Why?

With the virtual parity between the US and Australian dollar, (ie $1US = $1Aus) can someone please explain why there is such a large difference in cost for skis (and associated gear) between the 2 countries? They have to be imported into both countries (although Aus is a little closer to China) so shipping costs are similar; and Aus has a huge trading relationship with China. Here are a couple of examples from the net:

Epic V10S Performance - $2390 US; $3500 Aus
Epic 18X Performance - $3095 US; $4100 Aus
Epic wing paddle - $449 US; $625 Aus
Fenn XT Fibreglass - $2300 US; $2800 AUS
Stellar SE Sport - $1820 US; $2490 Aus

Maybe our ski people here are just a bit like our bank managers and gouge every cent they can out of you.

All I can say is that it is not the retailer.

Epic Australia have obviously determined that people are willing to pay X amount of dollars for a ski.
So that's what they charge.

Only competition from other makes can change that.

The same is true in rock climbing equipment.
Australian climbers have simply stopped buying local and now pay less than half price to get it shipped over themselves.

The size/cost and pain in the arse to privately arrange to ship ski's from the States is just too hard, so they have us by the short and curlies.

Two solutions.
Just stop buying them. The price will then drop.
Look at how cheap second hand cars are now that they last a little longer.
They devalue so quickly it's not funny. There is simply too many of them and too much competition to get rid of the things.

It does leave an opening for another maker to announce a strong Aussie dollar price reduction to their ski's to encourage more sales.

Two top level ski's, one $800 cheaper than the other, I know which one I will buy.
May just be the the one small little detail to enable another manufacturer to gain sales momentum that they then carry over if and when parity dissolves.
It all comes back to sales 101.
What price do you get the most profits from?
Cheap and bulk or high end and small cottage.

Option two: set up shop for yourself now that there is an obvious opening.
Import/build them yourself, offer an introductory pricing and see what happens.

I would imagine that the real answer will be that a small market share manufacturer will jump at the chance to get a real foot in the door, sponsor a few good athletes to get their name up there and take on the big boys.
How Epic reply to this is up to them, keep their price up and advertise that they are superior craft or enter into a price war.

Maybe a local manufacturer can use the time to get their product to a quality/speed/price position that is unbeatable and put an end to 'overseas made' being the only choice.

I bet Epic would have only gained face and loyalty in a growing market if they had of announced that the containers
that just hit the shores will have a significant price drop to reflect the strong dollar.

After all, it's a small world now, everybody hears on the news that the dollar is parity or close.
We all know what the go is.

The trend to parity between the two currencies has happened in the past year. For years leading up to this past year, the rate has been about 1.3 AD to the USD. I suspect the price difference reflects that historic exchange rate. I dont think that the price will adjust to reflect this until market forces intervene. Meaning you guys stop buying new boats, or a competitor in the australian market cuts their prices first. Otherwise there's no incentive to discount price to reflect the exchange rate.

but remember the advertised online price is not always what you pay......

I know there are many dealers locally who are willing to drop well under RRP,
........but some also who just wont budge!!

I noticed the price gap between you guys and those of us here in the States a while back and was quite surprised as well. Really amazing. The interesting thing to me is that its not just the big boys... the Aussie-made skis are equally as, if not more, expensive (at least according to online listings). $4500+ for an Aussie-made Fenn Elite Carbon, an Ozflyte R21 carbon, or a DD3 in a racing lay-up. You can choose between a 28 lbs Nelo, a 28 lbs Think, a 23 lbs Epic, or a 23lbs Fenn over here for $1000-1400 less. And is suspect Huki and Stellar are in line with those prices as well. I'm not sure what the answer is as to why this is the case, but I feel your pain guys.

My guess is that most manufacturers ordered and paid for their skis 6months ago or more when the dollar was at 69c. Obviously ski prices will plummett once the new containers arrive. The bigger name brands with larger turnover should drop prices first. Yeah right!

Yes at least a 25% increase in past 6 months