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 Post subject: International pricing
PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:07 am 
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:39 am
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I have read the forum, watched the vids, and I'm really keen on getting an i9s or i12s. Looks fantastic. However it seems I must be really careful about where I order. Doing a google product search for the i12s, I get 1799 USD at Austin Kayak, Campmor and several others:
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&sa ... e&resnum=1

Then I check my local, Norwegian dealers - they don't list the inflatables on their web pages, so I try the Swedish ones. 21900 SEK, that's 3084 USD!
http://www.kajakfiske.nu/html/products/ ... k-12s.html
That's some difference. I know I'm filthy rich by virtue of being Norwegian, but come on! That's 70% over the US price. I bet the Norwegian dealers would charge even more if they sold it. (Maybe they do, but I try to keep away from shops that don't keep their web site up to date.) I get 2431 USD at one of the UK dealers. Around 1900 USD in Australia. Why the massive "Scandiavia tax"?

Any other non-US owners out there? How did you buy it? What do I stand to loose from buying from the US? Are there even any US dealers that ship internationally? (I didn't find any.)

(By the way, what's up with the Hobie dealer overview that lists dealers email addresses but not their web sites? Most of the ones I tried have web sites. Makes it cumbersome for prospective buyers.)


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:50 pm 
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Well, I sounded really cranky there. Sorry for giving the impression that I blame Hobie for high scandinavian prices - I don't. Just a bit shocked at the higher-than-normal price difference.

I asked the Norwegian dealers for prices and availability today, let's see what they have to say. One of the Swedish dealers has some demo and older models for reduced prices, that is tempting.

I've just done a 10 km downriver ride in my $200 inflatable kayak. To think what I could do with pedals... the rivers, lakes and coast around here offer so many possibilities.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:43 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
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Location: Oceanside, California
On the website link idea...

Most dealers do not have complete and up-to-date websites. We feel it to be less effective for consumers, when comparing Hobie products, to shuffle them off of our site to an unknown website showing possibly out of date information.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:54 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:56 am
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Hello gunnstein,
I've got a i9s in January, I ordered at Austin Kayak from Japan.
The total cost was a little bit cheaper than japanese dealer's price because of the exchange rate at that time.

Why don't you ask AustinKayak about over-sea shipping charge?


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:47 am 
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:39 am
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musashi wrote:
Hello gunnstein,
I've got a i9s in January, I ordered at Austin Kayak from Japan.
The total cost was a little bit cheaper than japanese dealer's price because of the exchange rate at that time.

Why don't you ask AustinKayak about over-sea shipping charge?


Thanks, I will! I can get an i9s now from the norwegian dealer for 2700 USD, normal price 3400 USD. That's a good offer, but I'm considering a non inflatable as well. I haven't decided yet. I guess I'll wait until spring, unless I get an offer I can't refuse.


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