AE bike

General
1

Whats the deal? AE bike seems to have jacked their prices up to UDC levels…

their kh 29 is 600 bucks now :frowning:

a month (or more) ago before they sold out is was under 500…

UDC must have sent them a ‘message’ (“uh you gotta raise yer prices or someone might have an accident”)

2

Sad, so truely sad

I am crying. Well, not really. I feel bad about it. I hug my 360$ KH 20, wipe a tear for the rest of you all. And think how great it is to be part of a forum that convinced me it was the real deal.:smiley:
But yeah, how sad if …sniff…snifff…oh I can’t type anymore…ahhhh ha ha ha…

3

Their price was still low just a couple days ago when I checked it. Glad I don’t need any more unis right now.

4

Prove it and you can get UDC prosecuted for price fixing.

My personal theory is that everyone that kept discussing AE Bike’s prices ad infinitum (KH from AEBike) finally caused the price difference to appear on someone’s radar. If that someone was AE Bike, who realized that they could make more profit, then everything’s fine (legally, but you may not like it). If it was UDC or Kris who “brought the difference to their attention”, then, depending on exactly what was said, it could be price fixing.

You might as well give up on trying to prove anything; it’s too small a business circle, though Kris’ post on the “problem” with AE Bike’s low prices wouldn’t look good in court – that post was a severe business mistake in my opinion, especially given the price change immediately afterwards.

So perhaps there’s a life lesson for the younger set in this – if you find a great deal by all means tell others about it, but keep it low-key. I fear the constant waving of the flag on this one spoiled it for everyone.

Nah, when I was a teenager I wouldn’t listen to anyone my age either… :slight_smile:

Roak

5

if kris told them to up their prices, that’s not price fixing. that’s simply having a min. retail price. tons of things have one. i know that most the bikes in my shop have a min and max retail price. like, you legally can’t have it on the floor below $XX or above $YYY. if UDC did it, then it is price fixing. but from the other thread, it seems that kris might’ve said something.

6

Dang. Does anyone here have the slightest clue about retail and reselling? First of all I’m going to assume anton was making a joke. But some of you seem to have bought it as fact. If KH doesn’t set any pricing rules, nobody should have a problem if one of their resellers uses a lower price. Happy customers! What I’m guessing is happeneing is that AE bike is learning that they have to support their customers, like UDC does, and this costs more than simply re-shipping a box from UDC or Kris Holm Cycles. They may have found out that people needed changes or corrections, or things sometimes get sent back, or various other things that convinced them they couldn’t afford to sell the product at such a low margin.

But that’s just a guess. I’m sure they didn’t suddenly go “look, we can make more profit by charging what those other guys do!” Those other guys were there first, and AE Bike is riding on their coattails. Their advantage is their lower price, because they aren’t unicycle experts. If they raise theirs for no reason, someone else is just going to come along and sell at their previously low price.

7

I’m kicking myself for not jumping on the KH20 deal. I was going to get one for my son as an upgrade from his Torker LX for his birthday in August. I sorta decided it was too early that I’d never be able to keep it put away that long (as in I’d end up riding it haha) but now looks like I blew it.

8

I just spoke with Colin, who runs the AE bike website; his father owns the business. Since I was also very concerned about this KH issue, I asked him some questions about WHY AE bike raised their prices on ALL KH products, and why their prices are now identical to UDC.

Since I don’t want to inadvertantly misquote Colin, I asked him if he would be so kind as to make a post in RSU asap, and try to explain why this happened. Now obviously he didn’t have to agree to this, but said he would post a message sometime this afternoon. I

It does appear that they have been “cut off” from the KH supplier due to an “agreement issue”, but I trust Colin will elaborate on that. At least their shipping costs are still the lowest I’ve ever seen! :slight_smile:

9

Terry, you’re a busy little beaver, aren’t you?

10

Haha, I’d say more like a “Watchdog!” :smiley:
I just don’t like mysteries! Well, unless they star Bogart! :sunglasses:

watchdog.jpg

11

aaaaaaaaaaaaargh i was just about to buy the KH 29"!!! :angry: :angry: :angry:

eh UDC has better customer support, anyways…:smiley:

AE bike won’t sell one more KH uni!
MUH HA HA HA!!!

12

Yea…there goes AE’s business from unicyclists

13

:slight_smile:

14

I was totally joking. I didn’t mean any harm or point any fingers at anyone for anything, just a wise-ass making a joke…

Anyway, looks like we may still have the hookup… :slight_smile:

15

Price Collusion

I totally feel that AEbikes was strong amed here. They seem like a very honest LBS. I have to disagree with what John Foss said “that they are finally learning the retailing business.” AEbikes have been around the block and have been a bike retaitler for quite some time. They know thier business. I really admire Kris Holm but am disapointed in what he has done here. I feel that this totally cancels out his “1% for the planet” and other good deeds. Earlier I posted that once KH sells to a dealler the price at what the dealler sells should be none of his business and it does not effect his profits. The fact that AEbikes has to advertise the price at exaclty the same price as UDC sucks ass big time and maybe there actually is a great court case here. Also I posted the price comparisons between Unicycle.com, AEbikes and Municycle.com. As you can see below Roland from MDC sells his KHs at prices closer to AEb than UDC! If he can do it then why can’t UDC with thier bigger business. This move is definitely going to hurt KH sales in the long run. KH manufactures the best unicycle but I will repair my current ones or look for second hand ones before I buy a new one at the current UDC price. I would even order from MDC and pay the higher shipping than order from UDC!

XXX -AEb -MDC -UDC
KH20 $363 $444 $499
KH24 $417 $478 $575
KH29 $435 $500 $599

Unicorn

16

This just about means I will never be buying a kh:) … I commend AE for wiping out there business from unicyclist:) and if it wasn’t them who decided the price change that sucks… I’ll just go koxx or custom(whcih is what i am doing!:D)… but yeah…

17

Anyone intrested in a good deal on a KH

Should read this thread from product reviews.

Kris posted, and also a Rep from AE Bike. :sunglasses:

18

And check this out. This is from UDC US. You can buy a radial 360, AND a numbus 36 frame, and have BOTH frames and a complete 36er for LESS than the price of just the nimbus 36 alone! Here’s proof: The standard radial 360 is $339. Add $120 more for the nimbus frame and you have a total of $459! (both radial and nimbus standard 36 have exactly the same wheelset)

Now you have a complete 36er and TWO frames! Compare this with the cost of just the nimbus 36er at $515. The first way is not only $56 cheaper, but you get BOTH frames as well. Very odd pricing system UDC has, for sure. :thinking:

19

is someone getting a coker?

20

Wow! Geezer is right

I just checked. So the regular nimbus is overpriced ? :thinking: