Razer Blade availability in Australia

Anyone knows why there is only one store in the whole of Australia (MS Store in Sydney) where you can view display models of the Razer Blade lineup?

I seriously considered getting a new Razer Blade but without the option to view and use an in store demo unit I just couldn't justify the purchase.

I ended up buying an Alienware as a store just around the corner from my house had the whole range of the new laptops in stock. Would have loved to compare it with a Razer Blade, however due to the lack of availability Razer lost a sale.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

Razer laptops should ONLY be bought through an intermediary - MS Store, HIDevolution, XoticPC and etc. The reason is that Razer's warranty and customer support is basically non-existent and the extra warranty you get from those companies is basically the only warranty you'll get. That is, unless you want to be treated poorly by a company that you paid 2500-4000$ to for a laptop.

To answer your question - I'd imagine it's because of local law - it's why they won't sell it here - if they do and their warranty treatment takes as long as it usually does, users can file a civil suit and get a few thousand dollars in a settlement. It would also force Razer to offer a minimum of 2 years of warranty - something they never do.

 

If it makes you feel better, the only place in the US you can see a Razer Blade in-person is a Microsoft Store also.

And no, to the person suggesting that it was so Razer doesn't get sued because of its perceived poor support. That is not the reason.

You don't see wide retail distribution of the Razer Blade because it is a low-production-volume specialty item. It's the same reason you can't go into a retail store, and look at $1300 1440p-ultrawide G-Sync monitors. Getting a retail distribution agreement in place is a LOT of time and work (and therefore money). It's even more time-consuming if you are also dealing with foreign currencies, because you then need to also deal with currency fluctuations. Anyone in Razer's Finance team now needs to try and make future revenue projections on expected sales, AND future projections on currency fluctuations.

Razer's agreement with Microsoft eliminates both of these risks. Razer transfers the risk of foreign currency fluctuations to Microsoft, and their agreement probably has a minimum purchase volume per year. My guess is that the only reason you see Razer laptops in Australia at all is because their agreement with Microsoft is a worldwide distribution agreement.

I can understand that you only want or buy things from retail stores where you can see the product first. I don't know how it works in Australia, but in the US there are a lot of consumer-protection laws and very friendly credit card policies. I buy tons of crap off of the internet all the time, without ever seeing the item first (only reading & watching o line reviews). If I ever have a problem with an item that I can't resolve directly with the seller or manufacturer, i can go to my credit card company to complain and usually get my money back.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk