Chain reaction sterling price on GB site v Euro price on Ireland site

JJJJNR

Did a comparison on two bikes on chain reaction, and the Irish price is 400 euro more expensive for the same bike on the Irish site, than it is on the GB site when you convert the GB price to euro...am I missing something..

I presume that it's across the board on components etc. So how do I purchase in sterling. Thinking of upgrading some expensive parts on my MTB.

shamrock2004

Can't you just select your country as 'United Kingdom' and currency as 'GBP" in the top right of the home page? Very disappointed in CRC if they are not charging fair prices in euro when compared to the GB prices (considering the current exchange rate) as I've given them a lot of business.

ednwireland

dont forget extra vat with an irish address 3%

and maybe they havent caught up with latest currency fluctuations

ted1

Yep I paid in sterling this week for stuff as it was cheaper.

kenmc

ted1 wrote: »

Yep I paid in sterling this week for stuff as it was cheaper.

you'd be mad not to! take advantage of the brexit while it lasts

dfdream

Dont know what CRC do different with currency
I wanted to order a Garmin 520 bundle and had a voucher.

But their Euro price was dearer than wiggle but the STG price was the same.

Wiggle €325.27
Wiggle £271.06

CRC €339.90
CRC £271.49

I emailed them and they matched it.
But dont know why the €15 difference....

omri

Edge 520 bundle on bike-discount for €305.

Bambaata

I think theyre being sneaky and haven't adjusted to current sterling drop in value. Noticed this with a few online sites

Kaisr Sose

It's not a food idea to go with dynamic currency conversion as you don't know the margin. Some merchants are good, as in near market rates and other as 4 or 5%. Typical credit card rate is 1.5-2.5% and it's constant so you people should work it out and then decide what currency to pay with.
There is no excuse for CRC trying not to pass on the Euro v STG gains since 23 June.

Zen0

Been watching a couple of items on Wiggle. Sterling price for delivery to Ireland has been sneaking up, wiping out the exchange rate gains, while UK Sterling price has remained static. Would make sense to have delivery made to Parcel Motel in Norn Irl if the item is not too big. Unfortunately, I was looking at a pair of wheels, which won't fit in a Parcel Motel locker. :mad:

traprunner

Zen0 wrote: »

Been watching a couple of items on Wiggle. Sterling price for delivery to Ireland has been sneaking up, wiping out the exchange rate gains, while UK Sterling price has remained static. Would make sense to have delivery made to Parcel Motel in Norn Irl if the item is not too big. Unfortunately, I was looking at a pair of wheels, which won't fit in a Parcel Motel locker. :mad:

Parcel Wizard might take them and they deliver to an address of your choice rather than a locker.

cdaly_

traprunner wrote: »

Parcel Wizard might take them and they deliver to an address of your choice rather than a locker.

At extra cost...

traprunner

cdaly_ wrote: »

At extra cost...

I think they've been quite flexible with shape and sizes of packages so far. Usual cost is €3.85 but of its a few extra euro I'm sure it would be worth it on the savings made on the wheels.

Eamonnator

Slightly O.T.

I put a few things into Wiggle basket. Total was €40. I then started again using sterling, same items came to £25. That seems to be a huge difference.
I used Irish address both times.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Eamonnator wrote: »

Slightly O.T.

I put a few things into Wiggle basket. Total was €40. I then started again using sterling, same items came to £25. That seems to be a huge difference.
I used Irish address both times.

Yeah wiggles prices are all over the place. Lifeline Shimano cleats are around £5.40stg for uk shipping location and when you Convert the currency to euro it's €8.80 but if you start with euro prices and put Ireland as destination country the price shoots up to €10.50!

Saying that it works out over €100 cheaper to buy a set of wheels I'm looking at and use the Postal Store service which only charge €3 for any item under 20jg

syklops

Zen0 wrote: »

Unfortunately, I was looking at a pair of wheels, which won't fit in a Parcel Motel locker. :mad:

From Parcel Motels website:

" If your parcel does not fit in a Parcel Motel locker, we will notify you and make alternative arrangements".

