58 replies to this topic

[Ian Mac]

Hey all, I have the good (however you look at it) to be heading to the states next week to report to the boss (lucky me) and Im in the mood for a new pair of boots.

Given the prices over yonder thought I'd head to the top and try out the Gel Kinsei's, but I have no idea who is a well priced retailer over there and who isnt....Im heading to L.A.

Any suggestions for online or offline purchase?

[cota]

I don't know about Asics, but I just recieved 2 pairs of Brooks Adrenaline 6 from www.footrx.com. They cost me $100 a pair and that was delivered to my door. Same shoes were on sale at Amart for $189.95

[Tuttle]

I've also used Footrx - very good service, and excellent prices, esp. if you use the 20% discount "voucher" (check out the Runners' World Shoe forum, and look for any of the messages from "Jamie," the owner of Footrx).

[moby]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by cota:
I don't know about Asics, but I just recieved 2 pairs of Brooks Adrenaline 6 from www.footrx.com. They cost me $100 a pair and that was delivered to my door. Same shoes were on sale at Amart for $189.95

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[/indent]Hi cota

What was the shipping cost on the order?

[miners]

Zappos are also pretty cheap, and have a good range of Asics and Mizunos. Last I looked they weren't shipping to Australia, however that won't matter if you're over there will it? ;)

[Ian Mac]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by Tuttle:
I've also used Footrx - very good service, and excellent prices, esp. if you use the 20% discount "voucher" (check out the Runners' World Shoe forum, and look for any of the messages from "Jamie," the owner of Footrx).

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[/indent]Man wish that forum had a search function...that 20% off is hard to find... :)

[Tuttle]

Ian, Yep, you're right, it can be v, frustrating. From memory, the code is "0200" -- but if you email them they will confirm it for you. Cheers, Tuttle

[moby]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Mac:
Man wish that forum had a search function...that 20% off is hard to find... :)

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[/indent]Good way is to use the Advanced Search page in Google and only search the domain "http://forums.runnersworld.com"

The code certainly used to be "preferred 0200"

[Ian Mac]

Thank you :)

[New kid running the block]

Hey Cota, like Moby asked i too am interested to know if that included postage. I checked it out and the new Kayano's for about $170 aussie $$$ sounds better than $240 at rebel. I see they advertise free postage for purchases over $85 but is that to the U.S only.
Cheers
Newby

[alisonjc]

Hi
what a great thread.
I've just taken the plunge and ordered some Kayano 12s from footrx. Jamie was extremely helpful answering all my questions about sizings/colours etc, and offering the 20% off as well - the code for runnersworld.com forum readers IS "preferred 0200" but he offered me the discounted price before I mentioned the code. Total price including postage is $US122 = about AU$165 - way better than $260 at Footlocker. I'll let you know how long they take to get here.

[Vurt]

how much was the postage out of that $122 alison?

[alisonjc]

US$18 (about $24) which seems quite reasonable from my internet research

[Vurt]

That is pretty good. Thanks for the info :)

[cota]

The actual shoe cost was $US 67.96 per pair ( I bought 2 pair) . The freight was $18.80 for the 2 pair = $US 154.72. Converted into the Queen's currency = $209.25. OK so it wasn't quite $100 per pair. Took about 2 weeks to arrive. Jamie is quick with his service too. They have latest styles too, although the yellow pair are a little louder than I'm used to.

[Ian Mac]

Well I've been dealing with Jamie from footrx for a few days now (well ok, hes been putting up with my endless string of questions and mind changes) and what can I say...

Great prices, great customer service, excellent experience. Couldnt recommend them enough.

I didnt go for the Kinsei after having a chat and asking for some recommenders for my miles/type/weight etc.... :)

Happy as a piglet...

[SlingRunner]

I just ordered:

Asics Kayano XII US$104
Brooks Adrenaline 6 US$68
Shipping US$18

Total US$190 aka A$253

Myer sells Kayano at $250, so effectively I got the Adrenaline for free :P

Now the waiting...

