Competition

I don’t normally talk about our potential competition here, but sometimes strange business practices need to be highlighted. At times, it is difficult to understand what people are thinking when they advertise products. I was interested in a particular product since it shares some common traits as a soon to be released Redshift Wireless product. I thought it might be interesting to buy one, and see if I could interface it to our software. This device was about $495 including tax, as a trade price.

But when I looked, I could not find the product on their web site. There was a unit much more expensive at $699. So I did a bit more research, and found an information release for installers. From what I could work out, this product was basically identical to another product from the USA. Another Australian company also appeared to be re-branding the same product. So, the two Australian companies decided to reduce the confusion in the marketplace, only selling a device branded by this second company. At the same time, they have significantly put their prices up. Given the Australian Dollar has only improved in the meantime, I cannot see the justification for this price increase.

I did a bit more searching, and found another Australian company selling this device under the US brand for only $430 inc GST. I am not 100% sure that they can actually supply it, but it would appear that the price has gone from $495 to $699 and now back to $430  retail depending where and when you bought this product.

As I said earlier, I will not say who this is. What I will say is that this really is not a way to run a business when you want to keep your installers on side.