Bauer on verge of forbidding shipping?

[Netminder32 32]

Good to see you are all on board... (well except the LHS owners) :D Add this to the made in China and sold for the same prices as the equipment made right here in Canada or the Good 'Ol USA and you have two rock solid reasons to boycott all BNH products.

That's right, I said boycott Bauer/Nike Hockey...NOT MIA! If you don't, you are missing the true villians in all of this and are being deceived by your LHS representatives who are being a little short sighted in their views on the whole matter.

This company's profits (BNH) have gone right to it's collective heads. Hopefully enough people will be put off by this latest tactic and work together to bring 'em right back down to earth... If not, eventually all of the good companies who try to make a decent product right here in North America are going to be forced to follow suit just to stay competative. This needs to stop while we still have decent homegrown products like Vaughn, Battram, Smith, Vortek, Brian's, Eagle, Tackla (Vaughn), MIA, Itech, etc, etc, to choose from. As it is, more of even these companies are testing the waters with offshore products in their low lines and companies like CCM/Reebok have dove in headfirst moving even their high end production offshore...

There are so many good product out there that are still made right here in North America, no one has any good reason to even buy the crap Bauer/Nike Hockey is shelling out right now. For whichever reason you choose, made in China or being told where you are "allowed" to buy your hockey equipment.

At the end of the day, you have the control over where to spend your money. If you want top notch quality, good selection and innovative products. Demand it by how you shop... There is no reason that if a particular retailer has the exact item you want, but happens to be located two states/provinces away, that you should be forced to settle for less because it is all that your LHS has to offer. We need internet sales and a global market to keep prices competitive, keep quality and selection high, drive product innovation and maintain good customer service values from the vendors we choose to shop at...

Do I support my local hockey store, you bet! Peranis has thousands of dollars of my hard earned cash. Do I shop online. Yes Again! Goalie Heaven and The Goalie Crease (Ward & Patch Sports) in Toronto and Goal Tec in Alberta will vouch for that. Why? They have things that just aren't available here sometimes... Could be Pro Returns, sometimes even lightly used gear/trade ins. The point is. If any manufacturer tells me I MUST GO TO MY LHS to buy what I want, they simply WILL NOT get my business under any circumstances!

Just my 2 cents anyways...Sorry, had to vent.

[JR Boucicaut 3765]

I have just contacted the PR manager on this...hopefully I will get a reply soon.

[DarkStar50 679]

How much of your equipment is made in Canada or America? You mention the global market, that includes the manufacturers as well as the consumers. If China can produce the product at a fair price to the vendor vs Canadian made product at double the cost to produce the product, will you pay double at retail for that item? Hockey equipment has been coming in from other parts of the world for over 25 years!! This move to Asian production facilities was started in the early 80s. It will not be changing back to made in America anytime soon. These are my opinions as a consumer, not as a dealer.

BTW, Mission and Itech are also very deeply commited to Asian production facilities for their product. Feel free to boycott any and all hockey equipment companies. At the end of the day, you may find yourself at the rink with no equipment to put on.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Sorry, but I am a big fan of freedom of choice.

Amen to that. I too prefer to shop locally, especially for hockey gear where personal preference is so key. I've only made one hockey order online, and that was for roller equipment that was unavailable locally at twice the price, but still I resent the notion that I might not be able to buy something online if I had to or wanted to. More choices available online equals more freedom. Fewer choices available equals less freedom.

I am assuming that the guys who are upset at online sales of hockey equipment never buy books or CDs at Amazon or Borders, do not buy Dell computers, and in fact never order anything online when they can buy it for more locally. Hockey stores are not the only ones facing the reality of online sales.

[DarkStar50 679]

Online stores used to be called catalogs. I have no problem with online stores as my competition. For the guys in Kansas, amen to online stores. My only problem will always be don't bring me your online purchase product problem. Call up the online store to solve the problem. I will help the consumer anyway I can but part of the sale is always the service down the road.

[pldhockey4 0]

It's not even really about "the deals" as much as it is about being able to get the stuff period. There are lots of people who don't have time or $ to drive to a place that has the gear. Like I said, my drive is 2 hours to get to a store that has it. That is 2 hours there and 2 hours back. 4 Hours of driving is roughly 12 gallons of gas, at $2.50 a pop it's $30 just in gas! Not to mention having to eat a meal out, wear and tear on the car, sales tax that I wouldn't have to pay if I ordered from an out of state firm, etc. Oh, and did I mention my time?

same for me!

it is crazy

and it makes me soooo mad when i drive that far and they dont have what i want

[donkey87 0]

It doesn't make a lot of sense for NBH to have shipping ban. The ban is only going to result in less sales. What are store like hockeygiant, hockeymonkey, and epuck going to do if NBH won't let them ship their product? They will buy equipment from another company.

[analog999 0]

To the poster who said that NBH is letting the profits go to their heads:

It isn't about making more profit for NBH, they can't just go up prices for the B&M stores because then their products won't compete against other brands. It's about keeping the B&M stores alive. Online retailers tend to cut deep into the markup that is critical for a lot of stores to survive and thrive. As an online retailer myself, I hate it when other online stores cut prices deeply. Some people will make $10 on a $200 sale. That is crazy, and no way to run a business. They do it for about 6 months and then they are either gone or they have to raise their prices. Meanwhile someone else pops up and does the same thing all over again. Manufacturers have to control this somehow. NBH wants to control it by not allowing shipping. I say control it with MAP.

[JR Boucicaut 3765]

Call off the dogs...

I spoke to the NBH PR manager. Nothing has changed. It is the same policy they have had - no trans-border shipping. Hockeygeeks is mis-informed.

End of story.

[Chadd 916]

Call off the dogs...

I spoke to the NBH PR manager. Nothing has changed. It is the same policy they have had - no trans-border shipping. Hockeygeeks is mis-informed.

End of story.

Or maybe they're just going to enforce that policy against Hockey Geeks and Cyclone?

[JR Boucicaut 3765]

That was the policy set a few years ago. My guess is that they have been doing it on the side.

[sdh 0]

was this some NBH people testing the waters with an obviously bad idea? companies have been known to do this to gauge market reaction in an unofficial capacity and then calling it rumor.

anyway, it would be the dumbest thing a hockey company could do. their marketshare would evaporate quickly.

[Rustybender 0]

OK, so we now know there is not going to be any shipping ban.

Still, I'd like to throw something out there with regards to the idea that stores with no other local competition would jack up their prices if people couldn't buy BNH online. I don't think it would happen, and I'll explain why.

Even if you can't buy BNH online, there is still online competetion. If a store owner jacked up his BNH prices, all they would succeed in doing is ending up with a whole lot of unsold BNH merchandise taking up shelf space. Think about it.

Picture yourself walking into the only hockey shop within 200 miles looking for a Bauer 8000 helmet. This guy wants $220 for one. You know that price is highway robbery. Are you going to buy that helmet? Heck no.

In most cases, one of two things is going to happen.

1. You are going to walk out of there with a top of the line CCM or RBK or Mission helmet instead.

2. You are going to say "screw him," go online and buy a top of the line CCM or RBK or Mission helmet.

-I'll take door number 2...

Jacking up BNH prices is only going to force his customers to buy a different brand that he can't jack the price up on because they are still sold online. In the process, he will probably piss off a lot of customers who will only be stopping in for sharpenings from now on and buy all there gear online. I know if I feel a store is gouging me I won't be going back. I'm sure I'm not alone.

[JR Boucicaut 3765]

Like I said, there is nothing to see here.

This policy has in place for years. This is nothing new.

[DarkStar50 679]

The lessons to be learned from this thread are: don't believe everything you read, no matter where you read it; wait for confirmation of an idea before stating it as fact; don't jump to conclusions about boycotting or trashing vendors, dealers, whoever, until you have your "facts" confirmed; and finally, how much credibility are you going to give "hockeygeeks" now that they might have been caught in a BS scenario? There would be quite a few hockey lemmings dead right now if you had all followed the first lemming over the cliff believing that what he knew was actually true.

[Jim A 4]

Good to see you are all on board... (well except the LHS owners) :D Add this to the made in China and sold for the same prices as the equipment made right here in Canada or the Good 'Ol USA and you have two rock solid reasons to boycott all BNH products. 

That's right, I said boycott Bauer/Nike Hockey...NOT MIA! If you don't, you are missing the true villians in all of this and are being deceived by your LHS representatives who are being a little short sighted in their views on the whole matter.

This company's profits (BNH) have gone right to it's collective heads. Hopefully enough people will be put off by this latest tactic and work together to bring 'em right back down to earth... If not, eventually all of the good companies who try to make a decent product right here in North America are going to be forced to follow suit just to stay competative. This needs to stop while we still have decent homegrown products like Vaughn, Battram, Smith, Vortek, Brian's, Eagle, Tackla (Vaughn), MIA, Itech, etc, etc, to choose from. As it is, more of even these companies are testing the waters with offshore products in their low lines and companies like CCM/Reebok have dove in headfirst moving even their high end production offshore...

There are so many good product out there that are still made right here in North America, no one has any good reason to even buy the crap Bauer/Nike Hockey is shelling out right now. For whichever reason you choose, made in China or being told where you are "allowed" to buy your hockey equipment.

At the end of the day, you have the control over where to spend your money. If you want top notch quality, good selection and innovative products. Demand it by how you shop... There is no reason that if a particular retailer has the exact item you want, but happens to be located two states/provinces away, that you should be forced to settle for less because it is all that your LHS has to offer.  We need internet sales and a global market to keep prices competitive, keep quality and selection high, drive product innovation and maintain good customer service values from the vendors we choose to shop at...

Do I support my local hockey store, you bet! Peranis has thousands of dollars of my hard earned cash. Do I shop online. Yes Again! Goalie Heaven and The Goalie Crease (Ward & Patch Sports) in Toronto and Goal Tec in Alberta will vouch for that. Why? They have things that just aren't available here sometimes... Could be Pro Returns, sometimes even lightly used gear/trade ins. The point is. If any manufacturer tells me I MUST GO TO MY LHS to buy what I want, they simply WILL NOT get my business under any circumstances! 

Just my 2 cents anyways...Sorry, had to vent.

holy crap, did the MIA guys put you up to this really...can we get a separation of Canada/US/North America...because the amount of anti american bashing I hear/get whenever I'm in "upper North America (ie. Canada) is amazing..so why use the word America now..yet walking around NY, CA, TX, CO etc..I never really people say "god I can't stand those canadians, well maybe Kovy Ribs..but he's the bomb stickhandler :D "

When you are ready to disavow and buy nothing that is made overseas at all in your life, apply it to hockey..otherwise its being a hypocrite, hope you can walk to work or make your own vehicle and biodiesel, grow your food (those great granny smith apples come from south africa this time of year you know)

[MissConduct 1]

yawn

[Nick23 0]

I was actually worried if this was true, living in the u.k i would be pretty screwed for low priced gear if they stopped shipping!