UKC

I'm looking at buying some new ski bindings. Dynafit Speed Radicals in case it matters. I've found several sources on the internet (Amazon, ebay, Telemark-Pyrenees etc etc) that sell these, in the latest model, for about 230 pounds to 320 Euros. That kind of range. Postage in most cases is between 5 and 10 pounds.

I want to buy in the UK, so I took a look at three 'large outdoor shops in Aviemore'. One didn't list a price, and the other two were so far from the prices available on the internet that I laughed. Typical prices were 330 pounds and above - an extra 100 on a typical European price. About a 50% increase.

Now, as much as I would like to buy in the UK, with prices like that, why would I? I don't for a moment believe it's for after sales service/support. If I were French and bought in France for a cheap price I would have the same after sales care as if I was British and paid more. Except I would have saved a lot of money.

Why do UK shops price these sorts of items much higher than mainland Europe? Or even from the USA and pay shipping costs - it's still cheaper than the UK! Or perhaps I'm asking the wrong question, and it should actually be how does mainland Europe manage to charge prices that are so much less than UK equivalents?

Lastly, before I neglect the UK economy completely and buy online from some other country, does anyone know of any good deals from UK shops for the latest Dynafit Speed Radical?

This is not a post to incite hatred or violence from UKC. It is a badly worded question with the intent of helping me understand why the UK has to pay more for items like ski bindings.

In reply to NottsRich:

Because people in the UK pay up and because importers/distributers/retailers can. Simple really.

I'd buy elsewhere and let the retailer know. Enough people do it and the manufacturer will find that it has no UK retailers and will do something about it.

In reply to NottsRich:

While I can't really address your topic specifically, I can say that not all brands of outdoor gear are cheaper in the US etc. (I do remember skis being something people always felt were 'overpriced'.) Some European brands are around the same after state tax is added, and the US not paying state taxes via the internet is turning their cities and parks into dumps, I think.

However, Ilford photographic film, made in Cheshire, has for a while been cheaper to buy in Italy and Germany and perhaps even Denmark. It is waaaayyy cheaper in the States but that could always be argued away as 'economies of scale'. So it is cheaper to buy in Europe than down the road from the factory. A few years back, one seller was re-importing it and selling it cheaper than shops on the mainland but this was stopped. I think with camera film, you can afford to 'not care' as a manufacturer because you can always sell direct to the UK public via the internet, should independent retail businesses go bust, if you see what I mean...I thought the idea of the EU was all about 'free trade'?

Anyway, more relevant to the outdoors, I remember that when Hillebergs were still being made in Sweden, it was cheaper to buy abroad for Swedes? I cannot get my head around all of it, so never quite understood and I have never seen it clearly explained on the internets. They should do more 'Rip-Off Britain' type investigative journalism on TV.

I do know that some shops in Europe, such as Outdoors24 or Expozzed (?), don't actually have the stock and will advertise it and will answer emails and lie that they have it and waste your time; if that helps at all.

Jon

In reply to NottsRich:

Smaller market in the UK = fewer sales = need for a higher margin on each sale.

Smaller market in the UK = weaker buying power = higher cost to retailer.

At a guess these are probably part of the story, it may not just be the retailer trying to screw you.

In reply to NottsRich:
it's not just UK vs. mainland Europe. When I was in Provence last year I was surprised to see that Beal ropes were actually much more expensive in France than they were in Slovenia. When I say much more expensive I mean like 30% difference in price, which doesn't make any sense at all. Same goes for 70m Mammut Infinity ropes: in Austria they sell for 250 Euros, in Slovenia for 180 EUR and I paid 150 EUR in Arco, Italy. Now as much as I would like to support local shops, I'm not willing to pay that much more for the same product.

If you order from USA, I think you have to pay VAT & import duties, but that's not the case if you order from within the EU.

