With a price disparity of the magnitude that I have illustrated, the simple truth is that people are going to go for the cheaper option and buy direct from Germany. In the present climate, personal finances are being hammered from all directions and that means passing some of the pain on to others.
Tillson,I absolutely agree. In your position I would seek the cheapest way of replacing my battery and still think that £383.00 is a ridiculously high price to pay for an 8Ah battery,£500 plus is clearly a ripoff...the point I was making was that is not necessarily the fault of the UK retailer,although it is looking that some dealers do look towards future battery sales for ongoing profits.
I fully agree, it makes little sense to buy at much higher prices when there is no material gain from doing so.
In many cases it seems the discrepancy isn't explainable, but it can be to a degree in some. For example, Tillson's example used a supplier who is confined to the limited UK market agency sales, while Justin's business has been trading worldwide for a long time now so operates in a far larger market.
A bit of research reveals that the German seller has retail premises selling bikes and providing a maintenance service. They just happen to have an eBay outlet in exactly the same as UK retailers are free to do.
Yes, I'd checked this one out some while ago, but 50cycles cannot do that. They are restricted to the UK only for their Kalkhoff sales, something that showed when they had to cease selling to the USA when that region was allocated and Kalkhoff supplied internally there.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. In the UK, the retail sector (in pretty much any product area) has got very used to having a high mark up. I understand that retailers have costs, too, but most take few risks when compared to manufacturers and suppliers, and yet still take more profit per item sold.
Supermarkets aside....they are a whole different ball game......to say that retailers take few risks is just not right......just try discussing that with most small retailers struggling to keep going with rising rates, utility bills, N.I., staff problems, financing their stock, unresponsive banks etc etc.......they deserve our support not slagging them off for trying to make a profit in this hard economic climate, just remember a 100% markup doesnt go straight in their pockets you know....otherwise we would ALL be setting up retail shops.
First off, by way of background, my mother's run a farm for the past 40 years...........Supermarkets aside....they are a whole different ball game......to say that retailers take few risks is just not right......just try discussing that with most small retailers struggling to keep going with rising rates, utility bills, N.I., staff problems, financing their stock, unresponsive banks etc etc.......they deserve our support not slagging them off for trying to make a profit in this hard economic climate, just remember a 100% markup doesnt go straight in their pockets you know....otherwise we would ALL be setting up retail shops.
I think most small retailers would fall over laughing at the idea that they are 'calling all the shots' ........
Lynda
Not just small retailers Comet ,Blockbuster, HMV, Jessops etc certainly weren'tI think most small retailers would fall over laughing at the idea that they are 'calling all the shots' ........
Food has always been different super markets do not work on 100% mark ups sometimes more like 4-5% hence smaller margins for suppliers. Also food is something we have to buy and so is far more price sensitive than other more luxury items.
I have great sympathy for the farmers, and the way they have been treated by supermarket purchase pricing, which have forced a lot of dairy farms out of business. The industry is starting to fight back and market their own products direct to the customers to the benefit of the customer and suppliers, and removing the middle man completely, which will be a example for other suppliers to consider there own marketing which hopefully will start to break the unhealthy monopolies these supermarkets chains seem to have.
Woah.....having recently been married to a farmer for 35 years and with a sister in farming, please dont get me started on farmers.......
Just to clarify, the models and specifications of eZee bikes sold by Cyclezee are the same as elsewhere in the world, the only difference is ours come with a left hand throttle rather than a right hand one.If anyone can find an eZee bike from the curret range at a lower equivalent Sterling retail price anywhere on the planet than from Cyclezee I will give that person £100
We had farm subsidies before we entered the EEC , I worked in the industry in the 70s, and it main reason was to keep the price of certain produce ie : beef, cheaper for the consumerWoah.....having recently been married to a farmer for 35 years and with a sister in farming, please dont get me started on farmers.......
Otherwise I might start asking why they have to be subsidised left right and centre by ultimately the taxpayer, when most other businesses get no help whatsoever.....
And as garry says, food production is a very different ball game as I had said previously.....not that I agree with supermarkets dictating to food producers what they are allowed to sell their produce for....far from it......but lets face it , farmers get way more financial help through subsidies than other businesses.....no sign of it stopping either whilst we are in the EU.......so hardly a level playing field is it ?
Lynda
Yes I know jazper, but the subsidies have actually escalated to ludicrous proportions since then.......and it certainly isnt working to keep beef cheaper now is it.
