Fanatec Price Hike

[vee10]

Just as I am beginning to think about the Lazarou cockpit MK2. Fanatec have announced some hefty price increase supposedly because of currency fluctuations. That is some increase, may as well go for a servo wheel at them prices.

Statement from Fanatec.

This is a post which is rather less fun for me but we cannot avoid it.

Due to the questionable strategy of the European Zentral Bank, the excheange rate Euro / USD has massively dropped in the past months. The target of the EZB is to increase Inflation and it seems that they are succesful with that attempt as all good made in the far east usually have to be paid in USD and therefore those products are now seeing a massive price increase.

We absorbed this price increase in the past months but we cannot do that anymore and therefore we had to increase all our European prices between 20 to 30%. We just hope that the Euro will not continue to drop and we can keep at least this Level.

And before everybody starts to complain why our Prices are more expensive in the Euro webshop than the prices you see in the US Webshop I would like to remind you that EU prices will always be about 30% more expensive in comparison to the US.

The reason is that the prices in the EU shop include VAT and this makes about 20% alone. The US Webshop prices do not include VAT or sales tax.

The other 10% are becuase of various reasons like higher logistic costs, localisation, more strict environmental rules and a 2 year warranty instead of 1 year in the US. All those little extras don’t come for free and this is the reason why almost every product in any category is more expensive in Europe than in the US.

I hope you will still stay with us and understand the situation. Thank you.

UPDATE

Here are some more facts:

May 2014: Euro/USD 1,3862
March 2015: Eur/USD 1,0664

If a product costs 100 USD to manufacture it was 72,46 € in May 2014 and now we have to pay 93,77 €

This is a cost increase of 29,41 %

 

[Bez]

be interesting to see how this pans out for them, €360 for pedals that don't seem very reliable could be a hard sell, I was considering some v2 pedals earlier in the year but too many reports of issues changed my mind, and that was when they were much cheaper...

 

[vee10]

I have some CSR elites with inversion kit and DSD tilton pads and so far (fingers crossed) they have been reliable and excellent as well but they are not what I would consider a premium product they are now €259.90. I paid €164.00 eighteen months ago that is a 63% increase. Wow!

 

[Blkout]

I read that yesterday, that sucks for anyone in Europe and I'm sure Fanatec hated to break the bad news but its outside their control so they had no choice. Still I read a lot of people complaining on the Fanatec blog, but I'm assuming they've never run a business and people seem to forget that owning something like a wheel, pedals, shifter, etc are luxuries that not everyone can afford or has to have. I see a lot of people basically stating that the CSW v2 is too expensive now, if that's the case, those people may need to look into cheaper options.

 

[Blkout]

be interesting to see how this pans out for them, €360 for pedals that don't seem very reliable could be a hard sell, I was considering some v2 pedals earlier in the year but too many reports of issues changed my mind, and that was when they were much cheaper...

If you read the blog on the Fanatec website, Thomas says there will be some improvements to the CSP v2's coming soon which will improve their reliability, however he doesn't state when it will happen or what the new price will be when the changes are made.

 

[vee10]

Fanatic DOH! Typolicious!

Can you change the title @Bram to Fanatec. Sorry.

 

[AussieStig]

It's a sad fact of life that everything becomes more expensive, whilst most peoples wages and disposable income remain static. The 10% explanation sounds a little odd to me, exporting goods from Europe to the US should be more expensive than shipping products internally in Europe.

I might be wrong, but aren't the products that are shipped to The US produced in the same way as European products? If so, what are the environmental rules that would make a difference to the cost of the overall product? Sounds a little sus to me.

Nice wording too,
''And before everybody starts to complain why our Prices are more expensive in the Euro webshop than the prices you see in the US Webshop''
Not very apologetic and quite harsh of Fanatec to tell us not to complain before we have even read the whole artikel and their explanation.

But, hey, if I were raising prices by 30% I would be very very worried about how my potential customers would receive this news. I wouldn't start lecturing people about complaining, instead I would reassure any potential customers that the quality of my products and services will be improved in combination with the price hike!!!. If I have to pay more, I expect more!!!!

 

[vee10]

It's almost like they think they are doing you a favour selling to you. With the invite system and now this price hike maybe they think their products are better than they really are. But it certainly is not the way I would conduct my business.

 

[Richard Hill]

Hopefully later this year I will be having some money coming my way and I was thinking of getting the full fanatec kit, but to be honest I am now unsure as all that I hear is how unreliable there products are and I am sure that there is more good than bad stories. But with these new price increases now I am starting to question wether it will be worth it or not.

 

[AussieStig]

Hopefully later this year I will be having some money coming my way and I was thinking of getting the full fanatec kit, but to be honest I am now unsure as all that I hear is how unreliable there products are and I am sure that there is more good than bad stories. But with these new price increases now I am starting to question wether it will be worth it or not.

If you take a look at how Thomas is defending himself over on VirtalR, it all seems to be getting a bit much for him!!! He has commented on nearly every post that even slightly criticises his pricing policies. With these sorts of business practices, it becomes increasingly more difficult to justify such a huge price rise. Now price = quality comes into play, paying more should mean getting a better more reliable product and not just paying for the privilege of owning something with a brand name on it. This should really matter to the folks at Fanatec, they are not even attempting to soften the blow, if Fanatec wants a backlash, this is good way to go about getting one.

