Evans have drastically changed their price match policy

daniel_b

Within the last month.

They used to match pretty much everyone, including Athleteshop, at least over the phone.

Just tried to ring up to get a match with Triton cycles, to be told the news.

I will be using them a fair bit less now, as I get between 8% and 12% discount through work, which combined with a price match could work out pretty well.

Here is the now apparently rigid list:

• Cycle Surgery
• Wiggle
• Chain Reaction Cycles
• Halfords
• Tredz
• Cycle Republic

graeme_s-2

I had them price match a bike with Wheelbase a couple of months ago. 50% off rrp, plus another 5% with a discount code. I guess it's stuff like that that's put them off doing it.

daniel_b

Graeme_S wrote:

I had them price match a bike with Wheelbase a couple of months ago. 50% off rrp, plus another 5% with a discount code. I guess it's stuff like that that's put them off doing it.

Yes I suppose so - shame for us though, the end consumer.

Wonder if there will be less competition now, what with CRC and Wiggle merging, as they are likely the 3 biggest players in the industry in the UK.

mfin

Well, it will be more of a shame for us, the end consumer, if they go out of business and aren't even an option at all because of unworkable policies that can cost them money instead of making it. Plus, a bit of a shame for anyone who loses their job.

Boo hoo if they won't do your price match any more, losing a few habitual price matchers won't be a loss to them, it will be the opposite.

You're missing the point that a price match psychologically is good to have as most people will assume the prices must be good without looking around, this is the main reason in having a policy, the downside is the people who take it up all the time.

roastie_cyclocross

This is what the list looked like a year ago in case anyone was interested

alansbmx.com
alpinebikes.com
allterraincycles.co.uk
chainreactioncycles.com
cyclesurgery.com
cyclesuk.com
cyclestore.co.uk
edinburghbicycle.com
halfords.com
hargrovescycles.co.uk
jejamescycles.co.uk
rapha.cc
leisurelakesbikes.com
merlincycles.com
probikekit.co.uk
ribblecycles.co.uk
rutlandcycling.com
sjscycles.co.uk
tredz.co.uk
ukbikestore.co.uk
wiggle.co.uk
winstanleysbmx.com
winstanleysbikes.co.uk

daniel_b

Good timeteam skills there Roastie!

mfin wrote:

Well, it will be more of a shame for us, the end consumer, if they go out of business and aren't even an option at all because of unworkable policies that can cost them money instead of making it. Plus, a bit of a shame for anyone who loses their job.

Boo hoo if they won't do your price match any more, losing a few habitual price matchers won't be a loss to them, it will be the opposite.

You're missing the point that a price match psychologically is good to have as most people will assume the prices must be good without looking around, this is the main reason in having a policy, the downside is the people who take it up all the time.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that last bit, I never assume that a company who provides price match will always be cheaper - in fact in my experience it often is not the case, I didn't think people were that gullible in the main - well not with regards to that kind of thing anyway, but perhaps that is what they reply upon for some easy wins.

I don't want any companies to go out of business (Unless they are shoddy\dishonest), or employees to lose their jobs, but I'm not feeling remotely guilty about the twenty or so price matches I have used over the years, having spent thousands with them over time, and bought 3 bikes from them in the last 2 years alone, not to mention mutiple items of kit and clothing etc.

I agree if it is an unworkable policy, then that would make sense to withdraw it, but at some point, in a boardroom it was signed off as a workable policy, so seems strange on the turnaround, unless they are just reacting to the other main players I suppose.

I will still shop with them, it just means for some items I won't do so, as it saves me money to shop elsewhere - no change to usual really, as some items that are cheaper elsewhere they don't stock or have stock of anyhoo, but they would have been my first port of call, because of the price match option.
Additionally, as I would often look there first, whilst on the site I would look to see if there was anything else I needed, so would often purchase more than just the price matched item.

