Other Specialized going to add Direct to consumer sales on 2/1....

[Tim1023]

Just came across this article from Cycling Industry News, just in case of interest: Bike dealers torn on the impact of Specialized direct offering

 

[Jeffw]

I recall my LBS mentioning about the direct sales a few weeks back. They said they will no longer be doing warranty work on Specialized bikes, as Spesh have insisted that the work is carried out within 2 days of receiving the bike for warranty repairs and that the labour rate that Spesh offer to the LBS is a mere 25% of what the LBS currently charge

How accurate that is i don't know, but for sure they are selling a lot of Giant's at the moment. And Cubes - as soon as they come in the shop

 

[R3Z3N]

^Apple does the same thing, they set the labor rate they will pay the Service Provider or Premium Service Provider...

Personally If I heard Spesh did that to my shop, I would offer to the shops labor rate. Though these bikes are easy enough to work on I prefer to do most work myself, sadly for the e-bike diagnosis tools are not available outside the shop, which is ridiculous.

 

[Jersey Skier]

Profit maximalization, pocket the middlemens' margins! Happens everywhere - seen the Dyson ads "buy it from the maker"?

Everything makes sense now. Specialized’s founder Mike Sinyard steps down as CEO, appoints former Dyson executive - CyclingTips

 

[JetAllen]

Just chatted with my dealer and apparently this direct to consumer thing is not going to apply to any eBikes.....

My dealer wasn’t able to get the bikes that I wanted, so I had to order direct from Specialized. But because it is an ebike, I had to ship it to my dealer for setup and whatnot. Only took three days to arrive at the dealer.

 

[NoPro]

My dealer wasn’t able to get the bikes that I wanted, so I had to order direct from Specialized. But because it is an ebike, I had to ship it to my dealer for setup and whatnot. Only took three days to arrive at the dealer.

My LBS is also pissed they get nothing but everyhing is available online...

 

[Jersey Skier]

My LBS is also pissed they get nothing but everyhing is available online...

My Specialized rep likes to explain to me how great this is for me. I mean, I have bikes on backorder for over a year, Specialized has them available for consumers to purchase but won't ship them to me. But hey, "if you convince them to ship it to your shop, you'll make 50% of your normal margin." Yippee.

 

[Calsun]

Nothing really new as Specialized has been selling many products direct to consumers for some time. But U.S. corporate executives are a greedy bunch and so everything is focused on raising the stock price so their bonuses increase. Not any different than Apple's stores and direct sales that have eliminated Apple dealers.

One has to decide whether to support companies that engage in such business practices or to keep the money in the local economy whenever possible.