Jump to content

Narrowband

Delos at £419? Really??


great_bear

Recommended Posts

I’ve been thinking about having a refresh of my eyepiece collection. However, just as I’m comparing relative price differences (at FLO) someone seems to have pressed a “Hike!” button.

- HD Orthos now > £90 ??

- Delos now at £419 ???

Seriously? - I understand that times are tough, but hey - they’re tough for everyone - not just retailers. Eyepiece upgrades are not an essential purchase, and price hikes at this scale are enough to freeze anyone’s upgrade plans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed the same thing earlier in the week @great_bear . We Brits on here are all poorer when the pound slides against the dollar. I don’t like to be disloyal to our forum sponsor but it goes with saying TV EP’s are around elsewhere at the older prices. I guess they won’t be for long if this is an FX related GBP price adjustment against in the TV case what I assume to be a USD denominated global price list. 😞

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look around you, is there anything that hasn't had a huge price rise, fuel and energy prices have escalated beyond belief... Covid had a massive impact on raw materials, shipping costs so I'd guess thats the reason for most price rises rather than what you make it sound like the retailer making bigger profits...

As you say yourself, it's not a necessity it's a Luxury item for a hobby... If you can't afford it then either don't buy it or look at secondhand

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i remember a time when the economists here were crying in their gin, that the pound was too strong. yip far too strong against the dollar. did we get stuff cheaper, nope. why. pure greed. i think the truth is, chinese stuff is getting as good as anyone elses. they are getting things right. same as the japs did. the chinese manufacturing prices are still far cheaper than anyone else on the planet= more profit to be made. dosnt matter how this is parceled up. quite simply its pure greed on a massive scale. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, josefk said:

I noticed the same thing earlier in the week @great_bear . We Brits on here are all poorer when the pound slides against the dollar. I don’t like to be disloyal to our forum sponsor but it goes with saying TV EP’s are around elsewhere at the older prices. I guess they won’t be for long if this is an FX related GBP price adjustment against in the TV case what I assume to be a USD denominated global price list. 😞

My issue is more that the prices will not go down if it slips back in the other direction. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, great_bear said:

Seriously? - I understand that times are tough, but hey - they’re tough for everyone - not just retailers. 

The recent price increases are due entirely to the falling £. Items purchased in $ cost considerably more than they used to.

The same is true for all products purchased in $. Not only Tele Vue eyepieces. 

 

currency.thumb.jpg.104928a3c8ee128e124f87491a3c7ab8.jpg

38 minutes ago, Adam J said:

My issue is more that the prices will not go down if it slips back in the other direction. 

At FLO they will because in this instance the cause is currency fluctuation. 

The reductions might not be immediate (depends when stock was purchased) but it will happen. To be fair, we didn't immediately increase prices either. We have been absorbing the negative affect of currency fluctuations for some time. 

HTH, 

Steve 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quite sure that @FLO have seen not an opportunity to make a quick return, that’s not their ‘Ethos’ is it!

Televue used to package an eyepiece and diagonal with their TV 85….no longer. 
Suspect a number of different factors, but have you seen the Pound’s value against the dollar recently?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62817391

Good luck in finding one used etc.

Chris

Edited by Cjg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Cjg said:

Quite sure that @FLO have seen not an opportunity to make a quick return, that’s not their ‘Ethos’ is it!

Saw what you did there 😄

Anyone looking at the chart in my previous post will see the £ has been steadily falling since April/May, but we delayed increasing prices until now (over three months). 

Steve 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is that what caused the embarrassing saga of the Tele Vue DeLite eyepiece launch in the UK?

The marketing materials said it was a “smaller, more economical” alternative to Delos, yet some UK retailers were selling both at more-or-less the same price at launch time. It meant the marketing materials made no sense.

Edited by great_bear
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Cjg said:

Quite sure that @FLO have seen not an opportunity to make a quick return, that’s not their ‘Ethos’ is it!

