In response to the emails from Ron and James.
We 'had' a much different infrastructure in Europe.
That began changing in 1993 when the European Union officially was launched.
In the years prior to that, the grey channels were a booming business in
nearly all industries.
Official local dealers would uplift prices on stuff by as much as 50% to
cover the cost of stocking inventory, spare parts and having a service
department. After all, you couldn't just send a computer or anything else
back to the states or back to Japan for service.
The grey channels would purchase in the country of origin, perfectly legal,
and then export them to the country they intended to do business with. They
would pay import tax and sales tax and pass that cost on to the consumer.
They were still about 25% cheaper than the official country importer, but
had no support after sales.
So if it breaks . . . these consumers would expect to get service from the
official importer, who usually (and IMO, rightfully) refused.
Basically the broken unit was under warranty but "return to factory" or at
least return to retail source.
That was the history.
Then the European Union was founded and official local country importers
were forced to recognize the warranty of any product purchased anywhere in
the Eu. Union (not all of Europe, just those member countries) as long as it
was purchased from an official channel.
Further implications: "CE" (the European certification process for all
electronic equipment)
In order to gain CE compliance, the device must be supplied with the correct
power cord, switched to the correct mains voltage, have an instruction
manual in the language(s) of the country it is being sold, have a CE logo on
the shipping box, and have a one page document (but it could be loose leaf)
certifying CE compliance.
Sometimes the manufacturer pays this, but often, as in the case for Ten-Tec,
the local distributor had to do all of the extra work for CE
compliance...which included translating the instruction manual. These
actions have costs associated with them, which must be recuperated from the
sales price.
Joe Ham often would purchase his kit (say Omni VII) in the states and import
it himself. There is no import tax on ham radios, but sales tax must be
paid (19% for Germany). But often Joe Ham simply bought the radio while on
vacation in the states and brought it back, sneaking it past customs, which
is not usually strongly enforced.
Some of the "brighter" Joe Hams even brag about how smart they were, how
much they saved, and claim the local dealer is ripping people off . . .
until his radio breaks. Then he wants the local dealer to fix it. The
local dealer refuses and I FULLY SUPPORT THAT!
So here in Europe, things are different.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron
Notarius W3WN
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 1:40 AM
To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Eagle vs. TS-590S
I wouldn't go that far.
I don't know about EU, but I do know that in the US at one time, someone had
to have been in busy for at least a year and be doing a minimum dollar value
of retail business before Kenwood (or ICOM or Yaesu)would consider making
their business an official dealership.
So many of the smaller dealers don't buy the gear from Kenwood directly, but
they do buy it from the larger dealers. Technically, this could be
considered the "gray market."
How do I know this? I once worked for a ham radio dealership in exactly
this position. Until we became an official/authorized dealership, we bought
our equipment from the old EGE chain (now part of HRO). Who recommended we
deal with EGE? Kenwood. And ICOM and Yaesu.
The factory warranties were in full force. As far as the factory was
concerned, even though we didn't buy our gear directly from them, we were
still the point of sale for warranty purposes. I don't know of a single
user who had a warranty problem over buying the gear from us.
Now, why did/do the larger & largest authorized distributors/dealerships do
this? Volume. They buy more gear this way, and get the volume discounts.
They make money selling the gear to the "gray market" small dealerships, and
they make money selling the gear to you directly.
Everyone wins. The small stores can get inventory. The large stores move
inventory, and get the big discounts. If there's a minimum purchase on a
given item, more than a small store can afford, they can still get items
from the big store that won't blink at a minimum purchase. The factory
sells product. And: You, the consumer, get more choices for who you want
to deal with, and can shop for the best possible deal.
So... shame on buying "outside" the dealer channel? Hardly. It's not quite
that simple, folks.
73, ron w3wn
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8JHR
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2014 7:19 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Eagle vs. TS-590S
No -- shame on guys who buy outside the authorized dealer channel - If you
don't buy a warranty, then don't complain you paid less and cannot get
warranty service.
------------ That's my take. - JR ----------------
On 7/6/2014 5:53 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> Here in Europe we have authorized Kenwood dealers, and then others.
> Shame on Kenwood (once again).
>
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