WorldIRC

In light of the falling British Pound, today is a better day than any other day to take advantage of purchasing from our UK resellers. I suspect they will eventually need to make some corrections to pricing, much like Canada did when our dollar got weaker over the last two years.

Who will be making near-term purchases from the UK? What will you be buying?

mcours2006

Just check one of the retailers and the prices don't seem that different. Perhaps it takes a day for the prices to reflect the declining pound.

gregf83 

If they're smart they can't really lower their prices as anything they have to re-purchase will be more expensive. You may see some sales if they have inventory they can't move but it would be a big mistake for them to sell their existing inventory at a lower price.

Farby

Ive been contemplating a group from ribble for a chinese build. but keep wavering back and forth between that and just buying a complete evo from a shop here. guess it's time to **** or get off the pot if i'm getting parts from UK!

Luis G.

Once you go to Paypal that's were the conversion will happen. Atm it's incorrect at .69 GBP per USD. It should be .72 GBP per USD.
Going to wait half a day and try again.
If I can get Ultegra groupset.

WorldIRC

I've always been charged in $CDN from Chain Reaction. Their "exchange rate" was always more favourable than PayPal's.

I think in the short-term, prices will go down, but only in the sense that it'll be cheaper for those outside the UK to purchase Pounds. In the long-term though, prices may go up, if the Pound is devalued against other currencies.

Digger6255

I was going to order a set of Fulcrum Racing 3 from Wiggle this morning. They had the exchange rate wrong so I figured I would a couple hours. The raised the price on the wheels and the cassette that I was ordering. I'm sure to offset the exchange rate.

exime

Well I just looked at an item from Merlin Cycles and it only decreased a $1 from $93 to $92.

WorldIRC

What if you purchase in GBP and let your bank handle the conversion instead?

San Pedro

I think the sites prices reflect exchange rates automatically, but I could be wrong... Maybe wait a day or so for things to adjust.

Shuffleman

I am guessing that you are correct. I have been holding off on buying a new SlX groupset for a mtb rebuild and Athena for a road build. I was not waiting for anything other than time to actually do the projects. If they get cheaper, than I will pull the trigger sooner rather than later.

Wittyname

Some banks use end-of-day exchange rate from a couple days back, some do it by the date of transaction posting, check the terms of service for your account

cthenn

I don't see any difference in prices. At least for the stuff I have bought, or are interested in...

Doge

I do travel a fair amount and make a point of getting CC without a foreign trx fee and spot rates updated at least daily. Pretty normal these days, but you might need to check.
So - you would buy in GBP and the cc would give you your "discount".

Lt Stonez

The prices wont drop in the shops. You just pay less for the pund when you exchange from dollar.

Sy Reene

Case in point from Ribble.
Same bike shows as 958GBP or $1379 using Ribble's currency converter. The current exchange rate should mean that a 958GBP bike should only cost $1065.

WorldIRC

Was your country set to US as well when you were viewing the Pounds pricing? I know that when I change my location to Canada, regardless of the currency displayed, it immediately drops 20% for the VAT.

I'm looking at a set of wheels on Wiggle. £319.91 vs. C$598.23; however, if I pay in pounds, my bank will convert it to about C$585, a $13 savings.

I purchased a pair of bib shorts yesterday from Assos Factory Outlet. I actually got a better deal purchasing through them in $CDN rather than Pounds. My grand total was £100.61 ($184), but in $CDN, the website only charged me C$177. VAT was removed on both prices, so it appears they are using the posted rate to convert rather than charging a markup like most banks and other websites, since the exchange rate I paid is essentially the same as what xe.com and Google were showing...rates that no one ever actually pays.

Like Paypal, the UK sites are possibly going to try to make a few bucks during the conversion process, especially now with Brexit. Make sure to compare UK and your local currency prices and then determine who you'd be better off converting the total through...your bank (CC, Debit), PayPal, or the website itself charging you in your local currency.

Sy Reene

No.. I just screwed up, and somehow my currency converter was set to Euros to USD. You're right, there basically isn't any hidden advantage to shopping in GBP on the UK sites.

cthenn

so the bottom line is no deals to be had with Brexit in the US.

WorldIRC

Pound has dropped even further, at least against the Canadian Dollar. Anyone else make any purchases? Did you let the shop covert to your local currency or did you pay in Pounds and allow your Bank / PayPal to handle the conversion?

cthenn

I haven't seen much price drop. But I'm doing it by selecting USD and ship to USA. Does it make a difference? I guess I'd select ship to USA but currency GBP?

WorldIRC

Ship to USA removes VAT, very important.

From a currency standpoint, compare their price in USD vs. Pounds (and what your bank will charge you to convert it). Whichever option is better, that's how you make your purchase.

cthenn

Well I'm not looking at a groupset or wheelset or another expensive purchase, but a twinpack of Conti tires is $69, or $65 and change via conversion. Also, that's using Google's converter, who knows what my credit card/bank will use as the conversion rate. Not much of a savings...do you see savings more on higher priced items?

WorldIRC

I'm on CRC right now, looking at the 6800 groupset (just for argument sake).

Their price in $CDN is $677. Their price in Pounds is 370. My bank, after conversion, will charge me $648. Thus, in the case of this product, I would be better off paying CRC in Pounds, and letting my bank handle the conversion. I'd save about $30, or another 5%.

These vendors are very likely adjusting the currencies themselves to maximize what they can get, for now. Eventually, I suspect UK prices will go up (as they did in Canada when our dollar began to fell against the USD).

mercator

Based on my past transactions, I think what is happening is the site is estimating the price in CAD (or USD) but the actual billing is done in Pounds with the conversion done by the bank.