Chris Willemse on imports

[javadude]

 

Just some more food for thought:  The "online price" for a Bell Sweep XC is R1350 on the site' date=' we sell the same Helmet for R1400 and we buy direct from the SA distributor.  I think that a R50.00 difference isn't that much  - it just goes to show you that your LBS should be asked for a quote before one buys online.[/quote']

 

Yip, just yesterday i went looking for a helmet. I went to five different shops and surprisingly the cheapest price I could find for a Bell Ghisallo was at Cyclelab (R300 cheaper than the in store price at CWC). Still didn't take it because they didn't have it in red.

 

[quinton]

 

Just some more food for thought:  The "online price" for a Bell Sweep XC is R1350 on the site' date=' we sell the same Helmet for R1400 and we buy direct from the SA distributor.  I think that a R50.00 difference isn't that much  - it just goes to show you that your LBS should be asked for a quote before one buys online.[/quote']

 

I shopped around for a Bell Sweep R and it was around R1100 at CWC and R1400 at any LBS and then got it delivered to my hotel in the US for R700.

 

 

 

[quinton]

After all the pricing arguments here, I still think 101% and the rest of the Bulk Pack meat team offer the best clearance prices  

 

Lets hope they having one again soon

 

 

 

[AndreZA]

I shopped around for a Bell Sweep R and it was around R1100 at CWC and R1400 at any LBS and then got it delivered to my hotel in the US for R700.

 

you've got a hotel in the US and you still shop around for bargain? Cheap scate.

 

 

[quinton]

 

 

 

 you've got a hotel in the US and you still shop around for bargain? Cheap scate.

 

 

LOL - Ok ok Hotel room while traveling there for work

[louisa]

I am new to the hub and have been reading all of the furor over pricing. I have only been cycling for 1 year now, so am very new to the sport. I just wanted to relate what happened to me when I decided to treat myself to a new bike in December. First, I did all of my research for the bike and and accessories that I wanted to buy. I visited 5 shops in Cape Town and the CWC site. I wrote down all of the prices I was given and started to compare.

 

 

 

In the first instance, 3 of the shops tried to sell me a large bike (I am a medium 100%). When I asked about mediums on the particular model I had chosen, I was told that there were none in stock, but a large would not make any difference! On pricing, the shop where I bought saved me a minimum of R2600 and a maximum of R3900, when compared to what I would pay online and the other shops. The shop where I went is not in a shopping complex, doesn't have fancy fittings and all of the rest. It is more a type of warehouse for want of a better term. The service was great (being a dumb blonde, I even lost the key to my bicycle lock when I took the bike home. They sent a mechanic to my house on that Saturday night, cut the lock and didn't charge for the service or a new lock).

 

 

 

The point of all this is that, some things may be a little cheaper at the CWC online store, but if you find the right local bike shop, the prices are very similar and in some cases even cheaper. When you add the service component on, then in my mind a good local bike shop wins hands down. By the way, I just looked at the CWC site for the Sweep R and it is not R1100, but R1300 maybe he has raised HIS prices?

[TheLegend]

I'm flying to JNB from Europe next week. I take orders for bike parts now for those interested! 

[racman]

Not all of CWC stock is imported. As far as I know his Easton wheels, Bell helmets etc is sourced from the SA distributors. Where you mainly score is on groupsets, saddles and pedals. Having said that, my groupo was still cheaper to buy online. The bottom line is shop around  

[gummibear]

I started cycling in 1988 and i have used the same LBS since and its had a few owners but i still get between 15-20% off ,even on tubes.what i am saying is build up a good relationship with your lbs.yes some items are cheaper online but when you add all the little costs is it so much cheaper.

 

I do whowever buy my photographic eguipment online as i can save up to 40% and i havent found a good photographic shop in PE

[Chris Willemse]

Brendon Els.

 

 Thank you very much for your message on my mobile last night and your call this morning after our fighting insident and I really appreciate your call.

 

Thank you for pointing out a few things regarding the competition board , which I will investigate , as well as been big enough to admit that there was a small mistake from your side regarding my account and that my account was not late at all.

 

I am glad to say that we have set our differences aside and that we will now most probaly have to wait for another 3 years to have a difference again.

 

To all my clients.  I will keep on doing my best to give you all the best possible price and service on CWCycles online

 

Thank you also for opening my account again for the next 3 years.

 

 

Hubbers , thanks for all the calls, sms s and private messages that you send me. I will not let you down at all.

 

 

[madmarc]

After reading all of this I have my 2c worth!

CWC knows how to work the "bleeding heart" system and "no publicity is bad publicity". Personally' date=' I think that his original posting is in bad taste. Unless he was making specific statements about specific issues then he is using this forum to pursue his own agenda and the distributors have the right to respond.

I think that he is going to have a problem convincing the competition board that the "distributors" are being anti-competitive. His own actions of bypassing them (when it suits him) prove the point. As Brandon Els states everyone has the right to do business with whom they wish. They are excersizing the same right that he is excersizing. All you guys taking Els to task for his posting about the 60-90 days you seem to have missed the point that CWC started the fight.

As for the Cartel thing (had CWC named them he would have my vote as the shining knight) if it exists then it should be pursued but it sounds to me a little bit like "he wants his cake and eat it too". "I'll bypass you when it suits me but when I want to buy from you you must sell to me and I want it on terms like everyone else". Get real!

