Ribble Cycles
-
- Posts: 106
- Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:05 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby foz » Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:22 am
-
- Posts: 381
- Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 8:33 am
- Location: Sydney, NSW
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby Zippy7 » Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:42 pm
I've never bought from Ribble, but since I can see obvious price gouging comparing their Aussie website redirect vs the .co.uk, I highly doubt I will try them out. Even Bikebug.com.au has better pricing on some of the stuff I was looking at.
- biker jk
- Posts: 7009
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:18 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby biker jk » Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:42 am
I couldn't log in to the new .au site the other day. Admittedly, the live chat support was very good. But the new web site had major problems from day one and is still worse than the old site. Prices have risen significantly and the minimum spend for free postage is almost $50 higher (now $149). So overall, the Ribble service has deteriorated since the family business sold to private equity investors.AUbicycles wrote:I fear it could the 'same old' story for Ribble. I have never received a response from them which has ranged from their website contact forum, through to direct emails and phone calls (no answer). Spotting the news of their focus on Australia - I reached out again... and still no response.
What it means, they will continue to sell and will try a few approaches such as a .com.au but it will be sporadic and they wont really take the same steps as wiggle for an actual Australian presence.
It doesn't mean that it is bad for customers (you won't receive better or worse service / contact than before) however their past approach and recent approach suggests that Australian Ribble Cycles customers wont see significant changes.
@foz - Ribble are not connected to Chain Reaction Cycles. Rather Wiggle bought-out / merged with Chain Reaction Cycles.
-
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:32 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby 2ndeffort » Fri Jun 03, 2016 4:35 pm
My expectation is that the execs hired by the new owners are on some kind of incentive plan to grow sales. Wen they look at their demographic and where their potential growth comes from they see a large number of sales coming from Oz. They look at how they can grow that base, what are they not selling, how can they sell more etc and they decide on selling us their direct to market bikes rather than just cut-price parts. i dont know about you guys but i buy my bikes from a bloke called Dave at my LBS. i might be tempted by a 25% discount on a saddle or set of tyres or garmin from overseas but i am not buying an unknown brand of bike that i cant test ride, delivered from the UK.
Sad as I've been very happy with Ribble in the past, looks like big business and market consolidation moving in and the bargains are moving out.
- AUbicycles
- Site Admin
- Posts: 15589
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:14 am
- Location: Sydney & Frankfurt
- Contact:
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby AUbicycles » Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:49 pm
Also note - the website will attempt to push you to the Australian site - so check the URL. To check prices you can clear your cookies
Continental GP4000S II Tubular
Ribble Actual Aus price - $112.99 (= £56.80)
Ribble Actual UK price - £52.63 (= $104.71 AUD)
Result - Aussie store $7.98 dearer
Shimano Ultegra Double 6800 11 Spd Chainset
Ribble Actual Aus price - $213.99 (= £107.59)
Ribble Actual UK price - £99.16 (= $197.22 AUD)
Result - Aussie store $16.77 dearer
Summary
This is a tiny sample however suggests that there is a price difference and that the prices in the Australian Ribble store are inflated. It could be chance, but I selected these at random as common items.
As 2ndeffort suggests, this misses the point as the motivation for Australian cyclists to purchase online and purchase overseas is price.
If customers compare with the local online competitors (Cell, BikeBug, etc) and overseas competitors (Wiggle, c r c, etc) then the Australian specific site with inflated prices suggests that they havn't looked close enough at the Australian market and tried to understand buying patterns and motivations.
In the Australian market - online retailer reputation plays a massive part - retailers can improve on their reputation over time this type of things tends to spread and become broadly known among consumers.
Christopher
-
- Posts: 509
- Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:19 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby Top_Bhoy » Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:29 pm
I have bought a lot of stuff from Ribble over the years (and other retailers as well) but I haven't noted any particular good pricing from them in recent times. I don't like their new website interface either.
If/when Aus applies GST to all online sales, assuming the local suppliers don't jack up their pricing also. the days of the UK online retailer could now be on a downward spiral. The one advantage the UK will likely retain is a better choice of brand and available range.
-
- Posts: 509
- Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:19 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles - now Wiggle
Postby Top_Bhoy » Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:46 pm
I have the ability to pay in GBP at no additional cost so when I change country to remove the VAT element for delivery to Aus (keeping GBP as the currency), the cost of the same pedals for Aus buyers, rises to 46 GBP. As a test I proceeded to checkout and the 46 GBP for Aus buyers is the final price with 0% UK VAT added.
I can only conclude that Wiggle, like the Ribble examples, are also engaging in what I would consider 'hidden pricing' of Australian customers - something to be aware of when looking at Wiggle. When you consider the additional basic cost for Aus buyers and then include the VAT portion, the price difference between the 2 countries quoted by Wiggle, is in my opinion, quite substantial.
