Not wanting to jump on the current “lets slate CRC bandwagon” but something just occurred when I reviewed my order…..

I ordered Lyrik Coil U-Turns @ £400 (rrp £800)
Gravity Gap Lite Stem @ £ 20 (rrp £80)

All delivered with no notable delay over the Bank Holiday weekend.

However on review of my order both items have increased in price, the forks to £429 and the stem to £51!!!

Has anyone else ever noticed this? I may be being cynical but is it possible they’ve got a programme whereby things go up in price if they’re becoming popular, word of a bargain is spreading etc. As though they were shares almost…….just a thought.

Would be interesting if others have noticed the same!

Sounds like good business to me… If I was CRC I’d certainly be looking at doing something similar.

they had a ‘funny half hour’ a week or so back when prices dropped dramatically but they went back soon after.

Everyone expects airlines to vary seat prices accrodign to demand yet they question why bike part suppliers woudl vary the price on popular model/sizes over time accordign to demand?

Supply and demand innit!
Stuff is worth what people are willing to pay for it.I think they have 80,000 different products in stock-I’d assume there is a level of automation.The same products may come from different suppliers (OE,clearance,official importer,back of a lorry etc) and be bought at different margins.I suspect the stock system adjusts the retail prices to maintain a static minimum profit margin,ie the fsa stem you got was OE so was bought cheap and sold cheap but a replacement item will be uk importer bought and thus more expensive to buy and therefore to sell.
Or I could be making it up.

I don’t understand what you’re saying clearly. Do you mean you ordered them and they put the price up or just that you had them in your basket and when you went back later the price had gone up? If so that’s completely fair as they often have small quantities at lower prices.

Am I right in assuming that you pressed the “Order Now” button with the lower prices and when the items arrived you had been charged higher prices?

I was deliberating my purchase for a week+ and the price was static. About 24hrs after I ordered they went up. I paid the original, lower price.

May be chance or one of the systems Rorschach mentioned. Either way I’ve no problems with it, it is business after all. Leisure is probably the first thing many people cut back on if the need to reduce their outgoings, you wouldn’t rush out and buy a new bike for example if you lost you job. Plus it’s seasonal, so if any industry or retailer needs to be strategic CRC is probably one. They still pump out some pretty good deals so I’m not complaining.

Just wanted to know if anyone had experienced the same? Is it going to become a trend? If so are we more likely to shop with an “eBay – grab it now” mentality? Just curious…..

If I was running an online business I’d certainly consider variable pricing based on demand. Funny things consumers – if people are deliberating over buying something, raising the price can be a good way to make them commit!

Agreed!……and I instantly have flash backs to buying flights, although I jumped on the girlfriends computer and got them at the lower, original price! So I think airlines identify your computer then push up prices to you only and therefore still return cheap when you (or anyone else) do an initial sky scanner search, for example. Sneaky begger’s!

^^

Yup, Ryanair do this. Always worth clearing your chache before booking with them

Well, you learn something new every day! That will definitely be borne in mind the next time I have to book a flight.

Easyjet do the same….

I don’t understand what it is exactly that the airlines do to charge you a higher price?

They ID your computer and as time passes and you continue to browse and shop around they raise the price……you panic and buy. So, shop around, find the cheapest, clear your history, cookies, cache etc go back to the cheapest flight and you’ll be offered the original (and most likely lower) price!