A guy I know bought a TV on Amazon and got it sent to PM. They rang him so he met the van at the PM locker and brought his TB in the boot of his car.

68 lost souls

syklops wrote: »

From Parcel Motels website:

" If your parcel does not fit in a Parcel Motel locker, we will notify you and make alternative arrangements".

A guy I know bought a TV on Amazon and got it sent to PM. They rang him so he met the van at the PM locker and brought his TB in the boot of his car.

He was lucky. Its supposed to be an additional €7 + extras if the item is oversized

A Samsung 46” Smart LED TV in its box measures 130 × 80 × 18 cm so the dimensional weigh is 62.4 kg so the charge for this is €21.00 to collect and €28.95 to have delivered.

JJJJNR

So how do I purchase in sterling, I can save about 40 euro on a groupset by switching, but once I log in to the site, it changes back to local Ireland price in euro, do I need to use my parcel motel for this?

Rant: If they give me the lower price I would probably spend 40+ on something else on the site anyway.

332.62 Euro from uk v €373.99 from Ireland.

Bambaata

You should be able to change to sterling at the top right where you are likely seeing the irish flag?

The Noble Nudge

No doubt they cant instantly give the daily conversion rate as it will depend on when they bought the product themselves so Brexit savings might take months to actually reflect on their web prices....defo buy in the sterling version...
Planet x are the same.... €36.99 here for a pair of bibshorts Uk site is £17.99(€21.50 ish) plus €3 delivery with an post address pal.
In fairness I do my best to buy in my LBS but you cant really ignore the savings.

dfdream

Had a 10% voucher.
Plus bike discount charge postage where CRC is free...

omri wrote: »

Edge 520 bundle on bike-discount for €305.

Kaisr Sose

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

No doubt they cant instantly give the daily conversion rate as it will depend on when they bought the product themselves so Brexit savings might take months to actually reflect on their web prices.

$US would be the currency bike components are sold at wholesale level.

Brexit should not be a factor in dynamic currency coversion on line. These margins are fixed by the merchant so if the % has gone up, then the merchant has upped it manually.

Go to Germany - better prices for loads of things even with extra shipping cost. The shipping is built into CRC/Wiggle etc pricing anyway - you just think it's free over a certain amount but somebody - something has to cover that cost.

ted1

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

$US would be the currency bike components are sold at wholesale level.

Brexit should not be a factor in dynamic currency coversion on line. These margins are fixed by the merchant so if the % has gone up, then the merchant has upped it manually.

Go to Germany - better prices for loads of things even with extra shipping cost. The shipping is built into CRC/Wiggle etc pricing anyway - you just think it's free over a certain amount but somebody - something has to cover that cost.

Do small orders chain reaction are the best as it's free delivery over 9 euro. German sites will charge a minimum of 8.50 shipping. Can you get a ultegra chain delivered for 15 GBP from Germany

Kaisr Sose

ted1 wrote: »

Do small orders chain reaction are the best as it's free delivery over 9 euro. German sites will charge a minimum of 8.50 shipping. Can you get a ultegra chain delivered for 15 GBP from Germany

I have no idea - I run Campag and I am not going to go checking sites for you to find out. If that is the case, arguing a few € on the stg exchange is pointless. If you are saving but not saving as much, it's still way better than paying RRP at LBS.

You could always look at buying two Ultegra chains ex Germany. It's always good to have a spare chain...

As soon as the customs barriers go up it will be Germany/Europe all the way for Customs free purchases! Free shipping won't be enough to to sway it.

Lusk_Doyle

dfdream wrote: »

Dont know what CRC do different with currency
I wanted to order a Garmin 520 bundle and had a voucher.

But their Euro price was dearer than wiggle but the STG price was the same.

