Cost of Bike Gear in Australia

On 2007-12-31, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
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.

Does anyone have idea whether what Polar have done is legal?

I don't recall what the latest status of parallel importatation is.
Then of course, if it were against the TPA, the deed would have been
done overseas, and so can't necessarily be punished under an
Australian Trade Practices Act.

--
TimC
"It took people a long time to figure out which machine was [mooing],
and even longer to figure out how. But for some reason it didn't take
them any time at all to figure that I'd done it." -- Paul Tomblin on ASR

TimC Wrote:
On 2007-12-31, jcjordan (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
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.

Does anyone have idea whether what Polar have done is legal?

I don't recall what the latest status of parallel importatation is.
Then of course, if it were against the TPA, the deed would have been
done overseas, and so can't necessarily be punished under an
Australian Trade Practices Act.


What they have done is very similar to the selling of a franchise zone.
The other franchises agree not to step on each others toes.


--
jcjordan

On Dec 31, 9:40*am, cfsmtb cfsmtb.32f...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
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

Mmm, interesting. I met a guy on a ride who owned a LBS that stocked
Learsport/Azzuri and he told me Learsport do not allow selling at less
then RRP or they take distribution rights away ?! Anyone else heard
this ?

It's not just bike parts. My Koss headphones needed a new pair of foam
earpads. I bought three pairs of the pads from an Internet site, and the
cost, plus postage, was less than the price a local audio store wanted for a
single pair...

"jcjordan" wrote in message
...

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?

rmr wrote:

Mmm, interesting. I met a guy on a ride who owned a LBS that
stocked Learsport/Azzuri and he told me Learsport do not allow
selling at less then RRP or they take distribution rights away
?! Anyone else heard this ?

Such behaviour (retail price maintenance) has been illegal since
the days of Gough Whitlam.

John

So does anyone know how Apple gets away with it for Ipods? There are the
same price everywhere - no discounting.



"John Henderson" wrote in message
...
rmr wrote:

Mmm, interesting. I met a guy on a ride who owned a LBS that
stocked Learsport/Azzuri and he told me Learsport do not allow
selling at less then RRP or they take distribution rights away
?! Anyone else heard this ?

Such behaviour (retail price maintenance) has been illegal since
the days of Gough Whitlam.

John

Rex Wrote:
So does anyone know how Apple gets away with it for Ipods? There are the
same price everywhere - no discounting.


Different issue - www.streetwise.com.au always have a few $ off RRP on
Apple goods.

(now throw me a bone for the free plug streetwise!!!)


Lama


--
gplama

Rex wrote:

So does anyone know how Apple gets away with it for Ipods?
There are the same price everywhere - no discounting.

Resellers are all allowed to ask whatever price they like. RRP
is just that - a recommended retail price. There're obvious
advantages to retailers if they all stick to RRP (voluntarily,
of course) and nobody breaks ranks with a lower price.

John

"John Henderson" wrote in message
...
Rex wrote:

So does anyone know how Apple gets away with it for Ipods?
There are the same price everywhere - no discounting.

Resellers are all allowed to ask whatever price they like. RRP
is just that - a recommended retail price. There're obvious
advantages to retailers if they all stick to RRP (voluntarily,
of course) and nobody breaks ranks with a lower price.

John

There seems to be an unofficial code regarding prices. Although I can charge
what I please in my shop, when I recently advertised a bike at a substantial
discount I had a call from the distributor asking me to withdraw the
advertised price. The reasoning was that it put other retailers under
pressure to offer the same price. I thought that was what was meant by
'marketplace competition'!

I didn't take it further and I did withdraw the ad. My first year in the
game and I didn't want to make waves. Leaves a bit of a bad taste in my
mouth, though. It has made me look to stock alternative brands, though...

Cheers,

Frank

"Plodder" wrote in message ...

"John Henderson" wrote in message
...
Rex wrote:

So does anyone know how Apple gets away with it for Ipods?
There are the same price everywhere - no discounting.

Resellers are all allowed to ask whatever price they like. RRP
is just that - a recommended retail price. There're obvious
advantages to retailers if they all stick to RRP (voluntarily,
of course) and nobody breaks ranks with a lower price.

John

There seems to be an unofficial code regarding prices. Although I can charge
what I please in my shop, when I recently advertised a bike at a substantial
discount I had a call from the distributor asking me to withdraw the
advertised price. The reasoning was that it put other retailers under
pressure to offer the same price. I thought that was what was meant by
'marketplace competition'!

I didn't take it further and I did withdraw the ad. My first year in the
game and I didn't want to make waves. Leaves a bit of a bad taste in my
mouth, though. It has made me look to stock alternative brands, though...

Retail price maintenance is against the law. Have a look at:

http://www.ami.org.au/amimu/0703Marc...ale-price.html

I'm expecting Apple to get whacked before too long. Shimano may be on
the ACCC's list, but I don't think they'd be near the front.

Tom.

Cheers,

Frank