Taiwanese are known to pay high prices and buy only top products for everything in the hobby/sport field.
It’s like for scuba diving, they buy expensive Japanese stuff (Bridgestone, Apollo)
Photography top of the line cameras.
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They equate buying expensive branded products as having class. I hate that. Heard some hilarious stuff about camping as well. Listed a ‘snowpeak’ coffee brewer once on Ruten and the interest was crazy. Anything branded. It’s also the reason second hand prices for branded products are really high.
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Cooking pots (and in general all kitchen related items) have ridiculous prices here just because they have a German flag stuck on it.
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I guess the point is that shops may be willing to give you a discount over their Shopee price if you show them you’re aware of their Shopee price, so as not to lose the sale while avoiding the Shopee fees. But in-store prices do tend to be a fair bit higher here by default (presumably because online platforms force them to be more competitive), it seems. Often surprisingly so (I’m mostly referring to imported stuff in general rather than cycling items).
And people are still willing to pay.
I don’t remember letting them know that I was aware of the price in Shopee. Besides, this can be counterproductive because if you go there and show them the screen capture to tell them what you want, they can assume that you are ok with the Shopee price as it is. I did not bargain the prices either, they just let me know that they were giving me the “in store price”. Checking with Shopee later, it was true it was cheaper. I don’t recall by how much, though, but I think it was a nice discount in both cases. Also, I went there because their Shopee prices for the products I wanted were already competitive enough.
Or Amway!
I think this post is spot on. However, I think there’s also a problem with Taiwan being an island where distributors or sellers seem to have customers by their balls. This has to have been like this for decades and when people started to buy their crap online from overseas sellers then the government came up with the additional import taxes, although now I’m thinking that this also happened pretty much anywhere else in the World.
But think of laptops. Not only they are (supposedly) made in Taiwan, but they’re Taiwan brands yet they are better deals in Europe or USA than here. Someone explain me that.
Another possible factor here is how the currency exchange rate has evolve in the last decades. Prices before were better in Taiwan if compared with other countries because the exchange rate was like 1 EUR 40 or even 45 TWD. Now it’s been aroud 32 for a while, so obviously when comparing prices local can’t be as competitive as before. I wonder how much that’s stressing the companies here.
Either way, prices in Taiwan suck, and as said before, you better stick to local reputable brands which are a very good bang for the buck. I don’t need to ride a Willier and wear Rapha stylish clothes, I already accepted my mediocre rider self and I don’t need to look super flashy to others to feel happy.
To feel happy I need chocolate… and other things.
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Chocolate and beer. And cheese. And jamón ibérico.
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All sound good to me!
I just need lots of beef, but those are so expensive in Taiwan.
The reason a lot of shops charge you more for items like inner-tubes, tires, and other bits is that installation is generally included in that sale price. In the western shops, most will add on an extra fee for installation. Look up any shop’s service prices and compare that to Taiwan’s. The shops also generally have to pay rent, taxes, employees salaries, and by buying in person, you get some knowledge or information about the product you are getting, or helpful tips about the installation process if you choose to DIY, at least good shops will do this…
The other part of the mark up is that Taiwan bike shops are at the mercy of the supplier’s pricing, so they can only mark it down as much as possible at times. Other online shops do not generally need to pay for rent or all the other amenities to run a proper shop, so yes those prices will be lower.
Another issue that comes up often is the GREY market items. These items has been snuck out of factories, or are overstock from a dead bicycle brand or closing factory. These items are cheap becuase they do not come in a box, and have no warranty.
My shop is lucky enough to be one of the ones to sell and service Shimano parts in Taipei. All of my parts are covered by Shimano warranty. If you buy a grey market item and it fails, there is nothing you can do. This applies to all other companies as well.
By buying these grey market items that you assume are a great deal, you are actually hurting the local bike shops that are helping out the community and trying to provide a good service to its customers. But I can also understand you are trying to save a buck or two because you have already done your research.
Sorry again for the long response, I welcome all feedback.
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Gotta love them! We supply these in my shop too, top quality!!!
