that there is probably about 10 retailers in the UK. Don't know of many more in the whole of the US.

In line with many things, someone starting out is going to buy the relative budget end for the first few years. They are not going to spend £300 on an eyepiece. Most would not consider £100 for a TV plossl either.

Perhaps with the items coming out of China it is not viable to compete on the budget end. I have TV plossl's and BST Explorers and the Explorers are my preferred choice. Half the cost.

TV now make the Delos, reckoned to be as good as their more costly Ethos but a substantail saving. Perhaps thay are building their premium models up.

It will be interesting to see how this price increase will pan out, as the statement would almost imply a substantial increase to make up for several years of no increase, and what track TV take in the future, assuming that it alters.

[johninderby]

If only Telescope House was having their normal 10% off Christmas sale this year.

I would imagine it'll be a month or two before any increases hit Telescope House as they keep a lot of Televue stock, but when they have to re-order, ouch.!

John

[kirkster501]

If only Telescope House was having their normal 10% off Christmas sale this year.

John

That's what I was hoping for too. Still might happen yet.....

[spaceboy]

I wonder how it effects the S/H value of TV's? You can buy a new 13mm Nagler for £220 and sell it for £160 posted but buy a 31mm Nagler £490 and you can look to get £300 back. Similar with the 13mm Ethos £480 new £320 S/H. If Naglers go up to £250+ I would be interested to see if the S/H value go up with it as the trend seems to point at the higher the EP new the less you get back S/H. I know the idea isn't to buy an eyepiece with the intension to sell it but some of us astronomers do seem to do an awful lot of swapping out EP's

[johninderby]

The secondhand value is already creeping up. I've seen a few s/h Ethos at £360.00 to £380.00 in the last week.

John