Pricepoint is gone :-(

Folks,

Today I wanted to look for a wrench and I could not believe it, they are
closed for good:

http://www.pricepoint.com/we-are-closed/

Very sad. They always had good deals on Thai tires and such, but most of
all it is sad for the people who worked there which I always though were
great.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 8/15/2016 1:22 PM, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Today I wanted to look for a wrench and I could not believe it, they are
closed for good:

http://www.pricepoint.com/we-are-closed/

Very sad. They always had good deals on Thai tires and such, but most of
all it is sad for the people who worked there which I always though were
great.

Too bad.

Fortunately my friend can now get me very name brand tubes and tires for
60% off the company's posted MSRP! I received an order which should last
me for many years. Tubes and tires have extremely high margins, and
Pricepoint's business model seemed to be based on that fact. I wonder
what went wrong.

CRUSHED BY UNIVERSAL CYCLES

On 2016-08-15 15:08, sms wrote:
On 8/15/2016 1:22 PM, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Today I wanted to look for a wrench and I could not believe it, they are
closed for good:

http://www.pricepoint.com/we-are-closed/

Very sad. They always had good deals on Thai tires and such, but most of
all it is sad for the people who worked there which I always though were
great.

Too bad.

Fortunately my friend can now get me very name brand tubes and tires for
60% off the company's posted MSRP! I received an order which should last
me for many years. Tubes and tires have extremely high margins, and
Pricepoint's business model seemed to be based on that fact. I wonder
what went wrong.


No idea, there was nothing I could see on the web other than that their
inventory seemed to have started trickling down fast.

Competition online is very fierce. Example: I started brewing again so I
needed a hydrometer. $7-8 at the brew supply places online ... hmm ...
casually looked elsewhere, just for kicks. Lo and behold Newegg of all
places had one for $2.19 including shipping from China(!). They also
have mountain bike tires and all sorts of other stuff. This is mainly a
computer gear supplier yet they ferociously eat into other companies'
turf. I've bought cycling stuff there as well.

AFAIK shipping is a real killer for US businesses. Our oh-so-smart
decision makers have largely done away with surface mail. That means our
businesses will internationally barely stand a chance. China's decision
makers were not this stupid so people almost anywhere in the world can
order stuff from there at very low shipping costs. Same for other Asian
countries such as the Philippines.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 2016-08-15 15:17, DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH wrote:
CRUSHED BY UNIVERSAL CYCLES


Their web site is a mess. You can't even sort 700c tires by width and
have to click on just about every one of them to find out.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 8/15/2016 3:36 PM, Joerg wrote:

snip

AFAIK shipping is a real killer for US businesses. Our oh-so-smart
decision makers have largely done away with surface mail. That means our
businesses will internationally barely stand a chance. China's decision
makers were not this stupid so people almost anywhere in the world can
order stuff from there at very low shipping costs. Same for other Asian
countries such as the Philippines.

China takes full advantage of the reciprocity agreements for
international mail. A package mailed from China to the U.S. generates
zero revenue for the U.S.P.S. while a package mailed from the U.S. to
China generates zero revenue for the China Post. When these agreements
were made, they were not thinking about USB cables or bicycle parts
being shipped to individual consumers in the U.S., it was assumed that
the mail volumes would not be unequal enough for each country's postal
service to bother with with trying to divide revenue.

sms wrote:

China takes full advantage of the reciprocity
agreements for international mail. A package
mailed from China to the U.S. generates zero
revenue for the U.S.P.S. while a package
mailed from the U.S. to China generates zero
revenue for the China Post. When these
agreements were made, they were not thinking
about USB cables or bicycle parts being
shipped to individual consumers in the U.S.,
it was assumed that the mail volumes would
not be unequal enough for each country's
postal service to bother with with trying to
divide revenue.

Wow, interesting!

