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My thoughts on this
1. Yes foreign online sellers would be a massive threat to a business like this. Selling major brands in Australia is generally done via a distributor model. This effectively adds another layer in the process which adds cost to the end consumer. Add GST of 10% and you become very uncompetitive on a price basis. This is a common problem across many industries – selling foreign brands in Australia under a distributor model doesn’t work! (if they can be bought on eBay).
2. I don’t think the Australian distributors will allow you to have an online only store. Many distributors of big brands these days require a bricks and mortar presence to buy at wholesale (in order to protect traditional offline only sellers).
3. If you can find a USP or position yourself differently (provide professional advice with fittings) then you may counter some of this. If you can’t provide a different offering then it will invariably come back to price and you will struggle to compete.
