Planet X Pricing - SMOKE AND MIRRORS

MikeBrew

Oh my ribs ! Are you sure you're not confusing being a "bit of a wit" with "being a twit" ?

bobmcstuff

You're right - nothing like a rhyming insult to prove your superiority.

MikeBrew

You just might be confusing my motives with your own there Bob . I simply mirrored your flippant tone

ugo.santalucia

MikeBrew wrote:

You just might be confusing my motives with your own there Bob . I simply mirrored your flippant tone

What do you think about the competitors who do pretty much the same iratic price slashing... Superstar components, to name one, what do you think about them?

bmxboy10

ugo.santalucia wrote:

MikeBrew wrote:

You just might be confusing my motives with your own there Bob . I simply mirrored your flippant tone

What do you think about the competitors who do pretty much the same iratic price slashing... Superstar components, to name one, what do you think about them?

I think PBK are similar. I just accept it and use Google to get the best price and then get Evans Warehouse to pricematch as they are in theory my LBS!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The DFS sale is now 55% off!

fenix

DFS - it's all SOFA AND MIRRORS !

bendertherobot

NitrousOxide wrote:

The DFS sale is now 55% off!

despite not going on their site I had DFS as a banner on here the other day, while reading the PX thread. Might have been SCS though.

MikeBrew

Fenix wrote:

DFS - it's all SOFA AND MIRRORS !

Do they not get in the way of the Telly ? :idea:

londoncommuter

And the Khamsins (kind of the benchmark on their shenanigans) are up to £200 with the 55% off so more than the £150 with 50% off before.

MikeBrew

londoncommuter wrote:

And the Khamsins (kind of the benchmark on their shenanigans) are up to £200 with the 55% off so more than the £150 with 50% off before.

55% now huh ? Personally, I'm waiting for the 110% off sale, the way they're ramping up the %'s it's only a matter of time. Yeah, gonna buy up some serious sh+t when that sucker rolls around. :shock: If I can tear myself away from Jeremy Kyle long enough to pop in my pin number, that is. Don't think Jeezer has to cottoned on to PX gunning for his audience demographic yet...He will though, he will ....
[Door bells rings]
Sharon ! I'm putin my noo bike 2gever, get the 'kin door will you, it's DFS wiv the new sofa !

[Sharon walks in holding the baby] : "I am smoking a fag !!!"

bondurant

There's a job for you in comedy script writing if you ever give up switching on your wheelbuilding machine Mike!

Perhaps not a very well paid one.

MikeBrew

Bondurant wrote:

There's a job for you in comedy script writing if you ever give up switching on your wheelbuilding machine Mike!

Perhaps not a very well paid one.

Or maybe even social commentary ? I have a wheel building machine ? I never knew ! - might explain why the garage door is permanently jammed half open though ...Perhaps a larger shed is the answer... I shall look into it immediately :P

Steve-XcT

ugo.santalucia wrote:

MikeBrew wrote:

You just might be confusing my motives with your own there Bob . I simply mirrored your flippant tone

What do you think about the competitors who do pretty much the same iratic price slashing... Superstar components, to name one, what do you think about them?

It's not really the same (they at least have base prices)
Secondly they actually have what they advertise (mostly). (Unlike Planet X who mostly don't)

I guess I dealt with both in the last month and the real difference was profound....

Planet X were doing 99p CX-RAY (clearance)
Well.... only some lengths.... but I wanted weird lengths anyway as its my kids 24er
So I ordered what I could... their stock system said only 7 of one length when I needed 16 but hey ho.... IT IS CLEARANCE
So I go and source them elsewhere.... more expensive but .....
Then I got an email.... a day or so later.... We don't have this length our stock system was wrong...
Again .... I though fair enough....

So I order more .... but weirdly they are asking if I want to mix the spokes...??? Hmm. lets see mix aero spokes with round ones in a wheel??? I can't claim to be a wheel-building expert but.... seriously..??? Does the person communicating have ANY idea??? I mean I'd have lived with the different colour but.... they were essentialy trying to get me to swap half the order for MUCH cheaper spokes at the same price....

