This is a random question, but i was looking on the internet and airsoft seem to be way cheaper then gel blasters like a gbbr airsoft is about $1000 and a gbbr gel blaster is $1500 same with pistol a tokyo marui is $300 and a gel blaster variant is $600+ i know they have to convert exc…. why is there such a big markup for the aussie market?
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A few reasons…
1: US dollars.
A lot of airsoft is sold in the states. Higher volume, leads to orders in bulk, and discounts. I.e a retailer (evike) may order a certain pistol, and place an order for (say) 5000 units, to be sold all over the states. That leads to a bulk discount. The bulk, discounted US price becomes the benchmark. Were currently running around $1.55, to $1 USD.
2: Gel conversion.
They then have to convert to gel. This takes time, tools, and someone on the ground overseas. One off private imports are hard, nobody really wants to stuff around to do just one, they wanna do a couple hundred minimum. Some manufactures (WETECH) manufacture gel at the factory. Apart from AUS, i’d reckon china would be a big market. They still manufacture gel models in smaller numbers than airsoft though, so unit costs are higher, due to the lower numbers.
3: Aussie costs.
Shipping, import duties, the good ole tax man, higher costs of running a buisness in Aust, and the need to generate a profit, from a smaller volume of sales.
Aust has always been this way, a small market at the end of the world, paying a premium, with limited options, for what everyone else had 12+ months ago…
Still, it could be worse…
We could have laws like NSW, VIC, TAS, ACT etc… 
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This 
I dunno, I reckon airsoft blasters cost a lot more than gel variants.
Last time I checked prices of airsoft AEGs they were pretty up there… I was looking at an FN F2000 at a retail outlet in NZ and couldn’t believe how much they were. 
Granted cheaper in Asia, around the $700 mark , but still up there.
As BME pointed out, a lot of the higher end gel GBBRs are airsoft conversions which ups the price significantly.
Yes exact reasons as above.
Aussie dollar only gets you about 64 cents american currently.
Then there’s shipping, then the Aussie shop needs to cover their cost of existence which is high like grand a week high depending on place.
Then airsoft to gel conversion which someone needs to get paid to do that even if it’s only a barrel swap with some tweaking, then testing.
They are the main factors that get’s you a usually sorted high end gel blaster. Just the way the gov wants it, priced to oblivion so common folk can’t afford them.
BME had an Aussie shop build him his dream pulse rifle blaster. I’m not sure what that cost but I know it would be way up there. But I commend him for doing it because it turned out real nice and it is very custom. Turned out fantastic from what I have seen. Plus there was nothing available like that at that time.
You just need to work out for yourself what you want and is it worth the money to you. Regardless of what anyone says. What is it worth to you. I might earn 300k more than the next fella annually, but is a $1500 gel blaster worth it to me, or does that $1500 buy me something else… that is all up to you.
Some of us have as much if not more fun on a $200 blaster and mod fk out of it because that’s fun too and beat hell out of it 
Good luck 
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And, to prove my point…
$155 US, for a 350 fps version…
Airsoft has been around for a long time, originally starting in Japan in the 1970s, and spreading around the world since the 1980s. Way back when, they were basically model kits. Fragile, and good luck getting replacement parts. Also no internet meant you couldn’t just hop online and order from Asia. Airsoft has had around 40 years of production.
Airsoft is also, almost, a world wide market. Gel blasters are still relatively new, and a much more niche product. Most countries that allow gel blasters also allow airsoft, which leaves the gel blaster market to focus on the “kids” versions as many nations with airsoft also have over 18 rules. Check reddit out for the mass of these kids versions rising in popularity.
Only in the last say two years, have gel blasters seen a rise in other countries as an alternative to airsoft. Let’s be honest, there are a few points gel has better than airsoft. Ammo is cheaper, and a bit more family friendly. Gel is also ideal for cqb.
Give it time, it will only get more popular, and hopefuly cheaper. But it will always be the younger brother to airsoft. And don’t worry, there are plenty of airsoft guns that are stupid expensive.
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I was instore when BME brought that one in…
To say I was drooling with envy would be an understatement. 
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Your right about price, and what its worth to you.
I may have ( ahem , cough, cough) a reasonably sized gelsoft collection, but its my one “splurge area”.
Its true, ive worked hard to get good qualifications and to have a good income, but by and large, i’m a tightwad.
Think of the 80/20 rule…80 % of my income goes into saving / paying off income producing investments, 20% i can spend on ‘whatever’.
Everyones ‘whatever’ varies, depending on what they want and value.
