is it me or has astro gear shot up in price again :-(

[oscar_camilleri]

So yesterday evening I was sifting through some astro classified ads when I saw someone advertising a Baader Hyperion eyepiece for £99. now I knew in the back of my mind that these usually retail for around £97, so I was going to politely message the seller that he might have overpriced the item. I went on my usual supplier website to check on the price and to my horror I discovered that the price has shot up by around 20% on most of the Baader Eyepieces.  Hyperions are now at £133 ( previously £97) . The Morpheus range, which I have my eye on has also had similar increases.  Previously was around £185 and now they are £223.

 

Does anyone know, is there currently a shortage in the marker for Baader eyepieces hence the new price,  is this a temporary thing or are we going to keep seing increases long term? 

[Highburymark]

Almost certainly these are the new long term prices. Noticed the zoom had gone up too. To be fair Baader’s prices seemed to have been steady for a while. But this is quite a large increase for sure.

[apaulo]

used to be called making hay while the sun shined. 

[Grant Fribbens]

That is the joys of Brexit and then pandemic making cost of transport, especially the cost of container shipping rocket!

Edited November 24, 2021 by Grant Fribbens

[Zermelo]

Baader filters also went up by quite a bit.

[apaulo]

in my 67 years on this planet, the covid and brexit are the best excuses for blatant greed i have  ever heard. 

[Highburymark]

Whisper quietly: Baader prices haven’t gone up yet at Rother Valley Optics

[ONIKKINEN]

I notice price fluctuations with mounts a lot. In TS the EQ5 was under 800 eur for a while and now it is back to 879eur. Supply shortages: the movie, part 2 electric boogaloo all over again? Or just price updates for other reasons? Who knows, everything is too expensive anyway 🤣.

[icpn]

I understand thtatbecause of global supply issues there are now shortages of most eyepices in the market. so yes the prices are going to go up[

.

 

[oscar_camilleri]

could also bee the usual Black Friday tactic of hiking the prices up for a couple of weeks and then saying , was £133, now its £97 - Grab yourself a bargain. 

[UKDiver]

3 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Whisper quietly: Baader prices haven’t gone up yet at Rother Valley Optics

Ah, but do they have the item in stock. Nothing I've asked about has been in.

[Franklin]

Owning a successful astronomical equipment brand is a licence to print your own money!

Take good old Vixen for an example. Their AXD half-pier retails for £809, it's a metal tube with a piece cut out of it!!!!

At present I'm looking to buy an SD103S, a scope i've dreamed of owning for a long time. In the UK these retail at around £1750 yet in Japan they are around £1250. It's completely bonkers.

[apaulo]

the quality of a lot of astro gear does not warrant the price. its mostly made by cheaper labour and inferior materials. quality gear warrants a higher price,  we are having to pay a higher price  for inferior goods. i dont believe that its the manufacturers that is increasing the prices but the retailers.. at one time if something was made then improved on the price increased, quite right, pay for quality, now it seems,  hey joe, somebody wants this, stick £40 more on it.  right boss.           dick turpin wore a mask.

[oscar_camilleri]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Owning a successful astronomical equipment brand is a licence to print your own money!

Take good old Vixen for an example. Their AXD half-pier retails for £809, it's a metal tube with a piece cut out of it!!!!

At present I'm looking to buy an SD103S, a scope i've dreamed of owning for a long time. In the UK these retail at around £1750 yet in Japan they are around £1250. It's completely bonkers.

Yeah i know, Same applies to Taks, My GF is Japanese and she was explaining to me that altough we consider them as prime scopes, back in Japan Takahashi was considered an average scope manufacturer, same as we consider celestron or meade over here.  Meaning they are not held in Awe or worshiped like most of us seem to do. Same with prices, for example if you were to buy an FC-100dz it would be around £1850 in japan, whilst in the UK the same scope retails around £2500. 

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, UKDiver said:

Ah, but do they have the item in stock. Nothing I've asked about has been in.

Also, postage charges may reduce or remove any price differential. FLO charge £1.95 for a small item, other suppliers I've seen want £7.50 for the same item.

[heliumstar]

17 minutes ago, oscar_camilleri said:

Yeah i know, Same applies to Taks, My GF is Japanese and she was explaining to me that altough we consider them as prime scopes, back in Japan Takahashi was considered an average scope manufacturer, same as we consider celestron or meade over here.  Meaning they are not held in Awe or worshiped like most of us seem to do. Same with prices, for example if you were to buy an FC-100dz it would be around £1850 in japan, whilst in the UK the same scope retails around £2500. 

That's interesting. I am aware that Japanese might not be as 'excited' about Taks as we can sometimes be but what else is out there that is held in awe by people from Japan?

[Franklin]

27 minutes ago, oscar_camilleri said:

Same with prices, for example if you were to buy an FC-100dz it would be around £1850 in japan,

I want to live in Japan.

[apaulo]

great place to be an optician lol

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

That's interesting. I am aware that Japanese might not be as 'excited' about Taks as we can sometimes be but what else is out there that is held in awe by people from Japan?

Yes, @oscar_camilleri, ask your GF what the Japanese consider the best scopes in Japan? (bet she says Pentax)

Edited November 24, 2021 by Franklin
addition

[heliumstar]

Morpheus is now in the price territory of Pentax XW. It would be interesting to know if sales drop. I would go for XW every time. There is just no comparison in build quality between the two. I also find XW more comfortable. Viewing through them is similar experience with a slight edge to XW again in my experience.

[John]

20 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

That's interesting. I am aware that Japanese might not be as 'excited' about Taks as we can sometimes be but what else is out there that is held in awe by people from Japan?

This is an article about the Telescope Museum in Tawa, Japan. Some wonderful telescopes in there but very few Takahashis, as far as I can see:

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/a-visit-to-the-museum-of-astronomical-telescope-r3040

Edited November 24, 2021 by John

[heliumstar]

Thanks @John for reminding me of this article! Nice eyecandy to rest my eyes at end of work day

 

[Newforestgimp]

6 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I notice price fluctuations with mounts a lot. In TS the EQ5 was under 800 eur for a while and now it is back to 879eur. Supply shortages: the movie, part 2 electric boogaloo all over again? Or just price updates for other reasons? Who knows, everything is too expensive anyway 🤣.

And then you have to repair brand new gear because it doesn’t work 😂

[tomato]

1 hour ago, oscar_camilleri said:

Yeah i know, Same applies to Taks, My GF is Japanese and she was explaining to me that altough we consider them as prime scopes, back in Japan Takahashi was considered an average scope manufacturer, same as we consider celestron or meade over here.  Meaning they are not held in Awe or worshiped like most of us seem to do. Same with prices, for example if you were to buy an FC-100dz it would be around £1850 in japan, whilst in the UK the same scope retails around £2500. 

Crikey, sparks will fly if this gets out…😉

[Chaz2b]

Even used eyepieces are being hiked up to match! EBay are selling a Pentax zoom eyepiece for £198 post free from Japan, whereas in the U.K., a well known dealer is selling a used one for £300!

Could we see a resurgence in home made optics!?