Did Nashbar just increase the order amount from $49.00 to $99.00 to get free shipping?

Looks like it. I'm not sure how that will affect my purchases. I may wait and see whether they offer occasional discounted limits for shipping, such as the recent sale offering free shipping with purchases totaling more than $25.

Or I may just buy immediately. Often I'd lollygag for days over Nashbar choices trying to reach the $49 limit, and then end up not buying anything at all because I missed the discount window for the main item I'd intended to buy.

For example, a few months ago I bought a weatherproof handlebar bag that originally had an MSRP of more than $100, was usually discounted to $40 by Nashbar, but was discounted to $20 for a few days. I knew if I delayed I'd miss it so I paid the shipping cost. It still saved money compared with the regular price.

We're Amazon Prime subscribers so most of my smaller purchases are with Amazon, even when the prices aren't the lowest around. Just saves time. Nashbar offers some items through Amazon as well and occasionally I'll order that way, although it rarely includes free Prime shipping.

Free shipping isn't free and the costs retailers pay for shipping vary with fuel costs and other factors. Reportedly Amazon operated at a loss for years on "free" shipping of physical products. Presumably they offset it with other revenue streams.

Yeah, nashbar raised the min price for free shipping.

Ill buy less often from them. I typically have to buy multiple things to even reach the $50 mark so itll really be tough to get to $100.
Ironic, since im sitting here with 2 wheelsets from them that just arrived today.

That site continues to offer less and less of what i want.
The selection overall is huge, but if you want drop bars or stems...they are really limited. What you would think an online retailer would carry...they have in limited amounts. Quirky.

Looks like it. Bummer.

Got a box from them two weeks ago, strictly because of their $49 free shipping giving them an advantage over a couple other places. I assume, however, their marketing people told them that it wouldn't hurt them much.

I was impressed with my overseas order from Chain Reaction, who had seemingly better per piece prices and free shipping after $67, maybe I'll use them more.

Put some items in the cart the other day and then saw the change in the shipping. Oh well I can wait on the next sale.

Has anyone bought from 365cycles.com ? I've been buying from them lately, when I discovered the inventory of replacement parts, things like freehubs. Shipping is included on a lot of items, but the selection of bike stuff is large. Just look at things like bags, bells, pages of stuff. On a personal reason, why I buy from 365cycles, their store is 1.25hrs from my home. I have been buying from Nashbar, since the days they were "Bike Warehouse" (any old timers remember ?). So it's time to look elsewhere. KB.

Ive purchased a few things in the last year from 365 thru their ebay store. good pricing and quick shipping...whats not to like.

thanks for the tip. did a quick look around, free shipping on everything, hmmm. and they carry old skool 27" wheels of various quality, the place appears to be well stocked.

nashbar is always having a sale, free ship is frequent, 25% off is common. subscribe to their email for a heads up.

Several years ago it looked to me like Nashbar would stall on picking orders unless I paid extra for overnight or to day shipping. So I stopped using them.

Yep, I subscribed. I beleive, anywhere you free shipping, in this day, it's included in the price. Companies can't have real , free shipping, and stay in business, they just hide it in a creative way. KB

They literally changed this on 3/21.

I purchased an Ultegra cassette 3/21 for $55. Free shipping.

Then got a flat on 3/22, Co2 inflator died, etc... so ordered a bunch of stuff and noticed I had to get it over $99. So, literally in a day.

That's a name I haven't heard in years/decades! That was back when you could order real replacement parts rather than "fashion." I think my father has all the catalogues he's ever received from BW and BN. I don't plan on inheriting that collection but I'll probably save a few.

yep, I still have all my panniers, handlebar bag and truck, all marked Bike Warehouse. When I was stationed in Europe, I ordered all my bike stuff from them. KB

Big 23% off all orders over $49 banner across the top of Nashbar's website today.

