An Open Letter To Chain Reaction Cycles

Dozer

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
mik_git said:
don't forget wiggle is opening a store here soon, if crc does too, and they open a few then lbs may well be going down.
Click to expand...
They wouldn't be able to operate without abiding by Australian consumer laws etc (tax as an example) and would have to have their prices similar to bike shops. They'd then start whinging because people bypass their Australian store and buy from their Euro warehouse.




Thats a classic, I hope that happens. That'll prove so many points.
 
markb84

markb84

Likes Dirt
Dozer said:
They wouldn't be able to operate without abiding by Australian consumer laws etc (tax as an example) and would have to have their prices similar to bike shops. They'd then start whinging because people bypass their Australian store and buy from their Euro warehouse.




Thats a classic, I hope that happens. That'll prove so many points.
Click to expand...
There's for and against for that arguement:

- They will indeed have to abide by Australian rules and the tax free side of things will disappear completely (which is one of the current appeals). Some vendors may not respect the new place of business and refuse to give them the same buying power as they have in the UK.

- If they package their Australian purchases as global volume purchases with the vendors they will likely be able to either continue to get deeper discounts than other vendors or maybe even be able to negotiate even better discount structures based on them providing a better platform for vendors to increase the global reach of their produts (every vendor is after one thing, numbers and profit).

I, for one, believe that if they do it properly they could be extremely successful in comign to the Australian market, it'll be nice to have a lwoer postage fee for those little orders too!!
 
pharmaboy

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
markb84 said:
I, for one, believe that if they do it properly they could be extremely successful in comign to the Australian market, it'll be nice to have a lwoer postage fee for those little orders too!!
Click to expand...
I reckon thats exactly the reason it wont happen - its cheaper to ship a wheel from the UK to aus than it is from melbourne to brisbane. Australia post is almost guaranteeing that online shops cant compete with bulky items - thats the reason most of us get stuff from the UK as well as opposed to the US, where postage isnt quite as expensive as australia, but its up there for internationals.
 
mik_git

mik_git

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Sorry, should have said "possibley opening a store here". There was a big uproar when they stopped shipping asics here, everyone assumed it was because asics oz complained, but wiggle said it was all to do with asics eu not australia (which maybe means oz compalined to eu and they told wiggle to stop shipping) and they were actually trying to work out the details of a local asics deal.
so that could mean wiggle stores here, could mean the shops that are contreacted to fit and sercive parts from wiggle will be able to sell stuff with wiggle buying power, or they'll be allowed to ship stuff again... or nothing.
 
V

vtwiz

Likes Dirt
What ever happened to free traid?

Edit: Traid? Really Apple....... And they call this thing a smart phone.

Trade damn it, TRADE!
 
Last edited:
V

vtwiz

Likes Dirt
Ok Ok, I'm triying my beast hear!

Ya c#%nts! Their, I no who too spell that won!
 
Last edited:
P

Propagate

Likes Dirt
Don't know how the business side of it works, but its already happening in other areas.

We're from the UK, my Mrs. orders clothes from a big UK retailer called Next. The quality is generally better than she can get here, and like Wiggle & CRC they are way cheaper, even when adding in the additional costs of having ordered and sent to my folks in the UK and they post them out here.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that Next are now operating out of Australia, with goods warehoused in Australia and posted free anywhere in Australia....for the same price as the equivalent item from the UK store.

Not saying its not a loss leader to get a foot in here, but if Next can do it then can't see why Wiggle & CRC can't or don't.
 
S

speedyjonzalas

Likes Dirt
Propagate said:
Don't know how the business side of it works, but its already happening in other areas.

We're from the UK, my Mrs. orders clothes from a big UK retailer called Next. The quality is generally better than she can get here, and like Wiggle & CRC they are way cheaper, even when adding in the additional costs of having ordered and sent to my folks in the UK and they post them out here.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that Next are now operating out of Australia, with goods warehoused in Australia and posted free anywhere in Australia....for the same price as the equivalent item from the UK store.