[Spalding]

Can you get Australian delivery from footrx.com ??

If so how do you do it.??? Keen to try out the Kayano 12's.

When I visited the site it seemed to only allow US and Canadian shipping.

[SlingRunner]

Just select any States in the list and USA or Canada as the country.

There is another box at the bottom of the page which asks for shipping address. Write your full Oz address here.

footrx told me that there have been lots of orders coming from Australia since the last 2 weeks. They know what to do.

[Spalding]

Thanks TNTR.

[vat]

Well, can't argue with the prices. I've placed an order for some Magic Racers and some DS Trainers. We'll see how it goes.

[vat]

So far so good - got a quick reply from Jamie, just have to wait a couple of days on my new Magic Racers (didn't have my size) and then they'd ship. Did me a deal on the shipping, too.

[Luckylegs]

Me happy too! Very happy customer! 3 pairs runners en route to front door; reply e-mail within minutes receiving mine; prompt information re sizes unisex trainers; 20% off marked prices..further discount for mentioning code 'preferred 0200'; excellent discount on shipping as well! Very, very happy customer & happier still when honourable shoes arrive! B) LL

Edit : Forgot : Very, very, very big difference in cost of running shoes here in Australia...up to $100AUD on each!!

[alisonjc]

my Kayano 12s have arrived after 10 working days - they are perfect fit and I'm looking forward to getting out in them - but they're so beautiful I don't want to get them dirty!
So a big vote of confidence for FootRx and Jamie. I'll be buying more shoes from him.

[Jamiedpt]

G'Day Everyone and a big hello from Abingdon, Virginia USA

I was forwarded a link to this thread and wanted to thank all of you for the kind words and for the shoe orders.

Happy healthy running to you all :)

[Big Mac]

Hello,

I too will be ordering a pair of Kayanos from footrx.com

For me though it's not about the price but the fact that ASICS Australia have deemed not to keep this model in the 4E width.

I'm sure they would argue there aren't enough customers in Australia with 4E wide feet to financially justify keeping them. However to me it's just poor customer service.

So they will miss out on this 3 pair a year customer anyway.

Regards,

Big Mac

[Ralphthedog]

Interesting!

Another vote for 4E Kayanos Asics Australia......

Asics Australia(in my experience) is often out of stock in the 4E's they do carry.


RTD.

[alisonjc]

just been for 2 longish (for me) runs on consecutive days (most unusual for me) in my new Kayano XIIs and they are the most comfortable, best fitting shoes I've ever had.

[vat]

On closing the front door this morning, I spotted a largish white parcel sitting on the front porch, roughly the size of two boxes of shoes. Brought it inside to discover a pair of 10.5 Asics Magic Racers, and a pair of 10.5 Asics DS Trainers, exactly as orders, two weeks to the day after ordering them.

Very good price, prompt delivery - yep, happy with footrx.com. I'll be using those guys again.

[Jamiedpt]

Hello everyone, sorry to let you know about this however I need to notify you that I was contacted by my Asics rep this morning and did not realize that Asics does not allow international sale of their product. I have been asked to cease international sales or am in jeopardy of losing my Asics account. I am sorry but am unable to fill any more international orders for Asics products. I can sell other product lines but not Asics to you, very sorry for this and think it is very poor for Asics to be this way. <_<

[SlingRunner]

My Brooks Adrenaline and Asics Kayano arrived last week, less than 2 weeks after I ordered. Thank you for the prompt delivery.

I am sure Jamie can recommend non-Asics shoes. Brooks, Mizuno, Saucony, and New Balances are all top brands and still significantly cheaper than local retail prices.

[Tuttle]

Message to Asics: What abt the Free Trade Agreement?

[moby]

Doh! :angry:

I was just about to place an order with Jamie for some new ASIC Landreth II's. This is incredibly annoying because they are not available in Australia so my only option is to get them internationally.

