I will comment briefly on prices in Australia for starters there is a serious lack of competition no fishing tackle wholesaler or daiwa and shimano will sell products to you as a business unless you have a physical retail store address as a result their are not a huge amount of online shops those that exist are part of a retail tackle store which means anglers cannot shop around within Australia much not to mention similar to car dealships for reels location plays a key on weather they will supply you even if you do have a retail store
secondly you cannot go ahead and just import the reels from a wholesaler overseas for example this is considered an infringement of intellectual property Rights and trademark identity shimano in Australia have notices lodge with the customs office for everyone of their products so if you do arrange for some to be imported order them fill out your import documents they will not clear customs . shimano notice lodged with custom's link shows all there product list http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/miniSites/ipData/T00262-01.asp here's the link for all companies notice Daiwa not on it but legally they can file a notice at any time so first shipment fine second doesn't clear big gamble http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/miniSites/ipData/
so you are limited here in Australia to a few online stores provided my actual retail outlets as you cannot just set up online store yourself so you have to travel from store to store wether it is the tacklestores pushing the price or shimano /daiwa i cannot comment i have heard various debates on this.
Let's not hi-jack the thread.
And...coming from the tackle industry for one of the aforementioned parties in the past - I grossly disagree with you about many points.
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At the end of the day, we all have little jibes here and there (myself included) but the two top running manufacturers produce some superb products. And my professional stance is just that - you can agree to disagree but there is top of the line equipment coming out of either camps.
Cut me and I'll bleed Shimano - I couldn't care less what is going on in the world of Daiwa because I'm comfortable that what I use personally is the best out there for the application. If it breaks, then feedback will be passed along the chain to make the improvement and innovation - that is what makes these products so fantastic is today's modern age. Coupled with more extreme environments and anglers willing to fish the extra mile - it wouldn't be of interest to me if I beat a GT or Doggie every opportunity I encountered them
No product out there is impervious, and even the next rich bloke's Ferrari or Lambo needs upkeep, maintanance and TLC to perform at it's peak. You can't be responsible for the dope that's left a nail on the bitumen and gives you a flat!
Those are only general comments about all this Shimano vs. Daiwa banter. I'm not interested in the discussion about second rate parts or pricing - I'm not commenting about that.
Let's please keep the discussion objective and keep the emotion out. Thanks Boys