What Is The Most Important Part Of The Saw Buying Decision???

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Is the servicing dealer the most important part of the saw buying decision???

  • Yes

    Votes: 31 34.8%

  • No

    Votes: 58 65.2%
  • Total voters
    89
  • Poll closed .
Lakeside53 said:
HA.. you just don't know what's coming next... (from Stihl).. ;)
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And what wood that be??? The 35cc Stihl pro saw of my dreams? Which is a half size 361??? The 361-MiniMe Saw(TM)?

Or, is Stihl is **FINALLY** coming out with a nuclear fission powered Forever Drive(TM) drive saw? If so, I guess I can wait. Never needs gas or mix oil.

Or is it the new RAMBO(TM) Survival Saw*. That would be cool too. The NEW Stihl Survival Saw(TM) has everything you need in case the er, the corrections facility bus leaves you at a remote logging site alone and without any food or supplies and a blizzard is on its way into the area. Yah, that's it... comes complete with a handy plastic spork and has a GPS system built in.
 
TimberMcPherson said:
Dealers make no difference at all for me, with a new ms200 being 1600 nz dollars and a piston and barrel for the same being $700, im driven my where I can get the thing cheapest. Dealers, even to this day still shock me with their prices and I dont blame them for not carrying alot, but then they shouldnt be annoyed that I only show up if I cant get parts any other way.

Someone reselling US sourced parts and saws from this site to UK, Euro, Aussie and NZer buyers could do a nice little sideline.
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It has been tried and usually gets shut down by the countries that you mention. They are wise to people trying to get around the tariffs. The types of sales you mention usually appear on places like Ebay. Several saws came up last year listed in the UK, in US dollars. Typically an MS 290 would be listed for like, $500 US. They sell for $350 here. One in particular had a BS story about the poster having taken a new 290 with him to the UK, and having to return to the US and leaving it in London and selling it there. The UK gov't shut it down through Ebay. You could probably get one or two through. I know some particular Skandinavians that got some US saws through some people through a forum, um, *just* like this one, but no post was made on the forum about it, and that is outside the scope of the forum and I could not recommend or endorse it. Or some such...
 
TMcP you need a passport and a plane ticket. You can buy what you need with the money you would save and be treated to a pitcher of Coors Light to boot. Why are your NZ prices so bloody high?
 
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Import taxes (called tariffs here). Governments tax imports (usually to protect thir own in-country industries) and that pushes the prices up, and in some cases, way up. Dunno what they call these taxes in NZ. But they are expensice in Europe for the same reason. And if you think they are expensive in NZ, check out the prices for Stihls in Japan!
 
2dogs said:
TMcP you need a passport and a plane ticket. You can buy what you need with the money you would save and be treated to a pitcher of Coors Light to boot. Why are your NZ prices so bloody high?
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Basically, when you go to another country and buy stuff and bring it back stateside, you have to declare it when you return at customs. In the US, they will collect what is called "duty tax", which is the same as the tariff on the particular items that you are importing. One way around this on buying expensive european cars for years was to buy a new car in Europe, then fly there and use it for a month on vacation, then it was classified as a "used" car, and you could import it and pay a far lower import duty tax. Those were called grey market cars. Maybe you could fly here and use a saw in the back of the shop on a log for a while, and it would become a used saw, and maybe then the duty tax would be less. Dunno though. If that was the case the NZ'ers would be bidding up Stihl saws on Ebay and the like and drive the prices sky high. Has not happened yet. Customs gets in the way when you mail and receive large packages to and from overseas as well.
 
windthrown said:
If that was the case the NZ'ers would be bidding up Stihl saws on Ebay and the like and drive the prices sky high. Has not happened yet. Customs gets in the way when you mail and receive large packages to and from overseas as well.
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I've sold quite a few used stihl saws overseas, but there are some drawbacks for the seller and the buyer.
1) Shipping cost is expensive
2) Transit time is long unless you use expedited usps which costs about $100 for 1 saw. Shipping overseas via fedex, dhl, or ups isn't very economical at all so your only choice is usps.
3) Buyer/Seller Protection - Unless you use the expedited usps air shipping there is no tracking for the package. If the item was paid through paypal the buyer can file a claim and have the money held until they receive the item because there is no tracking number.
4) Import Taxes - The buyer still has to pay a high percentage (10-20%) tax to import the saw. This cost can be lowered a bit if the seller fibbs on the declared value.
5) Servicing issues - If the overseas buyer has to bring in his saw for service, the dealer may not want to service the saw because it was bought overseas. Very similar to a husky dealer not wanting to work on a home depot husky.
6) Defective goods - If the item is unsatisfactory to the buyer the options are very limited. Shipping the item back to the seller isn't really feasible because of the expense and long transit times involved.

By time you take into account all these, its an extremely fine line if its worth it to import a used saw for the few $ you'll end up saving IMO. Likewise, its not all that beneficial for the seller even if he/she gets inflated prices for the items.
 
windthrown said:
Import taxes (called tariffs here). Governments tax imports (usually to protect thir own in-country industries) and that pushes the prices up, and in some cases, way up. Dunno what they call these taxes in NZ. But they are expensice in Europe for the same reason. And if you think they are expensive in NZ, check out the prices for Stihls in Japan!
Click to expand...



