4x4 Accessories - Too Expensive?
Do you feel that you pay a fair price for accessories for your vehicle? In the UAE, we have a local agent system which means that it is illegal for us to buy from the manufacturer direct.
What this means is that the local agent is able to apply huge mark-ups as 'shipping costs' and there is little or nothing we can do about it.
Let me give you a specific example:
I wanted to buy a robust expedition style roof-rack for my SWB Nissan Patrol. I approached the ARB local agent, as they are also the Nissan agent in the UAE (seemed like a sensible place to start) and they quoted me the equivalent of $1,500.00 for this piece of kit. I tried to contact ARB to find out how much they would charge for the same piece of kit in Australia and their helpful answer was to contact their local agent in the UAE.
My question is this:
Is this type of commercial practice common across the world, or are 4x4 accessories really that expensive?
I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments.
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Jon Harbour
Middle East Off-Roader
http://www.mid-east-off-road.com
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