Putting a $189 crankset into the shopping cart and going all the way to the point of submitting the order didn't apply a discount however. The banner is not clickable to find out more information. I thought it might be an issue with my browser or that a discount code was needed and so chatted with the customer service rep. It turns out that they have terms and conditions link at the bottom of the page which reads...Half an hour wasted. This is the kind of thing that makes me go spend a few dollars more at some other site which doesn't give me the runaround.


-Tim-

All my purchasing experiences with Nashbar have been good. Items were as described, shipped on time or earlier than expected.

My only gripe about Nashbar is pretty much the same gripe I have about Amazon -- when I'm in a hurry it can be a pain to quickly locate the items I'm interested in. Nashbar's main shopping sections are pretty well organized, better than Amazon's. But it's a chore to wade through their clearance and bargain bin sections. A few times I was just short of the $49 limit for free shipping and figured I could snag an item from the clearance or bargain bin to fill it out. But it took so long I ended up missing the discount deadline for the original item I'd intended to purchase. So a couple of times I ended up buying nothing.

But organizing online shopping in a way that makes sense to customers is a challenge for most retailers. It's not just Nashbar and Amazon.

Wait, there are sometimes exclusions to sales? What?!?!

There is a fine line between sarcasm and insult, and I never said that I was surprised that the sale had exclusions.

The fact that it wasn't made clear and that I wasted a half hour is what bothered me. Announcing a sale without a clear link to the terms and conditions is nothing more than a trick to get people to spend time browsing their site thinking that everything is on sale. Only the naive think that business don't do this on purpose - send people into click-holes to keep them browsing.

Stuff like this is why I work with an account rep at Backcountry.com. I simply email my rep and ask for a quote on whatever I want. He searches the competition, does price match without my having to ask, recommends alternatives or bundles and even tells me to wait if there happens to be an unannounced sale in the near future. If I like the deal I say "Ship it" and it arrives at my door two days later.


-Tim-

I always thought that everything that the sale applied to had red text saying "Plus an additional X% off this item"? That is generally how I've determined items that the sale doesn't apply to.

Yep. I wish they had a sitemap trail at the top of the individual product pages, so if I link from Google to say, a back rack, I can quickly hit the link at the top of the page and see all the other back racks, etc. Their clearance/bargain section is a joke to try to sort through.

Just joking, no worry on it being an actual insult. I have little love for Nashbar and as mentioned earlier, am continually frustrated at what they dont have for inventory. Its consistently seems that they have a lot of things which I will never use, and only 2 or 3 of what I want.

As mentioned, items which are on sale will have a note showing the discount will apply in cart.

I love me some backcountry, actually just bought a couple pairs of shoes from them a few weeks ago and returned one yesterday since they were too small. Fast delivery time for sure- one pair of shoes came with a free gift. Funny- the gift arrived a day before my actual purchase!

I have their app, it reads 25% off if you spend $49.00 and free shipping if you spend $99.00. I'm wondering if the app and email are different?

your right, free shipping with $99, gotta read the email closer

eventually they will work a $49 or less free ship. for now leave it with amazon and walmart.

Nashbar has free shipping today with 49 dollars purchased. Good for two days for those that need just a few things.

Edit: just noticed 25% off today.......best of both worlds.

I haven't ordered anything from Nashbar since they raised the free shipping minimum. Along the same line, Ribble apparently isn't offering an free shipping at all now. Nashbar and Ribble were my first choices until this policy change. I now use Merlin and 365cycles in their place but I still spend 80% of my online shopping dollars on eBay.

Looks like Nashbar is back down to $49 for free shipping for about A week or so now.
Lets see if it last.

They still have some of the slowest shipping.I ordered A bicycle A for my wife A Nashbar Women's Flat Bar Disc Road Bike reduce to around $235 .And it still has not shipped.

The fastest shipping I got from Nashbar is when I called the next day after A late night ordered I wanted to cancel.
Nashbar said it was to late to cancel,but I could returned when received.I think it took about A week to get my bike.