Ribble, items removed from factory packaging nomal?

[Tony]

Is it normal to receive items from Ribble that are removed from the factory packaging? This is the second time I have received items this way. On this last order I received a Dura Ace chain in a plastic bag and a Ultegra cass in a zip lock bag. No indication what they are out side of the packing slip.

[phcollard]

From my experience that is more the norm at Ribble than parts shipped in their original packaging. Two weeks ago I received a 105 crankset and I was rather surprised that it came in the original box.

A friend of mine got a complete Force group some time ago and all came in plastic bags. No box at all.

I believe they buy large stocks of OEM parts as they may qualify as a bike building company, so they do not come in boxes either. And that is probably why they can offer such ridiculous prices.

[donevwil]

I've received some parts that way, they were listed as OEM packaged or something like that. Basically how bulk buyers, builder, etc. would buy the items, sans costly packaging. Likely how they can be some cheap on some items.

edit - missed it by 3 min.

[Llewellyn]

I don't mind this at all - the less unnecessary packaging, the better for the planet.

As long as the item is new, a plastic bag is fine by me

[RedRider]

I'm not sure what the Distribution agreements are in the UK but in the US all products sold to retail customers through dealers must be in manufacturers packaging. OEM items are sold to manufacturers and builders that will assemble complete bicycles. OEM parts are packaged that way so they will not be resold.

[tuscanyswe]

Its not just ribble. Its more or less every major online shop that ships like this these days.

[rwsaunders]

Every gram counts when you're buying and shipping in those quantities.

[chengher87]

Yep. I ordered a ton of stuff and they could have easily put them all in a single box, but they essentially taped everything together and everything came in individual boxes that were barely big enough to fit the item. A little disconcerting if I was ordering a helmet, but it was mostly cassettes, chains and tubes.

[Llewellyn]

Yep. I ordered a ton of stuff and they could have easily put them all in a single box, but they essentially taped everything together and everything came in individual boxes that were barely big enough to fit the item. A little disconcerting if I was ordering a helmet, but it was mostly cassettes, chains and tubes.

I've ordered a helmet and it came in the original carboard box enclosed inside another box, so there shouldn't be any problems with that. It just seems to be some components that come in plastic bags.

[zmudshark]

All my Ribble has come in factory sealed packaging. I've only bought Campagnolo, so YMMV.

[earlfoss]

At the prices they offer stuff at, I couldn't care less if it comes in the packaging or not. They stand behind their product too. I had an item lost in shipping and they sent out another free of charge and very quickly.

They're a good place in my book.

[Tony]

Items shipped in plastic bags don't bother me if I know it the item I ordered.

Many here can just look at a chain or cass and know if its a Dura Ace or Ultegra, 105.... I'm not there yet. For me, at the moment I like the reassurance the original packaging provides. I will say that I am pleased with the prices and service from Ribble.

[buldogge]

I'm with zmud…All my Campy gear from Ribble comes in OE packaging. I have gotten a few things over the years from PBK in plastic bags…also from Crosslake Sales in WI.

Doesn't matter to me, either way…now I have a pile of Campy boxes in my workshop/basement.

-Mark in St. Louis

[ultraman6970]

I would be more worried if the parts are not arriving at all.

[kurto]

Items shipped in plastic bags don't bother me if I know it the item I ordered.

Many here can just look at a chain or cass and know if its a Dura Ace or Ultegra, 105.... I'm not there yet. For me, at the moment I like the reassurance the original packaging provides. I will say that I am pleased with the prices and service from Ribble.

I got a DA chain and Ultegra cassette from Ribble a couple months back (their prices on these can't be beat), and they came in sealed plastic bags with stickers denoting the contents, and I believe the cassette came with the installation instruction sheet. I've no problem with this, and I think, like others say, it's their SOP. No need to worry about what they're sending you. Ribble is legit all the way.

