'Bicycle prices fixed'

[BrendonMyb]

no offence DR, but can you imagine what that could do to them ?

 

400hubbers & i tell someone & then they tell someone & so on....not too mention the other 399 hubbers

 

eish, i see a calamity on its way if that were to be the case. Sadly we are too comfortable paying the prices instead of boycotting like the overseas people do.

 

so unless we as consumers do something about it ( ie: boycott or whatever the case may be ) then i dont think any of us really have much of a leg to stand on except voice our unimportant opinion on the hub where it doesnt really count for much & its just another lost thread in the vast internet space

[Gatiepie]

Ag shame so all 400 hubbers are gonna stop supporting their LBS !! That is just terrible .

 

Would be awesome if everyone would do that. But some of the members are shop owners themselves so lets hope for 390 hubbers taking their business to honest shops!

[dirtrider]

Bump there have been lots of attempt by certain hubbers to give a certain LBS a bad name and it will continue as long as we continue to pass the brain cell we got around the table . But what you saying is true and we should feel proud that we may possibly be the people that caused the "bicycle trade " to their knees . Whooo-hoooo .

 

I think not .

[AndreZA]

no offence DR, but can you imagine what that could do to them ?

 

400hubbers & i tell someone & then they tell someone & so on....not too mention the other 399 hubbers

 

eish, i see a calamity on its way if that were to be the case. Sadly we are too comfortable paying the prices instead of boycotting like the overseas people do.

 

so unless we as consumers do something about it ( ie: boycott or whatever the case may be ) then i dont think any of us really have much of a leg to stand on except voice our unimportant opinion on the hub where it doesnt really count for much & its just another lost thread in the vast internet space

 

This will never happen. Someone will have carbon chainring bolts and then the run to the nearest store is on before the weekends rides.

[zeepee]

Just before we all go boycotting the shops on the list, just remember that these shops supports people with families that earn their livelyhood from those busineses.

 

Yes the business owners made a mistake, but now they are paying the price.

See if your LBS has learnt their lesson, if they havent, find a new one. Thats your choice

[Gatiepie]

This will never happen. Someone will have carbon chainring bolts and then the run to the nearest store is on before the weekends rides.

 

Not if you have spent nearly R75k in the last 2 years at one of the places that were implicated. Especially after I asked them when the news broke if they were part of it. The owner told me they were not part of it at all. If the investigation is completed and they are found to be guilty, they will not see a single cent of my money again. Then I would rather buy from Cajees as they have cleaner business principles than the abovementioned companies.

[BrendonMyb]

Bump there have been lots of attempt by certain hubbers to give a certain LBS a bad name and it will continue as long as we continue to pass the brain cell we got around the table . But what you saying is true and we should feel proud that we may possibly be the people that caused the "bicycle trade " to their knees . Whooo-hoooo .

 

I think not .

 

could be, you have a point WRT bike shop slanderings but alas what was spoken about around that table simply just is not on. Cudos to yellow saddle for taking the bull by the horns protecting our interests, thats something i really appreciate. With that also said looking at it in a realistic mannor, i rarely supported the LBS due the prices. To me it was simply just ripping the ring out of everything & much rather spent my hard earned tom getting something from CRC & nogal in the color that i prefer so i guess there are those thatll still support LBS regardless - me on the other hand thinks a little differently.

[Gatiepie]

Just before we all go boycotting the shops on the list, just remember that these shops supports people with families that earn their livelyhood from those busineses.

 

Yes the business owners made a mistake, but now they are paying the price.

See if your LBS has learnt their lesson, if they havent, find a new one. Thats your choice

 

So is it OK for us not to declare the VAT on cash sales because we have a families to support? Or is it OK as long as nobody finds out?

[splat]

Everyone is so quick and keen to crucify the LBS - what about the distributors and importers mentioned?

Don't they deserve a bit of everyone's vitriol?

[durbano]

Ultimatley we should be able to buy bikes for very similar prices to the USA except about R2000 for the shipping.

The structure of Manufacturer, Dealer, Retailer is the same in the USA as SA with each making less margin from the Retailer down (they push more volume as a dealer so make less). This price fixing and single importers allows ZERO competition for not only bikes but almost everything and most often the "importer" or "dealer" is also the retailer so they corner the market from top to bottom.

Unfortunatley most foreign manufacturers simply don't know anything about our market and are often very scared to make changes. Dark Africa and all that...

They also don't follow up to find out what prices their products are being sold at because South Africa is a small market. Case in point that you can buy a bike in the USA from an online retailer and ship it here for far less than buying the bike at your LBS. Same for components.

If they outlawed single distribution rights it would solve a lot of problems and create some competition until both distributor got together to fix prices again. They should also outlaw distributor/retailer in the same transaction. This is a HUGE problem in the cycle industry. I know a few bike manufacturers are making big changes to ensure this, so hope that helps. It just amazes me that the general moto for SA is get as much as you can in one transaction (cars to bikes, to whaterver!!!) We have one of the fastest growing markets for mtb in the world and yet our prices are insane? Anyway....I have covered my Rant...kind of...

[Pappa Bear]

....any of those LBS' on the Hub? C'mone give us your side....

[Napalm]

Just before we all go boycotting the shops on the list, just remember that these shops supports people with families that earn their livelyhood from those busineses.

 

Yes the business owners made a mistake, but now they are paying the price.

 

Ag shame... poor business owners. Tell someone who cares

[BrendonMyb]

Everyone is so quick and keen to crucify the LBS - what about the distributors and importers mentioned?

Don't they deserve a bit of everyone's vitriol?

 

Giving my honest opinion, JUST AS GUILTY IF NOT MORE SO..., However the LBS is the quickest one to take the brunt as that is where i the consumer spends my money, sooo naturally theyll be the ones to be outgunned 1st. with everything there is a process, I rant about the LBS, The lBS rants to the supplier & such it goes up the line - which i think is a fair assumption

[zeepee]

So is it OK for us not to declare the VAT on cash sales because we have a families to support? Or is it OK as long as nobody finds out?

 

erm no,

I'm just saying that you should consider your actions before you take them.

Boycotting a shop affects more people than just its owner

[Minion]

In the IT industry we work with margins between 5% and 25% generally so w.t.f

%Markup isn't the same as %margin. At it's most basic, with only a cost price and no overheads etc.:

 

Cost price + markup = selling price

%markup = markup / cost price

 

Selling price - cost price = margin

%margin = margin / selling price

 

So, a simple case, while in the margin and markup amounts are the same, a 50% markup is only a 33% margin.

 

A more detailed calculation would take into account overhead costs etc. and can change things a lot e.g. we usually ran our engineering projects at a 15-20% margin, but our cost price for the calculation included almost all of our actual and estimated costs so that was effectively 15-20% pure profit. At the LBS, the 50% markup mentioned probably doesn't translate directly into margin as the cost price used doesn't account for their overheads and other costs. Their actual margin would probably be a lot lower than 33% off a 50% markup.

[Gatiepie]

erm no,

I'm just saying that you should consider your actions before you take them.

Boycotting a shop affects more people than just its owner

 

I understand what you are saying, but where do we draw the line? Do I have to feel the same way if I do price hunting? What if shop A doesn't make enough money to pay salaries. Should they put in an advert and tell us to buy from them because they need to pay salaries? I feel for the people other than the owners that will feel the effects. But enough is enough.

 

I see Thule advertises on this site. Maybe we should ask admin to remove their adverts (if proven guilty)?