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Chain Reaction & Wiggle guilty of "exploitation", says US store
This is pretty interesting...
http://www.bikebiz.com/index.php/news/read/chain...
Chain Reaction Cycles is the Northern Ireland Post Office's biggest customer.
I'm not surprised!
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Exploitation or legal loop hole creating a competitive advantage, Jenson USA seem to be able to remain competitive on a lot of products. Would they not be subject to the same laws
they are certainly competitive with both wiggle and chain reaction and often as not cheaper.why no complaints about them?
That CRC import more Shimano Products into Australia than Shimano do, apparently somewhere between 20%-30% more lol.
It's neither exploitation nor a legal loophole. It's just the free market and competition at work, and is great for us consumers.
For those Look Keo peddles on CCR is $170 so there already $10 cheeper.
Interesting stat @Logan
It really doesn't surprise me most of us buy our Shimano from overseas. Walk into 80% of our bike shops looking for a rear derailleur and rather than be greeted with a range to look at and touch and be educated on by the shop assistant the Shimano product manual comes out from under the desk and we get shown a picture and "we can order it in and have it here by the end of the week". Big Fail! I'll buy it online myself thanks and save some bucks.
I can never understand why most shops tie up their floor space and working capital with bikes (usually 27 versions of kids bikes also) and carry a limited range of consumables.
Ever tried to visit a bike shop to look at that new saddle or shoes advertised in the latest bike mag? They never stock them. Instead they wait for you to walk into the shop and ask for the product and then they say they can get it in. No wonder they are all losing the war to overseas websites...
I can understand why shops stock kids bikes or road/mtb bikes in the $500 - $1500 category, because more often than not, that is their bread and butter business.
I (like many others on here) regularly get questions from people in my office about what bike to buy and where should I shop etc. Most of these people are not interested in spending $5k on a bike and just looking for something to get fit on etc. For most bike shops, that is their core business so I can understand why they want those types of bikes in stock and also most people want to walk in, talk to someone and walk out with a bike that fits their needs, so shops I guess need them in stock otherwise they lose the sale.
I think realistically people like us are probably in the minority of their sales to a certain extent, I know wouldnt walk into a shop and ask for the latest Zipp wheels, cause I would get slugged with a $4k price tag, as opposed to ordering online for $2k.
The fact is this is what much of the internet tech mania was all about, only 10 years later. As people now recognise typically only 1 or maybe 2 sites (normally within geographically defined area) are category killers – the others are just rounding numbers. Look at real estate, car sales, job ads, etc to get the picture. It looks like they are not one of them! This is purely global competition with a resource that has minimal boundaries inhibiting the movement of goods and services – nirvana for those economists among us.
All we are seeing is the advantage of strong buying power (rather like components on the new bike costing more than the whole package plus frame, with Giant being the winner here, and also highlighted by one early adopter of online sales stripping bikes to sell the components individually...) and potentially some currency benefits making it great for consumers.
They also frequently act as an outlet for old stock, something that is a killer for manufacturers and retailers alike (unless you can shift it cheaply – which is the same thing anyway). This stock clearing is something I suspect manufacturers are pleased for, or why would they not just cut off supply? Doing this clearly exposes them to losing sales volumes, market share and increasing costs, which would impact their relationship with the bike manufactures and then any repeat component sales (a vicious circle and clearly not a great strategy).
This article sounds very close to wanting to establish some form of collusion. I think their issue is the fact they consider themselves ‘high-end’ and thus are playing in the very fine part of the market where their customers can look after their own bikes (as per Logan’s wheels). The vast majority of the market is as per Logan’s comments and individuals who rarely look to upgrading components unless they break and, let’s face it, many of them walk in with punctures – although no longer anyone from my office after I gave a lesson to about 4 of them on how to fix a puncture (sorry LBS)!!!
I take the point that when you walk in you want to see the part and buy it, but I don't really see any way the LBS can do better than this. The range of components is so huge, they get updated every year, and currency fluctuations can mean that you can be stuck with stock that you purchased when the dollar was 20-30% weaker. Remember how much 2009 stock the bike shops were stuck with?
The article is puzzling the way they see cutting out the importers and distributers as a problem. There is plenty of sympathy for the local shop but not much for everyone else between the manufacturer and the retailer.
I guess the LBS is trying to work out where they fit in in the new reality of informed consumers and online ordering.
LBS buy at more $$ than what you can buy from Wiggle or CRC at.
Hardly a fair playing field, so I guess they don't want to hold stock (as this is a cost to a business) in the hopes someone will buy said part from them rather than from o/s.
I always give my LBS the opportunity to 'come close' to the price and if they can I buy from them. This way I also get local service and warranty (plus in my book)
Its always funny when I am in a shop and some guy comes in with a bike to be 'fixed' who bought parts from o/s retail and tried to fit the parts themselves. Should be charged double ha ha...but they often kick up a stink when they have to pay anything for the fix. Seems to usually be the poms over here working high paid jobs - go figure.
generalisation right there.... Poms in high paid jobs...If it wasnt for a Pom in a high paid job as you call it this website wouldnt exist.
I do however agree that you cant expect to take something in that you have fitted to a bike and expect it to be repaired for free, that isnt fair on the shop, as for double I think not. I suspect that it isnt just Poms doing what you suggested.
LIKE!!
"Poms in high paid jobs"
You gotta be kidding me.
All the poms I know, including myself, took a pay cut to come live here.
No surprises we're looking for a few ways to save cash.
Stick to the topic bud.
I think his point wasn't about your relative salary compared to back home. It was more to point out that being of English heritage you are, by definition, quite useless at anything to do with tools and practical skills. Combined with a tendency for whinging this results in a higher than average representation by poms amongst those queuing up at the LBS because they've broken something and want someone else to fix it. Well that's how I interpreted it at least.
Discodan, I'm presuming/hoping that post is a wind up and fishing for a reaction? If not, I'm sure it'll draw a few less than savoury replies.
You know us colonials treat our sport like religion, and this is one of the oldest...
Pom baiting
Sorry, I couldn't resist
Bloody Convicts!
John, if your baiting is as bad as your Olympic team, we have nothing to worry about.
If the PoMs had any sense they would have shipped themselves here and given the convicts England....
Little wonder PoMs get paid more to stay there...
Dan you are of course correct but you can't blame us. We're just too used to having people around to "do" for us and don't really like to get all that oil and stuff on our hands. Frankly, with all the afternoon teas and time spent fixing our teeth there just aren't enoigh hours in the day old chap.
I just get all my Australian man servants to do it for me, with the big $$$ I am earning!