Friend Is Giving Me a Practically New Sky Dish! What Price & Where For A Quad LNB?

Mark#1

Freesat.ie have a Sky quad LNB for €40 + €10 shipping, which is "Suitable for a Sky dish only".

They also have a Titanium quad LNB for €50 + €10 shipping.

My local store wants €50 for a Sky quad LNB, and I could collect today.

I'll be using this dish/LNB for Freesat, with a Humax Foxsat HDR in one room & possibly a Foxsat HD in another room, hence my need for a quad LNB.

Am I right to assume that all LNBs function with any receiver, be it Sky or Freesat, but it's the mounts that are different, hence the "Suitable for a Sky dish only" line?


Thanks,

Mark

stanley1

http://cgi.ebay.ie/SKY-SKY-PLUS-SKY-HD-FREESAT-QUAD-LNB-NEW-GUARANTEED_W0QQitemZ190278985592QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item190278985592&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Mark#1

:eek:

ROI is right!

Is there a catch? Or is the price difference really down to "higher operational costs" :rolleyes: in Ireland?


Mark

Tony

Thats correct.

EDit: Its not just the mounts that are the issue the feedhorns are not interchangeable, noticed that some guys are selling so called "adapter" brackets which while will allow physical mounting the lnb will not perform correctly.

Mark#1 wrote: »

Am I right to assume that all LNBs function with any receiver, be it Sky or Freesat, but it's the mounts that are different, hence the "Suitable for a Sky dish only" line?


Thanks,

Mark

snaps

you will get one cheap enough on fleabay but becarefull of postage costs which push the original price up!

tomslick

The quad "suitable for sky" has a collar which is inserted into the arm of the sky dish. This collar can be removed for the lnb to be use on any dish. Only thing is that the lnb is designed dor an oval type dish but if your using it to pick up sky @28e you'll have no probs only probs when you start looking for funny sats like 1w etc.

Tony

Surely better to buy the right lnb for the dish with the correct focal length so you do not lose out on signal strength/quality

tomslick wrote: »

The quad "suitable for sky" has a collar which is inserted into the arm of the sky dish. This collar can be removed for the lnb to be use on any dish. Only thing is that the lnb is designed dor an oval type dish but if your using it to pick up sky @28e you'll have no probs only probs when you start looking for funny sats like 1w etc.

Apogee

Aren't the offical Sky feedhorns also shaped differently from standard offset feedhorns in order to properly illuminate the minidish?

http://www.satcure.com/tech/lnb.htm#SX1019

Mark#1

I collected my mate's dish today: it's in great condition - barely a hint of rust. All the brackets & fixings are there too. It's oval - wider than it is high.

So would the LNB in Stanley1's link be suitable, or do I need the one for €50 from my local dealer, or even the one from Freesat.ie for €50? Presumably they'll tell me only theirs will work.


Thanks,

Mark

Tony

If its a sky minidish (and from what you say it is) the one on ebay will work fine. 50 euro is a bit pricey to be brutally honest.

coffee to go

Why not get one from satellite.ie for 29.99? At least then you'll have customer service backup support and be promoting Irish business?

I am not affilated with satellite.ie - Just a happy customer in the past.

Mark#1

coffee to go wrote: »

Why not get one from satellite.ie for 29.99? At least then you'll have customer service backup support and be promoting Irish business?

I am not affilated with satellite.ie - Just a happy customer in the past.

If you're asking a genuine "why not?" question, probably the best answer is in post 2.

For those not interested in another of my "rip-off Ireland" blasts, stop reading now.


Mark

Let me ask these questions:

If one seller can sell it for €18, why can't another?

If I'm looking for the best value, and I can get the same product cheaper from seller A, what reason is there to buy from seller B?

The argument for supporting Irish business is, IMO, moot: the vast majority are more expensive than outside ROI, mainly because of greed, and therefore don't deserve my business.

