kyle1508They've done the same on the HD6XX. Ironic that an Australian distributor now offers this (at a heavily marked up price) and Drop stops shipping to Australia?
electrotekI think you were on the money:
Hi ,
Thank you for contacting Drop Community Support.
This particular run doesn't allow shipments to Australia. We do everything we can to ship to as many countries as possible, but we're not always able to include every country for every run.
Factors that go into determining shipping eligibility include vendor limitations and import restrictions.
Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Drop Community Support
KevinThank you for clarifying @Kevin but that's unfortunate news. Consumers should be given a choice of who they can buy from. @steve how are you connecting to your customers and championing the Drop name/philosophy when you force people onto a local retailer charging substantially more for your product on a different website?
MxBluEWhile this is true, our price will be back at $160 in a couple of days, and at $160, the price difference between A2A isn't drastically different from our price after you factor in foreign exchange and shipping fees (you also now have a local brick and mortar location that you can demo the headphones at, purchase them, return them, etc.) I think we can all agree that A2A is better positioned to serve the Australian market than we are. This temporary pricing differential simply exists because Black Friday/Cyber Monday isn't really observed in Australia. You can point to dozens of products where the price-differences are "huge" for these few days. I expect there will be sales that A2A will run that we won't run, and you'll see the A2A price be lower than our price at times in the future.
KevinYou'd find a large number of Australians do actively participate in Black Friday/Cyber Monday because it is a great time to get items that are much dearer here in Australia. Just because local retailers don't, doesn't mean the customers don't.
The main inhibitor to purchasing from overseas is the postage cost. The other is stupid deals like this that force us to buy from exclusive local dealers.
KevinSorry but this simply is not true. Black Friday/Cyber Monday is absolutely observed in Australia, including A2A who offered a whopping 10% off the HD6XX (versus USD$40 off + up to USD$60 bonus earpads from yourselves). So let's break it down for the HD6XX:
Regular Pricing: A2A: AUD$379 (USD$258). Drop: USD$220 + USD$15 shipping, so not much in it.
New Drop member pricing: A2A: AUD$379 (USD$258). Drop: USD$220 - USD$20 new member + USD$15 shipping. USD$40 is not to be sneezed at.
BF/CM Pricing: A2A: AUD$379 - 10% voucher (USD$233). Drop: USD$180 + USD$15 shipping, including up to USD$60 bonus earpads (not possible from A2A). That's a hefty difference.
BF/CM Pricing, New Drop member: A2A: AUD$379 - 10% voucher (USD$233). Drop: USD$180 - USD$20 new member + USD$15 shipping, including up to USD$60 bonus earpads (not possible from A2A). That's a massive difference.
You said "I think we can all agree that A2A is better positioned to serve the Australian market than we are." - Why? If your products work, I buy them, I get them, I enjoy them. End of story. If there was a small price differential, fine. But there's not. Plus you take your customers away from the Drop website and everything else it has to offer. I'm an Australian consumer who has been buying online for over 20 years. You've gone down a well trodden, heavily criticized path. You might want to ask yourself, why did Amazon US block Australian shoppers, then change their mind eventually? I strongly urge Drop to rethink their decision - it looks financially driven rather than in the interests of its customers.
kyle1508Once again Australia bend over and cop it in the you know where from an opportunistic distributor/middleman who I will guarantee won't drop the price should our dollar in the unlikely event go north again.
Wheels55On the bright side, Australia got to buy the Elex, whereas we missed out in NZ for whatever reason. Now it seems they won't ship the senns to NZ because they think we're the same country as Australia... I spoke with a prominent Sennheiser dealer in NZ today and they had no idea Drop had stopped shipping to NZ. They'll be rubbing their hands together as they get to start selling 650s again.
KevinDrop ways to do Business simply disgust me. You people have gone down a spiral of self destruction behaviour that is unheard of. Nobody will buy your crap from someone else that jacked up the prices rest assured. What is happened to customers equality across the globe???? This was not a decison due to customs or government regulations but simply by your own greed. Disgusting. Drop is not the same as it used to be and with the change of brand all went to hell. Have a good day.
KevinHello, A2A have just advised they have no stock for the rest of the year, Is it possible to order these off drop to ship to australia or new zealand then?