In India imported Hi Fi equipment is OVER PRICED .. TRUE OR FALSE ??

How co.e Chord DACs are sold at UK prices and sometimes even less?? What is the market for high end DACs by volume but the prices are extremely competitive and therefore I doubt anyone buys Chord DACs from abroad...

That is also very correct sir
It's almost at par with USA prices.

My post on the thread agrees with the high pricing but the chord dac example you gave sold by headphone zone absolutely makes us think twice
 
That is also very correct sir
It's almost at par with USA prices.

My post on the thread agrees with the high pricing but the chord dac example you gave sold by headphone zone absolutely makes us think twice

Obviously if the manufacturers want to take a cut in profit while selling in india, this is possible.
 
Obviously if the manufacturers want to take a cut in profit while selling in india, this is possible.
The distributors cost after import duties is almost 40 percent of the mrp .. so something costing 40k is sold for 1 lakh.. if they reduce the price to 70k which is the normal price worldwide, they will be able to sell more , rotate the stock quickly, get more people to buy, increase the market size and make more profits and thereby get an even better price from the manufacturer... Music is in our genes and there are 1.35 billion people waiting to be exploited...
 
The distributors cost after import duties is almost 40 percent of the mrp .. so something costing 40k is sold for 1 lakh.. if they reduce the price to 70k which is the normal price worldwide, they will be able to sell more , rotate the stock quickly, get more people to buy, increase the market size and make more profits and thereby get an even better price from the manufacturer... Music is in our genes and there are 1.35 billion people waiting to be exploited...

Same headphonezone sells schiit also. Why doesnt it have same pricing in india as in US ? Same goes for many products on headphonezone. Only chord product prices can be conpared why not all others? No one is saint here. Its a mixup of distributors importers and manufacturers.
 
Same headphonezone sells schiit also. Why doesnt it have same pricing in india as in US ? Same goes for many products on headphonezone. Only chord product prices can be conpared why not all others? No one is saint here. Its a mixup of distributors importers and manufacturers.

Schiit sells factory direct in the US - which means there is no dealer / distributor margin in the US price. The Indian price is around a 40% markup over that - similar to customs + gst. No idea about the other brands they sell.
 
In our country the basic mentality is to juice people in the name of taxes & duties. This high rate of customs duties often lead to corruption. If duties are levied sensibly then I am sure people would pay willingly thereby reducing corruption. If you bring in any high value electronic item from abroad, you are made to feel as if it is a crime although you have bought it from your hard earned money.
A duty of 20 to 25% is understandable but 40 to 50 % is outright ridiculous.
 
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Schiit sells factory direct in the US - which means there is no dealer / distributor margin in the US price. The Indian price is around a 40% markup over that - similar to customs + gst. No idea about the other brands they sell.

That self explains all. So if we agree schiit cannot be sold at US price in india whatever the reason, then why question other comapnies price? Everyone in the chain need to earn money, its as simple as that.

In our country the basic mentality is to juice people in the name of taxes & duties. This high rate of customs duties often lead to corruption. If duties are levied sensibly then I am sure people would pay willingly thereby reducing corruption. If you bring in any high value electronic item from abroad, you are made to feel as if it is a crime although you have bought it from your hard earned money.
A duty of 20 to 25% is understandable but 40 to 50 % is outright ridiculous.

I think duty is around 30% if you hand carry the product. But if you get it shipped, shipping cost is also added to invoice value and then charged at 30% duty. Its a price that needs to be paid because our country is still a developing one and govt thinks that these kind of hifi products are a luxury instead of necessity and so be taxed higher and expect the people who buy them rich enough to pay for their luxuries. Its fair enough given that india's net avg income is 10000 rs per month per person. To develop we need to import less and export more, if all taxes are abolished do you think we can ever achive it. Btw economy is already in doldrums these days and worse days to come.
 