I've said it elsewhere: if I buy outside ROI because I get far better prices, my conscience is clearer than the greedy ROI sellers should be.

Not ranting, just giving my opinion.

FWIW, I'm sure Freesat.ie is an excellent dealer, and possibly deserving of Irish punter's business, but I'd feel like a fool if I paid €40 for anything I knew I could have gotten elsewhere for €16.

Who's in the wrong? Me for trying to make my limited free cash go further, or the seller asking for 250% more?

Mark

Tony

Perhaps I can try answer some of the points you raise

Mark#1 wrote: »

Let me ask these questions:

If one seller can sell it for €18, why can't another?

Two reasons from my perspective

1. One seller is buying/sourcing cheaper than the other

2. to a lesser extent one supplier is charging less VAT or no vat at all

Mark#1 wrote: »

If I'm looking for the best value, and I can get the same product cheaper from seller A, what reason is there to buy from seller B?

You are right to look for the best value you can get I guess you just have to balance up all the factors involved ie postage, warranty, service, speed of delivery etc

Mark#1 wrote: »

The argument for supporting Irish business is, IMO, moot:

I fully agree with you you should look for the best value. Your point is well made unlike some others who shout "rip off" as a blanket generalisation. I strongly object to politicians stating that its somehow patriotic to pay more than you feel you have to for goods.

Mark#1 wrote: »

FWIW, I'm sure Freesat.ie

The post you quoted mentioned my company satellite.ie not freesat.ie

To answer your earlier question "Wheres the catch" I have a fair idea why they are much cheaper on ebay but without hard evidence it would not be right to voice my view on this and in any case my opinion would not be (and quite rightly) seen to be objective as I am a retailer. Having said that the difference in price is definitely not for "operational expenses"

freesat

Tony wrote: »

Perhaps I can try answer some of the points you raise




Two reasons from my perspective

1. One seller is buying/sourcing cheaper than the other

2. to a lesser extent one supplier is charging less VAT or no vat at all


You are right to look for the best value you can get I guess you just have to balance up all the factors involved ie postage, warranty, service, speed of delivery etc



I fully agree with you you should look for the best value. Your point is well made unlike some others who shout "rip off" as a blanket generalisation. I strongly object to politicians stating that its somehow patriotic to pay more than you feel you have to for goods.



The post you quoted mentioned my company satellite.ie not freesat.ie

To answer your earlier question "Wheres the catch" I have a fair idea why they are much cheaper on ebay but without hard evidence it would not be right to voice my view on this and in any case my opinion would not be (and quite rightly) seen to be objective as I am a retailer. Having said that the difference in price is definitely not for "operational expenses"

Hi Folks,
My operational costs are a lot higher due to having the overhead of a retail shop in Dublin. However, if you product turns out to be faulty you can pop into my shop and i'll hand you a new one. You don't have to ship your products back to UK. I also offer Free advice to all my customers regarding anything satellite!

Other retail shops in Dublin sell satellite products and don't train their staff, therefore they cannot offer you support or advice.

Lastly,There are a lot of guys on ebay who are not VAT registered and in addition don't have to pay 21.5% in VAT charges, plus shipping to Ireland is higher from our suppliers.

The good news is that I have dropped all my lnbs prices by nearly €10 in most cases.

Thank you all for feed back.

freesat.ie

Mark#1

Tony wrote: »

Perhaps I can try answer some of the points you raise

Two reasons from my perspective

1. One seller is buying/sourcing cheaper than the other

2. to a lesser extent one supplier is charging less VAT or no vat at all

You are right to look for the best value you can get I guess you just have to balance up all the factors involved ie postage, warranty, service, speed of delivery etc

I fully agree with you you should look for the best value. Your point is well made unlike some others who shout "rip off" as a blanket generalisation. I strongly object to politicians stating that its somehow patriotic to pay more than you feel you have to for goods.

