Synergy Skates Geared toward internet dealers!

[Accord 0]

5 reasons why not to match internet:

1. You get the right size in the store

2. You get the skates right away

3. You get free heat molding

4. You don't pay shipping

5. You get to try different models to see which one fits your feet.

Buzz has a great line when customers ask him to match prices.  I've used it too.

i love that scenario, lol:

-Will you guys match internet pricing?

=We'll try, sir, what have you found?

-Externo E-60's on Hockey Giant, $259.90

=We sell them for $299.90

-Can you match $259.90

=Sure, itll be $259.90 for the skates, $40 for heat molding, $8 for the first sharpening, and you can pick them up next tuesday...

-Next tuesday?!?! you have them right there!

=OH! you want overnight shipping? well shit thats an extra $35 for overnight delivery. so now youre at $345.00 for your $259.90 internet skates... Are you sure you wouldnt rather buy them here, and have them today?

That's pretty much how EVERY conversation i've ever had with both of my LHS' went :lol:.

[cobrAA 0]

nice buzz you make my day lol!!!!!LMAO

[anotherlin 0]

i love that scenario, lol:

-Will you guys match internet pricing?

=We'll try, sir, what have you found?

-Externo E-60's on Hockey Giant, $259.90

=We sell them for $299.90

-Can you match $259.90

=Sure, itll be $259.90 for the skates, $40 for heat molding, $8 for the first sharpening, and you can pick them up next tuesday...

-Next tuesday?!?! you have them right there!

=OH! you want overnight shipping?  well shit thats an extra $35 for overnight delivery.  so now youre at $345.00 for your $259.90 internet skates... Are you sure you wouldnt rather buy them here, and have them today?

I don't own a hockey store, so I may not know how hard it is, but

I can understand the anger of owners.

However I think this is quite silly. If you don't want to match a price,

just say no. It's truely insulting to go to a shop, get fitted and then

buy on the internet. But I find it rude to tell that kind of story to a

customer, I guess he'll never come back.

Internet is like the WalMart for LHS. Unless all manufacturers adopt

some kind of policy, you'll have to live with it. It's gonna be hard to

beat a pair of E-Frames for $19.88 or PureFly for $139. But maybe

you can try to almost match the prices so that with shipping you only

save 10 dollars or less by buying online.

My local PIAS has almost the same price, even sometimes better,

than hockey giant or monkey so that it's not worth the 45m drive to

Orange county. Ok, maybe PIAS is a bad example because they're

franchises but that's the way business is.

[Jim A 4]

Charging $50 to bake skates bought elsewhere is outrageous and shows no customer service...and essentially tells people who aren't customers to avoid your store..

This scenario happened to me on friday Jim, what do you do here:

A kid comes in asking about Vapor XXX's, says he wants t obe the first to get them, and asks me to size him so he can order off the internet. I said, I am absolutely not going to HockeyMonkeys work for them, and he can go ahead and order his skates, and then he can come buy the right size from us when they dont fit. Why should we bother stocking top end items and fitting people, only to have them take their business to the internet? I have absolutely no problem saying to some one, "what?!? you mean Hockey Giant wont heat mold your skates for you?"

granted, we are a knowledgeable, competitively priced shop, and we do not take advantage of our customers, i think its essentially rude to go to the internet with out first asking the shop to match a price

Buzz,

do you know this kid? his folks? there are early adopters everywhere..(see Ebay when the newest easton stuff starts to come out)..and some people/parents will give in...sometimes you have to ask them why its so important to have this..but if they are rolling in $, they won't care..

If i know this guy and he does this to me, but still buys stuff at the shop fairly regularly..i fit him...but i make sure my staff or anyone else ever gives him a break off the posted price, or never lets him get away without paying for a sharpening, or any work that has a posted price...and when he brings them back to mold, etc..i charge him those posted prices

If I've never seen him before, and we're busy, I service him last...I still fit him..but i let him know I have to take care of the people who are my customers and buy things from me...if we're not busy..i fit him out of boredom..and get him into a conversation about this whole scenario...ie..do you go to a car dealer..then buy your car online?? but i don't give him the insights i've learned over the years..(kind of like pro shop lite..i am professional, but don't go the extra yard)

Most people I've been involved with in this situation..that have brought it up front to me, have also been willing to pay for the service..ie. someone has a proform, a buddy,etc....and its amazing how far a free lunch of some beverages go in this situation..

also..people are willing to travel for what is valuable to them, although it may not be of much cost..i worked in a shop where we offered free skate sharpening for life if you bought your skates there ..and could show the receipt..people would battle traffic and drive 35 miles..bypassing countless other stores..to get their skates sharpened.more often than not, they pick up something else..but in general..they just get used to going only to our store..

[Chadd 916]

Easy answer is, "Since we don't have the XXX in stock I can't tell you how they fit. I'd hate to tell you the wrong size and make you unhappy."

It's a nice way to refuse servicing him without creating a situation. I would charge a fitting fee in a case like that or refuse to fit him.

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

@Jim:

i didnt know the kid or the scenario, but i think its blatantly rude to ask some one to give them the correct size, so as to take their business elsewhere. luckily, i work at a higher caliber store and was able to say to him: no i wont size you for the internet, because we'll have them just as soon as the internet has them anyway. typically one can always talk rationaly to a customer and convince them why ordering internet goods (specifically skates) is a bad idea.

[Jim A 4]

Buzz,

completely agree that its rude to do so, ask to be sized for the 'net,etc..and it is funny when those people are still waiting for the UPS guy and you've gotten them in stock a day or 2 after they ordered .....

[goalie39 0]

I dont understand how some of you think its insulting to have a store "charge" for fitting. Here is the way weve begun to do it at our store:

--Sign on wall - "If you plan to buy the skates online, there is a $50 charge to 'try them on' "

--Acts purly to scare off internet buyers. If we ever do decide to charge the $50, we actually credit you an account at our store for the $50.

--"Internet skate service avalable" sign. $75. "We will fit, mold, and sharpen your internet skates"

You can always tell when someone is going to burn you on a sale

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

$50?

Ours was $15 and one customer almost came to blows with our manager...