Televue used to package an eyepiece and diagonal with their TV 85….no longer. 
Suspect a number of different factors, but have you seen the Pound’s value against the dollar recently?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62817391

Good luck in finding one used etc.

Chris

You can still get an accessory package with a price break on the parts:

https://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=26&Tab=_acc

But I've been a TV dealer for over a decade, And I never saw them include an eyepiece and a diagonal, at least not in the states.

They did, at one time, offer the scope with a diagonal, and that was true for the NP series as well.  Maybe they were packed with an eyepiece in the UK.

With cost increases, though, I'm sure they were afraid that offering the scopes that way would result in too large a price increase.

 

I bought a refractor many years ago that came with rings, dovetail, diagonal and finder.

Today, it is a stripped down OTA and all the other items are a la carte.

That kept the price increase to a bare minimum, and besides, most refractors are used for imaging these days and the buyer doesn't want a finder (he'll use a guide scope instead)

or a diagonal (imaging is straight through).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currency fluctuations are one thing, but supply and demand trump's all. Hence I see the SW GTI as my final purchase for some time, got to pay for gas and electricity l, that's not just an issue for me either it's us all. Someone has to take a hit or I strongly suspect demand will greatly reduce. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 09/09/2022 at 10:15, Adam J said:

Currency fluctuations are one thing, but supply and demand trump's all. Hence I see the SW GTI as my final purchase for some time, got to pay for gas and electricity l, that's not just an issue for me either it's us all. Someone has to take a hit or I strongly suspect demand will greatly reduce. 

Given worldwide shortages of raw materials, a fall in demand wil be a good thing. Prices have risen due to demand outstripping supply. It is economics 101. The world is going to take a very long time bounce back. If you shut down a blast furnace, it has to be re-lined and is 6 months before it goes back on line and you see steel production from it.

Things are unstable at present, so supplies of essential raw materials are in short supply, but demand is high. I have seen price increases in some materials of more than 100% in the past 12 months. We are now quoting with a 7 day validity instead of the usual 60. Hopefully, things will eventually level off and back to normal as has happened in the past. It may take a long while, this time.

I'm sure the likes of FLO and RVO are not gouging anyone on prices.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/09/2022 at 11:25, Elp said:

If they're in stock already the prices shouldn't have changed, it's when they're changed in this instance which irks, unless they have commercial agreements to pay later.

As a retailer - I disagree!

One of the lines we sell is specialist paint - a 750ml can of a particular paint has gone up £1 per week every week for the last 8 weeks - from £18.50 to £26.50 a can. When we sell a can we have to replace it and effectively we would be retailing at less than the cost price to replace it !!! On top of that our payroll has gone up along with all our other costs and energy costs have gone through the roof. Whilst customers are squealing we are having are profit margins slashed to the bone.

Edited by Skipper Billy
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the new replacement part would be then sold to the buyer at the higher cost price so you haven't lost out if you paid a lower price for the original older item.

This would be different if it were a sale or return situation to a supplier.

If I made an item out of material at £1 per kilo previously and it was sitting in stock, it's not right to then charge more for that sitting stock at a price for an item I'm yet to make out of material at £2 per kilo at the current market price is it. Unfortunately this is how a lot of businesses operate, just look at fuel.

Edited by Elp
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surprised no one has mentioned current second hand prices which are entirely in the hands of enthusiasts, ie the many here complaining about businesses making profit. To me the ones making a stash of cash are those in the second hand market selling items at significantly more than they themselves paid. I have a mount I paid £800 for second hand at a fair 60% of new at the time. not many ads are placed at that percentage nowadays. Now I see secondhand gear going for more than when originally purchased so whose fleecing who?

No need to come back at me as the answer is, as always, it’s a market place so get over it. 

So What?

Don’t attack the businesses unless your conscious is clear on what you’d be asking for your second hand gear if selling today. You are simply selling one bit of kit, they have a business to run which is to our benefit. No businesses = no hobby. Just saying….

Edited by PadrePeace
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.