Damn! This morning I was in CNA checking out all the latest motocross and dirtbike magazines and noticed the ad for the 2008 Fox F3 boot. I quote for the 2007 F3: “Developed and tested for 18 months by James Stewart, our new F3 is an evolution of the Forma Pro. The boot that Motocross Action Magazine hailed as the “best bootyless boot on the market.”" Not only did their typical marketing mumbo grab my attention, but dang, this booties are oh so pretty!
I had to find out what they price. The US shops sell them for around US$297, but what it would mean for my poor, soon to-be ripped-off, SA ass, was another question. I thought I’d do a few comparisons:
- Alpinestar Tech6 boots retails for around US$280. Local SA retailers list these boots for around R4200.
- Fox F3 2008 boots go for just a little more, so I’d guess about R4500.
If we do the math:
- The Rand/Dollar today is around ZAR7.13 / US$1 (let’s just use R7.20)
- For the Tech6, this means: 280 x 7.20 = R2016
- Using rediculously expensive UPS international shipping: charge for approx. 18 pounds (yes, boots do come in around 10pounds, but UPS uses dimensions also) = approx $170 = R1224
- Import duties and taxes was another thing. I have absolutely no idea. I did find this website that lists all kinds of goods and their pricing. I’m not sure how up to date the list is, but after browsing through some of the relevant sections, I found it to be a bit of a shocker! I’d make a guess that I would need to add about 35% for this: R2016 x 0.35 = R705
- The Grand Total : R2016 + R1224 + R706 = R3946
*eyes popping* *gasp* *pass out* Faaaak meeeeeee Chaaaaaaaarlieeeeeeeeee!!
*sigh* It’s a bitch living in a 3rd world country.
Rethinking this, you could guess that local retailers should be able to buy these products in bulk; 10% off the boot’s price gives approx R1800 each. Using “normal” internation shipping and doing this in bulk should be atleast 50% less than UPS; approx R600. That would bring down the total to around R3000. They’d probably also add an extra premium because these are “the latest from Fox!” and daunt your perception of the Tech6, which is really similarly priced. So yes, we are being ripped off and we have no alternative!
So I searched around for shops in the US that ships internationally and I came across this very interesting “shipping to SA policy” at btosports.com :
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South Africa Shipping Policy: Effective immediately we no longer can ship EMS Express air mail to South Africa. The post office will no longer insure packages going there. The only way to ship is DHL Express. Here is a shipping charge of approximate costs.DHL Express is charge with dimentional weight. That means the size of the package matters. A pair of boots weight around 10 pounds however due to the size of the box DHL will charge 17 pounds. |
The freakin SA Post Office! Again! I should’ve guessed it. So because the Post Office is pathetic I now have to use UPS? *sigh*
What maddens me even more is that when you go to a bike dealer and shop for a new model, they will always “throw in” a kit to sugar up the deal. They would try and make you feel so special by anouncing that you’d get a kit worth R5000 for free! R5000? Are you kidding me? You can buy a kit like this in the US for around US$250, which in SA is probably last year’s kit that the dealer bought on sale. These are all inferior product. You get what you pay for, and even more so in SA.
None of these guys would even mention the importance of a safe helmet, the importance of not only a helmet that fits well, but fits the actual shape of your head well. DOT and Snell safety standards is just some sticker the expensive helmets sport to justify their price tag. It’s worrying.
Am I wrong? I might just be. I welcome anybody that knows better and has personal experience to prove to me the reality of this industry.
