easypedaler
contributor
Reged: 02/08/04
Posts: 149
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As we all know Ebay is a addictive and wonderful source of all kinds of goodies. Some great buys on bike stuff really do exist. BUT where do the sellers get the stuff to sell at some of these prices? Example:
US seller is selling brand name pedals for $90.00. This pedal sells retail for $160.00. This guy lets say has 15 of them. And he is always relisting.
Where do they buy them for a price where they are making money?
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Bike shops are going out of business or selling their excess inventory all the time. There are more than a few companies that actively advertise for distressed bicycle merchandise. There is one LBS here that buys the inventory of local shops that close to prevent it from getting on the grey market.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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TJeanloz
new member
Reged: 02/05/04
Posts: 20
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Some of it is from shops that went out of business. Some is from distributors who are having a hard time moving a particular product. It happens that you import 100 sets of something, 50 each in two colors, one color sells like mad, and you can't pay people to take the other color. Most distributors have regular sale flyers that go out to bike shops that have stuff they want to get rid of cheap. A few years ago, we had a distributor selling Dura-Ace hubs, laced with DT revolutions to Mavic open pros for $100/pair - they just had a ton of them left over and that was less than the rear hub alone cost. We bought like 20 pairs.
That's the legit side of it. It also has to be recognized that e-bay has led to an explosion of inventory shrinkage at bike shops, and a lot of goods are "falling off the truck". It's pretty easy for an employee at a big shop (like a Performance, or Supergo) to walk out with 20 pairs of pedals - they're small, valuable, and can be boxed out into an innocuous looking box. There was a case ~2 years ago where a group of employees in CA had taken and resold ~500k in inventory on e-bay. The good news is that the e-bay economy lends itself to greed, and it's easier to catch a habitual theif than one who only steals very occaisionally.
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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I didn't even want to discuss the shrinkage issue. As a former motorcylcle shop owner I know all about it. But I'm assuming the cost of shrinkage to be worse with a bicycle shop because of the relatively small margins and fewer dollars to spread the loss around. Hell with motorcycles you're working decent margins on $10,000 items and higher margins on valuable accessory items. In bicycle stores there's a bazillion $4.95 type items.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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easypedaler
contributor
Reged: 02/08/04
Posts: 149
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it is interesting how EBay has changed some of they way people buy things. I love my LBS and frequent them for things and all my repairs and labor needs but when you can save $$$$ on a big ticket item...like pedals, it is impossible to resist.
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TJeanloz
new member
Reged: 02/05/04
Posts: 20
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It hasn't really changed as much as you might think. Things have always been availiable cheaper at places other than you LBS. E-bay is generally not any more of a threat than Nashbar ever was. It's interesting, but the internet in general hasn't changed the LBS dynamic as much as everybody thinks it has.
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
TJeanloz wrote:
It hasn't really changed as much as you might think. Things have always been availiable cheaper at places other than you LBS. E-bay is generally not any more of a threat than Nashbar ever was. It's interesting, but the internet in general hasn't changed the LBS dynamic as much as everybody thinks it has.
I agree. I think what the internet has brought to the table is the ability for the 'instant' purchase. Before, customers were willing to wait the time necessary for the shop owner to compile a special order list. Now the internet has given the customer impatience because he can see that the item is available elsewhere, and if the shop doesn't have it in stock, the customer isn't willing to wait. Even though the time from purchase to receiving might be close to the same through both channels. The perception is that the internet is cheaper and quicker. Some cases yes, some no.
Ours being a free-enterprise, capitalistic society, our marketplace evolves. I think a lot of the trouble that LBS have with the internet is when they fight it, rather than embracing it and finding ways to work around it and with it. The shop that fights the internet, I think, is like the store that tries to fight Wal-Mart. Guess who loses? I believe the way a shop can be successful is to use the internet as their own tool to buy, sell, merchandise and ultimately satisfy the consumer.
Unfortunately many consumers have embraced the Wal-Mart mantra that price is everything and the only thing, and while they save some pennies they give short shrift to those who can really help them in the long run.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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terry
new member
Reged: 12/18/03
Posts: 47
Loc: Southeastern MA
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i think that eBay is the best place to go if you are into vintage stuff-and most lbs carry very few, if any, of these items. there are other sources for campy NR/SR/C-record items but not to the extent & availability you can find on ebay. i'm amazed at how many different sources there are that still have an excellent stock of NOS parts. i used to deal with bicycle classics but they never came close to the stock & price you can get on ebay. the other amazing thing re: ebay is some of the prices people will pay for the same item you can get cheaper at the lbs or mailorder-they mustn't do any homework before they bid.
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Spoiler
new member
Reged: 02/05/04
Posts: 15
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True. If you are not caught up in getting the latest and greatest, you can save big dough. NOS classic stems, cranksets, downtube shifters, and hubs are all over the place.
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