Has anyone here dealt with wholesalers in Australia? I know that in the US they normally want a photo of a physical shop front before they’ll sell you stuff in order to protect the retailers already being supplied. Is it the same here? Who have people dealt with and what have they been like?
Cheers,
T.
No I haven’t. But it wouldn’t be hard to take a photo of a shop front.
It begs the question, why do you want to?
Like any wholesaler/distributor, you’d need to open an account, give me ABN details, meet their minimum order requirements etc etc. It’s not as easy as saying ‘yeah I have a [fake] shop, can you give me those Sugino cranks at cost please?’
You’re correct, you can’t purchase from product distributors directly. I’ve had the need to speak to a few directly and the ones that I have spoken to have been happy to give you the info I was after after (I’m talking MTB suspension tech info and other such specific stuff).
My reason for asking is I don’t like paying Melbourne retail prices for stuff like chainring bolts, seatpost bolts, BMX chains, bar tape, etc, etc. I am wondering how feasible it would be to do this wholesale. I don’t mind buying a fair number of each, I don’t mind registering an ABN or setting up an account, but I don’t have a shop front.
I’m pretty sure that you’d never pull it off. It’s probably easier to buy online
So start a shop. Make it an online store. Whatever.
Or you could just go over and punch Shifterbikes Dan in the stomach and take his wallet?
OR drop to his knees and smile like a donut
OK, lots to think about. Thanks to all for advice/encouragement/discouragement etc.
Something else to think about…and I assure you I am not ‘in the trade’…but I do pay more, in some cases , for ‘stuff’ from local shops and/or distributors,and am willing to do so, because I know that they are there when I have a technical issue…or even jusr advice…when I need them. These blokes have a living to make…and ,in my opinion, it is usually based on a love of cycling and cyclists…not on “the bottom line”.
If you are competent enough to buy exactly the right part …and know exactly what to do with it…every time, well, more power to you…but a lot of us(I think), spend time in our LBS getting free advice etc, and I’m willing to support that with a few extra dollars on top of my purchases.
I’m not prone to ranting…but this is something I feel strongly about…apologies if I have put anybody’s nose out of joint…ITP
While you are mentioning wholesale prices, have you looked at http://www.probikekit.com/ ?? They have some pretty good prices on a lot of their stuff and it is generally delivered in under 7 days (excluding postal strikes, out of their control, like recently)
And I agree, the prices for the AU market really suck! One thing to keep in mind also is when a local supplier says that they wont honour anything purchased internationally, check with the actual company first - I believe that a local power tap distributor claim they wont honour the warranty on anything purchased outside of AU but the company themselves said that the local distributor should!
I agree with a couple of people that it’s only fair to shop locally if you need help with stuff and advice, but when it comes to chainring bolts, once you know you want the short ones it seems hard to go wrong (likewise for a bunch of components). I’m not sure that trying to get these as cheap as possible is cutting the throats of the local bike stores (nor does it seem analogous to punching Dan in the stomach and stealing his wallet, since shopping at other local bike stores gives him just as little money). For one thing, if I have a lot of chainring bolts I’ll probably want something to bolt them onto. Still, something to think about.
Also, thanks for the link. Will check them out.
Like you guys, I try to support my LBS as much as possible, even if it means spending a few extra $$'s to get it from them, I really do value the service I get from them, but when we are talking more than a few $$'s (like with tyres etc) then I am sorry, I am going to shop OS - it really does suck for the bike shops in AU though