SA Pricing - flogging a dead horse

[madmarc]

I'm fortunate to travel to EU 4 or 5 times a year. I just returned with some goodies and here is the price diff @ ROE of 16.5

 

Park truing stand TS2.2 - local R 4 900.00 - EU R 3 275.00

Park puller set CBP-8 - Local R 2 050.00 - EU R 1 203.00

Park spoke tension meter - Local R 1 200.00 - EU R 935.00

AVID press fit BB GXP - Local R 800.00 - EU R 400.25

AVID 40P brake adapter - Local R 400.00 - EU R 200.75

 

My previous trip i brought back complete SRAM GX Eagle upgrade kit was about 35% cheaper than local

 

And i still need to get my EU VAT back which is 19%

[Titleist]

It cost me R340 for 4 brake pads for my Pajero, and they last like over 20 000km and they stop a heavy vehicle in mud, rain, rivers etc. So R200 for mtb brake pads is a rip off.

 

A Dunlop or michelin tyre for my CRF250 costs less than a maxis crossmark 29er tyre, and there is a lot more rubber involved.

How much does the rent cost/m2 for a bike workshop vs car workshop and how many brake pads are sold per year for cars vs bicycles?

 

I follow what you say, but salaries for staff are the same for both sectors, but the market for bicycles are much smaller thus pricing will be higher to make up for the smaller market.

[Li Mu Bai]

Here in SA you have "Agents" which 90% of the time have zero stock and when they do have stock the shops eventually get it...

The agents add cost and no value.

 

Im one of the pissed off few that dont like the fact we cant buy Shimano from CRC anymore.

 

I wanna save myself the frustration in asking them if they have any of these XTR crank bolts for me:

 

Need them for my M-970 crankset as I have one cap thats stripped:

 

 

DO I even bother.....

I am with you on this one. Not being able to bring in SRAM items from overseas at a fraction of the cost, and not being able to bring in Garmin goods anymore gets right up my nose.

Until consumers take these companies to the Competition board for un-competitive behavior and get the online import blocks removed, we will be forced to buy locally at the unchallenged inflated prices.

[The Ouzo]

"hey check, I bought these parts online for a fraction of the cost of buying local."

 

6 months later

 

"hey these xx brand parts are 6 months old and they are not working properly, local agents are bloody useless and offer no support, they are not interested in supporting their own brand"

 

~~~~~~

 

"anyone know where I can find xyz part locally, I want to see if it works with my abc before I spend my hard earned cash, cant seeem to find any local agents."

" why cant we have nice things"

[Hairy]

cheaper and less frustrating to just buy a new crankset 

Here in SA you have "Agents" which 90% of the time have zero stock and when they do have stock the shops eventually get it...

The agents add cost and no value.

 

Im one of the pissed off few that dont like the fact we cant buy Shimano from CRC anymore.

 

I wanna save myself the frustration in asking them if they have any of these XTR crank bolts for me:

 

Need them for my M-970 crankset as I have one cap thats stripped:

 

 

DO I even bother.....

[Skylark]

 

 

"hey check, I bought these parts online for a fraction of the cost of buying local."

 

6 months later

 

"hey these xx brand parts are 6 months old and they are not working properly, local agents are bloody useless and offer no support, they are not interested in supporting their own brand"

 

~~~~~~

 

"anyone know where I can find xyz part locally, I want to see if it works with my abc before I spend my hard earned cash, cant seeem to find any local agents."

" why cant we have nice things"

Last I checked the local agents don't discriminate, they are useless whether you bought your parts locally or overseas??

 

Before the demise of the Post Office eBay was awesome for all those hard to find spare parts and funny bits. I avoided the local agents like the plague, always no stock or if they have "stock" they send the wrong spare and then 3rd try lucky 4 weeks later they send the right spare but it's so expensive it's not too much cheaper than replacing the whole part it's supposed to be fixing.

[ChUkKy]

cheaper and less frustrating to just buy a new crankset 

 

Ive tried to support some bike shops in the past when Im getting bigger stuff done there like suspension services and the likes...

When you ask for the little odds and ends and they cant get stock from the agents, thats what really pisses me off.

 

I understand the point of having an agency in a territory, its so that 1 entity deals with the manufacturer and said entity distributes nationally, but when you cant get stuff... whats the bloody point?

 

CRC used to be great to see the little odds and ends that would be of great use and then add the stuff to an order, try walk into a bike shop and see those little odds and ends on a shelf or try get a website locally that shows all the little odds and ends that they have got.

 

Im all for supporting local but I will not support local just for the sake of it if the price isnt right.

[Edge_Design]

Ehrm.

Our market is tiny. A drop in the ocean.

A single store in the usa can turn over more than the entire SA.

SRAM couldnt give a damn about our market, they dont need to be competitive here.

Why do you think that several brands have negotiated blocks to overseas online companies shipping goods here. As uncompetitive as it may be, its the only way the local distributers  are able to survive.

 

I'd love to know what statistics you base this on... I think you might just be surprised - South African's quite enjoy their premium branded stuff which is way beyond both what we need and what we can afford. Do you even believe your last sentence about the poor local distributors who can barely survive?

[Eddy Gordo]

We have almost always been paying alot more for stuff. It doesn't  matter what part of the market. I basically see it as the local agent buying it at wholesale price. They then marks up the stock using overseas retail price. Note this is my perception based on stuff bought from overseas store at normal price vs local.

[Headshot]

I'd love to know what statistics you base this on... I think you might just be surprised - South African's quite enjoy their premium branded stuff which is way beyond both what we need and what we can afford. Do you even believe your last sentence about the poor local distributors who can barely survive?

I am always amazed at the number of bike shops and the premium brands they stock. That and the number of bikes lined up for servicing or in the workshop. 

 

Just checked Shimano brake pads - the finned ones are over R400 but the std pads are 200 - 250 which is still far cheaper than SRAM. 

[Pieter1]

I saved close to 14k buying my mtb parts in the UAE and that is with their new tax. Ordered some more stuff from them, they import from the UK and it is the same as the sale price in most of SA’s online shops.

[porqui]

They charge what they do because they can.

[Patchelicious]

They charge what they do because they can.

They charge what they do because people are willing to pay it.

[BaGearA]

Ive tried to support some bike shops in the past when Im getting bigger stuff done there like suspension services and the likes...

When you ask for the little odds and ends and they cant get stock from the agents, thats what really pisses me off.

 

I understand the point of having an agency in a territory, its so that 1 entity deals with the manufacturer and said entity distributes nationally, but when you cant get stuff... whats the bloody point?

 

CRC used to be great to see the little odds and ends that would be of great use and then add the stuff to an order, try walk into a bike shop and see those little odds and ends on a shelf or try get a website locally that shows all the little odds and ends that they have got.

 

Im all for supporting local but I will not support local just for the sake of it if the price isnt right.

Pm cogent industries next time you need a tiny suspension part, good chances they'll have it

[Eugene]

Ehrm.

Our market is tiny. A drop in the ocean.

A single store in the usa can turn over more than the entire SA.

SRAM couldnt give a damn about our market, they dont need to be competitive here.

Why do you think that several brands have negotiated blocks to overseas online companies shipping goods here. As uncompetitive as it may be, its the only way the local distributers are able to survive.

In terms of overall cycle sales, our market is tiny, but when it comes to high end stuff, our market is massive. Companies like Specialized and Scott have invested here for a reason.

[Sbloomer]

In my hunt for a budget build I'm beginning to realise that getting stuff though eBay is actually cheaper than buying second hand here.  Yes its a wait, and possibly a risk, but yeah.. if used is so expensive, new is extortionate.