K-7 price dropping already?

Although this has come as a shock to us all because it is personal to us when it is our money and our pocket the hand goes into.

There are loads to consider when looking at the price of a product. None of us wish for Pentax to go out of business and perhaps the hike is needed for sound and well thought out reasons, funding innovation and research being one of the possible reasons.

Each country will have it’s own costs to the exporter and importer and it is good practise to set the cost of a product at a price that the consumer is thought to be able to meet, this may be wrong but I think will have been set after a long hard look at the market. And after a hard look apart from a few outlets in a few countries the costs seem very similar.

It could be that there has grown up in the UK the expectation that prices will be reduced or that money back vouchers will be on offer, if this is so then you have to take this into consideration when setting the R.R.P. Knowing there has to be room in the profit to hand some back or reduce the cost, this is the way we in the UK seem to want it so that is what is being offered. Hard on those who buy when an item first comes out but we all know they will drop, this is what we seem to want so we can’t complain when the manufacture complies with our wishes.

We may find when the dust settles that we can buy cheaper elsewhere but we may find as so often when an item is not in stock the price drops, when it is available it is a different story, or the price offered depends on your purchasing additional items as well.

I agree with you and of course we don't know the manufacturer's costs in this country versus others and I have no doubt that staffing overhead, rent and business rates and general costs of doing business are higher in the UK than Australia, but the disparity between their price and ours does seem a bit rich even when taking all this into consideration especially with the transparency and ubiquity of the Internet these days in which people can check in an instant the prices online globally.

If nothing else it is Pentax shooting itself in the foot PR-wise and upsetting some loyal followers in the UK. Why risk upsetting people at all? Why not simply raise the price for the Aussies? (Sorry Clarky )

It's an interesting discussion, but it's hypothetical at the moment.

Firstly because the K7 isn't even available yet and secondly because we have no idea what the actual street price will be in three or four months time.

If we want a bargain then we can buy the K20D now, or wait till the K7 is due to be replaced and buy it at that point.

Don't forget about the Americans

Seriously though if you check that link I posted and have a look at lens prices in comparison to SRS prices you will see we are paying about the and significanly more in some cases (DA*60-250 case in point) but curiously the K-7 is the exception to this, and for the life of me I can't understand why.

So don't begrudge us this one little exception

I would happily offer to sell a new K-7 for £799.00 including delivery . . . when I haven't got any to sell.

Some dealers have done that in the past. Not a good sign and maybe they are best avoided.

This is probably the reason that dealers who price match insist that the prices they are matching are real offers to sell, from real stock.

I notice on Pentaxforums that there are American buyers up in arms over the last few days because their lens prices are starting to increase.
It did make me smile that a lot have said they will not buy any more until they come down again ... their new prices are roughly what ours were before the latest increase.

On the plus side I just got an email from Mifsuds to say they are shipping my 50-135mm that I ordered from them yesterday at £529.00.

That's a good price Mike, well done. You'll not regret it I'm sure.

"prices have been artificially low for a long time.

It looks like it's catch-up time"

...John, I think this is spot on. However, I also think it is a huge blunder by Pentax to do this with one huge rise. Pentax never cease to amaze me with their poor adverising/marketing and general poor business sense.

cheers Steve.M.

Just wondering how it works with the stock.
With countries with the euro the price is so good as the same but the UK prices are now quite higher.
If the UK stock is the same then the EU stock (if there is something like that) then I'm curious who get the most out of the price raise.

K7 in Spain €1249 (1069GBP)

apr08 YEN:GBP 240:1 (the peak - it was ~200:1 for a while b4 that IIRC)
apr09 YEN:GBP 120:1 (the worst)
jun09 YEN:GBP 160:1

Give us a link then.

Here are the links for the K7 in Spain

http://www.pentaxeros.com/tiendapentax/product_info.php?products_id=126

http://www.pentaxeros.com/tiendapentax/product_info.php?products_id=122

Regards
John

Bodyheat I'm glad I amuse you. You may only have had internet for 10 years, some of us have had it much longer.

It was exactly my point that internet makes more people aware of something which has gone on forever. Whingeing doesn't help. Not buying things does.

The K-7 body is, as I said earlier, available at www.fotokonijnenberg.nl voor €1049. Someone I know has ordered one, having been assured the price was correct at this time and will not be increased for orders placed now.
No import duties, no VAT extra, just the price of posting it from NL.