Touring - Appearing Greedy??

I would like to get a general opinion among the forum members here about something if I may?

My wife and me along with our 4 year old daughter are planning our 7 year world cycling tour and right now we are in the middle of contacting potential sponsors for support with gear.

A week or so ago we heard back from one company that is very well known with cyclers for their high end, high quality gear and they not only were interested but offered us a full sponsorship. To say we were shocked & delighted would be an understatement!

Now the tricky part...

They have assigned us an account and account number for all our orders so yesterday and today I spent a few hours putting together everything we needed for our first proper order with them. The transactions are taking place via email but I used their company website for item names, sizes and product numbers (they suggested I do this). When I had finished with everything I felt was needed I, just out of curiousity, put the same order into their websites shopping cart just to see what it would of cost me had we not been sponsored...

WOW!! :eek: Everything came out to $1,329.98 USD. Now I know that amount is at their "marked up" price for the standard customer BUT this has seriously made me feel rather bad & greedy.

So the question is... I have tried my best to order VERY conservatively from them and not appear to be taking advantage of their generousity but the order seems HUGE now that I did the shopping cart view... should I cut it back more and wait for a bit before completing it with another order in a few weeks time or even just purchase some items at full price through one of their dealers so our sponsorship order is smaller in size?

Strange thing being allowed to pick and choose items at will... I never prepared myself for the guilt involved in it though.

Thanks

$1300 over seven years is not greedy. You say you've tried to be reasonable and get only what you need.

Will you be wearing their company logo or otherwise advertising for them?

If they didn't give you a limit, just send in the order and be willing to negotiate with them if they are unhappy. I don't think reasonable people would be shocked at paying out only $1300 as a "full sponsorship." Seems like a good deal for them.

It doesn't sound like you are getting anything that you won't use. If it is stuff you
need leave it on the list. This company has obviously sponsered other people in a
similiar manner. If they feel the stuff you are ordering is out of line with similiar orders
and trips they will tell you.

Don't go hog wild and buy everything you ever wanted but let them tell you when
enough is enough.

Good luck on your journey sounds like a life changing event.

Steve

Yes, we will be advertising for them according to the contract... logo's, clothes, etc.

Well, the order is probably the first of a few and that's what concerns us. It should see us about half way (or a bit more) through the 1st stage of our tour... there are 8 stages total.

it's a business transaction, something for everyone. you get 'free' stuff, they get
'free' advertising. the value of the advertising they get from you, and the rights
to feature you in their ads, is likely 1000 times greater than the marginal cost
of the products they provide.

let's say you order everything you think you'll need. get the high-end stuff, don't be
cheap. you need goods that will last seven years, right? and the last thing they
want is their product failing on tour. so you order $5000 retail, that's maybe $2500
wholesale (which still gives them a profit). let's assume the marginal cost (actual
materials, overhead, shipping) is maybe $2000.

$2000 is nothing to a major manufacturer. they spend that much on light bulbs or
paper clips in a month. consider the cost of sending one of their mid-level marketing
reps to a three-day conference - which could easily be $2000/day with airfare,
hotels, food, entertainment, etc.

put it in perspective: they get seven years of advertising. you get a couple grand
in cycling goods. no need to feel guilty.

I agree with what the others have said. Get the highest quality gear they offer. It will need to last you through some hard times and you or they don't want it to fail out on the road. Seems like a fair business transaction to me. How much do you think Lance gets for wearing Nike on his clothes....nuff said :)

Consider the contract very carefully however. Down the road you may be interested in publishing an account of your trip (which I hope you will). There could be issues/or not with using the photos of the sponsers gear, descriptions and all that. Just worth checking.

Good luck

They'll probably be more shocked that you only want 1300 in merchandise. That is a very low figure imo.

I would like to get a general opinion among the forum members here about something if I may?
ThanksDon't feel bad.

By the way - I could use a new helmet. :D

Thanks for the replies... I feel better about my order.

I understand that 1300 isn't much for 7 years worth of advertising BUT the order isn't going to last 7 years... my guess is something more like 2 orders per stage over 8 stages. So the total as an estimate would be more like $24,000.00 over the period of 7 years.

I say, grab whatever you can get your hands on. No guilt whatsoever. This is not generosity, this is a pure business transaction. If $24,000 is what it takes, that's what it takes. Do you think the company feels any "guilt" about the amount of advertising they're making you wear?

i never get advertisement, i never bought nike cloths cuz i seen lance wearing them. but your soooo lucky, 7 year tour, w0w. remeber to take lots of GOOOOD photos with a GOOOD digi cam.

My company just happily spent US$68,000 for a 1 page ad in a trade journal. Take your sponsor's gear. They know what they're doing and I suspect they are getting a good deal!

Paul

Istanbul, as someone already said, "this isn't charity, it's pure business." You're an advertiser now, and from what I've seen lately: a great deal for any compan--cheap really.

Cheers

Try looking at it this way. They are sponsoring you. You are their billboard. You can't go around looking like you are falling apart or actually falling apart. That will actually reflect worse on them than a well-outfitted, sharp tour.

Maybe you are doing them a favor by having your act well together. At least as well as possible.

Good Luck!

My wife and me along with our 4 year old daughter are planning our 7 year world cycling tour and right now we are in the middle of contacting potential sponsors for support with gear.


I dont want to bring this off topic. But your taking your 4 year old daughter on a 7 year world tour? What about schooling?

I dont want to bring this off topic. But your taking your 4 year old daughter on a 7 year world tour? What about schooling?

What better schooling could a child have?

Culture, language, math, reading, writing - all built into the tour.

We will be home schooling her... as DnvrFox said accurately- She'll get tons of history in real time, language in authentic tongue, culture & art in massive amounts and the others will be handled by us as she's ready for them... writing, math skills, etc.

Based on the average public/private schools education... we think she'll be far ahead of the curve when we return.

We're a very tight knit family and this will only make us tighter.

In our opinion, school is a building where people go to learn of the world and what people do outside of school...

we are giving her (and us) that world on a day to day basis to learn/experience "In" not "Of".

School was where I learned to swear.

We will be home schooling her... as DnvrFox said accurately- She'll get tons of history in real time, language in authentic tongue, culture & art in massive amounts and the others will be handled by us as she's ready for them... writing, math skills, etc.


That's fantastic! She'll have a lifetime of experiences before she's even 18. That's a great gift.

writing, math skills, etc.



Writing - keeping a journal, writing stories, emails, pen pals.

Math - averages of trip, fractions, decimals, percentages, US measure, metric measure - all built in to the cyclo computer - cost of items in different currencies, converting from one currency to another, geometry in all the different shapes you will see, calculating voumes for water capacity, etc., etc.!

Istanbul Tea,

I was just curious... Is the company paying for everything, including lodging and food expenses, or just bike related expenses? Even if they're just covering bike expenses, that's great. If they're paying for everything, that's awsome. Seven years of boarding and food costs a lot of money.

Cycle specific gear.

Cycle specific gear.

That's still really cool. I wouldn't worry about running up the account too much as long as it's within reason. Just think, if you're on tour for seven years and your advertising will reach hundreds (thousandes?) of people. This is a great deal for the company. As long as all your charges are reasonable, I'm sure they won't mind.

get another frame too. yours might break. ;)