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OK, I didn’t know Masi was known out of Taiwan, and I guess that a Scott labeled as a Fastrax is not a Scott. My point is… local brands like Giant or Merida are probably very good deals here. They even used to give you a 15% discount on previous models (and I think back in the day not only to old models). However, as pointed out by someone else, we don’t see the massive sale discounts you would find in Europe, where these brands list prices are usually higher. More importantly, import brands seem to be super expensive here. That’s why I wanted to know what brands your bikes are.
Another funny thing. In Europe you can find “classic” (old) roadies for very, very cheap. Here, any shitty, rusty, covered in stickers old Giant is already more expensive than in Europe. And if the looks are decent, then it’s ridiculous expensive. It’s really weird.
Well I don’t trust most shops when it comes to servicing my stuff. Say for servicing shocks or forks for Mountainbiking even in Europe you will only find a couple good places per country. But yeah when I send in a shock for service I usually also want an optimization in the shim stack or similar, guess no single bike shop in Taiwan could help me out there. Other things I rather do myself.
In big European cities you’ll also find DIY bicycle garages. Say if you need to hone something out, or press out bearings, press in a headset or change the bottom bracket with press fit crap for which you need specialised tools. I don’t ever see a need for someone to exchange my tubes or tires… Road bikes are dead simple vs full suspension MTBs anyhow.
And yeah I’m willing to pay for quality if I get it. E.g. paying for an ext storia shock. Small boutique really nailing it and custom tuning every shock they sell to your requests/riding style. Way better value than anything from fox or RS. But I’m not willing to overpay on 0815 stuff.
Oh yeah and I’m fine with OEM parts. At least in Europe no worries getting OEM stuff warrantied if it’s really broken. Say MTB forks, every second develops creeking in the bushings, or similar problems. It you ride a lot not unlikely to get that fox or rocks shox forks replaced 2-3 times within 2 years. Lucky for the producers 95 percent of users never notice those manufacturing faults or problems. It’s kinda a problem of overengineering too, but there is a reason why on DH Pro teams they take apart shocks and forks after every weekend. And why wheels or tires are kinda a one weekend affair too. Stuff has been optimised to max performance but durability is of little concern. DH vs road biking is a crazy material driven sport.
I know quite some people who restored, then ride their classics.
In general, most enjoyed the restoration process more than the result.
With mentioned pricing for shitty classics in TW, I finally decided to go an other way, and bought a 2nd hand, ~5 yr old Performer “Classic Lug”.
Nicely made lugged steel frame and fork, but with modern geometry, modern 11-speed drivetrain, sweet alloy 30mm deep Kinlin’s, and a very reasonable weight (just over 9kg with pedals and bottle cages).
Sure no real Colnago or the likes, but sweet nevertheless.
Took it apart, did a full overhaul, and temporarily repaired some damaged stuff (nothing big).
Will ride it a month to check, then will do a full respray in Jaguar Heritage Racing colors (British Racing Green with white logo’s), and fit it with the necessary leather saddle, classic bag, side-walled tires, etc.
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I bought my Assioma pedals from here Google Maps
If I recall 17k but this is a few years ago. They’ve been great. I am not a professional cyclist though but power meters seem accurate, easy to use, battery life is good and charging simple.
The above place is a mess but he seems to have stuff that most others don’t and has always serviced my stuff great. Of course right now some things are simply almost impossible to buy so suggest calling and checking (need to speak Chinese)
For those in Taipei area who like tinkering this shop is a good source of toys and tools:
Kinda similar, there’s this other with all sort of stuff too. Lots of cheaper stuff too:
For getting things done for you by people more used to work with bikes… I’m happy to see this one on the top of the suggestions list on google maps:
EDIT: I don’t know why the map doesn’t load for the third one.
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17k for brand new Assioma is a steal and unheard of. Nice find.
Someone mentioned grey market. TBH, I think if the products are genuine, that’s a perfectly valid and understandable option, especially in a market where many things’ prices are offensively inflated.
However, beware of some products, especially those found online on sites like Amazon, Alibaba and so, for they are shameless ripoffs. Sometimes these may do the job almost as well as the originals, but odds are that they won’t. Plus the people behind are exploiting others’ work success.
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