--
underground experts united .... http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573
Emacs Gnus Blogomatic ......... http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/blogomatic
- so far: 66 Blogomatic articles -

On 2016-08-15 15:48, sms wrote:
On 8/15/2016 3:36 PM, Joerg wrote:

snip

AFAIK shipping is a real killer for US businesses. Our oh-so-smart
decision makers have largely done away with surface mail. That means our
businesses will internationally barely stand a chance. China's decision
makers were not this stupid so people almost anywhere in the world can
order stuff from there at very low shipping costs. Same for other Asian
countries such as the Philippines.

China takes full advantage of the reciprocity agreements for
international mail. A package mailed from China to the U.S. generates
zero revenue for the U.S.P.S. while a package mailed from the U.S. to
China generates zero revenue for the China Post. When these agreements
were made, they were not thinking about USB cables or bicycle parts
being shipped to individual consumers in the U.S., it was assumed that
the mail volumes would not be unequal enough for each country's postal
service to bother with with trying to divide revenue.


Well, it's time for the decision makers to wake up. Why are we paying
their salaries, fat pensions and all that if they let us as a country down?

We have to make sure that our infrastructure costs are not penalizing
our own businesses and right now WRT shipping they sure are.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 15:36:24 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2016-08-15 15:08, sms wrote:
On 8/15/2016 1:22 PM, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Today I wanted to look for a wrench and I could not believe it, they are
closed for good:

http://www.pricepoint.com/we-are-closed/

Very sad. They always had good deals on Thai tires and such, but most of
all it is sad for the people who worked there which I always though were
great.

Too bad.

Fortunately my friend can now get me very name brand tubes and tires for
60% off the company's posted MSRP! I received an order which should last
me for many years. Tubes and tires have extremely high margins, and
Pricepoint's business model seemed to be based on that fact. I wonder
what went wrong.


No idea, there was nothing I could see on the web other than that their
inventory seemed to have started trickling down fast.

Competition online is very fierce. Example: I started brewing again so I
needed a hydrometer. $7-8 at the brew supply places online ... hmm ...
casually looked elsewhere, just for kicks. Lo and behold Newegg of all
places had one for $2.19 including shipping from China(!). They also
have mountain bike tires and all sorts of other stuff. This is mainly a
computer gear supplier yet they ferociously eat into other companies'
turf. I've bought cycling stuff there as well.

AFAIK shipping is a real killer for US businesses. Our oh-so-smart
decision makers have largely done away with surface mail. That means our
businesses will internationally barely stand a chance. China's decision
makers were not this stupid so people almost anywhere in the world can
order stuff from there at very low shipping costs. Same for other Asian
countries such as the Philippines.

Actually "shipping" from China can be cheap. Rates change on a daily,
maybe hourly, basis but a rough estimate is in the $4.00/cu ft range
at the moment.
--
cheers,

John B.

On Mon, 15 Aug 2016 15:48:23 -0700, sms
wrote:

On 8/15/2016 3:36 PM, Joerg wrote:

snip

AFAIK shipping is a real killer for US businesses. Our oh-so-smart
decision makers have largely done away with surface mail. That means our
businesses will internationally barely stand a chance. China's decision
makers were not this stupid so people almost anywhere in the world can
order stuff from there at very low shipping costs. Same for other Asian
countries such as the Philippines.

China takes full advantage of the reciprocity agreements for
international mail. A package mailed from China to the U.S. generates
zero revenue for the U.S.P.S. while a package mailed from the U.S. to
China generates zero revenue for the China Post. When these agreements
were made, they were not thinking about USB cables or bicycle parts
being shipped to individual consumers in the U.S., it was assumed that
the mail volumes would not be unequal enough for each country's postal
service to bother with with trying to divide revenue.

Actually you are talking about the Universal Postal Union, which is a
specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates postal
policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal
system.

It might be of interest to know that the U.S. called for an
International Postal Congress in 1863.

What are you suggesting?That the U.S. withdraw from the international
mail treaties that they have signed.
--
cheers,

John B.