Wrong.. you are 20 years out of date.... Sure there GST but that's just like sales tax. Most of the pricing in NZ, like Europe, is just markup over several middle men in small countries, plus exchange rate differences based on EUROS. How much import duty do you think there is in Germany (uh oh....) they are made there...
 
windthrown said:
Basically, when you go to another country and buy stuff and bring it back stateside, you have to declare it when you return at customs. In the US, they will collect what is called "duty tax", which is the same as the tariff on the particular items that you are importing. One way around this on buying expensive european cars for years was to buy a new car in Europe, then fly there and use it for a month on vacation, then it was classified as a "used" car, and you could import it and pay a far lower import duty tax. Those were called grey market cars. Maybe you could fly here and use a saw in the back of the shop on a log for a while, and it would become a used saw, and maybe then the duty tax would be less. Dunno though. If that was the case the NZ'ers would be bidding up Stihl saws on Ebay and the like and drive the prices sky high. Has not happened yet. Customs gets in the way when you mail and receive large packages to and from overseas as well.
Click to expand...



Freight to NZ is a killer for one-off's... trust me... and if you think you're getting a chainsaw that's had gas in it anywhere near an international airliner - see 9-11. Customs is just there to collect the usual local taxes (and you get an exemption)... not everyone lives in Oregon. Customs clearance fees (BROKER - not Govt or customers) can suck..

I have a bunch of relatives that make the trip every year or two.. but they go back loaded..
 
Lakeside53 said:
Freight to NZ is a killer for one-off's... trust me... and if you think you're getting a chainsaw that's had gas in it anywhere near an international airliner - see 9-11. Customs is just there to collect the usual local taxes (and you get an exemption)... not everyone lives in Oregon. Customs clearance fees (BROKER - not Govt or customers) can suck..

I have a bunch of relatives that make the trip every year or two.. but they go back loaded..
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Well, if I am wrong (which in places like Japan I know I am not, though there it is a complex combination of middle market companies there and duty for US imports; we had US export restrictions on certain types of chips we were developing and selling there as well... 3 years ago) then why are there no people selling and sending US saws to places like NZ? Container shipping is CHEAP! Even to Germany.

As for living in sales tax free Orygun, you seem to be supporting my statement. WA sales tax is what keeps me from buying saws at your shop. Heh heh heh... People stream down here from WA all the time to buy stuff. But we pay a lot of taxes on some stuff. Like booze. I go to CA every few months and load up on booze. No sales tax here, but BOOZE tax is really high. I can get a gallon of tequilla in CA (even with sales tax) for half the price here. More than pays for the gas for my trips down there. But I have state-grey market booze... same booze, legal to bring it here, as long as I do not resell it.
 
Booze, beer and tobacco taxes are outragous here, as well as car and petrol taxes, but on saws there are only the sales tax (25%) - still the prices are sky high, compared to in the US.
I think they may be exploiting the generally high cost of living here......:angry2:

Freight on the 5100 was about 100$ from the US (east coast), and it took less than 4 days, including a week-end....:) :clap:

:clap: to Scott and Steve at The Cutting Edge!!
 
Last edited:
Lakeside53 said:
Even if you do your own service, geting parts locally (dealer?) is a must. Mail order sucks - freight that's crazy for small parts and a week delay... No thanks.
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Andy,

You and Tommie seem to think that all Stihl dealers are the same ... that is, great. In the real world, there are lots of Stihl dealers that aren't so swift.

Now, I'm not complaining about my dealer, per se. I'm saying the the great, invincible, almighty Stihl dealers of the PNW are one thing, but in my neck of the woods it's another.

I'll post an example. My dealer didn't have a replacement blade for my STIHL Polycut™ Head that I recently purchased from him, so I had to order it via the net. Just the most recent example out of a plethora of examples I could cite.

Maybe we need four polls:

1. Is your Stihl dealer up to the standard that you believe Andy's shop to be?

2. Is your Dolmar dealer like Cuttin' Scott's?

3. Is your Husky dealer like Spike's?

4. Do you have a Jonsered dealer near you?

The answer to these polls might predict how you feel about a so called servicing dealer.

Life is good (for a Stihl dealer),

Joat

PS: Paying inflated freight charges is better that having expensive Stihl equipment sit idle when there's a job that needs finished.
 
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Parts is all I care about and there's no advantage with Stihl. The dealer's don't stock much inventory other then real common items and most everything needs to be special ordered from the Centralia warehouse. The dealer's stick you with freight unless it's part of a normal stocking order and they make you do everything in person.

At least with Dolmar I can buy parts via internet/phone and get them shipped right to my door without waisting gas and time.
 
Lakeside53 said:
Wrong.. you are 20 years out of date.... Sure there GST but that's just like sales tax. Most of the pricing in NZ, like Europe, is just markup over several middle men in small countries, plus exchange rate differences based on EUROS. How much import duty do you think there is in Germany (uh oh....) they are made there...
Click to expand...

Well, not so sure if Mr windthrown is wrong..... I purchased a book in the US lately through amazon (value about 21$, if I recall) and had to pay 10 Euro 14 $) custom's handling charge (because the value was over a certain limit). :angry2:

On the other hand, I got some used spare parts for my Jonsered from a US collector who declared a low value, and had to pay nothing.

There are ways around importing stuff, but very limited ones.
 

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