Wiggle €325.27
Wiggle £271.06

CRC €339.90
CRC £271.49

I emailed them and they matched it.
But dont know why the €15 difference....

Aren't both companies part of the same group? Owned by pension funds?

niallo32

Just saved about €25 on a pair of Cycling shoes changing to UK/GBP and using Parcel Motel

ted1

niallo32 wrote: »

Just saved about €25 on a pair of Cycling shoes changing to UK/GBP and using Parcel Motel

Most times* You just need to change the currency
*privided you've reached the free delivery window

So you select GBP and Ireland

ednwireland

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

Go to Germany - better prices for loads of things even with extra shipping cost. The shipping is built into CRC/Wiggle etc pricing anyway - you just think it's free over a certain amount but somebody - something has to cover that cost.

I thought that and after waiting 7 days for it to be delivered an irish site had the wheels 25 euro cheaper ( which I only found after I'd ordered)

If I'm not in a rush I might use the Germans but they with that delivery time 4 days in gatwick. Derailleur and cables from crc ordered Thursday night arrived this morning

Beasty

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Aren't both companies part of the same group? Owned by pension funds?

Not sure if the merger has completed yet. Even when/if it does there is no requirement to run them as a single business, although no doubt they will be able to combine purchasing power regardless (although even that would probably take a while to deliver benefits as both companies will be committed to existing contractual arrangements)

Limestone1

apologies - off topic but I need to replace a shifter that CRC don't have - what is the name of the German site that seemed to have everything ?

Sinbad_NI

Worth the drive up to the warehouse if you're going to spend a lot, guessing probably not :-(

omri

Best pratice is to shop around and german sites tend to have best prices. They also offer price match. So if you have bigger order its best place to go. Bike24 matched prices and shipping of bike-discount plus they have the biggest choice. 4thebike has in some cases the lowest prices of these three german websites. Their shipping is most expensive almost €19. They seem to have the smallest selection. When I compared my wishlist of items available in all three shops I was able to save over €50 incl shipping. Bike24 and bike-discount also offer free returns which is great I went through 5 different saddles tested them and returned the ones that didnt fit. I no longer go to crc or wiggle unless I cant find something on german websites.

Having said that I got few bits from merlin recently which were cheaper than from crc, wiggle or german sites.

Lusk_Doyle

Beasty wrote: »

Not sure if the merger has completed yet. Even when/if it does there is no requirement to run them as a single business, although no doubt they will be able to combine purchasing power regardless (although even that would probably take a while to deliver benefits as both companies will be committed to existing contractual arrangements)

Yes, but one would imagine that a sort of "streamlined" setup would result in some sort of price homogeny. Eventually!

C3PO

Beasty wrote: »

Not sure if the merger has completed yet. Even when/if it does there is no requirement to run them as a single business, although no doubt they will be able to combine purchasing power regardless (although even that would probably take a while to deliver benefits as both companies will be committed to existing contractual arrangements)

I would have thought that, in the medium term, it would make economic sense for the two businesses to combine all of their logistical and administrative functions (purchasing, distribution, finance etc) but still present two distinct "shopfronts" to the world?

cython

C3PO wrote: »

I would have thought that, in the medium term, it would make economic sense for the two businesses to combine all of their logistical and administrative functions (purchasing, distribution, finance etc) but still present two distinct "shopfronts" to the world?

If they combine distribution to the extent that CRC's delivery slows down to be similar to Wiggle's, then they will lose a lot of business from ROI, I would imagine. I know that I would spend less with them, as the prompt delivery has definitely been a factor in several of my purchases.

EDIT: Interestingly, I have noted the last few times browsing that Evans seem to give an even more favourable exchange rate than even XE in going from GBP to EUR, and this seems to be the case still - 5800 brake calipers go for £23.99 there, but convert to €28.07 - XE puts that at €28.37, and any conversion by your bank/paypal will almost certainly be higher again. You do have to pay shipping up to a high threshold admittedly, but if you've a high value item to buy it's worth keeping in mind!

