Cost of Bike Gear in Australia

As I am sure all of you are aware bike gear, such as tires, cassettes,
etc., are all hideously expensive in any bike store in Australia in
comparison to purchases from the UK and US and this is including
postage.

Having spoken to a mate who owns a bike store here in Canberra they
cant even get stuff from the distributors here at the prices that you
get from places like ProBikeKit and Parkers.

My question is why is it so expensive?


--
jcjordan

On 2007-12-30, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

As I am sure all of you are aware bike gear, such as tires, cassettes,
etc., are all hideously expensive in any bike store in Australia in
comparison to purchases from the UK and US and this is including
postage.

Having spoken to a mate who owns a bike store here in Canberra they
cant even get stuff from the distributors here at the prices that you
get from places like ProBikeKit and Parkers.

My question is why is it so expensive?

The distributers have a legal monopoly.

I've already asked a professional favour of one of my friends who
works in ACCC, so I'm loathe to ask him again, but I'm sure the ACCC
would be interested in finding out why if you prod them. When
they're not too busy helping the government and media understand
supply and demand when it comes to petrol prices.

--
TimC
SIGTHTBABW: a signal sent from Unix to its programmers at random
intervals to make them remember that There Has To Be A Better Way.

TimC Wrote:
On 2007-12-30, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

As I am sure all of you are aware bike gear, such as tires,
cassettes,
etc., are all hideously expensive in any bike store in Australia in
comparison to purchases from the UK and US and this is including
postage.

Having spoken to a mate who owns a bike store here in Canberra they
cant even get stuff from the distributors here at the prices that you
get from places like ProBikeKit and Parkers.

My question is why is it so expensive?

The distributers have a legal monopoly.

I've already asked a professional favour of one of my friends who
works in ACCC, so I'm loathe to ask him again, but I'm sure the ACCC
would be interested in finding out why if you prod them. When
they're not too busy helping the government and media understand
supply and demand when it comes to petrol prices.

--
TimC
SIGTHTBABW: a signal sent from Unix to its programmers at random
intervals to make them remember that There Has To Be A Better Way.
With the price comparision its getting to the stage that the friend
who owns the shop is considering not even stocking tires anymore. you
cant blame him when you can get two tires from the UK (including
postage) for less then he can sell one here


--
jcjordan

jcjordan Wrote:
With the price comparision its getting to the stage that the friend who
owns the shop is considering not even stocking tires anymore. you cant
blame him when you can get two tires from the UK (including postage) for
less then he can sell one here

I've wondered the same thing for a while now. Do the distributors for
Shimano, Continental, (etc), make their living from the OEM supply of
components to local whole bike distributors? Could it be that the
single component and tyre market is really that small? In my bike
circles this isn't the case, everyone chews through tyres, chains,
cassettes like kids through lollies!!

Anyhow... on a related matter... I looovveee my Dura Ace SPD SL's
(PD-7810)... best pedal I've used by far. I'm even planning on kitting
out my TT bike and trainer bike with them... price comparisons:

PBK: $169
AU Prices: $240, $295, $299, $320..!!

I'd wear an extra $20-30 locally, but those prices just don't compute.
I'm really keen to understand the local industry more... are us racing
types such a small market that we don't count? By the sounds of it
importing is starting to hurt.

Lama


--
gplama

On 2007-12-30, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
TimC Wrote:
The distributers have a legal monopoly.

I've already asked a professional favour of one of my friends who
works in ACCC, so I'm loathe to ask him again, but I'm sure the ACCC
would be interested in finding out why if you prod them. When
they're not too busy helping the government and media understand
supply and demand when it comes to petrol prices.

With the price comparision its getting to the stage that the friend
who owns the shop is considering not even stocking tires anymore. you
cant blame him when you can get two tires from the UK (including
postage) for less then he can sell one here

Maybe bike shops could get together and contact ACCC.

Bleve (if you're still around) etc, any thoughts?

--
TimC
"This thesis brought to you by the letter tau" -- TimC

On 2007-12-30, gplama (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

jcjordan Wrote:
With the price comparision its getting to the stage that the friend who
owns the shop is considering not even stocking tires anymore. you cant
blame him when you can get two tires from the UK (including postage) for
less then he can sell one here

I've wondered the same thing for a while now. Do the distributors for
Shimano, Continental, (etc), make their living from the OEM supply of
components to local whole bike distributors? Could it be that the
single component and tyre market is really that small? In my bike
circles this isn't the case, everyone chews through tyres, chains,
cassettes like kids through lollies!!