Then when I say no they mysteriously find 6/7 spokes and put them back on my order... (after I'd told them I'd get them elsewhere)

Anyway.... thanks to Planet X the wheel build ended up costing a lot more than intended.

Meanwhile.... Superstar already tell me they are selling some NOS Novatec D711/712 for half price.....
Now is £60 half price ??? Maybe not quite but pretty close.

Then they do May Madness .. further 25% off.... so I think.... why not.... despite the Superstar website being generally pretty crap it accepts the code on the discounted item... and I figure while I'm there I'll get a 32T oval narrow wide...

Site instructions says to line up with the mark on the back of the chainring.... but there is no mark .. just a bump in the actual alloy.... so I send off an email enquiry and an hour later get the answer...

I also bought a saddle for the kids bike.... actually pretty cheap .. from http://www.customriders.com/
I ordered this and paid for special quick delivery as we were going on a cycling holiday. (nearly as much as the saddle which was discounted )

They phoned me soon after placing saying that the stock delivery was late and they couldn't get it off to guarantee next day delivery.... and that they were aware it was the bank holiday and a kid was going to be disappointed ....so they cancelled not only the special delivery change but also the normal delivery change..... then a few hours later they phone me back... good news.... they dispatch special delivery ANYWAY.... (no charge)....

Someone on another forum then accidentally ordered one delivered to the US.... I think shipping was like $60 .. (on a $15 saddle) .... they emailed and they just cancelled the order for them next morning.... (Which I'd expected due to the way they dealt with my order)

Conclusion: Planet X left me feeling ripped off and didn't seem to care. Refused to answer questions and tried to get me to buy sometihng cheaper for the same price...

Superstar left me feeling like Ii got a pretty good deal and I ordered some stuff I hadn't mean to but at a good price anyway... and responded to my email quickly and sensibly

Custom Riders ... I felt had done everything humanly possible.... and paid for the express delivery from their own pocket

lesfirth

We should not be talking about Planet X and Superstar in the same breath. There is no comparison.

Planet X seemed to be selling off loads of overshoes. I thought I will get some for next winter. I gave up after spending ages trying to find some I wanted in a size that fitted me at anywhere near the headline price. If I had persevered they probably had some but I did not have the patience to find them.

I bought some £99 Superstar wheels with shimano freehub. When I saw them I loved the white rims and decided to fit them to another bike that has Campag. I Phoned them ,prepared to buy another freehub but they were out of stock of Campag . They suggested, and I agreed, that I remove the shimano freehub and return it to them. They told me where to buy a Campag freehub and credited me with the cost! I am still amazed they did that.

fenix

How hard can it be to buy overshoes ? I've had their neoprene ones and bought some of their Flandrian windproof ones when they were on offer. They were so cheap I bought a couple of pairs. They've lasted that well that I'm still on the first set. No drama.

londoncommuter

Fenix wrote:

How hard can it be to buy overshoes ? I've had their neoprene ones and bought some of their Flandrian windproof ones when they were on offer. They were so cheap I bought a couple of pairs. They've lasted that well that I'm still on the first set. No drama.

I think his point is that the headline rate doesn't apply to the size you want when you click onto an item (maybe fair enough) but often it doesn't actually apply to any of the options at all. Too much like hard work.

On a separate matter, I was eyeing up a Cascade Fluid Pro trainer, previously £200 with 50% off, now magically £250 with the 55% off. Bargain.

MisterMuncher

lesfirth wrote:

We should not be talking about Planet X and Superstar in the same breath. There is no comparison.

Planet X seemed to be selling off loads of overshoes. I thought I will get some for next winter. I gave up after spending ages trying to find some I wanted in a size that fitted me at anywhere near the headline price. If I had persevered they probably had some but I did not have the patience to find them.

I bought some £99 Superstar wheels with shimano freehub. When I saw them I loved the white rims and decided to fit them to another bike that has Campag. I Phoned them ,prepared to buy another freehub but they were out of stock of Campag . They suggested, and I agreed, that I remove the shimano freehub and return it to them. They told me where to buy a Campag freehub and credited me with the cost! I am still amazed they did that.

