Cost of specialist tackle!!!

R

Rob Brownfield

Guest
What do you guys think? As I now live in the far north of Scotland, I class myself as not being part of the coarse fishing scene, but having fished for Carp, Pike, Chub, Barbel, Roach, Tench and Bream for the last 30 years, I can see that you guys are really getting screwed for you gear. I cant talk about rods and reels as I know a lot of the cost for them goes in development, but smaller items of tackle are just unbelievable.

I will give you one example. Balsa deadbait floater sticks, from a well known manufacturer cost ?4.99 for 6. I make my own at a cost of approximatly 7p each.

My local dealer cracks up when I ask him to order Pike or Carp items for me. He cannot believe the price of a majority of the items. This is from a guy that stocks Trout and Salmon rods by Hardy, Sage, Bruce and Walker etc. He jokes that if he was to add the word Carp to any item of tackle, you can double the price. I think he is right!!!

Sea Angler magazine regularly has adverts for braid at far cheaper prices than say Total Carp, and thats for the same stuff in the same box from the same manufacturer.

What do you lot think?
 
P

Philip Inzani

Guest
Yes we are being totally ripped off. I remember finding the cost of Shimano reels in France for example being exactly 50% of the cost in the UK and believe it or not the French guys though that was over priced and used to nip over the boarder to Belgium where you will not believe some of the prices. However I think its getting a little better. You only have to look at the impact firms like Badger are having. I notice other firms are drastically cutting their costs as well, probably in the face of lost sales. As you say its even more blatant with the small items, hooks are a personal bug bear for me...how come Drennen SS are still 1 quid for 10 yet every other hook seems to be 3 or 4 quid for 10? Dont try and convince me that the others are that much more expensive to manufacture.
 
R

Rob Brownfield

Guest
I used to build rods for a living, and i know the blanks were bought from a very well known british manufacturer for around ?30 and retailed at ?160. That was there *cheap* rods! It does my head in, it really does!
 
A

Andy Davis

Guest
It's daft, whilst I was in the USA I bought 2 bulk spools of mono, a bulk spool of fluro, and a small bag all for ?37, although the bag is small it's ideal for river fishing and it cam packed with plastic planno divider boxes
 
A

Andy Davis

Guest
How about this: did a quick search.
FLAMBEAU BAZUKA ROD CASE
?55.00 or $66.95..thats about ?45 only ?10 difference but that was the first price I found.
 
J

James Ayling

Guest
When I was in The States last year a 1/4lb spool of Trilene Big Game was $6.00 - about ?4.00.

There was a Shimano rod & reel combo on sale for $25.00. When I came home I found the Shimano reel on sale for just over ?25.00 in the U.K..

How can a Rapala Plug manufactured in Norway and sold in the U.S.A. cost less than half of what it does in the U.K..

Although I appreciate that the american retail outlets have much more buying power and lower operational costs, I can't believe some prices in the U.K. can be justified.
 
C

Carp Angler

Guest
There is no answer gentlemen.
Welcome to rip-off Britain.

Any item for sale is only worth what someone is willing to pay, houses, cars, burgers, mars bars......it doesn't matter.
If some one is going to pay me, with a smile, ?10 for a product that I usually sell for ?4, am I going to complain?

Don't buy the stuff and they will be forced to drop their prices....
the list of extortionate items is nearly endless......
 
J

Jonathan Faro

Guest
Hi everyone
I'm afreaid your right. It's not just fishing. The prices off stuff for mountain biking, my other passion are extortionate (you know what I mean even if I cant spell it). However use your loafs when your buying gear. Look for discounts or join discount clubs like Budget guns and tackle in Colchester. Also buy your stuff from non fishing shops. Like wire cutters etc.

Jon Faro
 
C

Chris Bishop

Guest
We've allowed ourselves to be seduced into this designer label thing, or rather than angling media have allowed themselves to be.

Sadly mail oprder is proving the death knell for many corner tackle dealers, so while we rub our hands at saving a third off a rod some other poor so and so's reaching for the For Sale sign.

Having said this the rec retail prices of many items are ridiculously inflated. Years ago you had to make a lot of things you can just buy over the counter these days.

Sea Angler mag is well worth buying if you want cheap braid or mono. Sea anglers have discovered braid in a big way and there's a real price war going on.
 
