chuffalump
Well-known member
What have you got against titanium/carbon hybrid lightweight weights for stabilisers?Stabiliser weights is another example.Why so many, and so many prices? Can an expensive weight work better than a cheap one?
What have you got against titanium/carbon hybrid lightweight weights for stabilisers?Stabiliser weights is another example.Why so many, and so many prices? Can an expensive weight work better than a cheap one?
I think the amazon experience has aspects: 1) They ship things very fast, mostly next day. 2) They tell you what is happening, when it is shipped and when it will arrive.Its only frustrating if you expect the delivery to be Amazonlikeā¦.
If you accept the reality, which is as WhiteHart stated,that shops can list a million items on their web site, and lay their hands onany of them relatively quickly, but it is not physically possible or practicalfrom a cash flow point of view, to stock 2 of everything. So when you order anything, apart from maybenocks, and even then there are so many different types and colours no shop mayhave them all in, assume the parts are ordered in from one of the main stockistwarehouses, so will add a couple of days on the delivery.
Your other option is to ring the shop directly, they cantell you if they have the parts on stock, and get them to you faster ifrequired.
I had this exact call with the Archery Shop, when the fingerspaced on my Soma saker tab broke three days before a 1440. One phone call andI had a new spacer in the post next day. They now get 99% of my custom, even if some items I have to wait a weekfor if im not in a hurryā¦.
No problem, if the customer is prepared to absorb the cost implication here: The bank/transaction processing company will charge twice for your purchase, the deposit and final payment count as individual payments so there will be transaction fees plus percentages. Like postage costs, nothing is free, the customer pays somewhere along the line.Here's an idea!
For big-ticket items that need ordered in, the shop doesn't take all your money when you order but accepts a (non-refundable?) deposit until they actually have the item in stock?
Yes, we're all slaves to the legacy banking system atm. The solution to that is crypto-currency which isn't quite ready to replace the old system YET - but it's on the way.No problem, if the customer is prepared to absorb the cost implication here: The bank/transaction processing company will charge twice for your purchase, the deposit and final payment count as individual payments so there will be transaction fees plus percentages. Like postage costs, nothing is free, the customer pays somewhere along the line.
To be fair to suppliers, ebay suppliers have a big advantage - they have the ebay order management system which makes it very easy to see payment, send update emails etc. Trouble is, it isn't a cheap system from a sellers point of view. That said, a lot of bigger businesses also appear to use ebay as a shop front so I guess they must make it financially worthwhile.Just to add to my OP:-
I've now had an email from the supplier saying the order has been shipped, but with no tracking link (Royal Mail 48hr I believe)
A previous order had the same issue, no tracking info sent by RM, I had to email the shop & get the link from them. They said then that they'd check to see what had gone wrong & fix it. Obviously that hasn't happened (yet) so I'm about to email them again to get the link again.
The collective wisdom of the forum seems to support the supposition that the shops do indeed need to step up their game, especially when it comes to communications with the customer.
Personally I never use Amazon so I can't comment on how they do things (apart from what South Park portrayed about them ) but eBay is my go-to place for items I can't get locally - that's small businesses, often mom-and-pop high street (specialist) shops, and generally they do a pretty damned good job. Is there any reason why the physical archery stores cannot match eBay seller performance? Or is their reticence more do do with the fact that a high proportion of archers are 'more mature' & less internet-savvy?
So, an email to say "awaiting stock from distributor" will stop me wondering if it will arrive today. Then an email saying "ship 1st class" will tell me to expect it soon. I am not expecting minute by minute updates, just not a black hole communication wiseI agree the shops could give an expected delivery date, but your missing the point that most of the stuff they have to order in from one of the two or three nain distributors, so the shops don't know exactly when it will arrive....
By mass production I meant stuff that could be bought anywhere. Like avalon sight or even a middle of the road riser. If I know what I want (ok, maybe not for the riser unless I had tried one before) I could buy it from amazon if I wanted to.I would also disagree with the mass produced bit for Archery, its not big enough to maintain big margins or true mass production.
Understood, and i have been to quicks at waterlooville and it is not as large as you might expect from the web presence. So I understand the problem. But, lets be honest, we are talking about what might help archery shops survive. So saying "it is a bit difficult" so put up with it will only work with a select few. ie. those that really do something unique that people are prepared to treat differently. The others are going to suffer, like it or not.Other thing to bear in mind, the shops don't generally have enough people to serve customers, answer the phone and sort web orders, so the web stuff has to wait. They could employ more staff but then prices would go up.
Distributors are pretty essential for most shops. It isn't practical for individual shops to every different item, so they use distributors who also hold the stock until a customer needs it. A lot of big places also do it but are more streamlined in the shipping, often the distributor ships direct to the customer. Distributors are not set up to deal direct to the end customer, they need online shops to do that......So why do we have no access to those 2 or 3 main distributors?
If the shops can order single items from them, to mark up & sell on, isn't it just protectionism - supposedly frowned upon under 'free market capitalism' - to deny us the same access?
As to your final points about the shops, why should online customers, who know what they want & have already paid for it, have to suffer delays due to telephone/footfall people who will bang on for ages & maybe not buy anything at all? Shouldn't the people who have already paid for what they want get the highest priority?
Maybe the compromise here and what organisations like amazon have is suppliers who will ship direct to customers.So why do we have no access to those 2 or 3 main distributors?
If the shops can order single items from them, to mark up & sell on, isn't it just protectionism - supposedly frowned upon under 'free market capitalism' - to deny us the same access?
As to your final points about the shops, why should online customers, who know what they want & have already paid for it, have to suffer delays due to telephone/footfall people who will bang on for ages & maybe not buy anything at all? Shouldn't the people who have already paid for what they want get the highest priority?
... and if they decide not to what will you do? You could decide with your feet but where would you go? Personally I am happy with archery shops keeping prices down even if it means I have to wait a week or so. Mind you I've never had to make an emergency archery order . Or would people be happier paying more per product to cover larger stock holding for a faster service?The collective wisdom of the forum seems to support the supposition that the shops do indeed need to step up their game, especially when it comes to communications with the customer.
Tracking number below, we are trying to sort this with Royal Mail but are having some difficulty unfortunately.
No....why should online customers, who know what they want & have already paid for it, have to suffer delays due to telephone/footfall people who will bang on for ages & maybe not buy anything at all? Shouldn't the people who have already paid for what they want get the highest priority?
Sounds like a good example of taking the mick, and not the sort of service I guess many of us would put up with! One thing, I'm not sure why you'd need to go to your CC issuer for a refund as a matter of course, or did they refuse to cancel the order and refund? I'm pretty sure they cannot do that unless it's an order involving custom one off products, which this clearly wasn't.Iāve been waiting over 3 weeks for a set of 2ā fletchings (feather) and 60gn points to make up a dozen clout arrows for the forthcoming Kent Clout championships online from a retailer whoād tagged on ?7 p&p for next day.
Chased today to be told not all of the points or fletchings had been in-stock and theyād held the order pending new stock arrival which still hasnāt happened but they do this all the time and donāt bother to notify customers as itās ātheir standard practiceā.
I politely told them to poke the order where the sun doesnāt shine, contacted my credit card issuer to sort out a refund, and I shall collect my bits from the brilliant Wales Archery on Friday as I pass by on my way to visit my family back home in the valleys for a few days.
Karl
I agree. Even though I'm quite tolerant of delivery times, being honest about stock levels I think is singularly the most important aspect.To make it clear, what I'd like to see is shops being honest about stock levels...