I think duty is around 30% if you hand carry the product. But if you get it shipped, shipping cost is also added to invoice value and then charged at 30% duty. Its a price that needs to be paid because our country is still a developing one and govt thinks that these kind of hifi products are a luxury instead of necessity and so be taxed higher and expect the people who buy them rich enough to pay for their luxuries. Its fair enough given that india's net avg income is 10000 rs per month per person. To develop we need to import less and export more, if all taxes are abolished do you think we can ever achive it. Btw economy is already in doldrums these days and worse days to come.

Duty reduction and rationalisation doesn’t have to mean less income for the govt. If a good job is done, it can actually increase. Just look at the number of threads n the forum where FMs discuss bringing audio equipment with them. And most make enough foreign trips for work and leisure to bring most of the electronics they want. If duties are brought down to a parity level of say 20-25%, a number of them might be incentivised to import legally.

Distributor pricing is a separate issue. Duty reduction doesn’t necessarily mean the difference will be passed on to the customer. That will depend on the demand-supply economics in a free market scenario. But as the market becomes more efficient (as every market tends to be when volumes grow) pricing can get more competitive. We see that in consumer electronics, don’t we?
 
I think duty is around 30% if you hand carry the product. But if you get it shipped, shipping cost is also added to invoice value and then charged at 30% duty. Its a price that needs to be paid because our country is still a developing one and govt thinks that these kind of hifi products are a luxury instead of necessity and so be taxed higher and expect the people who buy them rich enough to pay for their luxuries. Its fair enough given that india's net avg income is 10000 rs per month per person. To develop we need to import less and export more, if all taxes are abolished do you think we can ever achive it. Btw economy is already in doldrums these days and worse days to come.

I would agree with Sachin where lower rate of duties does not necessarily mean lower revenues for the govt. People in general would willingly pay a maximum of 25% but more than that would certainly pinch the pockets. I totally agree that duties need to be paid for the economy to progress but it should be at reasonable rates. Years ago I had bought mid end stuff with me which was not even high end. It was certainly not a pleasant experience at the customs.
Sometimes the mood of the officer takes over rationality. If you are not carrying much and have the patience and tenacity to argue then perhaps one may get away by paying less.
 
That self explains all. So if we agree schiit cannot be sold at US price in india whatever the reason, then why question other comapnies price? Everyone in the chain need to earn money, its as simple as that.

I think the reason is very important here like it is in all discussions.. It's the very reason that volume levelling is done to check an amplifier or a DAC or a speaker.. If HeadphoneZone can sell at same rates as in the UK (the country of origin), then so can others.. How is it possible that I imported a pair of Tannoy Prestige GR speakers with shipping by air and get a product at 60% of Indian distributor MRP after paying customs, shipping by FEDEX for 1 pair and agent fees.. And this is when the distributor and retailer of the country of import both made their money.. And this is when I paid customs duty on a higher price than the Indian distributor who pays customs on distributor price... So lets not blame cheap Indians or high taxes as customs duties around the world are similar... The distributor needs to be blamed for not being able to price the product right in a price sensitive economy..
 
can you give me some approx prices for the sp
I think the reason is very important here like it is in all discussions.. It's the very reason that volume levelling is done to check an amplifier or a DAC or a speaker.. If HeadphoneZone can sell at same rates as in the UK (the country of origin), then so can others.. How is it possible that I imported a pair of Tannoy Prestige GR speakers with shipping by air and get a product at 60% of Indian distributor MRP after paying customs, shipping by FEDEX for 1 pair and agent fees.. And this is when the distributor and retailer of the country of import both made their money.. And this is when I paid customs duty on a higher price than the Indian distributor who pays customs on distributor price... So lets not blame cheap Indians or high taxes as customs duties around the world are similar... The distributor needs to be blamed for not being able to price the product right in a price sensitive economy..
can you give some rough numbers - I may be able to explain the gap
 
Agreed with the predatory pricing these ravenous dealers and distributors come up with. I've spoken to few dealers and they've often mentioned that the difference in distributor pricing (which is very much less than customer/individual price) will cover for their shipping charges, but they put it on us anyways.