C3PO

cython wrote: »

If they combine distribution to the extent that CRC's delivery slows down to be similar to Wiggle's, then they will lose a lot of business from ROI, I would imagine. I know that I would spend less with them, as the prompt delivery has definitely been a factor in several of my purchases.

I agree - I order anything that I need quickly from CRC (usually small consumables) and if I'm not in a rush I inevitably buy from one of the German sites. But even though I'm a very regular customer of CRCs I can't imagine I'm a very profitable one for them - my typical order value would be low and with free shipping I'd say margins on me are tight!!

Beasty

C3PO wrote: »

I agree - I order anything that I need quickly from CRC (usually small consumables) and if I'm not in a rush I inevitably buy from one of the German sites. But even though I'm a very regular customer of CRCs I can't imagine I'm a very profitable one for them - my typical order value would be low and with free shipping I'd say margins on me are tight!!

CRC have a deal with British Cycling which allows members an additional 10% off whatever their already discounted price is. In my case it very quickly covered my BC membership fee!

Wouldn't mind if that got extended to Wiggle, but it is one of the reasons they will continue to run as separate brands for a while at least

Kaisr Sose

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Yes, but one would imagine that a sort of "streamlined" setup would result in some sort of price homogeny. Eventually!

I am with Beasty on this. They don't have to offer cheaper prices at all. Sometimes a take out is to reduce competition and therefore increase margins over time! Plenty of cases of two retail brands with the same ownership charging different prices for the same thing. For example. Topaz and Esso prices did not align when both brands were owned by DOBrien.

Logistically it would make sense to combine the pick and pack or even cut cost of two marketing channels but in the short term, their biggest challenge will be the fallout from Brexit. All consignments above €22 are chargeable for VAT and duty at point of entry to the EU. This must be a big headache for CRC etc. Will they relocate to Ireland to preserve the inter European Union border less trade between member countries ?

Beasty

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

All consignments above €22 are chargeable for VAT and duty at point of entry to the EU. This must be a big headache for CRC etc. Will they relocate to Ireland to preserve the inter European Union border less trade between member countries ?

Time will tell but I suspect there will be arrangements put in place to avoid any customs duties applying. CRC are already registered for Irish VAT and Brexit will not change that

However you raise a valid point, and there may be a temptation for perhaps the CRC side of things to relocate South to maintain an EU base. Equally if the UK reduces its corporate tax rate as suggested to 15% maybe they would retain a significant UK base. Perhaps Wiggle could stay in the UK in those circumstances

However all of this is pure speculation at this stage and it's going to be a year or two before we start seeing the impact of Brexit on how companies locate their businesses

Lusk_Doyle

Presumably they just need to relocate a head office as opposed to the shop?

del_boy13

Beasty wrote: »

Time will tell but I suspect there will be arrangements put in place to avoid any customs duties applying. CRC are already registered for Irish VAT and Brexit will not change that

The rules around registration of UK companies for Irish VAT and vice versa are based on EU rules. When Brexit takes place that will be another of the key points that will have to be negotiated.

The current registration that CRC has will cease as will the registration for Irish companies selling into the UK.

Kaisr Sose

del_boy13 wrote: »

The rules around registration of UK companies for Irish VAT and vice versa are based on EU rules. When Brexit takes place that will be another of the key points that will have to be negotiated.

The current registration that CRC has will cease as will the registration for Irish companies selling into the UK.

