Astro Scientific Centre Expensive scopes

vox · Post by **vox** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:25 pm

I went through Astro.com.sg ( email , browsing at the store and phone)and found out that their prices are pretty hefty. Some are really outrageous!
Is it just me? Well I did alot of sales b4 involving purchases from across the atlantic and it can NOT be compared to their prices.

Or are they really charging a high price on their Teles?

Anyone who has the same or opposite opinion/experience?

Vox

Post by **VinSnr** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:52 pm

vox wrote:I went through Astro.com.sg ( email , browsing at the store and phone)and found out that their prices are pretty hefty. Some are really outrageous!
Is it just me? Well I did alot of sales b4 involving purchases from across the atlantic and it can NOT be compared to their prices.

Or are they really charging a high price on their Teles?

Anyone who has the same or opposite opinion/experience?

Vox

you are not alone to think that way. The prices on their scopes can be quite outrageous.

Good thing is, you dun have to buy from them if you dun want to. There are several other vendors around here. Check out with them

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 3:42 pm

vox wrote:I went through Astro.com.sg ( email , browsing at the store and phone)and found out that their prices are pretty hefty. Some are really outrageous!
Is it just me? Well I did alot of sales b4 involving purchases from across the atlantic and it can NOT be compared to their prices.

Or are they really charging a high price on their Teles?

Anyone who has the same or opposite opinion/experience?

Vox

Well, I guess in their view, since they are dealing with equipment for astronomy, might as well just charge astronomical pricing, it should go hand in hand

Anyway, their price is really outragous and it kills off all the passion of a budding astronomer.

Post by **Airconvent** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 11:57 pm

Considering that they are sited in the Science Centre where rental should be high and the type of large inventory they are stocking, I'm not surprised.
If they charge the kind of prices listed on US mail order sites, where is the rental and salary of the shop assistance going to come from?
Where do you think the cost of warranty support comes from? Definitely not from Celestron.
In anycase, its not like they are getting economy of scale...I suspect they are lucky to sell a few scopes a week...
The reason why they are still in business is because apart from telescope sales, they offer other consultancy andproject-based services for optics and observatory projects.
Also, I noticed that a typical TASOS member, which is probably the niche market astro science is supporting, is quite well off and most are buying the scopes that are thousands of dollars, so give or take a few $1000 is not much different to them unlike us buying an $800, where every $100 is alot!

At least they provide an aircon show room for us to physically check out the scopes and when we strike the big sweep, we can pop by and buy a scope straight away without having to wait for shipping!

Bergkamp_ · Post by **Bergkamp_** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:54 pm

aAa.. i brought celestron firstscope 114 down there.. cost me $1000 i think .. cannot remember.. well. at that time.. there are only 1-2 agents of telescope only.. not like now.. well.. can see their market target not us poor students.. haha.. but.. its a nice place to go to.. see see.. touch touch.. those telescope =P

Post by **Airconvent** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:53 am

Bergkamp_ wrote:aAa.. i brought celestron firstscope 114 down there.. cost me $1000 i think .. cannot remember.. well. at that time.. there are only 1-2 agents of telescope only.. not like now.. well.. can see their market target not us poor students.. haha.. but.. its a nice place to go to.. see see.. touch touch.. those telescope =P

wow...$1000 for a 114mm Newtonian is steep. However, they recently dropped their price to $785, which is still high but more reasonable to make a profit while covering for rental and staff cost. Don't forget our vendoes here who can offer you better deals since they have much lower operating cost.
I see that you have a 127mm Mak. Did you buy it from someone here ot brand new? Do post your equipment list in the equipment section if you have not already done so...

rich

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:37 pm

of course expensive
the rent and housing and living standard here is so high
and couple with the fact that interest in astronomy in singapore very small

you are having to pay their rented or mortaged and tax for the retailers.

other country is much cheaper because they have plenty of land.

some built a 35 inch telescope in their backyard

blurblock · Post by **blurblock** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:30 pm

Coupled with the fact they price it so high it reduce the population of amatuer astronomer even smaller.

I would had started astronomy at least 10 years earlier if not for the price of the scope. If I had not found singastro.org, chances are I would not even start astronomy. ;P.

newbgalore2 · Post by **newbgalore2** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 11:51 am

spore got so much light pollution, population of amateur astronomer of cos small la... unfortunately they are only celestron dealer here. wonder if anyone got give them feedback abt their price or not.

QuantumGravity · Post by **QuantumGravity** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 12:05 pm

Hi,

Well, i bought my telescope from a store in china. because the store is privately run and located in china, bargaining works well here. the 114mm newtonian i bought was at only SG$200, after close to 30-45 mins of bargaining... however, the downside was that it doesn't come with any warranty, and also the trouble of the airport checks when bringing back here. the airport officers actually opened up the box to make sure that it ain't some type of weapon!

SingAstro

Astro Scientific Centre Expensive scopes

Astro Scientific Centre Expensive scopes

Re: Astro Scientific Centre Expensive scopes

Re: Astro Scientific Centre Expensive scopes