Edit: I've just emailed Wiggle customer service to ask whether this differential pricing policy between Aus and UK is across the entire Wiggle product range or have I simply been unlucky and it's an outlier?
Edit (again): Received a response from Wiggle to my query. They state that the final price is not the UK price minus the VAT because of specific contracts and conditions required by their suppliers. Perhaps Ribble are in the same situation. In either case, I rarely use Ribble or Wiggle these days so their no great loss personally.
- rodneycc
- Posts: 2879
- Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne Eastern Suburbs, Victoria
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby rodneycc » Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:27 pm
2013 Lynskey Helix;2013 XACD Ti Di2
2013 Giant TCR Adv SL1;2014 Giant Defy Adv SL
-
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:32 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles - now Wiggle
Postby 2ndeffort » Mon Jun 20, 2016 2:12 am
What I read from that is that local distributors have been filthy that we have all been able to source products from other markets where product is cheaper. They have probably been putting pressure on the international parent and they in turn have been enforcing with anyone large enough to have an Australian presence to up their prices.Top_Bhoy wrote:Received a response from Wiggle to my query. They state that the final price is not the UK price minus the VAT because of specific contracts and conditions required by their suppliers. Perhaps Ribble are in the same situation. In either case, I rarely use Ribble or Wiggle these days so their no great loss personally.
What this says to me is that any of the online shops opening an 'Australian' business are basically adding the Australia tax. In so doing they remove any and all incentive to buy from them. All of the rhetoric about how opening an Australian business is beneficial to Australian consumers seems like BS. I buy something online, it turns up in the mailbox. If I have to pay more because I bought it from a .com.au instead of a .co.uk how does that benefit me as a consumer? Presumably it is easier to return stuff I guess, other than that I cant see a benefit.
There are other UK online shops that haven't yet honoured us with an 'Australian' website and they seem to still be selling at UK/International prices. I think I will buy from them from now on.
- find_bruce
- Moderator
- Posts: 10595
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 8:42 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby find_bruce » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:08 pm
- biker jk
- Posts: 7009
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:18 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby biker jk » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:29 pm
Yes and Wiggle had earlier caved in to pressure from Garmin and stopped selling their products. When they started selling Garmin products again, they were at the much higher Australian local prices.find_bruce wrote:Now that Wiggle has bought Chain Reaction I suspect you will see similar price gouging.
- AUbicycles
- Site Admin
- Posts: 15589
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:14 am
- Location: Sydney & Frankfurt
- Contact:
Re: Ribble Cycles - now Wiggle
Postby AUbicycles » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:59 pm
One very clear trend of the bigger online retailers is that they may calculate prices on a daily basis. When they do the currency exchange - rather than doing a direct exchange and promoting that price, the round up or down to display a nice price.Top_Bhoy wrote:I've been looking at Wiggle this evening
For example - of the exchange price is $8.87 Australian, it may then raise to $8.99 or decrease to $8.49. These are nicer 'marketing' prices.
- Ross
- Posts: 5742
- Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby Ross » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:43 pm
- AUbicycles
- Site Admin
- Posts: 15589
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:14 am
- Location: Sydney & Frankfurt
- Contact:
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby AUbicycles » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:58 am
The bold expansion plans of Ribble to Australia will miss the mark if they add an Australia-Tax. Times have changed and some local Australian online retailers are very competitive against overseas retailers.
-
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2016 2:14 pm
Re: Ribble Cycles
Postby DG1984 » Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:34 am
$219 vs $207.
Return to “Buying a bike / parts”
- General Australian Cycling Topics
- Info / announcements
- Buying a bike / parts
- General Cycling Discussion
- The Bike Shed
- Cycling Health
- Cycling Safety and Advocacy
- Women's Cycling
- Bike & Gear Reviews
- Cycling Trade
- Stolen Bikes
- Bicycle FAQs
- The Market Place
- Member to Member Bike and Gear Sales
- Want to Buy, Group Buy, Swap
- My Bikes or Gear Elsewhere
- Serious Biking
- Audax / Randonneuring
- Retro biking
- Commuting
- MTB
- Recumbents
- Fixed Gear/ Single Speed
- Track
- Electric Bicycles
- Cyclocross and Gravel Grinding
- Dragsters / Lowriders / Cruisers
- Children's Bikes
- Cargo Bikes and Utility Cycling
- Road Racing
- Road Biking
- Training
- Time Trial
- Triathlon
- International and National Tours and Events
- Cycle Touring
- Touring Australia
- Touring Overseas
- Touring Bikes and Equipment
- Australia
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- ACT
- Tasmania
- Northern Territory
- Country & Regional
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users
- All times are UTC+10:00
- Top
- Delete cookies
About the Australian Cycling Forums
The Australian Cycling Forums is a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.
Bicycles Network Australia
Forum Information
Connect with BNA
This website uses affiliate links to retail platforms including ebay, amazon, proviz and ribble.