Awning prices

Waiting for the "get what you pay for" group to weigh in :)

Regards

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Well Bob I suppose one difference is that the goods are readily available at the 4WD store but at (dare I say it?) Aldi you can only purchase it on the rare occasions that they offer it.

That is one of Aldi's features. They purchase a large batch of an item at a price and can then offer them at a lower price than the "always-in-stock" stores. Such stores have the costs of smaller purchase lots and constant store display space which equals higher selling price. But perhaps not as much as the differential you quoted.

I have one of them but the clips that hold up the adjustable poles do not work (they do not grip) so I carry a couple of jubilee clips in the parts bag to make it work.

A small inconvenience but otherwise it seems OK but a bit lightweight in construction.

I have one from 4wd supastore. 2.5 x 2.5 excellent used it heaps of times. One thing I would do regardless of make...PUT EXTRA pop rivets into the aluminium board that connects to the supports and the canopy frame....

Or this for $109
https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/specials/weekly-deals/adventure-kings-premium-awning-2-x-2-5m.html

There was a discussion on another forum quite some time ago about tweaking these various awnings.

Apparantly there are better quality clips and hinges available from some of the camping stores that can make them far more durable.

Of course there is the idea of extra or better rivets and upgrading to bolts and such.

cheers

This has partly reflects how the price was marked up, it was doubled.

Think about it, most of 4WD accessories are produced in China. We could estimate the cost in different currency, we could even browse and obtain the real cost as long as you know how to do.

Added up the sea freight cost(take you 2 minutes to get a free quote on the web), and count in a GST plus nationwide postage. I can conclude with around 80 percent markup on the original cost.

Naturally people would take the brand value into consideration. Admittedly for brands like ARB and Lightforce, they've adopted themselves in a way of quality control, and lightforce presents excellent beam lights. Except for these brands, I don't see any difference on retailers(web-based or traditional bricks & mortar).

I spent 180 on a pair of Driving lights from a local retailer, only for their excellent service. But when I become self-educated on price-matching, I realized I could spend 75 bucks to get the same item from an eBay-based company. I checked out all the details and pretty convinced that it was wholesale- retailing thing.

Not saying this is bad, at least the lights are gross. Point is, should we spend twice or triple money for the sake of artificially decorated so called brands?