After going back to ASICS because of this model shoe I might be boycotting them and moving to another brand.

[Vurt]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by Jamiedpt:
. I can sell other product lines but not Asics to you, very sorry for this and think it is very poor for Asics to be this way. <_<

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[/indent]<_< bummer.

I was going to order some Evolutions next week

[Big Mac]

So ASICS won't stock the models and widths we need and won't let us order from overseas - good customer service - - - I think not!

[Disco Dave]

That bites big time, was going to put in an order for some kayanos and DS trainers, boo, asics you suck!

[Big Mac]

If anybody wants to complain to ASICS their email addresses are:

U.S. consumer@asicsamerica.com

Aust. asics@asics.com.au

I did this morning - no reply yet though!

[Grandpa]

That is a huge disappointment. If Asics weren't so comfortable to wear I'd piss them off. I was just about to order a couple of pair but needed to find my shoe width.

Yeah. So much for free trade. What is really going on when its cheaper for every individual to independently have stuff sent from overseas than to buy locally, supposedly benefitting from economies of scale from our importers? And why does Asics have a problem with us buying that way?

Statistics show that the US have a 5% increase in trade while Australia has a 5% loss in trade after 1 year of the FTA. Now we can see why. Hands up who voted for John Howard? Not me.

Anyone going over to America is going to be hugely popular with the running fraternity from now on.


Grandpa

[Vurt]

it is interesting that an asics employee is reading these forums.

[vat]

Thanks for letting us know, Jamie. Been meaning to try a few other brands.

It does strike me as rather hypocritical that firms who take advantage of lower labour rates in other countries then go and seek to restrict the international trade in their product in this way.

Sony have taken some fairly solid beatings from the ACCC and the Federal Court over 'parallel imports' and similar attempts to restrict private importation of their product.

[Big Mac]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by Vurt:
it is interesting that an asics employee is reading these forums.

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[/indent]Or somebody from one of the many shoe stores that sell ASICS in Australia!

Big Mac

[cassisg]

There is a way that jamie can do the right thing by Asics and we can get US market shoes. The use of an commercial "middle man" that specialises in providing a static USA address for people that travel frequently, or may need an address in the US to receive packages and/or correspondence. You can then choose to have the products on-forwarded to an address of your choice, such as Australia. The companies charge a fee for the provision of a static USA postal address.

www.usa2me.com
www.myus.com

It's another option if you REALLY need the merchandise. Most US companies will provide free domestic shipping so that you're not paying twice for shipping.

It means that the supplier is NOT shipping internationally. The middle man is shipping internationally but NOT selling a product internationally. I haven;t tried them out yet, but my wife has her eyes on a shoe site (not runners :-) that doesn;t ship internationally, so I might be trying it out soon.

Greg

[Jamiedpt]

AARRGGHHHH now I just got word from my Brooks rep that they have a similar dealer agreement and that I am not allowed to ship their products outside of US either!! :angry: Really sorry to you all for this

I know a couple of you had just ordered Brooks shoes but I cannot fill the order now, my apologies

[cassisg]

Glad I got mine YESTERDAY.....

The links above might be the best way to go about it.

I can understand peoples reaction however. If I was an Australian shoe retailer, hiring australian staff, supporting the local economy, and I knew i was losing customers to a US retailer, I'd probably be upset as well.

We can only assume that a shoe retailer or similar has read these forums and sent a short note off to the parent companies in the US (or local distributors).

Mind you, If we didn;t have to pay such a premium for shoes over here we wouldn't go to such lengths to buy them overseas.

I'm just glad I bought 2 pairs.

[moby]

Maybe we should all just shut up about our international shoe purchases to avoid further problems. :rolleyes:

Seriously though, Jamie also posted the ASICS international sales ban on the Runners World site and eventually it got around to a discussion about ASICS not posting on the site. Well that has subsequently bought some lurking ASICS reps out into the open on that forum.

