The underhanded shooting gear marketing pressures

[Wapiti]

Bit of a long winded explanation here, but here goes.
Believe it or don't, this was what I was told.

A few brave others and I (mainly me) have had a shot at the shooting sports marketing saturation that's been going on for ages in ALL of our print and online media. All sorts of cheap stuff made in other countries for a pittance, brought in here by greedy importers and sold at 2, 3, 4x that price it costs to buy in bulk from the huge manufacturing cities in China. Sold to still sit under the prices asked for quality European and US-made gear, even to squeeze them out of the market.
Thermals you need a degree to zero, things that last a year then mysteriously fail, optics that make your eyes point in two directions. Plastic sh*t that degrades even in the dark.
And there's still a fortune left over to throw at the magazines and to buy off the fake "reviewers" on YouTube by constantly giving them free stuff for positive comment, and every second article is about the same Chinese brands, and the pages are full of colourful ads as well.

Look at workboots...
Cheap Chinese boots, bought by Aussie brand names for $40 a pair and sold for the SAME price here as our endangered Aussie companies making boots and paying Aussie wages - Redback and Mongrel Aussie brands to name only a few left employing Australians and making the best boots ever.
Oliver, Blundstone, Steel Blue, Chinese-made stuff sold for $200/pair, and suckers buy them. Marketing.

So There's a gunshop in a local town that, for 5-6 weeks or so, has been asked to promote an "open night" for a certain importer flogging a certain Chinese made Thermal scope and monocular brand.
Not going to say who, or what the brand is. To protect the sites owner and me. Because this story is pathetic.
Again, I'm only putting here what I was told from the horses mouth.

So, this shop has been selling these brand thermals, mostly to farmers as this is mainly a farming demographic. The ones that sell are mostly the $1500-$2200 range, as the market here just doesn't have the disposable income. There are a few well-heeled people who make money using these scopes out this way, and mostly they are the only ones who buy the $4-5K stuff. However very little of those are sold.
This shop was convinced to buy one of these expensive units, but it sat there for a year and is still there.

Anyway, they have about 30 cockies from different farms confirmed firmly to be coming to this do, as well as the usual blow-ins that will come and the rep for the brand has advertised a 10% discount for any scopes or hand-helds sold and paid for that evening. Pretty crap discount I reckon, buy hey.
So the rep has pressured the store owners, a small family-owned gunshop, to buy another 4 of the $2k units, they are hoping to sell them on the night. They reckon they've sold these units already at about the rate of one every three months, so they do move.
They have bugger all cashflow, so this is a big purchase for them.

So, this week, the rep that's hosting the evening calls up and says, yes it's a 10% discount on units sold on the night, but it's not going to be given to the units you've already bought. It's only for ones he sells from the ones from his company car boot only.
Basically (my comment here), go suck eggs.
Oh, and by the way, my boss says you also need to buy one of these $4500 scopes to sit in your counter window, or the whole thing's off.
And they haven't been able to sell the one they've already got.

So there's already a crowd coming, at their risk! To call it off with 3 days notice and look like fools?
So what did they do? Tell the germ to go get f***ed and never sell their sh*t again?
No. The shop owner bought the $4.5k thermal, another one. Fell for the ultimatum.

What would you guys have done?
I would've told this clown to GAGF and never return.
Tell you what, I would hate to have a business selling this stuff nowadays. The seller is the one with all the risk. Screw the market up and you lose. And the suppliers look at you like an idiot.

Edit: again, this is what I was told, and I'm not the only one who knows. If someone knows this is BS, tell me and I will delete the post. I haven't named anyone, or any brand, except for workboots. And I will not be confirming any brand at all. Because I'm sure this is not a good look.

[Damo300]

I do not fold for anyone anymore.
Walk away.

If that were me, he'd never be in my store again. I'd sell the rubbish on the shelf at below cost, and forget his idiot even exists.

[Wapiti]

Protesting by selling something below cost when you are under huge financial pressure isn't an option though.
Can't be sustained.

These reps, or some it seems, are very good at sussing up a business and taking advantage of someone who is in a financial corner. This to me, is predatory behavior and to hear the bitterness of people in the know to this brand now is not what the importer wants, Surely?
Not when there are factories pumping out this consumer crap and slapping all manner of brand names on the outside for entrepreneurs cashing in on a new tech craze.
Or changing body shape, more time-consuming features or mounting designs. same electronics inside.
Like another of 100 new cartridge that promises to elevate the mediocre shooter to expert class by magic, these things are marketed as the new Jesus.

The buyer doesn't know which way to turn when deciding on a brand.... But there's two ways, right?
Market saturation of advertising, clever colourful promotion everywhere you turn by paid-promotions. Ours is the best!
Or, you local gunshop only sells one brand, or secretly is getting benefits to sell one product more, and WE are the patsys who think we're getting special advice.
Which one whould I buy, Mr. insert-shop-persons-name here?
Oh, we sell heaps of these ones.
Are they any good?
Oh, we sell heaps and everyone reckons these are great.
Compared to which others?
Oh, they're all the same feature-for-feature, price-range-wise, yes, if you take the time to look, but these are better....
Well then.

I'm certain there are readers who are saying, so what. Personally, I cannot stand this predatory behaviour from suppliers and how they prey on people. Maybe that's just something people have forgotten nowadays. People who otherwise wouldn't have the power or personality to push weeds over.

[Rusty Nail]

Yes, that is bs if it is true, especially in the current firearms related environment with more restrictions and an unknown future for many shop owners.
The rep/distributor should have put on the night with no pressure to show the shop owner that their products are good as they would have them in stock, and the sales on the night should demonstrate their worth or value to the attendees and shop. The rep should be offering the store owner incentives to stock the products, not forcing this onto him.
There has always been a market for this "throw away" stuff and even more so now with the "brainwashed" generation.
I wonder what the warranty side of things look like in reality, what we are told does not always equate to what actually happens.
When it comes to optics and electronics it pays to 'buy once, cry once'.
Poor form from the rep/ importer on getting the products out into the community.

On another note, I attended a field day a few years ago where a new thermal manufacturer was being promoted by a new Australian based distributor. They had 2 handheld spotters and 3 scopes on display. I was talking to the distributor/salesman who had a strong accent about the products and what I thought would suit me. After a few minutes I was showing a little apprehension towards these products and he said, come and meet (?), who is in charge of production as they are our thermal technician. He acted as an interpreter, and they asked what I wanted to get in a thermal scope? I said I don't know yet as I am still looking and doing some research for myself. They said they would make what I wanted if I knew what it was? I asked them do they hunt? Oh no, was the reply. I asked who stocks these scopes in Australia?
They said that these 5 were prototypes and were the only ones manufactured so far. So really, they could hardly wait to get into the market and had not really done any market research here.
Anyway, to me it is all about the back up and warranty and the service that is provided, which is part of the original price in my opinion.

Back on track, if true, it is poor form from the distributor. The shop owner probably should have negotiated a bit more, but he may have felt a little vulnerable and probably will be more so if sales are poor.

[9.3x64]

Across the Western world we’re watching the same pattern play out: consumers chase the cheapest imported products, companies flood the market with aggressive marketing, and domestic manufacturers get squeezed out. In Australia, this isn’t hypothetical — the data already shows the shift. According to industry reports, more than 70% of all recreational vehicles sold here now contain major Chinese‑sourced components, and several formerly Australian manufacturers have either downsized or exited the market entirely.

The long‑term risk is obvious. Once local competition collapses, the price advantage disappears. China’s manufacturing sector already controls more than 30% of global industrial output, and when a supplier reaches that level of dominance, prices tend to rise because buyers have nowhere else to go. We’ve seen this in other industries: solar panels, electronics, even steel. First the cheap imports wipe out local producers, then the surviving foreign suppliers increase prices once they own the market.

A perfect example landed right in front of me last month. A close friend — someone who constantly talks about protecting Australian industry, voting for tougher national policies, and pushing back against foreign influence — went out and spent $90,000 on a Snowy River caravan. And Snowy River isn’t just an importer assembling overseas parts. The parent company is fully state‑owned by China, meaning every dollar spent ultimately supports a foreign government’s industrial strategy.

Yet this same friend is often the first to complain about China’s geopolitical behaviour.

That’s the contradiction we’re facing: people say they want to defend Australian manufacturing and reduce strategic dependence, but when it comes time to buy, they choose the very products that accelerate the decline. If this trend continues, we won’t just lose local caravan builders — we’ll lose the ability to choose anything other than imported products, and we’ll pay more for them once the market is fully captured.

[Die Judicii]

What if any warranty does this jerk offer ? (seeing as you didn't broach the subject)

And,,,,, Do I know this "Dealer" Mate ?

[Fester]

Sad story, and likely true, and how it went.

I fear that we are now at that stage with our own manufacturing dead, that they are at the stage of raising the prices of the cheap sh_t.
We all know this stuff should sell for about half the price it is, but no they now ask a little under what a quality item should cost.
The thermals will end up the same way, and be a throwaway item when they fail.

This could be death knocking for the small gun shop, and not good for the local customers who will help this predator make his short-term earnings.

Half the blame goes to our retailers.
Why are they not now saying, for example,"We don't want your dissolving rubber and plastic"
I think the answer lies in the fact that they are happily buying the stuff cheaply and doubling their profits.

I would keep holding off with all this thermal stuff until the good quality gear drops in price.
Maybe it's just me that is different, as my normal scopes were outnumbered by electronics at the range the other day.
If it is at this stage now, we will see heaps of middlemen looking for paydays like the one in this story.

[Wapiti]

What if any warranty does this jerk offer ? (seeing as you didn't broach the subject)

And,,,,, Do I know this "Dealer" Mate ?

No mate, the place you get your gear from wouldn't put up with that crap. The minute they tried it on, J&W would tell the rep to get the f**k out of the shop.
And that's not a guess either. I was discussing some local politics there just prior to the last state election, and some clown head-to-toe in RM's gear gets out bof a brand new 300 series out front, wanders in and after listening to our conversation, starts telling us Australia is making a big mistake in not backing leftist policies, and country people don't know the first thing about politics. That the redhead was an evil monster, Chris Minns is Gods gift and just about then, he was told to GTFO and not come back.
That timing actually sucked because I was halfway through telling him that he is the reason Australia's almost down the S-bend.

[Wapiti]

I would keep holding off with all this thermal stuff until the good quality gear drops in price.
Maybe it's just me that is different, as my normal scopes were outnumbered by electronics at the range the other day.

Was it just people trying to sight in these things at the range before going bush?
Or are people that sucked in by this craze that they would rather use a pixelated, monotone electronic image to look at downrange than looking at a bright, clear image through good glass?

[9.3x64]

I would keep holding off with all this thermal stuff until the good quality gear drops in price.
Maybe it's just me that is different, as my normal scopes were outnumbered by electronics at the range the other day.

Or are people that sucked in by this craze that they would rather use a pixelated, monotone electronic image to look at downrange than looking at a bright, clear image through good glass?

Don’t be silly, you will never see anything through good quality glass

[Wapiti]

Yes, apparently
What's the word? "Gamechanger"?

The other night I went out for a scan, and there was a half moon.
No waste light out here, just a monstrous milky way above. Things zigzagging around up there.

I was looking through the thermal, switching from handheld to rifle-mounted clip-on. I did notice how I had to make sure I kept my left eye away so I had night vision left, even though I turned the image brightness down. But it does screw up vision.
When I got back I took a rifle fitted with a very nice 1-8X Austrian scope, and walked to a rise overlooking a deer paddock. This is just a normal optical scope. I didn't turn the night red reticle on.
After 5 minutes or so, just through the normal scope, I could see every animal there. The light transmitted, or the way the light fell on my eyeball, was so clear that it was amazing. Yes, the crosshairs were hard to see on dark animals and shadows of the moon, but i could see into the shadows.
It made me really think about how a $4000 scope was just as useable as a $4000 thermal, only difference was I had to use my brain to distinguish an animal, not rely on a white hot (I like white hot) neon sign alerting me first.
The starlight and half-moon, was way more than enough to see everything.
I'm going to do more of that, just like I used to do before.