[wooly]

I've purchased two dura ace groups. One from Ribble and one from shiny bikes. Both came in plastic bags and not in OEM packaging.

[DCW]

Same story here - crank, chains, cassettes, even the BB came in plastic bags. Canti breaks came in original packaging though - so I guess breaks are too fragile to be left in plastic bags. The bottom line was that everything came in perfect condition - no scrapes or dings. That's all i cared about - Ribble knows how to mail order; no question about it.

On a separate note about Ribble - does anyone else get a call from their Credit Card Fraud department when they order from Ribble? This happens every time I place an order. Has this happened to anyone else in the U.S.?

[Black Dog]

Same story here - crank, chains, cassettes, even the BB came in plastic bags. Canti breaks came in original packaging though - so I guess breaks are too fragile to be left in plastic bags. The bottom line was that everything came in perfect condition - no scrapes or dings. That's all i cared about - Ribble knows how to mail order; no question about it.

On a separate note about Ribble - does anyone else get a call from their Credit Card Fraud department when they order from Ribble? This happens every time I place an order. Has this happened to anyone else in the U.S.?

I got the call from my card people and I am in Canada.

[Admiral Ackbar]

i bought a 105 cassette, chain, f&r derailleurs, and some bar tape from them and it came in such a small package i was convinced i didn't receive everything, but lo and behold it was all there wrapped up nice and tight in labeled plastic bags. much better than the bulky and excess packaging you'd normally get imo. i bought a shimano crankset from another retailer and i was shocked by how bulky and oversized the oem packaging was...talk about wasteful

[sokyroadie]

On a separate note about Ribble - does anyone else get a call from their Credit Card Fraud department when they order from Ribble? This happens every time I place an order. Has this happened to anyone else in the U.S.?

Yes, it happens all the time with Ribble, but not PBK- US Bank card.

Jeff

[moose8]

I've gotten shimano parts from chainlove in just plastic bags as well.

[oldpotatoe]

Is it normal to receive items from Ribble that are removed from the factory packaging? This is the second time I have received items this way. On this last order I received a Dura Ace chain in a plastic bag and a Ultegra cass in a zip lock bag. No indication what they are out side of the packing slip.

OEM resale..lots of that stuff goes to bike makers, in bags, then onto MO, in bags...some 'unrestricted', shimano tried to stomp this out a while ago..has done a poor job these days(along with Campagnolo and sram)...

[oldpotatoe]

I'm not sure what the Distribution agreements are in the UK but in the US all products sold to retail customers through dealers must be in manufacturers packaging. OEM items are sold to manufacturers and builders that will assemble complete bicycles. OEM parts are packaged that way so they will not be resold.

BUT..happens all the time anyway. Like the dimbulb in Broomfield here or various MO outfits in the US and elsewhere.

[jimoots]

Its not just ribble. Its more or less every major online shop that ships like this these days.

I got a DA groupset from merlin recently - cheapest in stock price on the web and full retail packaging.

[zachateseveryth]

This is pretty par for the course. I've gotten bagged items from Nashbar and other US based sellers recently. Nashbar has been blowing out 10 speed OE stuff for a while now.

The general rule is: if it's a low price and possibly a model year old expect it to come in plastic vs a box.

[RedRider]

This is pretty par for the course. I've gotten bagged items from Nashbar and other US based sellers recently. Nashbar has been blowing out 10 speed OE stuff for a while now.

The general rule is: if it's a low price and possibly a model year old expect it to come in plastic vs a box.

The rumor was that over 10,000 OEM Ultegra 10sp groups were in Taiwan when they went to 11sp.

[FlashUNC]

Welcome to the grey market. Cycling IQ did a full series on this stuff.

[carpediemracing]

The "OEM" vs "Retail" thing has been linked to grey market stuff in the past. It works sort of like the following:

Distributor D buys a bunch of XYZ parts after telling XYZ that they intend to put the parts on their Brand D bikes. The parts are sold for a lower price, no packaging. The deal is that they put the parts on their Brand D bikes, not sell them otherwise.