For example I just bought a saddle from Triton Cycles, they had it for £49 with next day delivery incirporated into the price (As it turns out) and Evans had it for the full £65 - I save 12% with my discount scheme, but that's still £57.20 delivered - so I clearly went with Triton :-)

paulmon

mfin wrote:

Well, it will be more of a shame for us, the end consumer, if they go out of business and aren't even an option at all because of unworkable policies that can cost them money instead of making it. Plus, a bit of a shame for anyone who loses their job.

Boo hoo if they won't do your price match any more, losing a few habitual price matchers won't be a loss to them, it will be the opposite.

You're missing the point that a price match psychologically is good to have as most people will assume the prices must be good without looking around, this is the main reason in having a policy, the downside is the people who take it up all the time.

Agreed. The entire country is filled with people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

apreading

I dont understand why they dont offer to price match anyone, but at their discretion. Obviously if something is below their cost price to supply it they should be able to say no and send you elsewhere. But if they can afford to do the sale for less and still make a profit, why would they refuse and force you to buy from someone else? They make nothing that way.

If I was an LBS I would say come and tell us your internet prices and we will see what is they best we can do. Dont be embarassed to ask - you are just giving us the opportunity to stop you ordering from someone else and make the sale ourselves.

daniel_b

Oscar Wilde and PaulMon wrote:

Agreed. The entire country is filled with people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

if it's good enough for Oscar, it's good enough for me

apreading wrote:

I dont understand why they dont offer to price match anyone, but at their discretion. Obviously if something is below their cost price to supply it they should be able to say no and send you elsewhere. But if they can afford to do the sale for less and still make a profit, why would they refuse and force you to buy from someone else? They make nothing that way.

If I was an LBS I would say come and tell us your internet prices and we will see what is they best we can do. Dont be embarassed to ask - you are just giving us the opportunity to stop you ordering from someone else and make the sale ourselves.

Agreed - they could review on a case by case basis.

Another reason I would buy from them is so if i had to make a return, I could d oit in store (If I happened to be passing), instead of using a free to me postage service like CRC\Wiggle provide, thus increasing the cost to them and the carbon foot print etc etc

Just the other day I was up in beautiful Manchester on business, and stopped off in their enormous store up there to return a couple of items I had bought online.

chippyk

apreading wrote:

If I was an LBS I would say come and tell us your internet prices and we will see what is they best we can do. Dont be embarassed to ask - you are just giving us the opportunity to stop you ordering from someone else and make the sale ourselves.

When a lot of local bike shops actually order spare parts from the likes of Wiggle and CRC, there wouldn’t be a fat lot of margin in trying to price match the internet retailers. It’s like a manufacturing company trying to price match Chinese competitors, you’ll never win, you’ve got to beat them on service, quality and innovation. Bike shops have to do the same with on line retailers. Find a USP and work hard at it, not price wars.

thegreatdivide

PaulMon wrote:

mfin wrote:

Well, it will be more of a shame for us, the end consumer, if they go out of business and aren't even an option at all because of unworkable policies that can cost them money instead of making it. Plus, a bit of a shame for anyone who loses their job.

Boo hoo if they won't do your price match any more, losing a few habitual price matchers won't be a loss to them, it will be the opposite.

You're missing the point that a price match psychologically is good to have as most people will assume the prices must be good without looking around, this is the main reason in having a policy, the downside is the people who take it up all the time.

Agreed. The entire country is filled with people who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

All of the above.

lesfirth

I never really understood this price match business. If supplier B says they will match the price of supplier A I see no advantage of buying from B. If B said they will undercut A by 10% I could see a reason but if prices are the same I would rather buy from A who offered me the price first. What am I missing here?

joe2008

lesfirth wrote:

I never really understood this price match business. If supplier B says they will match the price of supplier A I see no advantage of buying from B. If B said they will undercut A by 10% I could see a reason but if prices are the same I would rather buy from A who offered me the price first. What am I missing here?

