[interested_observer]

An excellent overview of the B&M retail camera business - retail stores closing.....

• Another Big Camera Store Fails: Why Are So Many Closing?

[RGlasel]

Interesting article, for sure. Retailing is undergoing a drastic makeover in many markets, but even bookstores can survive and make a bit of money if they take care to make sure they are selling a shopping experience as much as products on a shelf. But existing stores can't just continue doing things the same way or they will inevitably close same as the stores in this article.

[subsea]

Another relevant story just out:

Cameras Shipped By Manufacturers In 2016 Dropped By 35 Percent | Digital Trends

Things don't look good for the future!

[SpecialK]

Good "bad" story. It is a sign of the changing times. I also credit the internet/smartphone universe for killing "physical" hobbies like remote-control cars and planes and plastic models. My former employer went out of business earlier this year after 45 years. Look around and see the high percentage of people on their phone...

[HopelessTogger]

Only those stores which cemented their online sales presence early in the game survived. In the UK there's a few left. Wex, Park, Bristol Cameras, Clifton Cameras and Dale Photographic as well as LCE and our favourite, SRS Microsystems. These typically have one physical store that doubles as an online warehouse.

[p38arover]

Australia doesn't have State taxes, only Federal. Sales tax is 10% GST which is collected by the Feds and redistributed to the States. On-line sales in Australia are subject to GST but the new thing coming is that it will apply to international purchases from 1st July 2017. The local retailers welcome this to even the palying field.

Up until now (well, 1st July, 2017) , personal overseas purchases of up to $1000 have not been subject to import duty or sales tax.

You will start paying GST on shopping at overseas websites from next year | Business Insider

Overseas suppliers with an Australian turnover of $75,000 or more will be required to collect and remit GST for low value goods supplied to buyers in Australia.

How they will police this, I have no idea. I believe staff from the Australian Tax Office have been travelling to visit big overseas retailers to discuss this.

[stevebrot]

How they will police this, I have no idea.

Simple...they could simply impose a tariff. There is enough wiggle room in the major trade agreements to allow such. Tariffs are levied against the importer. Job done.


Steve

[p38arover]

I don't think the govt knows how they'll do it. The cost of applying tariffs on incoming goods may be greater than the income derived.

There was mention of blocking the websites of suppliers who don't comply.

[pathdoc]

The sidebar thumbnail link truncates your article title by snipping the word "overview", which puts a different and rather startling spin on your post!!! (And causes me to hear the truncated version in Monty Burns's voice.)

[interested_observer]

The sidebar thumbnail link truncates your article title by snipping the word "overview", which puts a different and rather startling spin on your post!!! (And causes me to hear the truncated version in Monty Burns's voice.)

When I was posting it, that did cross my mind - in terms of how the title was going to be truncated.

[RGlasel]

I don't think the govt knows how they'll do it. The cost of applying tariffs on incoming goods may be greater than the income derived.

I ordered a Rokinon fisheye from B&H, I had the option of leaving it up to Canada Post to go after me for 5% GST (and charging a service charge for doing so), or I could pay B&H to look after it for an additional charge of less than $5. I went to order $240 US worth of pants from Eddie Bauer, I could have it shipped to my in-laws in Arizona with a total of 8.6% sales tax applied (but free shipping) or have it shipped through the third party forwarders/brokers/currency traders that Eddie Bauer uses for almost $120 Canadian extra. I purchased a used DA 70 from an Australian member here, Canada Post held it for almost two weeks before charging me 5% GST and a $20 service charge.

There was a cheap rate study that made the news here a few days ago that found that Canada Post doesn't bother collecting GST on low value items, which supposedly costs the Canadian government over $1 billion every year, but if the online retailer uses a courier company to ship to Canada, not only does the Canadian government get their portion every time, but the courier companies all charge healthy fees to submit the tax on your behalf. In many cases, the "brokerage" fees exceed the tax charges.

My point is that the Australian government won't p*ss off its citizens by chasing after small amounts, but they will find ways to get their share of the bigger ticket items (which could be anything more expensive than a $10 phone case from Hong Kong) and the consumer will have to be diligent as well. I carefully research and plan most of my bigger ticket purchases in general, so checking the fine print for online purchases isn't a stretch. If I can buy what I want locally for 110-115% of what I would pay online, I will buy locally. Elite Brands (the Samyang distributor) doesn't sell the 8mm fisheye in K-mount in Canada and the 10mm rectilinear UWA was more than 25% more expensive from Canadian retailers than buying from B&H; Eddie Bauer retail stores don't carry relaxed fit dress pants, if I wasn't a "bigger" person, I would save 20% (before the third party charges!) by buying my pants at a Canadian outlet. There isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to it.

[monochrome]

When your entire business model is dependent on CaNikon-financed inventory turn this is the risk you take.

In St. Louis we have nine full-service B&M stores - 3 individual companies and a 6-store chain (here - they have two more stores outside the area). Sometimes I can't park in the first two rows of the flagship store.

Since my experience with the K-1 pre-order I've switched to the local, B&M camera chain for all of my purchases. The sales tax approaches 10% (almost $180 on the K-1) but I deal with the manager of the lead store, I get to handle the things I buy, I get to 'window shop' and talk to people, I get invited to free workshops and outings - and they always throw in $75 or $100 retail worth of 'stuff' when I make a large purchase. They don't diss Pentax or try to convert me - they're happy to have the sales and they'll order what they don't have. I feel like I get better service than I would get from the Pentax Webstore.

For the K-1 they added a Bower manual flash, a flash stand and a 64Gb Lexar SDXC card. For the 28~105 they gave me 4 16Gb Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (2 2-packs) that were on deal that week anyway.

Some people are managing to survive.

[bigdavephoto]

Good "bad" story. It is a sign of the changing times. I also credit the internet/smartphone universe for killing "physical" hobbies like remote-control cars and planes and plastic models. My former employer went out of business earlier this year after 45 years. Look around and see the high percentage of people on their phone...

That was video games that killed remote control cars and planes and plastic models. It also doesn't help that with the less people building plastic models, the price of the model goes up. 20 years ago, a model that sold for $8-$10 is now selling for $30.

[monochrome]

Another relevant story just out:

Cameras Shipped By Manufacturers In 2016 Dropped By 35 Percent | Digital Trends

Things don't look good for the future!

They're conflating compact cameras with interchangeable lens cameras when saying total market camera sales are down 81% since 2010.

Many here have predicted for years ILC sales would eventually drop to 2009 levels and stabilize there. We're there. Those manufacturers dependent on compact camera volume and cash flow to support their business models are prospectively in worse shape than Pentax.

[p38arover]

Big ticket items I buy in Australia but I do buy a lot of low cost items from China off ebay. Sure, there may be a wait of, say, 3-4 weeks, but the shipping is usually free. The whole item shipped cost is less than the postage within Australia if bought off a local supplier. I usually check to see if a local supplier has the item post free (or a nominal charge) if I want it more quickly than 3-4 weeks.

A lot of local suppliers now have click and collect on eBay where I can collect the item at my local supermarket free of shipping charges.