Cheers AussieStig

 

[Mark Sheepwash]

Couldn't agree more AussieStig. I have been dead lucky in ordering my V2 wheel base and carbon F1 rim before the price hikes. They turned up this week and I setup last night and it's an immense bit of kit. Would I order them now with the increased prices and go with a cheaper option? Hmm difficult one now I've played on it! £600 for base and rim (inc delivery) is steep but now your looking at £900. And this is without the pedals! Was going to order the V2 pedals but were out of stock and was going to wait until next month erm not sure now until an announcement about the improvements to them.

 

[Yapci]

Nearly 2k for a non dd wheel and pedals, without shifter.

Accuforce are going to increase the ir sales. No doubt.

 

[Juris]

Not trying to attack Fanatec on this but just wanted to add my 2c on a couple of matters relating to the price hikes and Fanatec rationale. 1st I completely understand why there is 'a' price hike in the 1st place. Quantative easing from the ECB will cause the Euro to devalue so if your buying components from China its going to cost more to import. Its actually part of the idea. However that only covers part of the problems I have with their explanation and it never covered why EU buyers where being charged more before QE and the Euro to USD slide.

Afaik selling in the EU you have to apply the VAT rate of the place your shipping to. Here in Ireland its 23%, Denmark I believe is 25% so shipping from say Germany to me in Ireland would cost me 23% irrespective of the German rate. If I buy from Amazon.co.uk in the UK shipped to Ireland I get charged 23% not the UK 20%. There can be no one for all pricing structure.

However the big point is reliability and the EU 2 year warranty they cite. Sorry Fanatec but if your products were reliable, and they often are not, the 2 year warranty costs would cost you less to absorb. If you are constantly replacing faulty products at such a high rate that is not the fault of the consumer of what is usually an expensive item they bought from you and they have a reasonable expectation of a minimum 2 year working lifespan (in EU its actually 2 year 'minimum' with up to 6 years depending on reasonable expectation based on the product category, pricing etc). If as a company you are constantly paying for logistics to replace faulty inventory, constantly paying to build more units to be used as replacements and constantly dumping broken components (monetary and environmental costs the 2nd of which they cite) its you who should be asking serious questions of your choice of suppliers and parts. Take responsibility for the poor choices you have made for years on this issue.

Fanatec need to shift component sourcing to the EU. Its that simple. Higher costs to produce but lower logistics costs and lower failure rates = less overall costs to the company/consumer + better reputation. The quality of the IC's and other components they are using (never mind the stunning casings its inside that counts) is costing them in replacements and infuriating their customers. Its factored into the cost of their products like any manufacturer but the consumer shouldn't be paying for internal poor component supplier choices and they have been for quite some time. For some these price hikes just can't be justified or afforded.

 

[Emery]

I know the price increase is irksome, but are Europeans really willing to jump ship from Fanatec to get an Accuforce wheel? My quick estimate says you can still get a CSW with formula rim and pedals for about 80% of the Accuforce wheel-only. Or, if you're just buying the CSW and rim, you're still willing to pay 70% extra to get the Accuforce wheel, that you believe the direct drive wheel is worth that much more?

Or have I got those figures wrong?

 

[Yapci]

I know the price increase is irksome, but are Europeans really willing to jump ship from Fanatec to get an Accuforce wheel? My quick estimate says you can still get a CSW with formula rim and pedals for about 80% of the Accuforce wheel-only. Or, if you're just buying the CSW and rim, you're still willing to pay 70% extra to get the Accuforce wheel, that you believe the direct drive wheel is worth that much more?

Or have I got those figures wrong?

CSW V2, 700€
Formula carbon, 340€
Without shipping neither taxes 1.000€

Accuforce 1.500€-2.000€
Less than 50% save I guess. Little reliability and non DD...

 

[Moxley6969]

And you need the Carbon wheel Why ? Just to bump the price up to make your argument justifiable ?

 

[Yapci]

Yeah thats ok fanatec, cheap prices and reliable products. Thats their standar.

I only own a csl seat, wich is great for the money (black friday offer), but for that prices I wont buy a wheel because im afraid they wont last 2 weeks.

They werent cheap but were in a price levels aceptable for what they offered in terms of quality (altought not reliable for what I constantly real, but as they say...work great when they work) and wheel rims variety.

I was thinking about getting wheel and pedals but now im out. If you like it and want to pay what they ask, go ahead.

 

[Robin]

I always wonder how some people complaining about reliability issues out there, actually treat their gear?
I've seen a guy once absolutely manhandling his Logitech gear, which broke after valiantly fighting for survival for a year or so, and this guy went off about how Logitech was cheap and unreliable.

 

[Michael Dao]

CSW V2, 700€
Formula carbon, 340€
Without shipping neither taxes 1.000€

Accuforce 1.500€-2.000€
Less than 50% save I guess. Little reliability and non DD...

This is my though too, less than 50% more and you can have AF, and in theory it should last longer

 

[Pär Öqvist]

How on earth do you get a accuforce with wheel for under 2000 euro. Remember you must pay tax and shipping

It will actually be around 2200 Euro. I calculate 200$ in shipping costs with 25 % VAT and then customfees at about 15 euro.