I think they're doing it quite deliberately. Goto PBK, and try to buy
a polar HRM. They won't sell it to you, because they have been banned
by the distributer.

--
TimC
[advice on riding in traffic:] make eye contact with drivers at every
possible opportunity. If they make eye contact, they'll feel worse
about running over you. -- Davidm in aus.bicycle

jcjordan Wrote:
My question is why is it so expensive?

In many cases you'll find the Au distributer is paying as much or not
much less than the OS shops. Add their 20 to 30% margin on + another 30
to 50% for the shop and 10% GST, it inflates the prices pretty quickly
without anyone making a lot of money.

Parbs


--
kanangara

"gplama" wrote in message
...

jcjordan Wrote:
With the price comparision its getting to the stage that the friend who
owns the shop is considering not even stocking tires anymore. you cant
blame him when you can get two tires from the UK (including postage) for
less then he can sell one here

I've wondered the same thing for a while now. Do the distributors for
Shimano, Continental, (etc), make their living from the OEM supply of
components to local whole bike distributors? Could it be that the
single component and tyre market is really that small? In my bike
circles this isn't the case, everyone chews through tyres, chains,
cassettes like kids through lollies!!

Anyhow... on a related matter... I looovveee my Dura Ace SPD SL's
(PD-7810)... best pedal I've used by far. I'm even planning on kitting
out my TT bike and trainer bike with them... price comparisons:

PBK: $169
AU Prices: $240, $295, $299, $320..!!

I'd wear an extra $20-30 locally, but those prices just don't compute.
I'm really keen to understand the local industry more... are us racing
types such a small market that we don't count? By the sounds of it
importing is starting to hurt.

Lama


--
gplama

It would be good to find out why the prices are so high here. The $169 you
can import pedals for is less than the Aus wholesale, without GST! It is
surelybiting into the viablity of stocking parts in my bike shop. Sad,
really. Shimano offers a small discount for bulk buys and full groupsets but
even with the discount I'd make a significant loss at $169.

I'd love to be able to stock a much bigger range but even at break-even
prices it is often a waste of time. We have to rely largely on the lower
priced stuff that people won't bother shopping around for. The upshot is
that the retailer is deprived of business, the shoppers are deprived of
browsing for choice and someone out there (distributors, imporers, who??) is
raking it in.

I've noted of late that it's not just my shop (which I've only had for a
year) has dropped the range in stock. It seems to be a common thing around
the traps. The start of the decline of your LBS...

Cheers,

Frank

kanangara Wrote:
In many cases you'll find the Au distributer is paying as much or not
much less than the OS shops. Add their 20 to 30% margin on + another 30
to 50% for the shop and 10% GST, it inflates the prices pretty quickly
without anyone making a lot of money.

Parbs

That's it pretty much. Actually the online wholesalers are contributing
to the problem, how can the LBS feasibly order, hold stock, rent
premises, pay staff and keep prices at a minimum compared to online
distributors would have vastly more purchasing power and less overheads?


Australia has always been a small market by comparison to o/s. Part of
a possible solution would be the manufacturers to stop online
wholesalers undercutting local retailers. The recent ACCC ruling on
Netti will have repercussions in the long term, but probably not for
consumers:

http://tinyurl.com/2yssp9


--
cfsmtb

Plodder Wrote:

I've noted of late that it's not just my shop (which I've only had for
a
year) has dropped the range in stock. It seems to be a common thing
around
the traps. The start of the decline of your LBS...

I try and do the right thing by buying as much as I can from my LBS
mainly because of the advice that I get, something that you don't get
from a online store.

Plus you don't get a usable warranty from a O/S purchase. Take for the
example that I have seen recently. Two friends purchased full
group-sets, one online and one at a local store. The one that bought
online had to send a part back to the UK and wait for a return, 2 weeks
later. The other wanted to swap the cranks after realising that he had
ordered the wrong size. One call to the local distributor and the swap
was made from shop stock and the distributor and LBS figured out the
difference, 15 minutes.

I do agree with the lack of range in most LBS these days as a lot of
products are just not worth stocking when competing against the online
stores, like tires.

I think in the future though you will see Australian distributors
putting pressure on manufacturers to not allow online sales out of zone,
like what has happened on ProBikeKit with Polar and Zipp. Not sure who
the winner is though as the prices in Australia will most likely stay
high.


--
jcjordan