JayMowgrass said:
Ok so this is the deal. Apparently when a new detector comes out, dozens of people "reserve" a detector by putting their name on every waiting list in the country. Then for example, Bendigo gold has 50 people on the waiting list so it orders 50 detectors from minelab at a cost of $500,000. Then it turns out that 30 people go elsewhere or don't buy one and them Bendigo are stuck with $200,000 worth of detectors. The deposit is just a way to prevent thet form happening.
Still not a very good way to do business.
It's pretty much saying f**k the walk ins. If they were confident in the new product, they wouldn't mind ordering more than what an initial interested numbers list produced.
It is possible that some people who are keen, can't put down $500 now. For instance, those who are trying to sell their 5000 to fund the 7000, but haven't sold it yet. They don't want to commit until they know their older machine has been sold.
But, I can see where they're coming from, especially if it's over hyped and over priced, at least they have a certain amount of sales/deposits taken.