For me, loyalty, 12% discount at Wiggle, if I spend £500 a year (I think without checking)

trivial_poursuivant

Does it matter?

I mean if a shop has an item cheaper, why not buy it from them instead of using Evans all the time? Seems a bit weird to demand another shop matches prices when you are just as capable buying from the other shop . Maybe giving them your business instead will be better in the long run instead of always using the big company who don’t need your money as much

daniel_b

joe2008 wrote:

lesfirth wrote:

I never really understood this price match business. If supplier B says they will match the price of supplier A I see no advantage of buying from B. If B said they will undercut A by 10% I could see a reason but if prices are the same I would rather buy from A who offered me the price first. What am I missing here?

For me, loyalty, 12% discounAdvice
t at Wiggle, if I spend £500 a year (I think without checking)

That and plenty more reasons:

- If you are buying a turbo trainer, if you had issues would you rather return it to a company abroad, a UK one, but internet only, or one in the UK that had physical shops that you can drive to?
- Cash back through sites such as topcashback or quidco
- Some retailers offer free and easy returns via post/collect+/doddle/Hermes etc
- Staff discount cards that can yield a further saving of sometimes up to 20%
- Some retailers will accept cashback credit cards
- The option to try things on in store, such as clothing, helmet, shoes, and return unwanted ones there and then with no postage hassle
- Halfords offer 10% discount, sometimes, with BC membership on price matches, then you get employee discount cards on top.
- Some retailers will accept paypal payment, which on occasion comes with some special offers/bonuses
- Some sites are far quicker at despatching than others
Some retailers have 14 day return periods, others have 365 day return periods

I think that's about it, more than I envisioned at the start!

@TP, no one is demanding anything that I can see, I was merely pointing it out to people who might be used to this offering from them.

A public information announcement if you will.

Those who have used, or might have used the facility now know what form it is offered in, and those who have no plans to use it are also now furnished with this, for them, meaningless information Everyone is welcome.

lesfirth

Daniel B wrote:

joe2008 wrote:

lesfirth wrote:

I never really understood this price match business. If supplier B says they will match the price of supplier A I see no advantage of buying from B. If B said they will undercut A by 10% I could see a reason but if prices are the same I would rather buy from A who offered me the price first. What am I missing here?

For me, loyalty, 12% discounAdvice
t at Wiggle, if I spend £500 a year (I think without checking)

That and plenty more reasons:

- If you are buying a turbo trainer, if you had issues would you rather return it to a company abroad or one in the UK, that you can drive to?
- Cash back through sites such as topcashback or quidco
- Some retailers offer free and easy returns via post/collect+/doddle/Hermes etc
- Staff discount cards that can yield a further saving of sometimes up to 20%
- Some retailers will accept cashback credit cards
- The option to try things on in store, such as clothing, helmet, shoes, and return unwanted ones there and then with no postage hassle
- Halfords offer 10% discount, sometimes, with BC membership on price matches, then you get employee discount cards on top.
- Some retailers will accept paypal payment, which on occasion comes with some special offers/bonuses
- Some sites are far quicker at despatching than others
Some retailers have 14 day return periods, others have 365 day return periods

I think that's about it, more than I envisioned at the start!

@TP, no one is demanding anything that I can see, I was merely pointing it out to people who might be used to this offering from them.

A public information announcement if you will.

Those who have used, or might have used the facility now know what form it is offered in, and those who have no plans to use it are also now furnished with this, for them, meaningless information Everyone is welcome.

That is enough to be thinking about! Thanks guys.

flasher

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

Does it matter?

I mean if a shop has an item cheaper, why not buy it from them instead of using Evans all the time? Seems a bit weird to demand another shop matches prices when you are just as capable buying from the other shop . Maybe giving them your business instead will be better in the long run instead of always using the big company who don’t need your money as much

Because the OP likes likes icing on his cake.