True. Superstar do have pretty decent customer service, sent me free replacement spokes when I'd only enquired to get the correct lengths. PX have scarcely acknowledged any communication I've had with them.

I don't think Superstar really indulge in similar gimmick pricing. When they are clearing something, they just keep cutting until they get rid of it. The monthly Facebook codes don't seem to be pre-empted by targeted price increases, either.

Semantik

And after quickly removing their misleading (false) headline price of £499 for an Exocet 2 frameset (coincidentally the day after my post) they have now reinstated it:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/frames/tt- ... ike-frames

Except there are still no options actually available at that price.

Edit: Checked again 10 mins after posting and they have now removed it again...

Advice to the Planet X staff member thread stalker- try spending more time on serving your present customers instead of trying to mitigate valid criticism being aired by your previous ones.

onyourright

Semantik wrote:

Except there are still no options actually available at that price.

Simple question: how is this allowed?

ugo.santalucia

OnYourRight wrote:

Semantik wrote:

Except there are still no options actually available at that price.

Simple question: how is this allowed?

Could it be that the policy is not ill-intentioned but just ran by a bunch of morons? Planet X have been known for employing some pretty sloppy people in the past (famous warehouse cockups a couple of years back, when people were receiving random items, including myself receiving the wrong item, then replaced by the wrong item again)... I don't think their current pricing (advertising prices that do not exist) are doing them any favour, so I can't see it being something strategic

cougie

Dammit. They've never sent me the wrong item. Wiggle have though. A swim cap. I didn't order it and the paperwork was clearly for someone else. I don't think I even had anything currently on order with them.

And I usually think of wiggle as being pretty good.

andcp

Has it occurred to anyone else that Planet X are watching this thread with interest and keep altering the pricing to wind people up and keep the 'free advertising' going? or am I over-thinking this?

ugo.santalucia

Andcp wrote:

Has it occurred to anyone else that Planet X are watching this thread with interest and keep altering the pricing to wind people up and keep the 'free advertising' going? or am I over-thinking this?

I see it more like someone has designed a clever algorythm that works in conjuction with stock levels, but maybe it's a bit overactive...

Semantik

Andcp wrote:

Has it occurred to anyone else that Planet X are watching this thread with interest and keep altering the pricing to wind people up and keep the 'free advertising' going? or am I over-thinking this?

Yes,probably true.

See the edit to my previous post

navrig2

There are rules for pricing and price cutting and sales.

If Px are breaking those rules then report them or just accept that they are actively playing the game/market and it's Caveat Emptor.

Meantime.......

mct88

Andcp wrote:

Has it occurred to anyone else that Planet X are watching this thread with interest and keep altering the pricing to wind people up and keep the 'free advertising' going? or am I over-thinking this?

Classic Yorkshire folk!

In general there are bargains to be had with them and i've not got any complaints about their own merch that I've used over the years.

Big BUT you can so easily end up being let down by their frequent price changes. They told me they had just reduced my bike by £300 whilst I was on the phone to them handing over card details for "current price" (which as I remember was already bargain). Could have easily gone sour had I have squared up a week before!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Who wants to save 1p?

Schwalbe 700x50 creme or black Big Apple is £8.99 in the daily deal.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/deals

It was the same price as the kevlar guard grey version, £19.99, but PXSLS55 code reduces it to £9.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYSCBIAPKG ... wired-tyre

Hurry and order before they run out of stock at this amazing daily deal (sadly not part of a Flash Friday sequence of deals)!

mroli

NitrousOxide wrote:

Who wants to save 1p?

Schwalbe 700x50 creme or black Big Apple is £8.99 in the daily deal.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/deals
l:

I bought a pair of these 5 years ago and am yet to find a bike I can fit them on!

ugo.santalucia

mroli wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

Who wants to save 1p?

Schwalbe 700x50 creme or black Big Apple is £8.99 in the daily deal.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/deals
l:

I bought a pair of these 5 years ago and am yet to find a bike I can fit them on!

Agree, they won't fit any CX bike... they will fit a 29er frame, but why would you fit them on a 29er?