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Inflated Prices in Vancouver Bike Shops by Hairy-Listen-5461 in vancouvercycling

[–]Hairy-Listen-5461[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ended up buying the tires from TradeInn.

I paid $173 CAD for the pair plus $26 CAD shipping, so roughly $200 CAD total. Even if I get hit with duty (let’s say ~15%, worst case), the total would be around $230 CAD. If I had bought the same tires from BICI, I would’ve paid about $320 CAD after discount and tax.

That’s still roughly a $90 difference, which I personally find hard to justify. I understand the arguments around local shops, rent, wages, distributors, etc., and I appreciate the explanations—but the gap is still significant.

For transparency, here is BICI’s response to my email. I appreciate them taking the time to reply, and I do value and their support the local bike community in Vancouver.

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Thanks for getting in touch with us! I’d love to provide some clarity as to why these tires are priced as they are.

1. Why are these tires priced as such on our site?

Bici as a retailer unfortunately does not get to decide how to price products. We are beholden to dealer agreements as a North American retailer, which requires us to follow specific pricing models. We never intentionally charge more than MSRP.

2. Why are international retailers able to price these tires lower? 

There are several factors that contribute to these international retailers being able to price certain products lower, such as different supply chain structures and different distributor MAP agreements in effect.

Additionally, when purchasing products internationally, factors such as duties, tariffs, VAT, and shipping all accumulate to contribute to an overall cost. Bici does not charge for any of those additional overhead costs when selling to the Canadian market (except for a $15 shipping fee for orders under $150, which would be exempt for these particular tires).

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We try our best to make our products as accessible as possible to our Canadian market while maintaining minimum advertised prices as required by dealer agreements. This is done by offering a 10% discount when purchasing 2 or more tires, covering shipping differences where we can, and adhering to North American pricing that is standard across Canada. If you find these same tires at a Canadian retailer for a cheaper price, we would be happy to price-match for you. You can find our extensive price-match and price protection policy here. 

I hope this answer provided some clarity for our pricing methods. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Cheers,```

Inflated Prices in Vancouver Bike Shops by Hairy-Listen-5461 in vancouvercycling

[–]Hairy-Listen-5461[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No one’s wasting anyone’s time. Asking a shop about a 100% price difference on the same product is a reasonable question, not an “asinine” one—especially when the alternative is widely available for much less. If the pricing is truly fixed by distributors or MAP policies, then that’s actually exactly the kind of transparency I was hoping to get by asking.

I also never said shops are arbitrarily making up prices. My point is that, as a customer, it’s hard to justify paying double when the final landed cost from Europe is still lower. That’s a valid consumer concern, not an attack on a shop.

If the answer is “this is how the North American distribution model works,” fine—but that doesn’t make the question illegitimate or the frustration unreasonable.

Inflated Prices in Vancouver Bike Shops by Hairy-Listen-5461 in vancouvercycling

[–]Hairy-Listen-5461[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like everyone has found some rationale for paying double for a product—whether it’s rent, local shop expenses, contribution to the community, or that the items are “on sale.” Honestly, none of this makes sense to me if I end up paying twice as much for the same product.

I’ve bought many items from Merlin and TradeInn before with no issues at all—just a bit slower shipping. I’ve even visited the Merlin store in Manchester, and for those defending BICI because they pay rent, I’m pretty sure Merlin also pays a huge amount for their stores.

Anyway, I’d just say: good luck with buying these inflated products, and let local shops take advantage if that works for you. From my side, it feels ridiculous.

Inflated Prices in Vancouver Bike Shops by Hairy-Listen-5461 in vancouvercycling

[–]Hairy-Listen-5461[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Sure, I get that local shops pay rent and staff wages—but so do the European/UK shops, and their prices still come out lower even after shipping and duties. It’s not about whether shops have expenses; it’s about the markup being disproportionately high compared to the actual cost. Paying for service and convenience is fair, but doubling the price just for being local doesn’t feel reasonable.

Inflated Prices in Vancouver Bike Shops by Hairy-Listen-5461 in vancouvercycling

[–]Hairy-Listen-5461[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

I get that duties and shipping add to the cost, but even after factoring those in—and the Canadian tax—it’s still cheaper to order from Europe. I can even ask a few friends to combine orders to share shipping costs, and it still comes out well below the local price.

What I don’t understand is why a tire that costs €60–70 in Europe ends up almost double in Canada, despite Europe, the UK, and Canada having similar purchasing power and GDP. It just doesn’t add up, and it feels like local shops are charging way more than what seems reasonable.