A

andrew jackson

Guest
Im all for the tackle trade making an honest buck. Lets face it compared to a few years ago, we are spoiled rotten with all the goodies on offer. That said there is a big difference between a fair profit and plain greed. Some of the big names must be having a larf. HOW MUCH FOR A SHELTER? Now come on no matter how much you try to justify the prices. We are, at the end of the day, talking about thirty quid's worth of cloth and aluminium.
A fairly famous story from a few years ago, concerned a question and answer session at a carp conference. The top guy from one of our leading tackle manufacturers was asked how he could justify the price of one of his best selling products. His response was " I can justify it because f**"*"g mugs like you keep paying". A true story that was well witnessed. No matter how much his answer smacked of, biting the hand that feeds him, you just cannot fault the logic. So if a product is sold at an over inflated price, the simple answer is dont buy. If most anglers did this manufacturers would soon get the message.
Nice one Chris, I will be having a close look at the sea angler mag, i'm in the market for some cheap braid.
 
S

Stewart Bloor

Guest
Philip mentions Badger. I recently bought a sleeping bag from them, ?34.99. It's brilliant, does what it's supposed to do. I had a 2 nighter last week and didn't even have cold toes !!
If I paid ?100 - ?200 for a big name bag, it couldn't have kept me any warmer.
 
R

Ron Clay

Guest
Recently I have travelled to Poland, South Africa and The US. In UK the price of 100m of Maxima is ?4.60 (thats what I paid in Rotherham on Saturday. The same line in South Africa costs ?0.96 p, in Hartford CT ?1.30 and in Poland ?2.60.

What on earth is going on???
 
R

Rob Brownfield

Guest
I used to live in Singapore, and I could buy Shimano, Shakespeare, Daiwa and Okuma products at approximately a 5th of the uk price.

And some of those products are made in Scotland!!!
 
P

Paul Williams

Guest
Perhaps it's time the tackle manufacturors where invited to comment, the car makers had to!!!!
 
M

mark tullett

Guest
Unfortunately I think it's down to the majority of anglers these days, alot won't be seen dead with the 'wrong' tackle. I 've always enjoyed making my own bits and pieces, not everyone does and the tackle industry have capitalised on this. That said alot of tackle these days is totally over the top, Stainless Steel is totally uneccesary and yet people are prepared to pay well over the odds. My favourite item for over the top pricing are the green v-shaped hair stops made by Gardener, I don't know how much the mould tool for these cost but by now the parts are probably costing a penny or three, let's assume 10p for packaging and the same for delivery etc a very reasonable profit of 110+% and we end up with retail price of about 50p .......they are over a quid!. I've made my own for a while now, I liked the Gardener ones but won't buy them.
As others have pointed out, Badger are really making people look @ the profit they make and drop prices of a few holdalls etc so maybe there's hope!
Of course boillies and other baits are another rip off.......!
I'm all for letting the manufacturers reply, I accept that the smaller dealers don't get a fair crack, it's the corner shop vs superstore situation all over again.
Mark
 
R

Ron Clay

Guest
I once had a discussion with a well known UK angler whose name has appeared in the past on various items of tackle. When I mentioned the differences in the price of tackle between here and USA for example he told me that the market was like chalk and cheese. There are close to 60 million anglers in the USA. That's right - 60 million. To a company like Shimano for example, the UK market is more of a nuisance than a true market. The only way for them to exist here is to have very high mark ups.
Personally I don't believe this excuse one little bit. There are only about 600,000 anglers in South Africa and the retail price on most general tackle (I am not referring to very specialist equipment) is a quarter of the price it is in UK.
 
B

Birds Nest

Guest
Does anyone travel to Europe much ? We could organise a group purchase of stuff...
 
M

mike smith

Guest
You mention badger.
I was looking at an advert the other day and was amazed at the price of their chairs.
Even the 'deluxe' type models were only about the same price as the 'entry level' JRC or Fox.
I had written them off to a large extent as being 'cheap.
Maybe that's the problem. If things were cheaper, we would have no confidence in them.
Maybe I'll take another look. Anyone have one already?

Mike.
 
J

jeff burgess

Guest
I couldn't help noticing in the Feb issue of Coarse Fisherman that Leslie's of Luton are distributing Insight specialist equipment. What took me aback was the price. ?94 for a rucksack, ?50 for a carryall, ?300 for a barbel rod ?50 for a landing net (no handle) are examples. Who can afford those prices? Not me. The quality of these goods may be first rate but their price is beyond the average person. Will gear like this catch you more barbel?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top