Thieving Smurfs

[daverobson]

Well I've only just finished selling off my SAK collection & the Company Doctor has passed me fit for work.
Fortunately, I'll be back to work & earning again in a week or two.
So to celebrate I thought I'd do the decent thing & buy a couple of SAK's (as you do).

Thinking I would support local business I contacted the nearest Victorinox stockist, I nearly fell ill again when I saw the reply.

"Dave
Yes, we do stock quite a few of the Victorinox Swiss Army Knives.
We have the Explorer in stock at £41.99, but the Farmer would be a one we would have to order in for you."

£41.99 for an Explorer? 
I hate to think what they'll ask for ordering a Farmer.

I can order an Explorer online & have one delivered to the door for £28.99
Smurf me, for an extra £4 I could order a Swiss Champ.

Where on earth do these places get their prices from?
It goes without saying that when I start buying again it will not be from a local outlet. 

Rant Over

[Chako]

Overhead, employee pay, etc...

[Philby]

http://www.swisstool.co.uk/st/product.php?productid=310&cat=249&page=1
£26.95 from swisstool delivered, your local shop not getting them for much cheaper than this. Selling for £41.99, £23.04 is too much to make off this single item; 54.87%.
If they can't afford to sell them cheaper, they're going to struggle to survive.

[daverobson]

Thanks for the link Philby.
I've been looking at this one: http://www.minitools.co.uk/products/victorinox/large.htm
I can get an Explorer & Farmer from them for £49.98 delivered.

The trouble is, the local stockists main business is for the Shooting & Fishing fraternity (Firearms, Air Weapons, Fishing Tackle etc.) they only sell a few pointy things as a side line.

[Migripper]

I always try to support local business and will even pay a little more locally but they have to be close to the internet price.  The markup on that one is crazy.

[Joe58]

Some shops do tend to charge full retail and then some, but for other local outlets I would imagine that it's getting harder and harder to get by with most people choosing online ordering. And not just sporting goods/knives, but about everything. Books, clothes, kitchen needs, etc.

They need to charge more trying to meet expenses which in turn leads more people towards online shopping, and on & on. Tough to stay open.

But with everyone's budgets being pretty tight, it's hard to support the local shops, when online prices are so attractive. I guess that's the way it is now days with ecommerce ruling the roost so to say. There is just no way local shops can compete with online sources for pricing.

[Philby]

They said the internet; e-mail and social networking sites would be the death of the letter and the postman. Old postie has had a resurgence because of the internet, delivering everyone's parcels from online shopping!

[Mr. Whippy]

The way I deal with this sort of thing is thus:

"Dear local store owner,

I would like to buy local.  I realize you can't give me the same price I can get online.  However, I can buy XYZ online for $XX.  How close can you get to that price?

Thanks
Da' Whipster."

If they can't get very close, I buy online, but I give them a chance. 

[daverobson]

Very good idea Mr. Whippy, I think I'll give that a go in the morning.

[Joe58]

The way I deal with this sort of thing is thus:

"Dear local store owner,

I would like to buy local.  I realize you can't give me the same price I can get online.  However, I can buy XYZ online for $XX.  How close can you get to that price?

Thanks
Da' Whipster."

If they can't get very close, I buy online, but I give them a chance. 

Yes, I've done this a few times as well. Sometimes it'll work and other times it really chaps their behind.

I'm always polite and try to explain it reasonably and understand the owners view as well.

But, yeah, it's tough now days on the small business person I'm sure. And I'm guessing that everywhere it's a similar situation. With my iPad or phone, I can be shopping on the other side of the planet on the blink of an eye from my own living room.

[PTRSAK]

 find that some local small businesses here have completely laughable prices on MTs and SAKs.
In the mall nearest me there is a Key cutting/shoe repair kiosk with a few LMs in his display cabinet priced at about DOUBLE what you can get them for still in a bricks and morter store just by shopping around. This of course works out to about TRIPLE the average online price.

[daverobson]

The way I deal with this sort of thing is thus:

"Dear local store owner,

I would like to buy local.  I realize you can't give me the same price I can get online.  However, I can buy XYZ online for $XX.  How close can you get to that price?

Thanks
Da' Whipster."

If they can't get very close, I buy online, but I give them a chance. 

Well I gave it a try Mr. Whippy,
I got in touch with the local stockist & gave this online link as an example of price difference.
http://www.minitools.co.uk/products/victorinox/explorer.htm

This is the reply I just received.

"Hi Dave

Thanks for your email

I’m not sure how or why they are giving the knives away at very low prices. One possibility is that they are not aware of a price increase in September last year

I see they are quoting the high street price of £34.99. This was the price from 2010 to September 2013 when the price was increased to £41.99

Either way I understand how you may have to choose the mail order route on this occasion".

So it looks like the local stockist is charging full price & the online stores have left their prices at the previous RRP.

[detron]

The way I deal with this sort of thing is thus:

"Dear local store owner,

I would like to buy local.  I realize you can't give me the same price I can get online.  However, I can buy XYZ online for $XX.  How close can you get to that price?

Thanks
Da' Whipster."

If they can't get very close, I buy online, but I give them a chance. 

Well I gave it a try Mr. Whippy,
I got in touch with the local stockist & gave this online link as an example of price difference.
http://www.minitools.co.uk/products/victorinox/explorer.htm

This is the reply I just received.

"Hi Dave

Thanks for your email

I’m not sure how or why they are giving the knives away at very low prices. One possibility is that they are not aware of a price increase in September last year

I see they are quoting the high street price of £34.99. This was the price from 2010 to September 2013 when the price was increased to £41.99

Either way I understand how you may have to choose the mail order route on this occasion".

So it looks like the local stockist is charging full price & the online stores have left their prices at the previous RRP.

 

[RT1969]

Is there the "I am able to sell it to you for the reduced price of XX.XX, though." missing or is this just a "I give up. Go shop elsewhere." email?

At least mention that you can give direct contact and customer service. This sounds like he is really trying not to sell... 

[daverobson]

Is there the "I am able to sell it to you for the reduced price of XX.XX, though." missing or is this just a "I give up. Go shop elsewhere." email?

At least mention that you can give direct contact and customer service. This sounds like he is really trying not to sell... 

There was no indication of them lowering their prices. It was definitely a "I don't care, go elsewhere" reply.