The Warehouse selling bike oil

[Ixion]

Well a thread like this really ticks me off. Why the hell should we support any business local or overseas when they would charge us 30-40% more for something that you could otherwise buy off ebay + shipping + taxes cheaper?? Why on earth should I spend my hard earned money putting bread on someone else s table? Is this a charity or have not enough of us New Zealanders understood the laws of supply and demand? Business are "in business" to make money, then why should we as the consumer not want the best price? Bloody ticks me off, I will keep buying from ebay until things get real in NZ. Just purchased me a pair of A stars GP pro gloves for 45% less than what bike shops here offered it to me for (inc shipping) be here in a week. Rant over.

Well, firstly the apparent savings are often less than first appears, by the time freight, taxes, credit card charges, forex charges, insurance etc be added. Secondly there are intangible advantages to buying locally . Goods do sometimes fail to arrive , even though paid for, for a variety of reasons. Sorting that out from the other side of the world is a major hassle. It only takes one bad deal to negate the savings on many deals. Buying locally you see exactly what you are getting . Goods bought over the net may be misdescribed, intentionally or otherwise. Or they may send the wrong item by mistake . Or be out of stock and send a substitute. Again, a nightmare to sort out.

Or, they may not fit. Or the colour may not look as it did in the photos. Or the goods may arrive damaged.

All of these are problems that are costly and time consuming to resolve. None of th occur when buying locally over the counter . My time is valuable to me I don't want to spend it arguing with an eBay seller if I can avoid it. When I buy locaaly the shopkeeper gets stuck with all those problems not me. I think that, worth a premium.

Buying anything isn't just about price it's about value. And the value context includes the personal cost in time and hassle of making the transaction. Make it easy for me and the value goes up.

I,m happy to buy locally even at a premium if only the shops would let me in the doors to do the buying.

[davereid]

I expect fair equitable prices, for I am a consumer and without me you will fail. Fact.
I will shop around for the best deal. Fact.
I understand the laws of demand and supply. Fact.
It's nothing personal. Fact.
Perhaps the younger generations are the ones who actually see the Big Picture and see past the horizons of New Zealand.

Of course, when you buy from overseas, you will often save money.

Remember, that in our modern world, we can move products across borders at will.

The only thing that we cant easily move is people.

So when you buy overseas, if you have a financial advantage from doing so, the reason is that you are actually buying the labour content of the product.

When you buy from asia, its actually their cheap labour you are importing.

Or it may be that you are taking advantage of the economies of scale, and higher productivity, such as when you buy from the USA. And of course your US based supplier does not have a minimum wage to pay, does not have ACC, and does not pay tax to provide universal health care, pensions or unemployment insurance.

But one thing is sure.

If you keep importing cheap labour from asia, then you will eventually face earning less. Thats supply and demand law you are so familiar with.

If you keep importing from the US, eventually there will be no free ride on the health care, pension, or unemployment fronts.

You may remain a consumer, but unless you are very skilled, and very productive you will have no income with which to consume.

For if you import everything from overseas, you will import their incomes. And unless you are evry skilled thats not going to be a nice place.

[Woodman]

ya gotta wonder why the red shed or similar haven't started up big box motorcycle shops yet.

would it work? They could put one or more in every significant town/suburb. They would have a larger buying power than the individual shops and could import direct bypassing the distributors. They would benefit from national advertising campaigns. Maybe even sell bikes.
It could slow down the internet sales, but a lot of the profit will still go to China and overseas shareholders etc.

[Cr1MiNaL]

......But one thing is sure.

If you keep importing cheap labour from asia, then you will eventually face earning less. Thats supply and demand law you are so familiar with.

If you keep importing from the US, eventually there will be no free ride on the health care, pension, or unemployment fronts.

You may remain a consumer, but unless you are very skilled, and very productive you will have no income with which to consume.

For if you import everything from overseas, you will import their incomes. And unless you are every skilled that's not going to be a nice place.

If I keep importing from overseas I don't see how I will start earning less. I will be saving money. I do not work in the bike industry so if all the bike shops here shut down I will not be loosing a job (as harsh as that might sound). If anything, importing from abroad will help bring prices of goods here in NZ down to normative/competitive levels. As when demand decreases supply increases all else being equal, when that happens prices decrease or hoarding begins (hoarding will not work here because bike gear are not your typicsl FMG's).

The problem to all of this lies a lot deeper - The whole roots of this economy are flawed. Why does a road worker get paid so much or why should an unqualified plumber get paid upwards of 60k when he has really no formal qualification aside from maybe a short course that is mandatory and a few years experience? Why do bike mechanics charge $90 an hour when the same or better job can be done by an Asian? (rhetorical question). In rich economies of scale, a qualified professional who has done his 12 years at school and 4 years a University is adequately rewarded for his dedication. Here whether you have a qualification or not does not matter, you still start at the bottom and work your way up - it's just not equitable. I have a Pilot mate who gets paid 45k if he fucked off to the USA he would be on a min of 200 k. Only thing holding him back are his commitments a house and a wife who also works here. NZ is not helping him - or should I say the economy isisn't.

