Robxxx - Ha it's funny you mention the bait and switch. I didn't want to rag on the phone guy any harder in that post, but being a dooffus, he pretty much let on that that is exactly what they do.
After asking me to explain where it said on their site that it was IN stock (he didn't understand a double negative apparently, "well it's not listed as not available, and some of your other products are..." I asked him outright - "so if I add it to my cart and check out right now what will happen?" He helpfully explained that a salesman would call me to explain that that product is out of stock and offer me an alternative product, or you know, my money back?"
That's great when I've spent ages coming to the decision to buy them based on their assumed availability from numerous current ads (for 40% off too!) and the fact that they were not not available on their site!
Bazza20 - speaking of ordering overseas I actually emailed ironmaster USA a while back to see how much it would cost to order them direct. They had a sale on, and I think at the time you could buy the base set without the stand in the US. Seeing as the entry level in AU includes the stand, I would be looking at $700 + $290 + $300 for a second set of handles and the add on kit to buy them here.
It's not so much the price as the value to me personally. I'm planning on buying a set of prostyles eventually and I already have a set of selecttech dumbbells up to 40kg (hey don't judge, my GF bought them for me), as well as olympic handles and weights.
For $700 the Force USA dumbbells filled a niche in my dumbbell needs - they have the flat ends to kick them up for presses (unlike the olympic handles) but they would have been sturdy enough to dump them on a last heavy set (unlike the selecttechs which are made of glass, and only go up to 40kg anyway) Also when i buy a prostyle set in the future, these would fit it well as 42.5's or 47.5's between say some pairs of 40,45,50. At those weights you pay $350 and up per dumbbell, so even replacing 2 pairs would cover their cost.
If anyone has some old ironmasters for sale, or knows of anyone selling a pair of these, give me a shout!