I think that we need a thread on this forum that publishes the pricing from all the major LBS as well as the online shops compared with a few of the overseas online shops. That will soon expose where all the "loot" is being hidden.

I shop around for the best service and usually price is secondary except where it is over the top.
[/quote']

 

you are missing the point. And i think i mave have started to cartell thingy here in another post in this forum regarding "Mavic rim importers" where i stated that during a discussion i had with an LBS he admitted that here were approx. 36 LBS & agents who were going to cut CWC wings and further admitted to forming a cartel to protect their business.

CWC started this post by informing there customers that they were aware of certain people in the industry and what they were doing, and how CWC proposed to respond to that ie. litigatation and application to the competition commission. (in my view & by the response in most peoples view in this posting a fair comment without slandering or threatening specific company's or individuals)

 

Brandon Els then attacks CWC by publicly broadcasting highly confidential information regarding their business dealings. Which CWC later in their defence (based on face value) is proved to be inaccurate.

 

Then instead of doing the right thing & apologising, Brandon Els comes back and threatens to publish 5 years of payment history to try further slander CWC name. (this could be the start of a good defamation lawsuit here)

 

So now i have a theory (& it's just a theory) For a MD to stoop so low in the businees enviroment with a customer which he has had business dealings with for over 5 years could it be that he and his organisation are part of the group of 36 mentioned above, or maybe even the leader of this group. mmmmmm but!!!! it's just a theory, so let me labour on here.

 

1st a lesson to Mr. Els in being a captain of industry - "Never publically slander or defame you customers. Irrespective of how bad a customer they are, you chose to do business with them when you granted credit facilities in the first place. corrective action you choose to take must always be kept in the strictest confidence.

 

2nd Lesson to Mr. Els. (to be considered)  should you hyperthetically ever choose to, or be nominated by a group of businesses in your industry to enter into a protectionist group that will influence prices with other companies within the same industry or affect the way and who they do business with, to the gain of this group, it is illegal, it is known as a cartell and it's members will be answerable to the competitions commission and subjected to heavy fines and possible jail, if serious enough.

 

mmm theories & lessons - use it; don't use it; use it; don't use it

 

 

 

[Carbon Freak]

Just some more food for thought:  The "online price" for a Bell Sweep XC is R1350 on the site' date=' we sell the same Helmet for R1400 and we buy direct from the SA distributor.  I think that a R50.00 difference isn't that much  - it just goes to show you that your LBS should be asked for a quote before one buys online.[/quote']

Yip, just yesterday i went looking for a helmet. I went to five different shops and surprisingly the cheapest price I could find for a Bell Ghisallo was at Cyclelab (R300 cheaper than the in store price at CWC). Still didn't take it because they didn't have it in red.

 

Goes to show you value your time....... you drove to five yes five different shops to find it was cheaper... work out the logic you spent +half a day, wasted your money on petrol and car expenses to save 50rand.... you plonker, still cheaper in the LBS, and you didnt buy. What does it say about you? Absolutly right why a local bike shop should charge more, they employ staff, hold stock and waste their time serving your stupid ass

 

You dont value your time....

[Brandon Els]

Brendon Els.

 Thank you very much for your message on my mobile last night and your call this morning after our fighting insident and I really appreciate your call.

Thank you for pointing out a few things regarding the competition board ' date=' which I will investigate , as well as been big enough to admit that there was a small mistake from your side regarding my account and that my account was not late at all.

I am glad to say that we have set our differences aside and that we will now most probaly have to wait for another 3 years to have a difference again.

To all my clients.  I will keep on doing my best to give you all the best possible price and service on CWCycles online

Thank you also for opening my account again for the next 3 years.


Hubbers , thanks for all the calls, sms s and private messages that you send me. I will not let you down at all.

  [/quote']

 

Thanks Chris. If there was a cartel you know that you would be included of course! Richard will drop off the whiskey - that bottle has saved us all legal feels  The old way of arguing in my office seems the better way to go. Thanks for your post!

[racman]

My final comment (before I go for a ride. Or I  comment again later ).

 

I have found that, in my experience, it is definately substantially cheaper to buy a groupset online and some wheelsets. My LBS (I use two) knows that I will do this and tried their best to match the online price for the wheelset I bought. Even though they were a few hundred rand more expensve after they tried to match the online price, I still purchased it from them.

 

But when the RRP for a Campag Centaur (2007)was R10k, CWC was R5.5k, and I paid R4.6k from Totalcycling.com. In addition I wantd to substitute the cranks with Chorus Carbon which would have cost me an extra R2.5k from CWC but Totalcycling added only R1k for this. 

 

So, besides groupset and some wheels I will still support my LBS.

[Chrispy]

And the winner is???????????????????

 

Chris Snr and Jnr I hope to support you for many years to come.

 

Keep it up! 

[Jamm]

I also wanna get into a fight so that I can increase my number of posts and get a bottle of Whiskey out of it. Glenmorangie please!!!

 

Have supported Probike and Chris in the past as well as Willie, Olympic, Cycle Factory, Cycles Direct. No online purchases yet. For services and small items I'll go LBS but for my next bike build It will propbabaly be a CWC/Chainreaction combo.

 

And there was once again peace in the land and everyone lived happily ever after.......