Greetings All

Looking for a little advice here. I am in the market for one of the new Humminbird Mega side imaging models. I am based in New Zealand. I am sad to say there is a very bad arrangement between the Australian Hum import agent (BLA) and dealers here in NZ. There is a massive mark up on bringing them in and our marine industry dealers are also putting up some pretty hefty mark ups. I have two quotes from NZ dealers at around $4,300. NZD that converts to $3,930 AUD, and $3,027 USD and $2,448 GBP. By comparison in the US the cheapest price I could find is $1,300. USD.

Note: Prices are for this model; Humminbird Helix 9 Chirp Mega SI GPS G2N Combo 410090-1

Do you agree something is wrong here? NZ price more than twice the US price after converting currencies?

First what is the difference between an international model and the ones sold in US? As far as I can determine the US models do not have settings for metric units only those commonly used in US, miles, miles per hour etc. I am not sure about base maps. I also learned supposedly for Humminbird to sell these international models they incur extra costs in testing to meet strict European standards. If anyone knows more detail on this issue; US verses international model I'd be bee keen to learn more. There is a spectacular void of information on this on the Humminbird web site.

So because of the huge mark ups in our NZ market at the moment with Hum products, I am thinking I am going to have to import an international model from some other country. The Humminbird.com.au site says the suggested retail price in Australia is $2,600. AUD, equalling $2,000. USD. So here is my question does anyone out there know of a good place in say Australia or UK or anywhere actually where I could buy an international model to ship to NZ at a reasonable price. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

Hope people don't take this case as a criticism of the NZ economic situation, normally our trade terms with the rest of the world are very good, this situation comes down to price gouging by the Hum importer in AUS who entirely controls price in all of Australia and NZ. I guess if I am correct Humminbird has created a problem for itself by allowing this monopoly to establish.

I hear you Vince. Speaking in a strictly personal capacity, I went through the same thing some years ago in Australia. I ended up importing an HB 997 from the US which worked fine, albeit with the limitations that you have mentioned (although I actually prefer feet for depths). I'm not sure what the situation is now - I know that some brands "geo-lock" and offer reduced features (or annoying popups) when outside of some specified area, but I don't think HB does this (it certainly didn't back then). I haven't got much more to offer, other than the thought that if you have any friends visiting the US in the near future they might be able to bring you one back. There used to be an outfit dedicated to "grey imports" to Aus and NZ, but they don't seem to be around any more. I also ended up importing a boat from the US to Aus, but that's a whole other story :) I guess the only thing you can do is phone a few reputable US dealers and see if you can get one to ship to you.

Thanks Matt
I will keep at it but it looks like I may just import a unit from US and live with the US units, been along time since I worked in feet and mph but I guess its not really going to cause a problem, Slightly mad doing this with such a sophisticated bit of gear, but if the side scan is really significantly better it's all worthwhile.

Are you sure that it is significantly better (from a mapping perspective)? How does swath range of the Mega actually compare with Lowrance Structure Scan 3D (viewed in 2D)? For my purposes, I think that a "good" definition wide swath is more valuable than a "mega" definition narrow swath. I am curious to see Mega in action, or at least some actual reports from unbiased users.....but so far I haven't seen anything other than promo.

Hi Craigm

You have raised a legitimate point about what the Hum Mega SI can really deliver in relation to how we all use our sounders. To be honest I don't know the answer which is one reason I am trying the new machine this year. I think this question has a lot to do with how you use the sounder and what sort of mapping or end product you are looking for. In my case I am working with relatively shallow rocky reefs at 1-20m depths and my main current interest is vegetation mapping. I am not sure what software method for resolution of vegetation will win out in the end but one option is image processing which would be assisted greatly by better resolution of the basic SS data stream. Whereas if you are doing more broadscale mapping it is quite a different ball game. Over the next 6 months or so we will see some completed projects and be in a better position to judge the values of the Hum mega imaging.

As a result of my search for where to purchase an international model Hum sounder, I got a tip off the Side Imaging Forum (Unofficial) which said that Canada sells the international model at equivalent price to US. Checking price with Canadian websites I can confirm the price is the same. Now I am checking out if these are in fact the international models with metric units. This is rather curious, raising the question how can this be when in all other countries outside US there is a huge price difference? Anyone know any more details on this please post here.

vincekerr wrote: A quick glance at the market in Sweden:
The distributor's recommended retail price for the Humminbird Helix 9 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G2N H410090-1M is 19995:-SEK (Swedish Krona, incl 25% sales tax) which corresponds to approx. $2270 USD.
It is commonly sold in stores at prices ranging from 17000:- to 18000:- SEK (incl sales tax) or approx. $1930-2040 USD.

Greetings All

Just to try and get a little closure on this matter and perhaps help someone else. I have heard back from half a dozen of Canadian retailers with significant online sales and distribution outlets around Canada. Here is what I learned.

All except one said they can not ship the International model to other than Canada or US. One who I won't name here said they could, (it appears normally Humminbird does not allow this).

The Canadian retailers are mainly selling the International model and at the recommended US price. So it seems there is a special deal Humminbird is doing for Canada.

Here is a quote from one of larger Canadian sellers:

"Yes we do sell the US version is some cases but almost all of them will be the international model. The only real difference is that the international models are all in metric units, and with the US models they are only in imperial. The prices are exactly the same and you can choose different time zones on either model.
If you have any other questions please feel free to e-mail me back, thanks!" (Note what he has said about time zones in US domestic model conflicts with other people have told me. Curious?)

So my friends getting the International model with metric units and unlocked time zones anywhere other than Canada will cost you plenty extra. It seems New Zealand has the highest markup on the planet - I believe because of monopoly the Australian importer has on market.

In my case for the difference in price between Canadian purchase and New Zealand purchase I can fly to Vancouver and have a beer, buy a sounder and then return. As it happens I have a friend in Vancouver so you can guess the rest. I find all this curious, why would Humminbird support a marketing system internationally that is so uncompetitive. Here in NZ Hum has no chance competing against Lowrance. Humminbird Execs if you are reading this take note........................