Sure your argument is valid that if the bike industry in NZ fails altogether it will affect of meager GDP and our currency in normative terms, but there will be a bigger better system that comes about to take it's place. Its how the world has always worked, the weak give way to the strong and so on and so forth.

Health care, Pension etc have little to do with this. They are funded primarily through the tax we pay as citizens of this great country. Also please be aware that just as out borders are open to goods they are also open to people. If the economy continues to crumble what is left of Aoeteroa's skilled labor will take the 2 hour flight across the ditch. A young professional cannot limit himself to an economy that he has to keep afloat by paying a premium on everything that he buys. I'd like to think we'd like to make a positive change to an economy that provides us with the challenges and rewards us for the work and sweat we put in.

[davereid]

If anything, importing from abroad will help bring prices of goods here in NZ down to normative/competitive levels. As when demand decreases supply increases all else being equal, when that happens prices decrease...The whole roots of this economy are flawed. Why does a road worker get paid so much or why should an unqualified plumber get paid upwards of 60k when he has really no formal qualification

Actually, you have nailed it.

The laws of supply and demand, absolutely do apply, and there is no reason at all why the road worker or plumber should be paid so much, except that we use laws to keep it that way.

Unskilled labour is in great supply, your road worker for example, but there is very little demand for it.

We keep that supply in check, by legislating a minimum wage, and providing welfare to those who cant get a job, at legislated minimum wage rates.

Lets imagine, that we instantly removed the minimum adult wage. And we reduced taxes by removing allowance for superannuation, health care, welfare and free education.

Then, you could buy products and services from NZ suppliers at rates that were extremely competitive with asian suppliers.

Unemployment would simply not exist, as if the widget you were making required a labour input of $2 an hour, thats what you would offer. And in the absense of an alternative, supply and demand would find you a worker.

The point is simple. As our expectations of what we will pay for services reach your "normative/competitive levels" you can be assured so will your wages.

The question is, is that really what we want ?

[scracha]

$15 a bottle, which makes it $60 for 4L, cheaper than the bike shop.

uMM...like many other things, the Warehouse is not actually the cheapest.

[Cr1MiNaL]

Actually, you have nailed it.
........
The point is simple. As our expectations of what we will pay for services reach your "normative/competitive levels" you can be assured so will your wages.

The question is, is that really what we want ?

Yes I agree. So the question begs then who exactly can really afoard to pay this premium? Common joe blogs earning a 50k salary and a mortgage? I think not. You will find most people agreeing to pay the surplus over foreign suppliers to support local business will be the 'older' generation - by that I mean people 55 years + who are on descent money too say 100 k + with a couple of rental properties and a near freehold mortgage to rely on for financial stability. It is then not fair or equitable to expect the common biker on median wage to be able to pay the same prices as the latter. Again , its so fundamentally flawed the more I think about it the angrier I get.

[Pixie]

ya gotta wonder why the red shed or similar haven't started up big box motorcycle shops yet.

would it work? They could put one or more in every significant town/suburb. They would have a larger buying power than the individual shops and could import direct bypassing the distributors. They would benefit from national advertising campaigns. Maybe even sell bikes.
It could slow down the internet sales, but a lot of the profit will still go to China and overseas shareholders etc.

Because the NZ motorcycle market is insignificant and is in the process of being eliminated by governments of any flavour.

[carver]

Im very disappointed in you, I could have sold you better gloves for a discount.
I think now I will close my business as what's the point

define better

[Quasievil]

define better

Qmoto with Knox SPS protection........nough said

[carver]

Qmoto with Knox SPS protection........nough said

[Quasievil]

Would you like to share the price with everyone?

QMOTO CORSA SPS KNOX GLOVE $185.00 like I said better.............next

[carver]

Would you like to share the price with everyone?

QMOTO CORSA SPS KNOX GLOVE $185.00

get what ya pay for eh buddy!
raj can get em cheap for me!

can ya grip the bars ok with them, i had a friend tell me they offer very little feel

is this yours too?

http://www.mltd.com/quasimoto-madlib-m-17.html

[Owl]

QMOTO CORSA SPS KNOX GLOVE $185.00

They look spiffing!

[Quasievil]

get what ya pay for eh buddy!
raj can get em cheap for me!

can ya grip the bars ok with them, i had a friend tell me they offer very little feel

is this yours too?

http://www.mltd.com/quasimoto-madlib-m-17.html

They offer Excellent feel and are very comfortable, I only spent a year developing them.