The post you quoted mentioned my company satellite.ie not freesat.ie

To answer your earlier question "Wheres the catch" I have a fair idea why they are much cheaper on ebay but without hard evidence it would not be right to voice my view on this and in any case my opinion would not be (and quite rightly) seen to be objective as I am a retailer. Having said that the difference in price is definitely not for "operational expenses"

Tony,

I didn't realise you were a retailer, let alone the retailer I misquoted.

Your response is so much more level and balanced than I would have forgiven you for posting, given that I was inadvertantly commenting on you.

You've been quite helpful in some of my other posts too, and I don't want to seem ungrateful for that.

My major gripe with ROI is the extreme cases: the usual example I quote is €2200 for a TH-50PZ80 from panasonicshop and, until recently at least, Harvey Norman & Alliance Electric (AE is now €1700, I believe), when UK shops (not just warehouse-based web sellers) are selling the same TV for £1100 (€1230 today) or less.

The difference between €16 and €30 (IIUC?) for an quad LNB is around 190%, but is only €14 - probably (even to a tightwad like me) worth the difference for the help you do often get from a decent dealer.

The difference between €1230 and €1700 for a TV is significantly lower at 138%, but is €470 - a figure I personally struggle to accept in return for even great help from a dealer.

As a reference, Richersounds in Belfast are selling the TH-50PZ80 for under €1120, and are renowned for their great customer service.

I hope I haven't insulted or offended you with my comments.

freesat wrote: »

Hi Folks,
My operational costs are a lot higher due to having the overhead of a retail shop in Dublin. However, if you product turns out to be faulty you can pop into my shop and i'll hand you a new one. You don't have to ship your products back to UK. I also offer Free advice to all my customers regarding anything satellite!

Other retail shops in Dublin sell satellite products and don't train their staff, therefore they cannot offer you support or advice.

Lastly,There are a lot of guys on ebay who are not VAT registered and in addition don't have to pay 21.5% in VAT charges, plus shipping to Ireland is higher from our suppliers.

The good news is that I have dropped all my lnbs prices by nearly €10 in most cases.

Thank you all for feed back.

freesat.ie

I inadvertantly quoted you guys - my apologies.

I'd assumed that the URL "freesat.ie" was somehow directly linked with freesat.co.uk, and not a separate Irish retailer.

I guess my comments in this thread on ROI may have been misplaced in the context of this thread: my resentment of ROI pertains more to higher-value AV items, or items where the big price differences are obviously down to greed.

It might be worth commenting that consumers venting their dissatisfaction with ROI may not always be criticising just the dealers - for my part, I know that "the system" plays a part in the elevated prices, but I'm still not convinced that it all warrants a difference of even €470 on a TV.


Mark

Tony

Mark#1 wrote: »

Tony,

I didn't realise you were a retailer, let alone the retailer I misquoted.

Mark, the logo did not give it away

Mark#1 wrote: »

Your response is so much more level and balanced than I would have forgiven you for posting, given that I was inadvertantly commenting on you.

You've been quite helpful in some of my other posts too, and I don't want to seem ungrateful for that.

Its no problem honestly, its very useful to read commets such as these as it clues me in to the perspective in the marketplace. Your points were well made, in the past one or two posters have made comments which suggested they had an agenda which is clearly not the case with your post.

Mark#1 wrote: »

My major gripe with ROI is the extreme cases: the usual example I quote is €2200 for a TH-50PZ80 from panasonicshop and, until recently at least, Harvey Norman & Alliance Electric (AE is now €1700, I believe), when UK shops (not just warehouse-based web sellers) are selling the same TV for £1100 (€1230 today) or less.

The difference between €16 and €30 (IIUC?) for an quad LNB is around 190%, but is only €14 - probably (even to a tightwad like me) worth the difference for the help you do often get from a decent dealer.

The difference between €1230 and €1700 for a TV is significantly lower at 138%, but is €470 - a figure I personally struggle to accept in return for even great help from a dealer.

As a reference, Richersounds in Belfast are selling the TH-50PZ80 for under €1120, and are renowned for their great customer service.

