Yep, then ya add in the exchange rate & some import duty & now it just cost you an arm & a leg to get the $hit. I remember what it was like on the receiving end of all that & that's what prompted me to help the Ozzy Battlers here.
Sid.
That'd be why buying Fenders which can be dismantled into below dutiable limit sized pieces are better buying than Gibsons.............
Then, there's the exchange rate. It seems many Americans can't actually grasp the concept of a floating exchange rate. When I visited the States in 2011 the exchange rate was at an all-time high and reached US$1.10 one Aussie dollar would get me $1.10, EVERYTHING seemed cheap. Right now it is .73....that means the apparent cost of everything Stateside has risen by a third.....following me here.......
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Then there is 15% duty on anything for which the total cost , all freight costs (ie: insurance)inclusive, exceeds $900AUS and they then add 10%Goods and Service Tax onto that duty.
2 2nd hand tyres+freight etc= USD 800
In 2011 $727AUS
In 2016 $1040
PLUS $156 duty+15.60GST=$171.60
$1211.60
Racing on US sourced parts got expensive these last few years