[POLL] Local verses overseas online shops

[AUbicycles]

Overseas online shops such as Wiggle, c r c, Evans and more recently Cycling Express are cricitised by Australian business as exploiting GST and Customs threshholds to grab sales, it is often forgotten that local online bike shops such as Cell Bikes, Torpedo7, Pushys, TBSM, BikeBug, Velogear and Reid are strong. While T7 is from New Zealand and technically avoid GST and customs, I tend to call them local (Aus).

In this poll I am exploring personal preferences - whether the location of a shop has an affect on where you prefer to purchase, when all other things are equal.

Feel free comment. If your prefer not to buy online, I am afraid this poll is not for you and not included these exclusions.

[}SkOrPn--7]

I shop anywhere that has the goods I want at a price that is acceptable and for the aussie outlets I'm willing to wait to have the order filled providing it's within a decent time frame.

Ricky

[BiciBoy]

I prefer local online such as bikebug, purely for the fact of returning an item.
I ordered the wrong size pair of shoes once from c r c, return post cost me $60 and took nearly 3 weeks to get the right pair and have them sent over.
On the other hand, a mate ordered the wrong size shoes from bikebug, they sent him to the nearest TOLL depo, and he posted them back then and there, and dispatched the correct size shoes that day.

[MattyK]

Doesn't influence me much. Things like shipping time do. Also if I can bundle an item into an order with more stuff, rather than making two orders. Especially if shipping costs are involved.

[find_bruce]

For me the big factors are (1) cost, (2) ease of use of the website (3) availability - eg as MattyK says do they have all of the bits I want. Sometimes however I have not planned well enough in advance & delivery becomes critical which is where local on-line usually wins out - as long as it is in stock & on overnight delivery.

Tyres are a really good example of (2) - when buying you want a particular diameter wheel & have a width or range of widths in mind. I am regularly surprised at how many websites expect you to wade through the details of dozens or more tyres to find IF they have the size you need.

Some don't have a filter for diameter or width such as cycling express.

Most websites filter filter by diameter but not width, such as Bike 24, Cell Bikes, Wiggle, T7, Evans, Velogear. At least Velogear mostly include the width in the description

There are only a few sites that filter by both diameter & width. c r c is the one that springs to mind, but they have other issues - the size may not be in stock or may be twice the "priced from".

[HappyHumber]

total price (i.e. full basket + Shipping) & reputation counts for me more than location.

I might be more inclined to shop domestically online whereby I only am ordering one or two items and the shipping is generally cheaper, by scale, than overseas.

Historically, I have tended to order big (by number of items) to better capitalise on free shipping or 'making the most' of what I am paying for S+H if sourcing from overseas.

[macca33]

I've used Wiggle, Chain Reaction, PBK and Evans, as well as BikeBug, Cell and Cycling Express - they all come to the party in providing great service and value for money - location doesn't matter.

cheers

[lobstermash]

I've tried a number of different online retailers, most of them only once. A couple of cents here and there doesn't make much of a difference, but range, ease of finding suitable products and predictable delivery times are the key things that influence where I shop. 99% of the time I order from Cell or Wiggle.

[silentC]

It has been awhile since I purchased something from an O/S store (other than T7) so this may be a perception that needs correcting, but I try to buy closer to home to reduce the shipping delay. I'm impatient, so if I can get it close to the same price from an Australian store, I'll buy it there on the expectation that it will arrive sooner. Having said that, I've had things take more than a week from T7.

[V8rider]

I generally prefer to use local online, because of delivery times. I've had some great experiences with both Bikebug and Velogear where I've had stuff delivered within 24 hours. Overseas can't compete with that, but often can compete with better (or different) range.

[Parker]

I always purchase my bikes in Australia and my clothes online, my preference is to do with cost and not to do with service provided because most of the time I am well educated in knowing exactly what I want.

[RonK]

Price, range, availability, delivery and service drive my purchasing decisions. Location counts for almost nothing.

The unfortunate truth is that more often than not it's the online stores which excel at these criteria.

[rodneycc]

A lot of the time it comes down to availability and free delivery...

[MattyK]

it's probably stating the obvious here but:

* Bike parts and accessories are small and easily/cheaply transported
* Bike parts are typically the exact same product regardless of who you buy them from.
* Bike parts rarely need warranty support

All of which combine to make the point of sale (which is rarely the point of origin anyway) pretty much irrelevant.

[rangersac]

I'll always have a look at an Australian based site first, and my preference is to go locally for ease of warranty and delivery times provided the cost difference isn't great. I don't feel guilty ordering from OS though if I can't find what I'm after/ or if the price difference is significant

[wgc138]

It comes down to three in such particular order - price, availability and convenience/delivery. Having experienced more than a few purchases lately from many online retailers, delivery times are mixed even from the same retailer but there is one or two I'd gladly avoid in the future.

Price is the biggest deciding factor and any retailers, including local, who can price their goods aggressively will get my business each time.

Service is hard to evaluate as the line is only crossed when there is something wrong, if at all.

[AUbicycles]

Interesting poll results with just over 50 responses
33% would favor an online shop that was local and 59% say that the shop location makes no difference.

Good news for local business is that the 'buy local' (when all other things are equal) will win the favor from 1/3 of bike shop customers.
The other good news - because all things are not equal - is that customers are not buying overseas 'just' because they are overseas. So this is also an opportunity that local business which is competitive and better can win sales.

[Tzantushka]

Agree with others that the 'ease of use' for online websites is a big factor.
Nothing worse than tooling around for hours with no outcome.

The other factor on local versus o/s online is clothing.
Seeing as I'm relatively new, I like to try it on before I buy.