Not saying its not a loss leader to get a foot in here, but if Next can do it then can't see why Wiggle & CRC can't or don't.
Click to expand...
This exact thing is happening with a clothing company called ASOS. They are huge now and operating in Aus.

I reckon if CRC or wiggle managed to get a place over here it would just increase trade. All other shops would have to figure out how to compete and it would hopefully knock some of the distributors/wholesalers out the loop. If all the shops got together they could fight against the high costs they pay for goods and compete against the Aus CRC/Wiggle.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Theres nothing more LBS's want that to be able to compete with CRC/Wiggle/Jenson ect but to sell at those prices on many items would be selling below cost.

Theres a few companies like CRC and Wiggle who do deduct the VAT (same as GST) when sending to Australia but most of the other companies in the UK (VAT 15%) and US (sales tax around 10%) still charge international shipments the full price + shipping price to oz and its still cheaper.
 
V

vtwiz

Likes Dirt
fat'n'unfit said:
Theres a few companies like CRC and Wiggle who do deduct the VAT (same as GST) when sending to Australia but most of the other companies in the UK (VAT 15%) and US (sales tax around 10%) still charge international shipments the full price + shipping price to oz and its still cheaper.
Click to expand...
I don't think there are many Online Retailers from overseas that don't deduct the VAT from Aussie orders. Also, VAT changed from 15% to 20% a few years back so the saving is significant. I wouldn't buy from an online seller that didn't deduct the tax. You are entitled to purchase Tax free.

I agree, it's the bike shops that suffer. They are not even given the chance to be competitive when the prices they are paying for goods from the distributors is more than you can by it direct from Wiggle. Bike shops should get together, and lobby the distributors to bring down their prices or form their own buying group and bypass the Aussie distributor all together if at all possible.
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Yep it is not the 10% GST that Gerry was whinging about but the overall pricing that is the problem. Importers, distributors who knows but the LBS are the rapees.
 
dunndog

dunndog

Eats Squid
Agreed that lbs' probably can't compete on price for many items, but given the comments on here and my own experiences many of them sure as hell could lift their game on the customer service level.
 
S

sedifus

Likes Dirt
Dales Cannon said:
Yep it is not the 10% GST that Gerry was whinging about but the overall pricing that is the problem. Importers, distributors who knows but the LBS are the rapees.
Click to expand...
Exactly this.

My mate wanted a chain for his bike. Au wholesale was $27+ tax and shipping and CRC was $18. Told him to just go to CRC. Clothes are cheaper there as there's always something on sale and so with this his order had free shipping. This made CRC pricing over 50% cheaper than wholesale.

Most stuff is competitively priced at your lbs when you ask but some stuff there's just no competition.
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Service is a whole different matter. CRC etc cannot do that for you on line so I don't bring it into the equation. LBS should provide service but my experience is that I do a better job so that is what I do 99.999999999% of the time.
 
Josh Seksy

Josh Seksy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
sedifus said:
Exactly this.

My mate wanted a chain for his bike. Au wholesale was $27+ tax and shipping and CRC was $18. Told him to just go to CRC. Clothes are cheaper there as there's always something on sale and so with this his order had free shipping. This made CRC pricing over 50% cheaper than wholesale.

Most stuff is competitively priced at your lbs when you ask but some stuff there's just no competition.
Click to expand...
This guy's on the money.
 
V

vtwiz

Likes Dirt
Dales Cannon said:
Service is a whole different matter. CRC etc cannot do that for you on line so I don't bring it into the equation. LBS should provide service but my experience is that I do a better job so that is what I do 99.999999999% of the time.
Click to expand...
I think the reference was to general service not bike service. In my experience I have received better service from the onliners than bike shop. Again, this is partly due to the local distributors. Ive worked in bike shops in Audtralia and in my exoerience most local distributors will try to wrangle out of providing warranty replacements. Then if you do get a warranty out of them it takes weeks, if not months for them to get a replacement part in. On the other hand, buying online and sending a part back to the UK and them sending you a new one is usually much faster and less hassle.

Again, for me, it comes down to the distributors.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top