Wiggle prices

nicensleazy
nicensleazy Posts: 2,310
edited May 2009 in The bottom bracket
Just been looking at the Wiggle web site - they don't seem to offer good prices anymore, appear quite expensive!

Any use Ribble? Are they free postage?
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Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Ribble are good, free posy over £50, but they are cheaper than wiggle.
  • Harry B
    Harry B Posts: 1,239
    I agree. I use wiggle from time to time. they are expensive but sometimes convinient if you can't get to your lbs. Plus I've never got any sweets or freebies from them :cry:
  • Yes I noticed that recently. It's a double whammy for them really. Their prices are higher (It's not as though it's one or two pounds either) , so I buy less from them, therefore my discount goes down to 5%, so I buy even less from them.

    The only good thing is at least you can see if they have something in stock.

    It'd be nice to have one of these mythical LBS shops that's worth buying from. There aren't many.
  • Wiggle have got very expensive these days, as have CRC. They both used to be really good but are now very seldom price competitive, so, surprise surprise, I don't buy from them very often anymore. I wonder if they've noticed a link between major price hikes and reduction in business volume?

    I must be lucky as I have a couple of very decent LBS's. And so far, they've always been able to match any price I have suggested, or as near as dammit. And I'd rather buy from them if I can.
    It doesn't get any easier, but I don't appear to be getting any faster.
  • mattbass789
    mattbass789 Posts: 355
    Does anyone else think that wiggle and crc's catalogue of bikes has thinned out so to speak aswell, but other stuff like clothing, and spares increased?

    maybe people are buying less new bikes and rebuilding or fixing old ones.
    just my 2cents.
    “If you worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on.”

    @mattbeedham
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    I thought CRC were still fairly cheap but Wiggle seems a tad more expensive I suppose. What about JE James? They often do some good deals.
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  • jellybellywmb
    jellybellywmb Posts: 1,379
    Just bought a front light from wiggle as they were the cheapest for that particular light.
    "BEER" Proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy
  • AndyRubio
    AndyRubio Posts: 880
    I buy from wiggle for convenience. their website is far and away more usable and clear than any other, the free delivery is obviously included in the cost but for the sake a few quid more it's not usually too bad. The bike shops round here are pretty dire as far as stock is concerned so it makes sense in the long run to buy online.

    I just bought a new Deuter rucksack from them for £58. Ordered yesterday, delivered today. Same one in Evans costs £65, and it's been sat on the hangar in the shop for a few weeks now.
  • GeorgeShaw
    GeorgeShaw Posts: 764
    Simple economics, I think. Downturn = reduce stock (to save on all that capital invested in it). Fast stock turnover = higher prices sooner (as the pound has fallen in value). The best value is in old stock at the mo' ... until it runs out.
  • Stewie Griffin
    Stewie Griffin Posts: 4,330
    edited April 2009
    AndyRubio wrote:
    I buy from wiggle for convenience. their website is far and away more usable and clear than any other, the free delivery is obviously included in the cost but for the sake a few quid more it's not usually too bad. The bike shops round here are pretty dire as far as stock is concerned so it makes sense in the long run to buy online.

    I just bought a new Deuter rucksack from them for £58. Ordered yesterday, delivered today. Same one in Evans costs £65, and it's been sat on the hangar in the shop for a few weeks now.

    Website is lovely and delivery fantastic, but just a few quid more? I still have the standard callipers on my Allez and am looking at upgrading them to 105. A pair from Wiggle is £86, a pair from Ribble is £55* :shock: . I have never ordered from Ribble before but for that price difference I really dont care if they make it to my house next day or not.

    *Im aware they have a sale on at the moment, they are normally £65.

    Edit, just logged in and with my Wiggle Gold Customer discount & can get them at £77.50
  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    I just bought a basket of stuff from wiggle. Tried a bit of shopping around, and found plenty of hits for cheaper items - only to find that by the time you'd added P+P they were right back up to the wiggle price. I don't reckon I'd have got the basket of stuff substantially cheaper by shopping around. Helps being a gold customer of course.

    Was a bit pissed off to find that they're one of these places who assume you're going to want to pay for postage in order to get it, well, not much quicker at all really. So I got stung for £3.99 P+P before I remembered I should have ticked the ordinary postage box. I suppose that's my fault in a way, but if it happens too many times I might find myself going to an outfit that assumes you don't want to pay for postage unless you ask for express delivery.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Ribble are the cheapest of course, but don't expect next day delivery. 2-3 days usually, but it always arrives. Wiggle prices are getting silly.
  • AndyRubio
    AndyRubio Posts: 880
    Yeah there's gonna be exceptions ot the rule with pricing. My Assos skinsuit from Wiggle was the same as everywhere else, their Garmin Edge 705s are dead expensive... you gotta shop around.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    My LBS is freakin' awesome!

    They will attempt to price match anything, it carries really good clothing, bike and equipment stocks. The service is excellent too. I'm very lucky!

    Very rarely buy anything online any more...
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I've bought loads of stuff from JE James - both online and in shop. They have very good prices - but quite often it's hard to actually find the thing you are looking for in stock!

    But they have good service and worth buying from if you can find what you're after.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I got my Look from J E James, very happy with their service although I actually went in to the shop to try it for size. They built it up for me whilst I waited too!
  • elevated
    elevated Posts: 126
    NapoleonD wrote:
    My LBS is freakin' awesome!

