Buying overseas vs supporting local

[Skylark]

People can talk the talk as much as they want about local guys aren't price gouging yada yada but when I can get something delivered to my front door with express shipping all the way from the states or Europe and the price incl delivery and duties is still half of the local price of the identical item then something in the Sa side supply chain is broken, that much is clear.

 

That's just common sense, because how else would I be able to achieve that amazing feat of thriftiness despite my scale of economy vs Sa distributors and retailers being just about zero in comparison?

[BigDL]

The internet is making buying so easy that shops have to find a way to compete that does not depend on price. Maybe SA isn't quite there yet, but will be soon. In the UK, buying online is more and more the norm. As an example, I pay a few pound a month for Amazon Prime membership, which includes 7 day per week free next day delivery to my front door, regardless of the size of purchase. 

 

I am moving house this week and have probably made 10 - 15 individual purchases from Amazon since Saturday, everything from Bike hanging racks to wifi extenders to fire alarms to parcel tape to picture hooks. Each day a van arrives and a man gives me my parcels. The purchase process takes seconds from the app and is painless. I don't even have to stop whatever I was doing when I realised that I needed something. CRC etc are just an extension of this simple, convenient and effortless way to shop. 

 

The LBS's of the world, similar to almost every other retailer, need to find a way to create a consistent revenue stream that doesn't rely on them competing with the online world. That is the road to ruin, unless they have something that you can't buy online. The challenge that they have is when they have to fight for every service related sale on price as well, because the consumer wants to pay the bare minimum for that as well and every tom, dick and Cajees is discounting servicing to try and get rands through the door. 

 

So, we want them to sell us stuff cheaply, which they can't do and keep a bricks and mortar business going. But we also want them to charge us bare minimum for workshop time, rather than charge a fair value for their time. We also want them to be willing to drop everything and do us a favour when we need them to and then we complain if they want to charge us properly for that favour. Obviously this is a generalisation, but not completely unrepresentative of the South African Cycling consumer methinks. 

 

Presumably we need to become comfortable with either buying local and paying a premium, paying proper rates for labour, or learning to do all of the work ourselves after the LBS's shut down. 

[lechatnoir]

Well, after last night's news, buying overseas has just got a little trickier. And soon buying local is going to be a lot more painful...

 

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zumas-night-of-the-long-knives-20170331

[Jurgens Smit]

Well, after last night's news, buying overseas has just got a little trickier. And soon buying local is going to be a lot more painful...

 

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zumas-night-of-the-long-knives-20170331

 

I saw hey, USD - ZAR already went up by around 1 Rand since it was announced.

 

Worrying times

[Reinhardt89]

Go overseas, buy there, dont come back. That's how things are looking now.

[Robbow]

I have been reading this thread with interest as I regularly buy local and online (SA and everywhere else)

 

Some good stories and some bad, but it's not always about price, sometimes its purely about what I want/need.

 

Current example is a cage replacement for a RD, I snapped it off in about Sept last year, no replacement parts in SA. So I bought a new one and put the cage on back order, it will now be here in April. That's almost 8 months to get a part. Clearly something is not working. Luckily I have another and I'm not really in a rush.

 

In other instances it is cost, 2 weeks ago I needed a brake bracket, local supplier had stock, R750. Online store in Germany R160 (landed for about R200). That matters.

 

I appreciate that people are running a business, but sometimes you feel like a large tub of Vaseline is required.

[RM Slayer]

I need a new BOA dial for my road shoes .

Local price R450..... CycleStore.co.uk R112.00 .

Come on guys ... stop ripping us new A... holes !!

I will now buy more than R1000 worth of stuff , just to get my dials at a cheaper price ( and free shipping ) .

 

Hi Popit

 

You don't even have to pay for BOA dials and parts.

 

My cables for the BAO fastening system on my LAKE shoes broke.

 

BOA has a lifetime guarantee on all their systems and replace them free off charge.

 

Just go onto their website https://www.theboasystem.com and select your shoe and fill in some details and they ship them to you MAHALA/FREE/GRATIS from the US.

[daniemare]

That's just common sense, because how else would I be able to achieve that amazing feat of thriftiness despite my scale of economy vs Sa distributors and retailers being just about zero in comparison?

Exactly, I could never buy the scale thing when my scale of 1, using retail shipping rates could undercut the "official" SA channel by that much. I mean even10 units is still more than 1 isn't it?

[daniemare]

At least you can speak to Gatiep. These other big companies, not so sure.

 

What intrigues me in this entire process is who is protecting the wholesalers? Given the current world this seems to be a dying business model. Unless of course you pull a SRAM and refuse to allow imports. Then Gatiep is really going to do well.

Why do the wholesalers need protection? If you stop providing value, then there is no more place for you in the Value Chain. Just like Uber is perceive to threaten traditional metered taxis, does that mean those traditional guys must be protected at any expense? (Look there at the price discrepancy too).

 

SRAM believes that that wholesale function still adds value, and it is within their rights to make that business decision. Time will then tell whether they were right. But, if that inflates their prices at the store front and I have access to alternative supply channels (the internet), I will continue to use what I believe is best value for me (including a calculated risk of unprotected warranty issued).

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Exactly, I could never buy the scale thing when my scale of 1, using retail shipping rates could undercut the "official" SA channel by that much. I mean even10 units is still more than 1 isn't it?

No, because you are not one, you are millions, you are just in various countries all over the world.

 

SA importers only supply the SA market, thats how many, lets say its half a million potential customers and be very optimistic, its a very, very, very, small market,... Chain reaction cycles on the other hand supplies 1 million people in 50 countries, see what I mean.

 

Consequently Chain reaction can go to the manufacturer and buy a 40ft container of tubes at 2 bucks a tube because they have the market to move millions world wide, the SA importer cant, he simply does not have the ability or market to sell them so he buys 500 tubes at a time at heavily inflated prices due to factors I have originally explained, he can never compete because his market is only in SA.

 

I am not supporting paying high prices when you dont need to, I am the first to agree my pocket book comes first and I will also look for the best price but there are often compelling reasons why it is so.

 

I have long ago said the Manufacturer / Brand distributor / Local Wholesaler / Local retailer supply chain is redundant in small volume markets, (in high volume or perishable markets it still works well) but modern technology means people can access product anywhere and so the days of people been forced into brick and mortar shops to buy things are quickly coming to an end.  

[LOOK695]

Have 2 Schwalbe gravel tyres on the way from bike24. 80euro incl shipping. Just made it before zuma did his shuffle????