John (who owns Richer and a great guy on a personal level also) has really nailed it in so far as he competes on price with everybody but his staff are much more knowledgeable than the majority of other retailers I know of so the balance is just spot on.

Mark#1 wrote: »

I hope I haven't insulted or offended you with my comments.
I inadvertantly quoted you guys - my apologies.

No offense taken at all

Mark#1 wrote: »

I'd assumed that the URL "freesat.ie" was somehow directly linked with freesat.co.uk, and not a separate Irish retailer.

A logical assumption but Michael who owns Freesat.ie actaully thought up this name for his company a long time ago when we met at a seminar and were discussing ideas about how to differentiate satellite from Freeview the terrestrial service.

Mark#1 wrote: »

I guess my comments in this thread on ROI may have been misplaced in the context of this thread: my resentment of ROI pertains more to higher-value AV items, or items where the big price differences are obviously down to greed.

It might be worth commenting that consumers venting their dissatisfaction with ROI may not always be criticising just the dealers - for my part, I know that "the system" plays a part in the elevated prices, but I'm still not convinced that it all warrants a difference of even €470 on a TV.
Mark

I can understand your point of view fully. I think there has been a reluctance on Irish people in the past to haggle or look for a better deal unlike our American brothers and sisters for example and i think this led to a culture of charging , to use the terrible phrase "what the market will bear"

ASTRALSAT

[advertise on adverts.ie not here]

ASTRALSAT

it says pic for illustration purposes only , quad for sale is used on 99% of sky installs.

ASTRALSAT

many apologies Tony (owner satellite.ie) ,
regards Steve (owner AstralTV.ie)

i see no dfference.

ASTRALSAT

and yes , as used in over 1000 sky installs last year by me

Tony

ASTRALSAT wrote: »

and yes , as used in over 1000 sky installs last year by me

Thats good going, an average of over 3 installs a day if you worked 6 days a week, congrats to you.

watty

There are two issues on integral feed LNBs (LNBF).

1) F/D ratio, basically the illumination of entire dish, think of a spot lamp with just right shape of beam

2) Shape of beam. Not so critical

This is done by shape and spacing of metal channels/rings under the horn cover.

Monoblock LNBs have a 3rd problem. The horn spacing only suits particular dish (distance to LNB/Diameter of the dish) AND spacing of two satellites. But the Apparent spacing of 19.2E and 13.0 E is different in Germany and in Ireland.

Sam Radford

There are three reasons (in my opinion) why items are sold below manufacturing cost on eBay:-

1. The obvious - stolen from Sky by a Sky installer. The installer is issued a "kit" to repair a specific job. Part of the kit is not needed so he pockets it. Presumably Sky are aware of this and ignore it for their own reasons. Maybe they see it as a useful way of putting independents out of business.

2. An Authorised Sky Reseller buys a kit for a fixed price, installs it for a good profit, and has bits left over. These bits have effectively cost him nothing so he can sell them for any price he likes and still make some profit.

3. Non-Sky parts are bought in bulk directly from Europe or China. They can be shifted quickly and cheaply via eBay. There are far less items being sold like this since eBay increased its charges and the pound exchange rate dropped.

Tony

Not sure about this as the price of the quad bought from Sky's appointed wholesaler in Ireland is more expensive than the ebay selling price unless you buy a lot of sky +/hd boxes and sell them without the quad which is included usually.

Sam Radford wrote: »

2. An Authorised Sky Reseller buys a kit for a fixed price, installs it for a good profit, and has bits left over. These bits have effectively cost him nothing so he can sell them for any price he likes and still make some profit.

arsebandit

[link deleted]

Got this the next day, and its the dogs.
€21 all in, ye cant go wrong

Bandit

watty

eBay can be OK. But "Buyer beware".
You need to know your products.

I think if people use eBay they can easily find LNBs on it.

Mark#1

Crap. Busy weekend - what'd I miss?

Mark