Wiggle pricing?

BrianTrousers

Please don't buy these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/clearance/14/Shimano_PD-M520_Pedals/5360008792/

They're not 30% off, you can get them from Merlin for £19.99. I actually bought these from Wiggle in August for £19.49!!

It's a typical piece of retail obfuscation, hike the price up and then knock a purportedly huge % off the price in a "Sale".

Don't get me wrong, I like Wiggle and buy loads of stuff from them. I just find this kind of thing distasteful and am disappointed that Wiggle are stooping this low. :evil:

Rant over, back to the day job....

alfablue

You can indeed by them from Merlin at that price, but the SRP according tp Maddison is £34.99 - Wiggle may have made an error, or maybe they are knowingly misleading (as you seem to suggest). It doesn't really offend me too much, I can find out what the best internet price is quite easily.

BTW, are you Speed King?

RevellRider

Shimano prices have actually only just recently gone up again. Though the M520 pedals are £34.99, not £39.99 so it's still a decent saving.

Merlin are actually doing the same, listing the price as £39.99 too

fyldesmurf

What i think you mean is, "Don't buy these, they're SPDs"

Andy B

Yup the recommended retail price is £34.99

Wiggle/Merlin haven't adjusted the RRP down from the £39.99 it used to be a while ago (can't remember the exact date it dropped back down, but it is fairly recent)

We are selling the M520's @ £19.99 inc P&P and we also need to adjust the RRP to reflect the decrease of £5

As Madison & all other distributors do not alert bike shops to changes in the RRP of products it's hard to keep up with changes in RRP's, nothing to do with ripping folks off

BrianTrousers

Not Speed King sadly although I know a few!

I'm not questioning the rrp, I'm just annoyed with what I had always considered a quality retailer stooping to the same tricks as all the rest of them. The 'normal' price for these is about £20, even Wiggle were selling them for this until very recently.

My mate was going to buy a Carrera Fury for £550 from Halfrauds but they suddenly put the price up to £700. Surprise, surprise, a couple of weeks later they then dropped the price back down to £550 and claimed it was a massive saving.

They all do it. I'm just frustrated as to why they think they can get away it these days when, you're quite right, you can find out the best price on the internet in seconds and more to the point they must know that we know that they're playing the game. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Damn, I thought I'd stopped ranting :oops:

captainfly

fyldesmurf wrote:

What i think you mean is, "Don't buy these, they're SPDs"

+1

RevellRider

BrianTrousers wrote:

I'm not questioning the rrp, I'm just annoyed with what I had always considered a quality retailer stooping to the same tricks as all the rest of them. The 'normal' price for these is about £20, even Wiggle were selling them for this until very recently.

By 'normal' price you mean as cheap as some places sell them? Where as a bike shop would say the normal price of the pedal (SRP) is £34.99?

MrChuck

BrianTrousers wrote:

I'm not questioning the rrp, I'm just annoyed with what I had always considered a quality retailer stooping to the same tricks as all the rest of them. The 'normal' price for these is about £20, even Wiggle were selling them for this until very recently.
:

If you're not questioning the RRP, what's the problem? They're not claiming they're 30% off what you could buy them for elsewhere, they're claiming they're 30% off RRP, which they are. (Assuming they've made a mistake with the RRP 'in good faith'.)

I don't really see that anyone's being conned.

alfablue

I think you are being a bit harsh on Wiggle - the posting above from a cycle retailer states that Shimano RRP's recently reduced and Maddison don't tell retailers so these mistakes can happen. This is nothing like Halfords who are selling their own brand products (Carrera) so have no excuse. I really think you need to change your thread title as it is unfair.

alfablue

BrianTrousers wrote:

Not Speed King sadly although I know a few!

FYI, Speed King became a forum legend for his Be Warned !!! thread

paulbox

alfablue wrote:

I think you are being a bit harsh on Wiggle - the posting above from a cycle retailer states that Shimano RRP's recently reduced and Maddison don't tell retailers so these mistakes can happen. This is nothing like Halfords who are selling their own brand products (Carrera) so have no excuse. I really think you need to change your thread title as it is unfair.

