I went into sweatshop and tried on some shoes. Good service and good shoes but the average price was £95.
I know that on-line, current shoes can average 20% cheaper but in this day of mass marketing (made in china) why are we paying so much for shoes and in particular why do they pay a lot less in the US?
Are we being ripped off?
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When you stop buying and they can't shift the qty then the prices fall.
Ripped off? How? You choose to buy the trainers. You are only ripped off if there is a price fixing cartel forcing prices up across the board.
I can't see this sticking with e-tailers offering product from other areas.
Also - The EU imposes a tariff on items made anywhere other than France and as a result this forces the ticket price up.
I still reckon we're being ripped off though!
the US/Europe price differences are common across a whole range of products areas not just running shoes and the WTA have yet to address this disparity as the difference is not solely down to import duties and tariffs....
BUT - shops offer a service such as allowing you to try different shoes, advice, high rent overheads - what is generally called good customer service - and for that you should pay higher than internet prices which are generally selling on volume and price with lower margins and low overheads......
sweatshop have their own online retailer - joejogger I believe - so they can sell products based on both business models.....and keep as much business as possible in the group rather than lose internet sales to the likes of wiggle or similar
£50 for a pair sounds about right to me.
What I have found is that Asics seem very exspensive compared to other manufacturers at the moment.
Silent Assassin makes a good point about outgoing shoes being much cheaper. If they are sold with a profit at close to half the original price, what on earth is the mark up on a new pair of shoes?!!
For a £100 pair
£5 for R&D
£15 for materials
£10 for construction
£5 for transportation
£10 profit (from this the company has to fund its offices, wages for staff, sponsorship for athletics)
£5 administration cost ????????
The shoes are generally SOLD to the shop at half the RRP from this the shop break down is
£50 Purchase price
£25 shop overheads (rent, electricty, rates, promotion etc)
£15 wages for staff
£10 profit
The point to remember is that most people go into business to make a profit and that the manufacture is trying to make a profit the shop are trying to make a profit, as runners for some reason we seem to believe that they are there for our benfit and that we should be entitled to the shoes at cost price.
e.g. price = 95
US = $95
EU = €95
UK = £95
However, as people have pointed out, if you pay that much then that's your choice...some of the cost goes towards the "expertise" of the person at sweatshop, and you are perfectly within your rights to ask them if they will match an online price, and to go elsewhere if they won't.
Suppose we just have to wait until the exchange rate is such that the UK is cheapest, but we can't afford to go on holiday! lol
Is the US any cheaper ? What are their salaries like in comparison to ours ? You cant just say that XX is a rip off compared to YY over in such a country.
Distribution costs if anything are greater in the US (being much bigger)
We pay 17.5% VAT (correct me if I am wrong but the US is not nearly as high)
OK there may be some differences but not enough to justify a 50-75% price hike.
Perhaps I am in the minority on this but worth discussing!
Maybe you'd also need to factor other stuff in too - dont the Americans have 10 days holiday rather than our 20 or 25 ?
And they have to suffer Bush. Maybe the UK isnt that bad after all.
You'd be better off running in New Balance and stocking up on cosmetic seconds from their factory stores. Its about £30 a pair from there. Well worth the trip.
Bike kit markup tends to be from ~30% (bikes - generally fairly low markup) to ~60% (clothes - highest markup).
The disposable income of people with fairly normal appears to be higher than many 'professional' people in the UK and many people do get similar holiday entitlement.
We appear to pay much more tax here, but receive reasonable health care and help from the government no matter how poor we are.
I enjoyed visiting the mid-west last year, though, I bought loads of things!
now i am a small player in this game so the large retailers who buy loads of shoes will get more discount therefore make more profit per pair than i do, do they offer better levels of customer service? i doubt it. Do they offer the local running club support with races? some do some don't.
it is just the way of the world, people assume due to the nature of out business that shoes will be more expensive than a standard running shop, in fact we keep the prices a low as we can [allowing for the rent etc] and then discount them as soon as they are out of date[colour changes usually!!!]
the price of an average shoe sits around £75-£80, as someone has already said 'not too much to pay' as you will probably get through 1-2 pairs a year depending on milage, there are many gyms or health clubs that charge that much for 1 months membership [/shock]
The average price for a good quality running shoe in Sweatshop is around £75. If you want a top spec running shoe then yes the average price is around £95 (except for asics). A large chunk of the mark up is taken up by provision of excellent customer service.
Including staff training, suitable pay to ensure trained staff stay, time taken to fit a customer with a pair of shoes( average time being 45min), supporting of local running community for example race sponsorship and no quibble returns policy on shoes customers are not happy with. There are cheaper ways to run a business (by removing many of the above) but in the end you pay your money and take your choice.
Another point is shoe price also depends on what type of gait you have. If you are a neutral runner (just cushioning) you can generally get cheaper shoes. If you over -pronate then shoes are usually more expensive because of the level of technology in the shoes.
On a more general point when compared to other sports eg tennis or cricket,running is a cheap sport to participate in (part of it's attraction).
In relation to the arguments above, a lot of research in different markets indicates that UK prices are indeed much higher than in US and some other markets. Say 10-20 per cent depending on the market.
Manufacturers claim that the market here will STAND higher prices (i.e. people will pay more) and that the supply chain is longer and with higher overheads (which is mostly untrue in say the automotive sector and software licensing, which are well investigated).
Best way to get reasonable prices is to be member of a good affiliated running club and take the discount at LOCAL shops, normally 10 percent. They are normally staffed by runners and people who know the kit, unlike telesales staff in some of the distance selling companies. Not everyone has that luxury though.
Some distance retailers are not passing on their lower overheads to customers, and some are. Shop around, and a pattern quickly shows up. You also have to pay postage, be in to receive the goods and deal with occasionally obstructive companies who assume you won't apply the Distance Selling Regulations 2000 when they fail to deliver. Don't forget it is the vendor who is responsible for delivery and ensuring you get your goods.
Buying direct from the US is difficult, and unlikely to be cheaper with postage and the possibility of customs duties.
If you run or know anyone running a race in the US, stock up! The market here is unlikely to change significantly.
The USA is a MASSIVE country, so much bigger than the UK so how many units do you think are sold by companies? Millions? Hundreds of millions? How many recreational runners are there in the USA?
It's down to economies of scale - if the USA sells millions more units (of trainers) than in the UK then prices will be cheaper. This applies to anything that is sold compared to the UK. That's why it pays so well to have a product that can sell in the USA....
I find this expensive but on the other hand I look at it if I don't look after feet then I wouldn't be running anywhere. You can always run cheaply in shorts & t-shirts but your feet are your most expensive outlay.
Now I've got the Asics GT2something or others (£70-odd worth) and I've got ITBS and a back injury.
I never buy this years model and always shop around - I am only loyal to the shop that offers me the cheapest price at the point I need new shoes.
Byeee
So if we remove economy of scale and as already pointed out shipping costs from China don't vary a lot when your shipping by teh container load then the influence on pricing has to be tax, overheads, and profit margin.
Dubai has no sales / VAT tax so theres 17% off but still doesn't allow for the 50% difference in price to the UK. Overheads.. Shop rents will be as high as the UK but staff costs less so lets say a 20% saving.
Still doesn't make up the difference, therefore it has to be that shops here operate on a lower profit margin.
So do you get ripped off in the UK? Yes in my opinion BUT as someone did point out if you go a specialist running shop in the UK you will get quality service whereas here discussion on shoe Characteristics ends with the colours available.