Charged for trying on riding gear?

Was talking to my old boss in Sydney on Thursday, hes closing the doors to
the retail and accessories section, and just relying on the workshop to survive.
Theres no money in accessories/clothes etc with people ordering everything
over the net.

Hes been in that one location for 30yrs next month! Sad to see the old
place go.

But what he did say was several shops are now to attempt to stop window shopping/just
tryin on gear and pissin off with the sizing to the USA and to stay alive
are now charging $50 to try on helmets/jackets/pants etc. If you buy them
from there you get the $50, of not **** off to the interwebs and order them
but they get *something* out of the sale...

Has anyone been charged for tryin on gear?

 

Damned stupid idea , not only would it drive away genuine customers but
once sized you can be certain they wont be back , many would steal
something to get the cash back another way if it were not refundable

 

I'd say your old boss is making up stories cos he's lost the plot. No
retailer with even half a brain would try such a stunt. They'd know
it's a sure-fire way of going broke even quicker.


=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

thats what I was thinking, but motorcycle stores arent known for being full
of smart staff.

 

This same scenario was reported a few months back for the ski
industry. Charging people money for trying on ski boots, refunding if
a purchase is made. Seems that ordering ski boots from overseas is a
popular option.

 

Weren't you saying it was their BOSS who was floating the idea?

I guess once online retailers get even smarter, like providing a "size
calulator" on their website where you punch in some critical
measurements e.g. chest, armpit-to-wrist, and out pos the size you
need for a particular brand/style, it'll be sayonara for a lot more
shops.

Aren't words like "progress", "prodictivity" and "efficiency"
interesting? After "the crash", these words will have even quainter
meanings...

But I digress...

=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

It'd be the last thing I heard before I walked out the doors.

Honestly that's not a serious suggestion, is it?

 

I sometimes hear older people bemoan the loss of their Butcher, Greengrocer,
Deli, Newsagent ect ect. "We used to have a community atmosphere, a main
street where people could meet, have a coffee and a chat now all there is is
a cold generic supermarket. We're all the poorer for it. Bloody
Supermarkets are a curse on society I say"

The smaller vendor could not compete with the larger supermarkets and their
cheaper goods due to their economy's of scale.
The white Goods and Brown Goods retailers are now about to experience their
demise. In another decade we'll be telling the younger set" You used to
able to walk into a shop and see a washing machine, see how solid it was,
how thick the steel housing was and how heavy the agitator was. Now you
gotta wait till it arrives and pay the return fee if it's shit. They're
never as good as they look on the Bloody internet"

The Motorcycle Accessory retailer will suffer the same fate.

But I cant help think to myself when I encounter the supermarket bashing
set- Well you decided to shop there and abandon the small guy, no one forced
you.
Same Same -we all will destroy the local MC accessory retail industry, They
cannot possibly compete on price and generally people wont pay much at all
for service. We'll have to rely on revives and impressions to decide our
next jacket, helmet and boots and pay the return fee when we find they're
not what we expected.

It's called progress.

Capt. A. L.

 

I'm not surprised they are going broke with business practices like that.

Fraser

 

A lot of them are already doing this now. Hell, I wouldn't bother being
ripped off with bricks and mortar shops now. Once you know your size
why pay full whack?

Fraser

 

Its a vicious circle. The more business traditional stores lose to on-line
traders the less stock they carry. The less stock they carry, less customers
will come in to try it on and the more business they will lose to on-line
traders.

Many years ago I set up an IT accessories retail business that carried no
stock. You rang up and asked for what you wanted and it was delivered to your
door within 24 hours. Instead of the usual 200% to 400% markup, I marked up by
only 10%. I was not very popular with traditional retailers I can tell you! It
wasn't long before the competition tightened its belt and matched my pricing.
One or two disappeared soon afterward though.

As to trying on gear, living in a rural area its a luxury for me. I never got
the matching pants to my dririder nordic coat because the local retailer
doesn't carry short leg variants and I'm not game to but a $200+ item without
trying it for size. I'll end up going down to Brisbane if I can find a stockist
with a good range. I won't buy off the net after using a shop to get fitted
out. That would be unethical.

 

Most sites have sizing calculators and let you send stuff back.

Pubs.

I'm just not convinced. I don't mind paying retail in a shop but when
they are asking 200% more than online that is just taking the piss and
the bastards deserve to go broke.