In reply to NottsRich: In reply to NottsRich:
You can judge by the UK shops response that they aren't selling many units, so they've lost any options for discount there. Then you look at their expenses, and their number of sales and you see what you need to charge to make that square. If you have 3 staff and sell a couple of hundred things, that's very different to the same shop, same staff, only selling 25 a day.

That 330 is about RRP for those bindings isn't it?

The real argument of course is that people in the UK and Austria are overpaid compared to those in say Slovakia. Everyone is keen on a bargain till their job is the one in question, competition.

In reply to NottsRich:

Interesting topic. The question now is which are the best online stores to buy from?

In reply to NottsRich:
Dick's Climbing (purchases in the shop), CragX, Needlesports, and V12 are the usual recipients of my money

In reply to wbo:

A very interesting question there about the RRP for Speed Radical bindings. Dynafit themselves recommend a retail price of 350EUR on their website.

http://www.dynafit.com/en/tlt-speed-radical.html

Converting that to GBP currently gives around 275GBP. Now one of the shops around Aviemore is currently listing that binding for 335GBP, more than Dynafit's RRP. Are British people just extremely trusting or gullible and have been used to just accepting these prices?

How then does a shop in France sell this for 230GBP inc. P&P. Perhaps it's something to do with exchange rates?

In reply to The New NickB:

I wasn't particularly suggesting that UK retailers are out to screw us. I had imagined it was a combination of their suppliers, taxes, import duties etc etc. I just can't see a reason for such a large discrepancy between UK and foreign prices.

As another example, outdoor gear in Australia and NZ is extremely expensive compared to European, UK or American prices. Even with international shipping and import duty it is still almost always cheaper to buy from overseas. I can understand this to a point:

Australia doesn't have a real winter sports industry, so such items are quite specialist/unusual. Touring gear is particularly so.
The wages in Australia are much better than Europe/USA for equivalent jobs, especially for the 'lower end' jobs like the outdoor industry and shop assistants.
Gear like this is not made in Australia and has to be imported.
Snow in Australia is a luxury!

So putting all of that together, I can see why Australia has the most expensive/overpriced ski industry in the world (most expensive lift tickets in the world).

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/the-worlds-most-expensive-ski-fi...

However, none of those really apply to the UK, particularly wages.


Nope, I'm still lost and haven't found a good reason for high UK prices!

In reply to NottsRich:

For just the bindings, you may be able to get a BMC/MCofS discount, which would still mean paying about 20 quid just for the distributor or P&P (at beginning of the year exchange rates). Perhaps it is the distributor's cut?

I know that camera equipment was always insane due to distributors in the UK. Also, NZ and AUS photography prices are even more insane, so none of this surprises me.

If it is not on the shelf in the UK, it is not taking business from UK shops. It is stuff on the shelf not moving - because savings! - that will turn places like Keswick into Pentland. I don't think in cases like this that 'economies of scale' and 'what the market will bear' and 'the cost of doing business in this country' really explain it.

However, there might be a connection between this and 'upselling' to make a living, as this kind of 'deal' doesn't crop up much when making multiple purchases in outdoor shops generally:

"Ski & Binding Packages

When you buy a Dynafit Radical Speed binding and ski we'll fit the binding for you free of charge - and take £30 off the combined cost of ski and binding. Just enter code SK1 at checkout. Skins also trimmed to fit free of charge."

In reply to NottsRich:

It's to do with cost of living and ability to pay. Somewhere like Slovenia or Latvia is cheap because incomes are low and manufacturers have to reduce their prices to actually sell anything. Go to Germany, things are expensive there as well due to the wealth of the nation - why sell cheaper when you'll sell enough at high prices.

In reply to NottsRich:

I'd give Jon at the Piste Office a call:

http://www.jonsskituning.co.uk/index.php

I'd imagine he'd be hard to beat on price and service when it comes to Dynafit in the UK.

However, I agree in general, the likes of Sport Conrad and Telemark Pyrennes are pretty hard to beat, especially their package prices.

In reply to Removed UserZebdi:


The French are rich and the Slovenians poor... simple. Check out 'price gouging' on the internet for more info.