internet shopping

[pidgeon chit welder]

Very narrow viewpoints on here. Shops exist to provide that one-to-one service that online doesn't give. To do that they have expenses to cover - rent, rates, stock, gas, electric, wages (owner and staff), tills, card machines, advertising, delivery charges, carpets, displays, taxes and a million other things. Many people want the convenience of going to the shop and buying there, obviously the net dwellers and computer savvies on here don't.

Shops have to have a margin to justify their existence, don't berate them for that. After all, nobody on here would work for nothing, would they? Why should shopkeepers? The death of the high street may well be predicted by some on here, but that will be the death of the country in my opinion. You will just get ghost towns with bars, clubs, pound shops, charity shops, fast food outlets, druggies, drunks and all the associated crap that comes with such activities. Places where god fearing people dread to walk. Many decent towns are suffering from this already.

The internet is not the solution to kife, not at all. Price isn't everything.

If you go to the USA Canada & a host of other countries you'll be struck at the fewer numbers of shops they have ..I think Old Boney said we " The British were a nation of shopkeepers".

The shopping on line is moving quickly ..saw a blurb today saying order & pay for it on your phone and we guarantee to bring it to the shop in two hours , while you shop elsewhere or have a pizza.
Then there were some conditions of latest order time etc.

Not a bad idea as it keeps your exposure to rates , and fixed costs down if you do a regular milkrun round six or seven stores all serviced out of a automated pick, pack ,pallet ( stack )and pointing system as well as auto loading to three or four gas running small cargo vans whe operated from places like old sold MOD barracks & airfield wharehouses close to major road & motorway cross overs .

They then have a major artic truck milkruns from the central wharehouses like the massive places up by Northampton & Milton Keynes that service the smaller wharehouses all using the JUSTIN stock system .

It also keeps those who want to do touchy feely shopping for things in the businesses buying loop .

I forsee very soon that you will be able to visit a retail groups " Shop " and in it all the businesses in the retail group will have single item display space for every single different item that the group stocks and it will be then done as above ... order & pay for it online and you pick it up in 2 hrs at a minimum cost in the " store " , get it delivered to your home and incur extra costs.

But there will still be shops for all sorts of things but just not so many & that is where the cat gets in among the pigeons .
For the local authority revenues will reduce dramatically , we will have to have a massive review on how local authorities spend our money ( currently like water ?? ) and what they spend it on .

 

[Ed.]

Unfortunately it's not always the retailer that is the cause of the higher pricing, I live downunder in Oz and a few years ago I wanted to buy a 2 speed 50W overhead game fishing reel. The price from the local fishing tackle shop was upwards of AU$900, I ended up paying AU$350 delivered from overseas. I mentioned it to the tackle store owner at a later date and he said that the Authorised Distributor for that brand was charging him about $700 for it, by the time he put on the GST and the shops overheads, his delivery costs etc. etc. and then his margin to make some profit, he would be lucky to make $50 selling it for $900.

The Importers/distributor in this case were to blame for this situation as they are really getting a nice fat profit margin while the tackle shop owners who do all the work demonstrating and having display stock get very little and have to compete against the internet shoppers. If the price was, let's say within $50 or so then I would have bought it from him, but I couldn't justify paying $900 as against $350 delivered to my door.

The Shimano distributor in OZ is actually cheaper in some products than from overseas and I have bought several of their reels from this dealer. So if they can do it then so can the the other brands if they choose to if they weren't so greedy.

I think this wholesaler needs a wake up call as more and more people will order from overseas, first to suffer and fail will be the local stores and then in turn the Wholesaler.

 

[Shox Dr]

Ed. Retailers over here, want at least 150% profit for anything less than £100. 100-200 they might drop to 100%. over that and the margin drops, but it all depends on what it is.

You only have to see the price of the same item in the sales to see how much it can be sold for and the retailer STILL make profit

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Ed. Retailers over here, want at least 150% profit for anything less than £100. 100-200 they might drop to 100%. over that and the margin drops, but it all depends on what it is.

You only have to see the price of the same item in the sales to see how much it can be sold for and the retailer STILL make profit

The days of a sole wholesale distributor are numbered for many of them as more and more big names realize the impact of the net .

Factories running 24/7 have opened up factory shop unbranded or local name stuff goods internet sales units and are selling idenitcal but unbranded or strange name brands as well as supplying the big international names .. they don't care who buys their goods so long as they are being purchased .

A case study is our massive10 pint slow cooker branded with DELTA as the name & having an arrow design for the logo .....cost £19.90 from Aldi .
An identical one branded as Morphy Richards was on sale in John Lewis for £48 and Tesco for £45 .. I checked the info plate under the cooker to be certain it was identical.

It's the same with fishing reels lots of big names , they ask a factory for a reel to a price and have a few bits added or subtracted to make it unique to them ..gone are the days of a fishing gear company making all their own stuff ..it would be so expensive . That said most do manufacture a small range of their own gear and yes it is the top end stuff usually.

 

[brightspark]

well the thermostat arived ordered yesterday here today £30.00 ALL IN the wholesalers wanted £60.00 and couldnt get them till after new year what proffit could i mark up if it had cost me 60 quid to fit for a customer nothing i couldnt justify putting anything on for it it

 

[NigelAylesbury]

It’s the difference in cost between what the car manufactures pay for parts and what they cost as spares that annoys me.
I know one major manufacturer pays less than £1:50/engine for a full set of big end, thrust, camshaft and main bearings shells. These would cost you over a £60 a set at a motor factors.

