105 and Ultegra

rooman wrote:
jcjordan Wrote:
snip about pbk...

Most of the shops are aware that people order from O/S and are well
aware that they can not compete with the prices due to the on cost put
up by the distributors. That is where the problem lies, I think that
most are way over charging the shops who then have to put on their
markup and the result is products that are to costly to sell.

the distributors sock it hard to the LBS's, a couple of LBS owners were
in Taiwan at the big bike show last year unknown to the Aus Distributors
who were horrified to see these guys ( and gals ) there... the owners
learnt first hand for every component in stock in their shops, one or
two factories make 15 brands and all their wholesalers were at the show
discounting to the foreign distributors to get the business and
competitive "real prices" revealed.

The mark up here is horrendous, the word "superprofits" has been used
on some items.

sad thing is the LBS's are stuck with the suppliers they have if they
can't get to the wholesealers OS and even then, can finance big buy
lots....

In the end they lose and the customers pay stupid RRP amounts that
could be better spent on donating to the Starlight or Make a Wish
Foundation or feed a village in Chad etc.

I try to support my LBS's as much as possible but at times you just
gotta go the internerd.


As I am still researching my options on which bike to buy to replace my
damaged Trek I had it narrowed down to either an Azzuri Uno cf 105 the
Avanti Corsa alloy / cf ultegra or Felt F5c.cf 105 / ultegra. but when I
went down to the LBS's yesterday the Azzuri dealer had shut down which
is a bit of a shame as he had always looked after me with my last bike
(Trek 1400). Has anybody have any opinions on the above mentioned bikes
good, bad or otherwise apart from the Azzuri as it is most likely out of
the equation now.
As far as PBK goes I had a look on their website and have ordered a
set of pedals that I priced yesterday for $150.00 retail and PBK have
them on special for A$82.00 so I have saved a bundle already. I was also
chasing an Ultegra or 105 rear derailer but they haven't got any in
stock but there is no great hurry for that as long as I have a bike to
get around on within about a fortnight or so.

On 2007-05-06, rooman wrote:
The mark up here is horrendous, the word "superprofits" has been used
on some items.

sad thing is the LBS's are stuck with the suppliers they have if they
can't get to the wholesealers OS and even then, can finance big buy
lots....

Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...

--
John
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't
wipe your friends off on the saddle. - Kinky Friedman

John Pitts Wrote:

Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...


'quietly' meaning illegal parallel imports? (not that I'd know the
first thing about commercial importing though).

This _has_ to be hurting Shimano Australia. (not that I'd know the
first this about Shimano Australia).


lama
'arhhhh post op drugs'


--
gplama

On May 8, 7:35 pm, John Pitts wrote:
On 2007-05-06, rooman wrote:

The mark up here is horrendous, the word "superprofits" has been used
on some items.

sad thing is the LBS's are stuck with the suppliers they have if they
can't get to the wholesealers OS and even then, can finance big buy
lots....

Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...

Why does Shimano permit this? If its purely a matter of profits for
the importers then that's not Shimano's gain, and in fact having high
prices must inevitably reduce sales in Australia. They'd be better
off appointing a couple of importers and letting them compete for
price.

Only if Shimano did the importing themselves would it make business
sense for them to push up import margins.

Travis

On May 8, 10:09 pm, gplama gplama.2q9...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
John Pitts Wrote:



Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...

'quietly' meaning illegal parallel imports? (not that I'd know the
first thing about commercial importing though).

Quite the opposite. Competition reforms to federal trade law in recent
years were explicitly aimed at making parallel imports legal. I also
understand that it is illegal to try to circumvent these laws by
formal or informal agreements - known as cartel behaviour or price-
fixing. I have picked up a few hints that there is no shortage of this
sort of activity in the industry, e.g. shops not getting to distribute
certain brands (from the Aust agent) if they discount etc. There is
even a widely known example of a shop that does parallel imports and
sells cheaply, that was allegedly drummed out of advertising in a
major magazine.

Donga

On May 8, 10:19 pm, Travis wrote:
On May 8, 7:35 pm, John Pitts wrote:

On 2007-05-06, rooman wrote:

The mark up here is horrendous, the word "superprofits" has been used
on some items.

sad thing is the LBS's are stuck with the suppliers they have if they
can't get to the wholesealers OS and even then, can finance big buy
lots....

Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...

Why does Shimano permit this? If its purely a matter of profits for
the importers then that's not Shimano's gain, and in fact having high
prices must inevitably reduce sales in Australia. They'd be better
off appointing a couple of importers and letting them compete for
price.

Only if Shimano did the importing themselves would it make business
sense for them to push up import margins.

Travis

Good question - why not write and ask them? You never know, it might
get a useful response!

Donga

In article .com,
Travis wrote:

if Shimano did the importing themselves

I was under the impression they do.

--
Shane Stanley

On Wed, 09 May 2007 09:05:13 +1000, Shane Stanley wrote:

if Shimano did the importing themselves

I was under the impression they do.

My LBS refers to "ordering stuff from Shimano".

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Dropbear wrote:

Thanx a lot guys for the advice your advice is much appreciated for
those like me on a strict budget.
Grrrr....freakin mortgage.

Lucky you've got one!

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

Donga wrote:
On May 8, 10:19 pm, Travis wrote:
On May 8, 7:35 pm, John Pitts wrote:

On 2007-05-06, rooman wrote:
The mark up here is horrendous, the word "superprofits" has been used
on some items.
sad thing is the LBS's are stuck with the suppliers they have if they
can't get to the wholesealers OS and even then, can finance big buy
lots....
Some LBS's are finding that it's quicker and cheaper to quietly order
some items from PBK than from their suppliers...
Why does Shimano permit this? If its purely a matter of profits for
the importers then that's not Shimano's gain, and in fact having high
prices must inevitably reduce sales in Australia. They'd be better
off appointing a couple of importers and letting them compete for
price.

Only if Shimano did the importing themselves would it make business
sense for them to push up import margins.

Travis

Good question - why not write and ask them? You never know, it might
get a useful response!

Donga


I once emailed Shimano Australia and they replied by saying they had to
charge more to cover for advertising and because they have a smaller
turnover than the "states". They added that they give better service
than the mail order companies too.

It didn't sound very convincing.

Friday