Daniel B wrote:

I will be using them a fair bit less now, as I get between 8% and 12% discount through work, which combined with a price match could work out pretty well.

daniel_b

Flasher wrote:

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

Does it matter?

I mean if a shop has an item cheaper, why not buy it from them instead of using Evans all the time? Seems a bit weird to demand another shop matches prices when you are just as capable buying from the other shop . Maybe giving them your business instead will be better in the long run instead of always using the big company who don’t need your money as much

Because the OP likes likes icing on his cake.

Daniel B wrote:

I will be using them a fair bit less now, as I get between 8% and 12% discount through work, which combined with a price match could work out pretty well.

Exactumondo Sir, if you are going to do it, do it properly :-)

Having said that, with my 2017 healthy-er eating vibe, I have been trying to steer clear of both cake, and icing related products.

paulbnix

The reason I use Evans price match is because I pinch our Tesco vouchers which give you £10 Evans voucher for £5 Tesco.
Not worth much over a year but it gives me a wonderful feeling :-)

daniel_b

paulbnix wrote:

The reason I use Evans price match is because I pinch our Tesco vouchers which give you £10 Evans voucher for £5 Tesco.
Not worth much over a year but it gives me a wonderful feeling :-)

Wasn't aware of that one!

Don't think I would be able to gain access to ours though, they are normally reserved for day out type things.

All adds up though - why anyone would not want to get the most out of their money (Whilst keeping entirely legal I hasten to add!), that potentially some of us work hard for, is beyond me.

timothyw

The problem is if you are price matching in order to then extract further savings via employee discount schemes, cashback etc, and after that you're potentially returning goods at no cost to yourself (but at cost to the retailer...) when you couldn't otherwise do so then it stops being a price match doesn't it?

A price match would be if you were paying the same amount of money.

Then you have the question of whether you are price matching like for like - this is most commonly down to the difference between shops selling retail boxed components (in nice shiny boxes and will full cables and other accessories) versus OEM components intended for sale to bike builders - generally only in bubble wrap or plain boxes and without cables or with cheaper versions, obviously the latter coming at a lesser cost to the retailer.

There were those of you price matching those pro-lite wheels from ribble at wiggle in full knowledge that you were getting a superior product for an exceptionally low price by doing so, something I felt clearly crossed the line (and we've now had threads moaning about those price matched wheels failing prematurely.... and you wonder why Wiggle aren't falling over themselves to help you out! Can't help but feel what goes around comes around.)

Honestly, as you say, there's nothing illegal about what you're doing, but I personally think it is in our interests to have a thriving retail sector for bikes and bits, what you are advocating is a race to the bottom - and this is the next part of that race. Retailers that used to be able to price match near anyone now can't, because too many people are taking the piss.

jefflad

Allegedly the whole cycling industry in the UK is struggling at the moment. A recent closure of a long established LBS to me seems to back it up which was a real surprise not to mention disappointing so I guess Evans are feeling the pinch too and are tightening their belts where they can.

cgfw201

lesfirth wrote:

I never really understood this price match business. If supplier B says they will match the price of supplier A I see no advantage of buying from B. If B said they will undercut A by 10% I could see a reason but if prices are the same I would rather buy from A who offered me the price first. What am I missing here?

got an Evans next to where I work. If I need anything like a new tyre, lights etc, so easy to go online, find Wiggle price and then walk into Evans and have the product 5 minutes later, rather than waiting a day for delivery.

Probably wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t so convenient.

spasypaddy

a huge amount of online sellers and bike shops in the uk are selling off the grey market which is substantially cheaper than the routes that companies like evans go through to go their products. these people can undercut the supplier nevertheless the end retailers.

i remember buying something from planet x because it was cheaper than i could get it at COST price from madison. absolutely insane

Maglia_Rosa

I just try to buy the item for as cheap as possible, these big companies such as Wiggle, Evans & CRC etc couldn’t care less about us and I couldn’t care less about them. My only concern is getting the product I want for as little as possible.