That is 100% correct. CRC et all are obliged under EU law to charge the VAT rate (and register for VAT) when their sales to that country exceed the threshold for no registration. This all changes whenever GB is fiscally devolved from the EU. After that, VAT and customs duty at the applicable EU rates will be chargeable on all imports of goods from outside the EU at point of entry into the EU. Same as if you bought from USA, Switzerland, Norway. These duties cannot be avoided - a charge arises for all imports into the EU.
As it currently stands, and please check this is anybody wants to, if you go on Rose, you will see a separate process for sales to Switzerland. Ultimately, something similar will apply to all UK retailers selling goods into the EU.

ted1

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

That is 100% correct. CRC et all are obliged under EU law to charge the VAT rate (and register for VAT) when their sales to that country exceed the threshold for no registration. This all changes whenever GB is fiscally devolved from the EU. After that, VAT and customs duty at the applicable EU rates will be chargeable on all imports of goods from outside the EU at point of entry into the EU. Same as if you bought from USA, Switzerland, Norway. These duties cannot be avoided - a charge arises for all imports into the EU.
As it currently stands, and please check this is anybody wants to, if you go on Rose, you will see a separate process for sales to Switzerland. Ultimately, something similar will apply to all UK retailers selling goods into the EU.

I know several American companies who bulk ship to the Netherlands and then forward on the smaller orders to the rest of the E.U

cython

ted1 wrote: »

I know several American companies who bulk ship to the Netherlands and then forward on the smaller orders to the rest of the E.U

Oneplus do the same to the UK from China at the moment as well with phones, but they still factor VAT, duty, etc. into the quoted price, and this is paid on entry of the goods to the EU's common market. It means you won't get stung for it on receipt of the product, but only because you've already paid it.

brianomc

Slightly off topic but how have people found the postage times from CRC using Parcel Motel. I ordered on Sunday, it was shipped Monday and is only out for delivery to Parcel Motel today so I will probably get it Saturday.

If I spent the extra by paying in euro I would have had it Tuesday. It wasn't something I was in a rush for so no problem there, I'm just curious as to how people have found the royal mail delivery time to Parcel Motel?

C3PO

brianomc wrote: »

Slightly off topic but how have people found the postage times from CRC using Parcel Motel. I ordered on Sunday, it was shipped Monday and is only out for delivery to Parcel Motel today so I will probably get it Saturday.

If I spent the extra by paying in euro I would have had it Tuesday. It wasn't something I was in a rush for so no problem there, I'm just curious as to how people have found the royal mail delivery time to Parcel Motel?

Not so sure you would have had it Tuesday! I ordered on Monday and got a "despatched" note on Monday also but didn't get delivery until lunchtime today via An Post to my office in Ballsbridge!

ted1

brianomc wrote: »

Slightly off topic but how have people found the postage times from CRC using Parcel Motel. I ordered on Sunday, it was shipped Monday and is only out for delivery to Parcel Motel today so I will probably get it Saturday.

If I spent the extra by paying in euro I would have had it Tuesday. It wasn't something I was in a rush for so no problem there, I'm just curious as to how people have found the royal mail delivery time to Parcel Motel?

You don't need to use parcel motel, just keep your country as Ireland and change the currency.

brianomc

ted1 wrote: »

You don't need to use parcel motel, just keep your country as Ireland and change the currency.

That didnt work for me unfortunately. The price jumped back up, possibly as it was a helmet so different VAT rates would have applied.

brianomc

C3PO wrote: »

Not so sure you would have had it Tuesday! I ordered on Monday and got a "despatched" note on Monday also but didn't get delivery until lunchtime today via An Post to my office in Ballsbridge!

Maybe it's a bad week so in the delivery game. If I get a dispatched note on a Monday, 99% of the time I get it delivered on the Tuesday morning at work.

ted1

brianomc wrote: »

That didnt work for me unfortunately. The price jumped back up, possibly as it was a helmet so different VAT rates would have applied.

That's what it was , I received an order on Monday that was paid for in sterling

C3PO

brianomc wrote: »

Maybe it's a bad week so in the delivery game. If I get a dispatched note on a Monday, 99% of the time I get it delivered on the Tuesday morning at work.

Yep - I would usually be the same. Interestingly the tracking number wasn't recognised by the An Post system until yesterday evening which might imply that despite a "despatched" notice on Monday the parcel may not have actually been picked up and scanned until yesterday!