I dont value expensive watch collections, so i dont spend tens of thousands.
i dont value designer clothes, so i dont spend thousands.
i dont value expensive cars ( watch $30-40k dissapear), so i stay away.
i dont value big boats, a smaller cheaper jetski does me fine.
i dont value expensive phones, $300 samsung it is.
etc etc.
So, gel blasters are my main ‘wasteful luxury’ , and i reckon if i spend several grand a year on them, im still spending less than the average drinker and smoker per year…
The aliens pulse rifle was my most single expensive item, but for me , was worth it.
I always wanted one, ever since i saw it in the drive-in. At the time, i had tried personal imports via retailers, with no luck. There was nothing on the horizon. When i saw the kit, coinciding with Vas bringing in the thommy’s…i figured it was my only chance.
I’m glad Vas is bringing in the PR’s into Oz now, everybody else gets a chance to have one.
But, i’m still glad i did it, it was worth it to me…!!
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For sure I’m very similar. I don’t spend money on things I don’t enjoy just make do with basics.
For example I always fancied the Elcan rifle optic. No chance of buying a real one Elcan Specter Dual Roll Optical Sight 1x/4X 32MM 5.56 CX5395 Ballistic Matte Black (brownells.com.au)
I came across a decent knock off airsoft one from UK, still was $450 but thought f it me want, that was my little treat for a job well done. Sometimes I might buy a RC buggy to hoon around my open expanses here.
My next goal is trying to save for a new dirt bike. In this climate that is taking it’s sweet damn time 
I wear crap clothes as they get destroyed or ripped on a fence.
Watch I don’t even bother anymore, sun comes up it’s morning, sun goes down it’s night 
Have got my boat license but I aint going out to buy anything flash. Might get a smaller tinny one day to go floating on the murray river which is not far away. Drop a line in and catch a million carp.
Cars as long as it’s got 4 wheels and goes. They are a huge money pit, I hate working on them and only a tool for me to get from a to b.
Definitely in the camp of splurging on yourself occasionally. Boys gotta have Toys 
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I am with you lads on the “it’s my one thing I spend money on”.
While my health and body hasn’t really let me skirmish much this year, it is also the only social outlet I have. So it scratches both hobby and social itches, otherwise I just work and pay bills like most dads.
It’s been over six years to get all the stuff I have, 40 something blasters, over 100 mags, and probably nearly as much in parts and spares and gear.
I don’t actually spend a lot, maybe 100-200 bucks a month. But I do spend on sales and cheap parts, and AliExpress, tight arse about it in every way really.
I’d rather build or fix a blaster I got cheap than buy one, I don’t watch tv or play games, rarely go to a pub, my spare time I enjoy fixing and building blasters.
You can spend a fortune for sure. But you don’t have to. I never did, but it does add up over time with a constant rate of spend… best not to think about it
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Yeah, I agree 100% I’m always on the lookout for cheapies to upgrade.
After you’ve shoehorned a few worked gearboxes into weird and wonderful shells you start to wonder what’s next… and buying a high end blaster with nothing really to do but bolt on accessories doesn’t really hold any appeal for me.
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This 100%. It is the journey not the destination… well a little the destination!
Granted I just bought a full metal cyma M4A1, but I finished tinkering with it in a week. I did just have to get me a classic with an m203 though but that was a very rare splurge.
I actually only have three blasters I paid more than $300 for, and only three more over $200. Everything else was either second hand, or built!
I much prefer a boneyard raid and see what I can make of it.
Getting flashbacks of trying to make an AR15 out of a junked project. I got there in the end, most would have thrown it in the bin. But it was fun trying to make something when Cyma and the rest was not even a thing and the only thing you had was JM for an AR or build your own from a hard to get receiver and go from there.
Wells hadn’t even come out with their AR’s yet when I was fettling away blind. Talk about jumping in the deep end, had heaps of help from forum members.
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It’s good to see more build posts up on here again.
That’s the fun factor in this hobby for me, for sure.
For costings, comparisons with some other countries prove interesting. Try looking up airsoft prices in Brazil for example, and you’ll be quite surprised how expensive it all is - a/s is seen as a luxury/elite hobby.
If you’r wondering whats next…
Ive got an uzi shell, with your name on it…!!
Transplant donor also present…!!
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You and that Uzi, man…
Haven’t got the dremel out on it yet?
The dremelling is the easy part…
It’s attaching the gearbox and barrel, that’s a bit harder…
And mag retention/ release…
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Wow you’re not wrong. Had a quick look at an ARP9, works out to $1300.00 Aud!!
Yes and now work out the average Brazilian income …