Fraser

 

On 07/05/11 2:12 PM, Jordan wrote:

Oh, yes, I remember them.

My (in)famous yellow leathers were bought there.

I went in and asked about a suit of touring leathers.

The bloke said, yup, we do a zip together two piece suit, in black, with
yellow and red stripe.

I said, well, if there is such a thing as yellow leather, can I have a
suit built in yellow, with black and red stripe.

Hang on, sez the bloke, picks up phone, and talks to the person who
built the leathers...... in English, not Urdu.

Yup, he tells me, although since they are so weird and lairy, I'd have
to pay 50% up front since they'd never sell another yellow suit.

Got measured, bought suit, and still fit in it now!

I miss that kind of shop.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

I miss being able to fit in my old leathers. : )

Fraser

 

Yep, bought my first helmet from there.. A black shiny Shoei.

Bit of an Aladdins Cave of stuff.

 

Hello Fraser,

they are asking 200% more than online that is just taking the piss and the
bastards deserve to go broke.

You must really have missed out on what to me bike ridin has always been
about.

How the **** do you get personal service from an email? To me nothing better
than personal service for everything. I've never bought something online
and had it fitted to my bike or car free.

 

Yep, you cant blame people shopping overseas for some shit. Specially with
some of the price savings. I just like to try stuff on myself before buying
it. being a fat prick, its always wise to try before you buy

Charging people money for trying on ski boots, refunding if

 

My local butcher is 1 block down from my local greengrocer with my local
newsagent in the middle of them (yes seriously).

The local butcher has nicer meat than the supermarket, the local
greengrocer has nicer fruit and vegetables and the newsagent has
tattslotto and a selection of magazines quite a lot wider than the
supermarket does.

The butcher and the greengrocer survive because even thought they are
more expensive they're selling a better quality product.

Not everyone buys purely on price, the big issue bike accessory shops
face is they're trying to sell the same product for more money not a
better product for more money.

They need to add enough 'total product value' to attract premium customers.

I suspect a shop front that did custom altered cordura riding gear would
do ok with us short fat buggers (just an example).


G-S

 

Yes, these days it's not enough to just sell stuff, there has to be more
to the service (and I don't mean leaving bits of fingernail under the
inner visor on my helmet so I had to take it apart and reassemble it myself.

 

Paying retail rents and real wages isn't cheap but as a lot of people
have found out the stealers can go a bit overboard sometimes.
I only go south twice a year, and have a jolly good time shopping for
good stuff while I'm there. Anyway back to the bike bits part.

I went into Fairways Honda in Rocky to try on some gear. There was a
young salesman in the store and so I started asking to try stuff on.
Boots, roost protector, asked about goggles, looking for my size in
riding suit, shin protectors, writing prices on a scrap of paper as we
went. At first he was overly helpful, as I walked away from one item,
seemingly uninterested after another and rattling of strange stories of
riding in jungles up mountains, he showed less and less interest and
finally walked away. I kept looking at gear for a while unassisted but
soon the spare parts guy came out as I had known his family from years
ago, and the previous salesman in tow. Scott was helpful and I wandered
over to the parts counter and started asking about parts for my XR,
sprockets, chain valve cover caps, chain tool etc, again scribbling down
prices as I went. I must have seemed like the looky loo on steroids.

After exhausting my mental list, and doing some sums in my head, I asked
Scott if he would look after me with the price, he said he would.

At that point I started rattling off the list. Soon the counter was a
jumbled mess of bits and pieces and I had a list of parts they had to
order. The prices of the gear was a little more than eBay but I knew
everything fit. The total was considerably less than quoted as Scott had
kept his word, I was a happy camper. When I realised that I had change I
remembered I didn't have a gear bag so I picked one of those with the
savings. I know that with that many items eBay would have been a
nightmare, especially the size 14 boots, usually a 12, as would have
been delivery times, as I'm only down for 2 weeks.

If you know exactly what you want and what size the internet is a good
place to buy. If you want real advice now, or more importantly in the
future, buy what you can locally (or at least a bricks and mortar), even
if that means waiting for a sale price. Getting Yetti size gear is
tricky but well worth it for a good fit.



--
Brad Leyden
6° 43.5816' S 146° 59.3097' E WGS84
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