 

[Robotstar5]

It’s the difference in cost between what the car manufactures pay for parts and what they cost as spares that annoys me.
I know one major manufacturer pays less than £1:50/engine for a full set of big end, thrust, camshaft and main bearings shells. These would cost you over a £60 a set at a motor factors.

It's called buying power, they order by the 10,000's so get it cheaper in bulk. I bought an alloy wheel and tyre when I worked for Rover at cost plus 5%, grand total of £17!, I priced the tyre alone at £32+vat from local tyre place.

 

[matt1978]

I don't know what the answer is, but i would be sad to see the end of the high street. As already said, its easy to slag off the shops and shop keepers but they do have massive overheads (anyone who rents a industrial unit will know how expensive that is, but then you can x10 that amount for retail space) and the comments about parking costs etc are all valid, but one thing that winds me up about our nation is that we are all so hypocritical.

All of us want the best in life but we all want to spend the lest on it where ever possible. I include myself in that, its just human nature. We want to earn great money and provide for our familys and have a good life, but we all try to find any loophole/shortcut that we can to cut money from someone else's pocket (legally of course) whenever we can.

I agree there is no sense in in paying over the odds for things but there is also something satisfying about choosing somthing that you like in a shop and buying it there and then over the counter and taking it home with you. I guess it comes down to whether you enjoy the whole retail experience or not.

Local councils do load parking charges, but to me, its just like the police and the obsession with speeding, I definatley dont agree with it, but its just another stealth tax to bring money to the country or the local council because we/they simply spend/waste money faster than we raise.

 

[Shox Dr]

10-15years ago most people would just pay the RRP, some would shop around.

10-15yrs on and everyone can see many prices at the click of a mouse. Now that would be OK (for the UK retailer) BUT the internet doesn't just show UK prices it shows the world market prices.

It is this realisation that we are paying far higher costs for many items that has got peoples backs up.

As someone has suggested retailers are becoming importer and retailer of their own "brand" but it's only a badge, no different to the next retailer importing it in Blue with their badge fitted. It would be so bad but the retailer still insists on charging over the top for said box.

Case in point LED torches; Make "A" from UK retailer £150, direct from HongKong £20 inc p+P. Even if the retailer paid £20 for the light*, with shipping DUTY and handling on top, where do they get 150quid from??


Greed and nothing else





*Very unlikely more like 10USD per item if that, but then they might have to buy 100 for that price

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

I have been wandering around the likes of B&Q when I noticed something strange . The lights I fitted in our lounge two years ago are 12 volt 10 or 20 watt ones . When I opened a box at home one of the pencil shades was broken . I tried to ring the help number and it was number unobtainalble . Subsequent contact with B&Q gives me a new number and when I quote the reference the people at the other end said .
Well that company has been closed down for three years or more You will not be able to get a replacement shade .

I go back to B&Q with this , they recheck what i said and say go to the shelf and see if there is a light on it if so bring it here and we will give you a shade from it.

Luckily yes there was a light fitting ..I get the shade and am happy .

Today I see the exact same lights one box is open so I peek in it and see the same Pauls light company as the place to contact incase of complaint.

The sellotape on the internal packing has now melted into the cardboard and seeped along the fibres of the packing.

It looks like somewhere in some country or other there is a massive storehouse of stuff made five or more years ago slipping the gear into the stores .

Interestingly the prices are almost double what I paid and if the old saying of money halves in value every ten years holds true then that means there has been a massive price hike from £37 to £75 in two years .( Latest price is a special sale item price )

This is one side of the internet sales that you can get caught out on so you need to know the latest spec and if possible get an eyeball on the goods before buying on line in good faith.

 

[rtbcomp]

I can see something developing into a situation soon.

Just orderd a vacuum cleaner from Comet on line. Entered my debit card details (VISA) and it rejected it. Tried again, same thing. The third time I entered by VISA number as a VISA ELECTRON card and it went through OK, even though my card is not an Electron card!

BUT I then recieved three confirmation emails, each with a different order number, for 1 vacuum cleaner each.

So I've Emailed Comet to ask them to cancel two orders and refund two lots of payments.

What are the chances of it all working out smoothly?

 

[mike os]

Answers on a postcard?

 

[Debs.]

I then received three confirmation emails, each with a different order number, for 1 vacuum cleaner each.

That really sucks!

 

[rtbcomp]

Just had my card debited 3 times, no reply from my Email to Comet!

 

[Debs.]

Just had my card debited 3 times, no reply from my Email to Comet!

......

 

[Drains]

That's a great con - tell you your card's rejected but take the money anyway!

Phone your bank Roger! Now!

 

[brightspark]

I can see something developing into a situation soon.

Just orderd a vacuum cleaner from Comet on line. Entered my debit card details (VISA) and it rejected it. Tried again, same thing. The third time I entered by VISA number as a VISA ELECTRON card and it went through OK, even though my card is not an Electron card!

BUT I then recieved three confirmation emails, each with a different order number, for 1 vacuum cleaner each.

So I've Emailed Comet to ask them to cancel two orders and refund two lots of payments.

What are the chances of it all working out smoothly?

looks like they have CLEANED UP ON U not with the hoover niether

 

[mike os]

sucked him dry

phone card company too

 

[Ed.]

I would be calling your bank, explain what happened and getting them to cancel the transactions.

 

[rtbcomp]

I would be calling your bank, explain what happened and getting them to cancel the transactions.

I got a reply on Saturday, New Year's Day, apologising for the error, they have cancelled two of the vacuum cleaners and promised a refund.

If they got stroppy I was simply going to return two of them under the distance selling regulations.

I wondered about contacting the bank, but will leave that as a last resort as it's all probably a bit too complicated for them to understand.