[9.3x64]

Yes, really good quality glass is a pleasure to use.

[Die Judicii]

Yes, apparently
What's the word? "Gamechanger"?

The other night I went out for a scan, and there was a half moon.
No waste light out here, just a monstrous milky way above. Things zigzagging around up there.

I was looking through the thermal, switching from handheld to rifle-mounted clip-on. I did notice how I had to make sure I kept my left eye away so I had night vision left, even though I turned the image brightness down. But it does screw up vision.
When I got back I took a rifle fitted with a very nice 1-8X Austrian scope, and walked to a rise overlooking a deer paddock. This is just a normal optical scope. I didn't turn the night red reticle on.
After 5 minutes or so, just through the normal scope, I could see every animal there. The light transmitted, or the way the light fell on my eyeball, was so clear that it was amazing. Yes, the crosshairs were hard to see on dark animals and shadows of the moon, but i could see into the shadows.
It made me really think about how a $4000 scope was just as useable as a $4000 thermal, only difference was I had to use my brain to distinguish an animal, not rely on a white hot (I like white hot) neon sign alerting me first.
The starlight and half-moon, was way more than enough to see everything.
I'm going to do more of that, just like I used to do before.

Ahh yes,,,,, Good quality glass.
I remember quite some years back now when I bought my very first Zeiss Duralyt which I mounted on a 22/250
At the same time I also had a clipon style night vision setup that incorporated a little "TV like screen" that sat atop the scope.
I thought I was King Dick at the time as it was the first of its kind, and no-one else in my circle of shooters had one.
(It was a NiteSite 200)
Anyway, the first time out with the Zeiss, I went out mid afternoon shooting Bunnies on a property that was teeming with bunnies. (day and night)
I was having a ball sniping and doing nearly all head or neck shots.
Soon as it got dark I was planning on attaching the NiteSite and continuing on.
But twilight came, and I didn't need to.
I was amazed how good the Zeiss Duralyt was.
As it got darker still, I discovered that I was still seeing the bunnies well enough to shoot,, through the scope when I couldn't do so with the naked eye.
Eventually though it got to the point when I had to use the clipon,,,,, but it was testament to how good these scopes are.

I was so impressed with Zeiss that I bought more and more. (Not the new stuff like the V4 and V6) only the Duralyts and Conquests.

[Fester]

I must be the dinosaur in the room as I used those cheap red and green torches from Fleebay.
The normal scopes worked fine and the CZ 22 was still light to walk around with.
I got a good torch but it just scared the bunnies away.

Night vision scopes were taking off, and a bloke showed me some great footage of deer and roos.
He said they are not bad as a day scope, but I have never bothered asking for a look.

The thermal craze has spread like Covid, seems like every deer hunter under 50yo needs them for hunting on foot in daylight.
Even I bought a cheap monocular, only because of that mad Magnum sale, and I had to know what this game-changer was all about.
Never looked for deer, but watched roos under tree cover and kept on one out to about 200m or so.

Now that my memory is jogged, they sure do work at night, as I got up one morning before 1st light and scanned a dam about 200yds down the property and to my surprise was a small mob of medium-small pigs moving off.

The other time it saved my ass; before 1st light, I could just make out a white animal and thought goat.
I lowered to sit on the ground and got the thermal out and saw clearly it was a white buck with does.
Scanning showed about 5 or 6 others not far off.

To this day, I don't know how I wasn't busted, or why they stayed around. In a forest, they would have been gone in a flash.
As the first light was coming over the fog, I shot the smallest yearling, as I had no interest in eating a post-rut buck, given the choice.