The international sales question was asked by a couple of Australians, specifically about the fact that we can’t access the full ASICS range here – for example Kayano’s in 4E widths and (my own beef) the Landreth II.

The ASICS rep indicated that whilst sales was not his area, he would forward the concerns raised on to ASICS Oceania, and also said that:

“I do believe however, that our Australian counterparts will do their very best to satisfy your product needs.”

So perhaps if we ask nicely they might be prepared to help us out.

Obviously it’s nice to buy things cheaper (and I’ll admit I’ve bought running shoes off eBay for this reason) but in this case it’s an availability issue as well.

Big Mac (or anyone else who may have emailed ASICS on this issue) did you get a reply from them and what did they say?

[Big Mac]

Hi Moby,

ASICS have not replied to my complaint.

Big Mac

[chefspop]

Wow... I just recieved my order of 3 pairs of asics from Jamie yesterday. I feel quite lucky now to have got in just in time. Honestly Jamie's service was first class and its a real shame for us in Australia to lose him as a supplier.

I am pretty disgusted that both Asics and Brooks have this arrangement because they charge so much over the top in Australia. The savings on my order was around 30% off the Australian retail price, and that included the shipping cost. I have bought a number of products via the internet from the US and UK and every single time it is cheaper. Its about time we started to question why we pay so much in Australia. If the taxes, import duties etc. are too high then they should be reduced. It should be companies like Asics and Brooks leading this call as well if this is the case as they are losing local sales.

The internet has been a fantastic way to open up our ability to order products we can't get in Australia as well as opening up the market to a broader range of suppliers. I hope we don't go down a path of closing that market up by having companies forcing retailers to only ship to local addresses.

I know Asics and Brooks aren't the only companies that have these policies (Oakley is another I know of) but I think its a real shame that they have forced Jamie to stop shipping internationally. So much for globalisation!!!

[Big Mac]

This is a copy of the email I sent to the ASICS rep on the Runners World Website.

It is also wrong that Brooks won't allow international sales of their products. At least in their (Brooks Australia) case though they listened and will now be stocking the Beast in a 4E width in April this year.

Now if ASICS will only show a similar level of customer service!


Hi Terry,

I too am from Australia and I too am frustrated that ASICS will not stock the Kayano in a 4E width.

When I wrote to ASICS Australia about this, all they said was 'well yes - but we have other models in a 4E'. To me this is plainly poor customer service.

Being extremely frustrated when I learnt that ASICS won't allow us to purchase the shoes we need (but that aren't available in Australia) internationally I wrote to the Australian and U.S. Free Trade Organisations plus Trade Ministers (with a copy to ASICS) and asked them if ASICS policy viloated the U.S. Australian Free Trade Agreement.

If ASICS Australia won't act on customer emails, perhaps they will if you forward them to somebody high in the food chain.

Now if they won't come to the party we will be forced to seek other means such as setting up a U.S. postal address to which mail can be sent and then redirected to Australia. Interestingly this would still be cheaper than buying shoes in Australia.

Thank you for the opportunity to present our case to you.

ASICS shoes are great!

Paul McDonald.

[Spalding]

I noticed that thru footrx.com you have 3 widths to choose from in the Kayano's. They are ??, EE and 4E.

Does anyone know what is sold here. Is it the EE.? or the other size which must be even smaller.?

[Professor]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by chefspop:

The savings on my order was around 30% off the Australian retail price, and that included the shipping cost.

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[/indent]I Have no financial interest in the premises I am about to recommend. I do however have a deal with him to publicise his prices, in exchange for a couple of singlets etc. Even if I didn't have this deal, I'd still be recommending him though....

I have a contact with a sports shop in Sydney Uni at Camperdown/Darlington in the Inner West of Sydney. His off the shelf prices are 20% below RRP, and if you drop my name, 25%, on Asics and Brooks shoes, and a reasonable variety of other gear.

He'll even deliver Aust wide for $10

No its not 30% but it's not bad either. Email me for more details...