Just a question.

I have a friend who emigrates to Adelaide from the UK tomorrow.  He has just taken his entire families belongings in a container.

I'm thinking of maybe sending him a container full of B&O for the Australian Market to sell on ebay in Oz.  Good idea, or bad idea?  There seems to be a fantastic market for older B&O, but shipping prices shoot any deal straight in the foot when selling from Europe.

I'm not a charity of course, but i'd love to see more Australians and New Zealanders get their hands on stuff without having to pay the earth.. What do you think?

Lee

Good idea, but what about when the stuff needs to be serviced?

It would be great to see a bit more of a second hand B&O market here. I get so frustrated seeing things for sale overseas at great prices, only to have extremely high postage prices shoot the idea in the foot.

The one problem you have is that you are sending it to Adelaide. It is a smaller city, so not the population/market. You will still have shipping costs of the larger items to the bigger cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane).

In saying that, the Australian market is pretty strong. Another thing to consider is exchange rate.

I would suggest puting a tech in with the container and send it to Melbourne or Sydney. Failing the tech putting up with the voyage maybe align yourself with a service agent or agency somehow.

pm if you need further details...

beoaus...

I agree that adelaide is too small, even though i've spent almost 10 thousand dollars at lifestyle AV now.Having a second-hand source in this country would do well, set up shop in sydney or melbourne one day.

Regarding servicing? If it comes to that i have my dealer... :(

Fantastic idea. There used to be a great second hand market here before B&O was taken over by Denmark again a while ago. Prior to that I purchased many pieces of used B&O from dealers at very competitive prices. I think it was a great mistake by Denmark to discontinue this policy as it worked so well.

I'd consider setting up a B&O second hand store here. I've thought about it in the past, but find sourcing product a problem...

Maybe Lee and I should talk????

From a personal perspective I would love to see an expansion of the used B&O market within Australia, particularly if it were to use a similar model to Lifestyle AV in the UK - detailed online product browsing, warranty on items, etc.

Currently in Aus, being limited to items that appear on eBay can be very frustrating (item that you need/want not available) and risky (no accompanying warranty/guarantee). A more targeted and robust second hand market place for B&O equipment would really be welcome - by me, anyway. But as beoaus points out, a servicing component, whether in-house, outsourced or aligned with existing Aus B&O service centres, would be vital.

As mentioned above, selling into Aus from the UK means you have a bit of exchange rate risk as well as high shipping costs. It's my understanding that you're also likely to be hit with import duty - generally 10% on items over AUD$1000, even if they are second hand. But there may be ways around this - not sure. The other risk is the strength of the market itself and our relatively small population. Although, it does seem that premium prices are paid on eBay for some items.

In any case, I'd love to see more second hand B&O equipment available in Aus. Lee: please keep us posted on how your container plans progress.

Cheers,

Matt

Hello Lee et.al.

Great idea to send some items over.. Ive already bought a beocentre 2 and a beogram 7000 through Lifestyle AV. The shipping is expensive I agree, but often is still cheaper than brand new or 10% discounted items here in Sydney.

Love to know what you are planning to send Lee as I might be interested in a few items!!!

David Coyne

Sydney, Australia

Well, it's not really a plan (yet) - i just wanted to know what the market is like in Australia..

Is it a big market, or is it just 'pent up' demand from a few enthusiasts?

Lee

Hi Lee..

Is it a big market?? Difficult to say. You might need to talk with a few B&O store managers

22 Million people... Almost 4.6 million in Sydney, 3.5 million in Melbourne, approaching 3 million in Bris Vegas. They would be the markets to concentrate on and where the money is I suspect.

You must get plenty of queries from Australia.. I continue to buy from you!

David Coyne

Brisbane is just under 2 million actually :-)

I'm glad it's not bigger. It's the perfect city. 

Australia used to have the second largest spare parts selection outside of Denmark. The service centres were staffed by employees with decades of experience and helpful advice.

The business model then changed and service was outsoursed. The parts were no longer available.  Stores no longer sell second hand goods and its hard to get them serviced without parts or in some cases the experience or time to fix them economically.

The secondhand market I would say is made up of a small number of enthusiasts, possibly getting smaller... I think there is potential. To get it running you may need a shop front, service centre and parts supply to support it. Then they will come.....

beoaus.

The lack of a used base here (i'm in Melbourne) is a bit of a limiter. Ebay Aus doesn't carry a great deal of interest - and as voiced before the overseas Ebay purchases always have a large postage/shipping (there not a lot of light B&O).

The benefit of a shopfront would be obvious but costly to setup. I'd definitely be interested in a used BV7 (since saving up for a new one is taking too long).

Having the choice of a supply line for used would be beneficial - although buyers on the cusp of recent used vs new probably wouldn't impress B&O..?  

In summary - a good idea, but with a servicing/support option would definitely be a clincher. 

Lee, you could sell Lifestyle AV franchises. If you need a van driver for the Eastborne to Australia run, just drop me a PM.

Craig

Craig:

Lee, you could sell Lifestyle AV franchises. If you need a van driver for the Eastborne to Australia run, just drop me a PM.

 

 

Craig

Do you need co driver ?

..... easy left .... easy right .... strait ....

I will bring booze ....