    They will attempt to price match anything, it carries really good clothing, bike and equipment stocks. The service is excellent too. I'm very lucky!

    Very rarely buy anything online any more...

    Is that Royles? I can't think of any other shops local to HC...


    I buy most of my stuff from Ribble and am very happy with them. Delivery times vary, the box which arrived today I ordered on Monday night, but the one before that was next day. The prices are excellent too, especially with the 15% offers they have on regularly. I paid £399 for a Super Record chainset, the same at Wiggle was £556!

    I've returned stuff which is fairly painless - the invoice they send has their return address on a sticky label on it - a nice touch.

    I've also had an occasion where my card was declined due to the way they took payments, so had to contact them to sort that out. Again, no problems - polite and helpful on the phone. This shouldn't happen now as they have implemented the Verified By Visa / Mastercard system.
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  • guinea
    guinea Posts: 1,177
    I bought stuff from wiggle the other day and the prices went up between checking out and putting my card details in. It cost me an extra £15-20.

    Meh.

    However, the correct goods arrived very quickly so I can't moan too much.
  • jejames has pretty poor stock control in my experience.

    Their website lists so many things that aren't in stock. If you see something that has just 1 left, you can expect a call or email approximately 2 days later (order goes through straight away of course) saying that in fact they don't have it. This has happened to me twice. I phoned one of the shops and they didn't seem to care or have any suggestions other than 'order something else, it might be in stock'.

    I've also read a lot of negative comments about them on a another forum so I don't even look on their site anymore.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I feel the same way about JEJames - as far as I can tell, most of the bargain prices relate to items they don't have. Their approach means they often come up first in price searches on google, but usually lead to disappointment (or infuriation). I only want to order from places that have what they say they have.
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    I thought CRC were still fairly cheap but Wiggle seems a tad more expensive I suppose

    Agreed - that's how I see it.
  • Shezzer
    Shezzer Posts: 229
    Gotta say first off that I like Wiggle ... great customer service and quick delivery.

    A couple of years ago they were usually the cheapest prices around. More recently I find some of their stuff is expensive whilst other stuff is dirt cheap. Check out the Merston bib tights for £30. I think they now rely on folks just using them out of habit rather than shopping around.
  • trickeyja
    trickeyja Posts: 202
    I use Wiggle occasionally, but normally buy from one of my LBSs (there are 4 in Cheltenham!!!! Plus Halfords - but I'm not sure that counts!) They are a bit more expensive than some online retailers, but they will often match their online prices or give a 10% discount.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    I mix and match my top 5 on-line suppliers.....although Parkers have been terribly slow in sending me a New York F-Off D lock .......... been 'pending' for over a week - not too worried, new bike is a couple of weeks away..... :)

    JEJames..not impressed with them.... order stuff, then they cancel after about 10 days...

    You have to shop about...it's even more important now due to exchange issues. TBH you are better off now being a Campag person - that hasn't gone as bad as the Shimano prices...
  • a_n_t
    a_n_t Posts: 2,011
    NapoleonD wrote:
    I got my Look from J E James!

    you ever take it off any sweet jumps :lol:
    Manchester wheelers

    PB's
    10m 20:21 2014
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
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  • Homer J
    Homer J Posts: 920
    I use wiggle alot for the ease of their website and the good delivery. Also i have never had any problems with returns. I've also found that they do price match, I was after a jacket for winter riding and found it about £10 cheaper elsewhere, i emailed wiggle saying i'd rather buy from them and they matched it. Which was nice.
  • veeferM
    veeferM Posts: 3
    Just looking around for stuff and I notice the Ribble have 15% everything this weekend if you send over £50. Seems a good site, lots of good deals but have any body had bad experiences with them?
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Ribble - the good: very good prices, reliable, delivery fairly quick, not had a problem

    the bad: never have answered an email from me (ever! sent several over a few years). Telephone manner woeful, and was so rude and unhelpful they lost a £1k bike sale to Planet-X.

    I have heard they have been very reluctant to deal with warranty issues. They also will not answer any pre-purchase questions about any warranty on their bikes, which would not encourage me to risk finding out the hard way after buying.

    I reckon they are okay for straightforward purchases of components and accessories, less good if you have queries or problems pre or post purchase.
  • Ash_
    Ash_ Posts: 385
    I know this was originally a thread aout Wiggle, but I've just got to say J.E.James is terrible when it comes to their mail order service.

    A specific seatpost I'd been after for a long time is listed as being stocked by them (as mentioned above, they always seem to come up first in Google web searches). However, in fairness to J.E.James, it always showed as out of stock. I checked again a few weeks ago and it was showing as in stock. Great, I thought, I can understand stock levels not getting updated when something gets sold (not that I agree with it as it's sloppy business practice, but it happens), but as it's gone from nothing to something it must be in stock for real...

    A week (one whole week) after placing the order, I get an e-mail telling me it's out of stock and to e-mail them back if I wanted some alternative product suggestions, which I did. Two weeks later I've heard nothing.

    They should stick to being a decent bike shop and give up on the mail order side, leave it to people who can handle it. This isn't the first time I've been messed around by them, but it will be the last!