+1

BrianTrousers

I apologise for being misunderstood.

To clarify, I understand the concept of rrp/srp and I am NOT SAYING that Wiggle are being dishonest in advertising this product at 30% off rrp.

As a worked example:

I am a retailer. I sell widgets. The rrp of the widgets is £40. I choose to sell them at £20 (50% off rrp). I do this for a considerable period with no song and dance.

One day, I decide to bang the price up and sell them for £28. I then make a big fuss over the fact that I am selling them at 30% below rrp and advertise them as being a tremendous bargain. In actual fact I am selling them at £8 more than I'd always sold them for.

It's not a con, it's sharp practice and what used to be called spin-doctoring. I don't like it. That's all I'm saying.

I also do not like:

Beetroot
Michael McIntyre

alfablue

BrianTrousers wrote:

One day, I decide to bang the price up and sell them for £28. I then make a big fuss over the fact that I am selling them at 30% below rrp and advertise them as being a tremendous bargain. In actual fact I am selling them at £8 more than I'd always sold them for

But this is not what Wiggle are doing, for every single item on their site they show the saving (if any) on SRP/RRP - (and this saving depends on your personal discount as well). They are not making a big fuss on this product, any more than they are (if that is how you wish to view it) on EVERY other product - it is just how their web site works, and that of the majority of online retailers. Your criticism and your thread title is still unfair and incorrect.

Edit: Well done for changing the title.

Andy B

The price that the distributor sold the products to the retailer may have increased, therefore reducing the margin on the product, which would initiate a price 'rise' to maintain the same margin on the product

Anonymous

So you typically fall for the % discount, sale, half price, BOGOF stuff then?

Personally I look at the actual price and just compare that against other retailers. That's ultimately the only thing that matters as that is what you are paying.

Anything else is a sales tactic to convince people to buy their product or shift stock. It's not a con, it's just sales talk and retailers, good and bad, have been doing this for thousands of years (though we've lost the art of haggling over the years, though itself was another trick of making the buyer think they were getting a good deal).

Still, if you will go and buy SPDs :P

cooldad

Probably landed on his head as a baby when his parents couldn't unclip in time.

kona_matt

a bit off topic but does anyone else find that wiggle are rarely the cheapest any more? they used to always be cheapest in my experience. still excellent customer service though which is why I use them if prices are comparable.

Shotsaway

Wiggle are not breaking any laws. They are not advertising sale prices. To advertise sale prices they need to offer the product at a higher price for 28 consecutive days (The Consumer Protection Act 1987 Part 3) before the product can be offered in a sale. They are just advetising the product at a price which is lower than the RRP. There are numerous factors that influence the retailer pricing. For example:

The distributor offers a 1000 units, which have a RRP of £39 for £15 per unit to the retailer.

The retail buyer thinks about it for a moment and realises that they could sell then for £19, which will still achieve an acceptable margin and agrees to take 1000 units.

The retailer advertises the units with a big saving over the RRP but the units take a lot longer to sell than the retail buyer originally anticipated.

Eventually they sell out and the retail buyer decides to buy some more units but doesn't want to buy the same amount of units again. The buyer contacts the distributor and asks for only 100 units this time.

The distributor explains that the cost per unit for 100 units is £25 but if they take 1000 units the price will be £15 per unit.

The buyer doesn't want the units sitting on the shelves for months again and only commits to 100 units as he/she realises that they can still make a similar margin and still sell the product below RRP.

In both cases the consumer is still getting the product at below RRP. So what is there to complain about?

MountainMonster

He sounds like a guy who just needs to complain about somethng to make himself feel good. Welcome to business buddy, and welcome to the world.

DTW

I think he was just trying to do the members of this board a favour and save them a few quid.

I think some people need to chill out.