Distributor D then sells the parts direct to consumers.

XYZ reps get all sorts of calls from more legit places about how they can't sell XYZ stuff because Distributor D is flooding the market with underpriced stuff, typically priced below wholesale for retail stores and the like.

However XYZ sales people don't mind meeting their quotas, XYZ execs like the increase in unit sales, etc, so it's a Catch 22 situation.

A friend of mine worked for such an XYZ company. He complained about the fact that the perceived value of the XYZ product was much lower than expected, and in fact was so low I was shocked when I learned how close it was to their manufacturing cost.

The other scenario is Brand E bikes decides they can sell 1000 DA bikes. Shimano gives a price break at 2000 DA kits. Brand E buys 2000 DA kits, promising to sell them on bikes, but turns around and sells 1000 DA kits to dealers at lower-than-normal DA prices (or liquidates all of them to Distributor D at a low price). Brand E has a nice margin on their DA kits due to the substantial manufacturer discount they got on the parts.

Back in the day I used to wait for bike companies to blow out their extra kits because the pricing was crazy low.

I think nowadays, with worldwide online ordering with reasonably quick shipping, the distribution channel needs to be simplified a bit. I don't know how shops stay in the mid-level business (105-Ultegra and the like) when I see what's available online and for how much. I can see entry level and super high end but not the middle.

*edit ^ what FlashUNC said :)

[russd32]

I'm more than happy to get parts in plastic bags if the price is an incentive. I can't imagine how much Shimano/SRAM/Campy spend on packaging alone. That cost gets passed on to us.

My one exception is the cases that you get for anniversary groupsets, that's just cool.

[oldpotatoe]

The "OEM" vs "Retail" thing has been linked to grey market stuff in the past. It works sort of like the following:

Distributor D buys a bunch of XYZ parts after telling XYZ that they intend to put the parts on their Brand D bikes. The parts are sold for a lower price, no packaging. The deal is that they put the parts on their Brand D bikes, not sell them otherwise.

Distributor D then sells the parts direct to consumers.

XYZ reps get all sorts of calls from more legit places about how they can't sell XYZ stuff because Distributor D is flooding the market with underpriced stuff, typically priced below wholesale for retail stores and the like.

However XYZ sales people don't mind meeting their quotas, XYZ execs like the increase in unit sales, etc, so it's a Catch 22 situation.

A friend of mine worked for such an XYZ company. He complained about the fact that the perceived value of the XYZ product was much lower than expected, and in fact was so low I was shocked when I learned how close it was to their manufacturing cost.

The other scenario is Brand E bikes decides they can sell 1000 DA bikes. Shimano gives a price break at 2000 DA kits. Brand E buys 2000 DA kits, promising to sell them on bikes, but turns around and sells 1000 DA kits to dealers at lower-than-normal DA prices (or liquidates all of them to Distributor D at a low price). Brand E has a nice margin on their DA kits due to the substantial manufacturer discount they got on the parts.

Back in the day I used to wait for bike companies to blow out their extra kits because the pricing was crazy low.

I think nowadays, with worldwide online ordering with reasonably quick shipping, the distribution channel needs to be simplified a bit. I don't know how shops stay in the mid-level business (105-Ultegra and the like) when I see what's available online and for how much. I can see entry level and super high end but not the middle.

*edit ^ what FlashUNC said :)

All true except some distributors, who 'should' sell to retailers, sell direct to consumers. Distributors with store fronts. They get the same margin. More than a couple of distributors do this in the US....both around the Chicago area.

No warranty tho, the only advantage a user of the 'normal' distro chain has these days. Most of the UK places 'self warranty' as does planet Cyclery

[tuscanyswe]

I got a DA groupset from merlin recently - cheapest in stock price on the web and full retail packaging.

Sure not all items or any items always i would guess. Was just pointing out that its not just ribble.