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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 |
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#2
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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. |
#3
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#4
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#5
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#6
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#7
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#8
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
"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 |
#9
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
#10
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Cost of Bike Gear in Australia
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 |
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