Price increase - UK only? (1 Viewer)

Understand from 1st July that prices, here in good old blighty, on certain optics ( ELs certainly and possibly spotting scopes too) are to increase by at least 10%..... perhaps more.

Perhaps anyone who has been hedging on purchasing any Swarovski optic should quickly consider the situation as a pair of 8.5 x 42 ELs will shoot up from around £840 (discounted) to over £925, subject to new stock filtering through.

It would of use to know why such a huge increase and only in G.B.

PYRTLE said:

It would of use to know why such a huge increase and only in G.B.

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Because we always get shafted left, right and centre in 'good old blighty'.

paj

Here's a mad idea for any optical manufacturers wanting to remain competitive in the sports optics industry.

How about actually lowering prices!!,example

swarovski drops prices by 10%
leica drops it's prices by 10%
zeiss scratches it's head,drops prices by 10%

does this not make sense?

matt

matt green said:

How about actually lowering prices!! does this not make sense?

matt

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But Matt, you're forgetting where we live....God forbid that big business or politicians should actually do something to make our lives financially easier!!
We can't have that now can we?

paj

On the Leica forum Gr8fuldoug informs us that Leica is in fact establishing a 10% price increase starting July 1. I would be surprised therefore, if Swarovski's price increase limits itself to the British market.

It's hard for me to understand why these companies can't figure out that at somewhat reduced prices -high enough to be profitable but, low enough that the average bloke could have some hope of actually affording the products - they would sell more units which in turn (despite the fact that they would make less $$ per unit) would result in overall higher profits.

It's been said for a long time that "you get what you pay for" and there is some truth to that statement but, these premium makers are really stretching that point way beyond the limits of reason.

Not all is lost, however. If these companies continue to price themselves beyond the reach of us average mortals, two good things can be expected to occur/continue...

1. The very excellent mid-priced lines of Bushnell, Nikon, Pentax, etc. will continue to thrive with ever more exciting and usefull offerings.

2. (And perhaps more importantly) you may [Oh, pleasse, please, please... ] see a renewed focus on producing high quality porro prism models that will continue to exceed the optical performance of any roof prism binocular made at prices that won't require the selling of one's children.

Agree with your point about the porro prisms lucznic.

opticron and minox have made great efforts in bringing new life into this type of bin design,i'm secretly holding out for swift to come out with a new model audubon porro the blows all current roofs out of the water!!

Also can't help draw comparisons with other consumer manufacturers that
constantly strive to redesign products at lower prices,for example the
home entertainment market.
pick up a hifi magazine in january with a review of cd players priced at costs £500 to buy,then buy the same magazine six months later and some bright spark has brought out a better model for £350!

I suppose in defence (in some cases) of the optics makers,binoculars are not a mass industry,only a minority of the population actually insists on having state of the art optics for the purpose of watching wildlife/astronomy.

The costs of design and development alone must cost a considerable amount
and good faith on the part of the manufacturer who surely knows that not
every teenager has pictures of leica and swarovski binoculars pinned up on their bedroom walls alongside the latest model ferrari or semi naked pop queen?

matt

matt green said:

...not every teenager has pictures of leica and swarovski binoculars pinned up on their bedroom walls alongside the latest model ferrari or semi naked pop queen?

matt

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That's true but, they might if some of those semi-naked pop queens could be enticed into modeling their virtues.... :smoke:

I meant the BINOCULARS' virtues!!!!! Get your minds out of the gutter :t:

Swift porros

of bin design,i'm secretly holding out for swift to come out with a new model audubon porro the blows all current roofs out of the water!!

Also can't help draw comparisons with other consumer manufacturers that
constantly strive to redesign products at lower prices,for example the
home entertainment market.
pick up a hifi magazine in january with a review of cd players priced at costs £500 to buy,then buy the same magazine six months later and some bright spark has brought out a better model for £350!

I suppose in defence (in some cases) of the optics makers,binoculars are not a mass industry,only a minority of the population actually insists on having state of the art optics for the purpose of watching wildlife/astronomy.

The costs of design and development alone must cost a considerable amount
and good faith on the part of the manufacturer who surely knows that not
every teenager has pictures of leica and swarovski binoculars pinned up on their bedroom walls alongside the latest model ferrari or semi naked pop queen?

matt[/QUOTE] ANYONE know what the current Swift audobon porros are like??

They are probably just like the 820's I bought in 1999 or thereabouts. Great optics at a great price!

Bob

paj said:

But Matt, you're forgetting where we live....God forbid that big business or politicians should actually do something to make our lives financially easier!!
We can't have that now can we?

paj

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With all due respect paj (and a high degree of tongue-in-cheeked levity) I think the businesses and politicians this side of the water do a heck of a lot to make your lives financially easier. I mean, imagine if the overwhelming number of Wirral residents who work in and enjoy the subsidised arts and amenities of Liverpool city were to provide the same degree of subsidy for these facilities as the generally less well off residents of the city who provide the subsidy but still can't afford the access. Just a thought, eh. Brick up the Mersey Tunnels! It'll be the theme of the summer :h?:

<<note to self - do not post at ten to two after 6 hours in the pub>>

SiG said:

With all due respect paj (and a high degree of tongue-in-cheeked levity) I think the businesses and politicians this side of the water do a heck of a lot to make your lives financially easier. I mean, imagine if the overwhelming number of Wirral residents who work in and enjoy the subsidised arts and amenities of Liverpool city were to provide the same degree of subsidy for these facilities as the generally less well off residents of the city who provide the subsidy but still can't afford the access. Just a thought, eh. Brick up the Mersey Tunnels! It'll be the theme of the summer :h?:

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But Sig...that's exactly my point...everyone should be able to afford the access...but the vast majority of the population is screwed into the ground financially and govererned by politicians who clearly have no idea what it's like to live in the real world!

As for the tunnel, us Wirralians were quite happy with big wide rivers on either side...'a rose between two thorns'....and then some fools dug not one but two tunnels to spoil our isolation!!!

Only kiddin'

paj