If the D&D understood how to capture this market with competitive prices instead of complaining, we wouldn't be bothering our kith and kin to hand carry A/V equipment from other countries :)
 
I think the reason is very important here like it is in all discussions.. It's the very reason that volume levelling is done to check an amplifier or a DAC or a speaker.. If HeadphoneZone can sell at same rates as in the UK (the country of origin), then so can others.. How is it possible that I imported a pair of Tannoy Prestige GR speakers with shipping by air and get a product at 60% of Indian distributor MRP after paying customs, shipping by FEDEX for 1 pair and agent fees.. And this is when the distributor and retailer of the country of import both made their money.. And this is when I paid customs duty on a higher price than the Indian distributor who pays customs on distributor price... So lets not blame cheap Indians or high taxes as customs duties around the world are similar... The distributor needs to be blamed for not being able to price the product right in a price sensitive economy..

+1. My view also the same.
 
I think the reason is very important here like it is in all discussions.. It's the very reason that volume levelling is done to check an amplifier or a DAC or a speaker.. If HeadphoneZone can sell at same rates as in the UK (the country of origin), then so can others.. How is it possible that I imported a pair of Tannoy Prestige GR speakers with shipping by air and get a product at 60% of Indian distributor MRP after paying customs, shipping by FEDEX for 1 pair and agent fees.. And this is when the distributor and retailer of the country of import both made their money.. And this is when I paid customs duty on a higher price than the Indian distributor who pays customs on distributor price... So lets not blame cheap Indians or high taxes as customs duties around the world are similar... The distributor needs to be blamed for not being able to price the product right in a price sensitive economy..

So in your case inidan dealer was charging 2.5 times the international price. This is daylight robbery but many people expect the products to be priced same as international level, that may not be possible thats why i gave example of schiit. The kind of dealers you are talking about are to be boycotted.
 
International Price is inclusive of dealer/ retailer margin in those countries ....i can understand a certain mark up meant to account for duties,shipping etc ...or maybe even low volumes in our country ....but a mark up of 100 to 150 to 200% cannot be justified ...
 
Its also about the perception management, we think brands made in India do not last, have inferior quality, or inferior support. If this has to change the manufacturers have to provide world class quality and services. We are cost conscious because things can get expensive, even if locally produced.

I often see a complete lack of innovation in local brand products, they get complacent once some sales kick in thats just my experience ofcourse and I hope to be wrong here.

And finally where do we draw the line between want and need? As a society/civilization if we are stuck in things that we just need then I guess we do not need almost everything beyond the basic necessities to survive.


its not about perception ...you had a lot of international brands tying up with local manufactures and producing here in the past ....Videocon was one such company which produced for a lot of brands ....yet the difference in a Akai produced in Videocon factory and one produced in Japan could be clearly seen and heard .....Take Sony India and Sony made in Japan ....

Intention to produce and give the same quality is not there in both the indian and foreign counterpart ....they think Brand name alone will do the trick
 
What about aerated sugar water which is sold at a mark-up by almost 2000% and the best part is that it is not even imported
 
Price of equipment does vary, sometimes more than double, but to state that the sellers squeeze out the buyers is not correct.
It also depends on margins from manufacturer, MOQ, duties and taxes, interest, margins to local resellers, warranty risk and offtake.
Even when a product is available at a reasonable price many still hand carry from abroad just to save a few sowa. So does that not make the customers also greedy.
So it is all market forces that rule prices in an open market economy
 
They say its bot about what price the product commands, but its what price the buyer is willing to pay. Someone with lots of black money or millionaires might be buying these ridiculous priced products, thats why they can sell. Once Sid from sound by design told me he gets many calls from people inquiring about to buy the biggest (in size) speaker in his shop and with no care of quality or price. So paisa bahut hai yaha par logo ke pass, they dont care about price or even quality. Such dealers who charge 200 % must be only selling to these kind of guys.
 
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