Sidi road shoes from Europe to USA...

berzin
berzin Posts: 39
edited March 2019 in Deals and offers
Just got the bad news (for me) that Merlin Cycles is not allowed by their Sidi distributor to send any of their shoes to the USA.

As an example of this travesty, no one, and I mean NO ONE, sells Sidi in the states at any type of reduced price. Example-I paid 109 US for a pair of Sdi Genius 7's, and here they are $250. No one I know would pass up such a bargain.

This is disappointing to say the least. Can anyone recommend a shop based in Europe that has similar pricing for Sidis who will ship to US?

Comments

  • schlepcycling
    schlepcycling Posts: 1,614
    Bike24 https://www.bike24.com/ sell SIDI and don't seem to have any restrictions on sending them to the US. Don't know how the prices compare though.
    'Hello to Jason Isaacs'
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    Bike24 also doesn't ship to the US.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    Contact some of the sellers on ebay UK. You are bound to find someone who is prepared to ship to the US.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw ... 7&_sacat=0
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • carnageasada
    carnageasada Posts: 11
    Have to ask, does anyone know why these restrictions exist...?
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    Yes. Some companies have restricted purchases of their products from some (maybe all) European countries to the US and Canada.

    Typical example of protectionism. And Shimano is doing the same thing.

    Case in point-I purchased a pair of Sidi 7's a couple of months ago and paid 109 US dollars and change. Now the same shop cannot sell to me because they would lose Sidi as a client, and the agent in question would get fired. In the US they cost $250 dollars. There is no excuse for such a price discrepancy. It is price gouging at it's most obvious.

    Another case in point-in the US, no retailer-and I mean no retailer-puts these shoes on sale at anywhere near the prices of some UK online shops. Sidi does not allow any US retailer to advertise their shoes at anything but the full retail price. If they attempt to do so, Sidi cuts them off. They are allowed to disount old and discontinued stock, but at prices dictated by Sidi.

    Sidi want to protect their profit margin, and so do the retail shops that sell Sidi. And they have to do what Sidi tells them or else.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    Berzin, Look:

    viewtopic.php?f=40091&t=13102710
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    The Sidis this guy has on sale are size 42.5, too small for me. Thanks anyways.

    Pinno wrote:
    Contact some of the sellers on ebay UK. You are bound to find someone who is prepared to ship to the US.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw ... 7&_sacat=0

    Couldn't find anything, but I'll keep checking periodically to see if something pops up.
  • figbat
    figbat Posts: 680
    Berzin wrote:
    Sidi does not allow any US retailer to advertise their shoes at anything but the full retail price. If they attempt to do so, Sidi cuts them off.
    I don’t know about US law, but that is illegal Europe (where Sidi are from). Retailers are free to set whatever price they want, the supplier can only suggest a retail price. Punitive or unfavourable terms as a control mechanism are also illegal. Is the US that different?
    Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29 for the lumpy stuff
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  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,340
    Seems that you cannot get the Mega 7 in the UK yet. You can get the Mega 5 and given the prices of the 5, US prices are more favourable for the 7:

    https://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-ergo-5-me ... s-wide-fit.

    After conversion to Dollars, that's $343, as opposed to

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sidi-Mens-Geni ... ctupt=true

    Which are $195.

    Sidi Genius 7's readily available. This vendor will ship worldwide:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sidi-Genius- ... :rk:2:pf:0

    I have rode Sidi's for eleventy twenty years. I bought a pair of Sidi's in 1997. I then demoted them for winter training as the Velcro is finally giving up. I bought a pair of Genius 5, some 20 years later.
    The build quality is comparable. The stiffness of the shoe is slightly better and the 5's are slightly lighter but I cannot tell the difference once I am pedalling.
    On that basis, do you need the Mega over say, much better priced , 5's, 6's and 7's?
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    No need for the mega option. The regular 43.5's fit me great.
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    figbat wrote:
    I don’t know about US law, but that is illegal Europe (where Sidi are from). Retailers are free to set whatever price they want, the supplier can only suggest a retail price. Punitive or unfavourable terms as a control mechanism are also illegal. Is the US that different?

    I'm not 100% certain, just heard gossip about it from a conversation between a shop owner and one of his suppliers. I will check on this further for the sake of clarification, because I have seen so far one US online shop with discounts on Sidis, but they aren't worth looking into as the discount prices do not compare to a UK online retailer like Merlin.
  • berzin
    berzin Posts: 39
    Double post.

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