# what's the deal with Specialized and shipping



## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

I want to purchase shoes and no local shops have what I want and size. All the online shops say they are not allowed to ship. WTF. I have money and want to buy your shoe but you won't let me make the purchase. DUMB way to do business.
So I'll look at other brands. can you tell I am a bit pissed.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Specialized protects it's brand, and controls pricing, by selling only in bike shops...No online sales...Trek and Cannondale do the same.

Have you tried Specialized online store for the shoes?


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## RJP Diver (Jul 2, 2010)

Have a dealer order what you want.


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

thanks for the response. online store doesn't have my size. local store just tried to sell a size that doesn't fit. said I had to wait until next season. how does not selling online protect the brand? looking at the RXL instead now.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

NJcycler said:


> thanks for the response. online store doesn't have my size. local store just tried to sell a size that doesn't fit. said I had to wait until next season. how does not selling online protect the brand? looking at the RXL instead now.


By not selling online they prevent fraudulent products from entering the marketplace, as well as preventing places like Nashbar from selling below MAP.


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

poor business choice. loss of sales. vs a few stores discounting the product. so you do not distribute your product to that vendor. i emailed a few stores to see if they will ship it to me.


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## thatdrewguy (Aug 7, 2009)

one of the UK online retailers sells Specialized shoes...


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

NJcycler said:


> poor business choice. loss of sales. vs a few stores discounting the product. so you do not distribute your product to that vendor. i emailed a few stores to see if they will ship it to me.


Somehow, I doubt Specialized is seeing lost sales because Nashbar isn't carrying their products. 

I'm also guessing that Specialized is doing just fine without your glowing business recommendations...


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

I never said they should let nashbar sell there products. where did you read that? i said current dealers should be allowed to sell over the internet. very different. if a current dealer discounts the produce then don't sell to that dealer. heck, it is easier for them to track prices on the internet vs local a local store sale. what is stopping the discounted price when I am at the store.

maybe specialized is doing fine but the stores that sell the product could be doing better. over the internet they can sell that odd size that is in their inventory for a few years. you can't tell me that selling over the internet would not increase business.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

NJcycler said:


> maybe specialized is doing fine but the stores that sell the product could be doing better. over the internet they can sell that odd size that is in their inventory for a few years. you can't tell me that selling over the internet would not increase business.


The thinking is actually that the stores would be doing a whole lot worse if Specialized opened the flood gates on internet sales. Someone like a Performance, PBK, Wiggle, Competitive Cyclist, Total Cyclist, etc. would step in and undercut the market and make it up on volume. This undermines the brand and kills the Specialized dealer in favour of a few internet-based behemoths. You can see this happening to many other brands. You can also see a backlash by the industry against the internet outlets. Specialized have decided to stay out of this and stay with their traditional model. You may not like it, but then again you don't have to buy Specialized either. If a store doesn't like it, there are many other brands they can switch to. The other good thing from a store's point of view is that it forces buyers to go to the store, and then they get the opportunity to sell other stuff to the customer and build a relationship.


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

not true. performance and the other stores can't undercut the market if specialized does not sell them product. they can't sell what they don't have. specialized can still control who sells and what price.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

NJcycler said:


> not true. performance and the other stores can't undercut the market if specialized does not sell them product. they can't sell what they don't have. specialized can still control who sells and what price.


Sure, Specialized can terminate a store if they don't abide by MSRP. Once they open the door to online sales it will change everything. Cervelo is an example that went with online sales (through Competitive Cyclist) but has backed away and gone back to a store-based delivery model. If you are prepared to pay MSRP, then usually one could just buy it from Specialized's web-site. I see from your other posts that they're out of stock. That sucks - they seem to have been having stock issues the last couple of years on a lot of items. It almost seems that they deliberately under-order in order to keep prices up. I agree with you that it's a problem that you have the money but they have no way to sell to you.


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

yeah. my luck is that a lot of people are size 42.5. my current bike shoes will last a couple more thousand miles this year. 12,000 miles on the shoes since buying them last season


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## rkgriffin (Jun 28, 2010)

Yeah I wouldn't mind much if Specialized kept their dealers and the official online store stocked. They always seem to under stock (produce) to avoid having to blow out items to make room for the next year's model. With that said, many of my local stores will discount last years stuff. So I just wait for that and hope they still have stuff I want in stock. Here is the disclaimer from one of my local shops:

"This manufacturer prohibits online sales and shipping. This item can be purchased online and picked up at any Mike's Bikes. Or if you can have someone come to a Mike's Bikes store to make the purchase, we can then ship this item to any location."


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## NJcycler (Jun 18, 2009)

well. saved me $200. so I guess I should be grateful. I like buying toys even if I don't really need them sometimes.


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