How much cheaper can it possibly get?

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Ric Elwin

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I was wandering around Decathlon yesterday, looking for some Christmas presents. Naturally I had a walk down the tackle aisles, even though the shop's gone downhill of late.

One thing caught my eye

Perfectly serviceable fixed spool reels, brand new, for 3.80. How can they make them, pay the import duties, ship them, make a mark up for the wholesaler and retailer at this price??

It can't get cheaper still, can it?
 
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Alan Tyler

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So why can't anyone make a range for left-handers? Don't any tackle firms want ten per cent of the market, for which there's no competition? Oh, let the silly b*ggers rot; if they're so dim that the only way forward they can see is to cut each other's throats, rather than bother to find out what people want, let'em do that and all bleed to death. Grump over. (Goes off to mutter lovingly over centrepins...which, funnily enough, seem pretty dam' pricey new!)
 
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Wolfman Woody

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"pay the import duties, ship them, make a mark up for the wholesaler and retailer at this price"

In the case of Decathlon, when it's their own brand, they are shipper, wholesaler and retailer. Some reels do leave the factory gates at ?1.50 - ?2.00. Even top branded products are often less than a tenner in cost, ex-works price.

It's amazing when you see the components and work that go into them. Makes you wonder where they'll go when all the cheap labour countries have been exhausted.
 
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Les Clark

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Alan ,Im left handed and cast & strike with my right hand and reel in with my left hand ,is this not the case with you ?
 
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colsmiff

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strange, on every reel I have the handle can be positioned on either side, thus making the reel suitable for either left or right handed people.
 
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Alan Tyler

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No, Les, I keep the rod in my left and use the right for winding and netting (I think I can remember neding to use a landing net..), and I wouldn't look twice at a reel that didn't lay the line so it peeled off the spool down the inside of my left index finger, so that I can feather the cast, and so I can strike onto my finger with the pickup open , knowing that when I reel in, the pick-up will take the line off my finger smoothly. Which leaves me with Mitchell 207's 209's and a few oddball Abu's (664, 665, and the Dragmasters) and a whole bunch of ill-will (even at Christmas) towards tackle "designers"!
Putting the handle on the wrong sideof a right-handed reel does NOT make it ambidextrous!
 
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Steve King

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A fair point Alan, back in the 70s I bought a Mitchell 410, a great reel, but for me being right handed the line peeled off the spool the wrong way.

I can understand your frustration with tackle designers.
 
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Alan Tyler

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I was beginning to think it was just me!
I know the match Greats of the sixties and seventies managed to work past the problems of the Mitchell 300/400 series and make them talk; but I don't have that much bank-time to practice, and really want a reel that works WITH me, straight out of the box.

Anyway, my apologies, Ric, for rather diverting your thread! ...
..Now, about this Decathlon place ... how did the rods and poles look? I suspect we're at the bottom of the market - you hear the odd rumour about carbon fibre prices being about to rise - so it might be a good time to pick up a few basic bits...
 
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colsmiff

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Alan, good point about the line lay, naivity struck when I posted earlier. Now, with some thought, I can see your problem. Apologies.
 
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