This article was posted on July 19 as an addendum to the July 18 article (→here),
but since there are further updates, I've backdated it to July 20
and moved it up in the article order.
However, there's yet another addendum, so as of July 27
I've moved it to the top of the blog.
July 27 - Further addendum:
I don't want to be thought of as a liar, so
I'm posting an image showing the L03A disc brake pads
being sold for 3,800 yen, and
an image showing how the price mysteriously changed to 3,700 yen
the day after I pointed it out.
Regarding this, they might claim something like "it was a pricing display error
and we never actually sold anything at 3,800 or 3,700 yen,"
so I'm also posting
a portion of the receipt copy provided by someone who actually purchased them for 3,800 yen.
This was the limit I could do while protecting personal privacy.
I've written the details about this in the addendum just below, but
when I asked again if they wanted to file a complaint,
they said, "I don't want to deal with this shabby merchant anymore, so let's leave it at that.
I don't think this is the first time this guy's done something like this,
and it probably won't be the last either.
It was my fault too for carelessly assuming it was a 2-pair pack just by looking at the price.
From now on, I'll check the seller's information carefully and not buy from this place again.
If it's no trouble for Nomu-Lab, you can post the receipt copy there."
As for the kind ofexcuses justifications this trash shop might make in the future,
I predict the argument will be "there's no legal problem with selling items above the manufacturer's suggested retail price,"
but regarding that, let me offer my own opinion:
For example, vending machines at mountain huts set prices higher than in the lowlands,
and it's common for them to exceed the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
At the summit of Mt. Fuji, a 500ml bottle of drink apparently costs 500 yen,
but regarding that, no explanation is needed—everyone understands
that it includes transportation costs and such.
If you think it's expensive, you simply don't buy it,
and when you do buy something by putting money in, you develop a kind of "acceptance"
the moment you press the button.
But I don't think that same kind of "acceptance" occurs
when you click the mouse to purchase these disc brake pads.
In this case, even though the customer didn't confirm the details thoroughly,
they thought 3,800 yen was the price for 2 pairs,
so they couldn't make the judgment of "it's expensive, so I won't buy it,"
and if they'd known it was for 1 pair, they wouldn't have felt confident enough to buy it.
The 1.8 times markup over the manufacturer's suggested retail price is quite bold,
and it hits that perfect sweet spot that makes you think it might be a 2-pair pack.
Finally, to COZY BICYCLE:
If you think what I'm writing here is a lie, or if you have anything to say like "I'll beat you,"
feel free to contact me—I'm willing to listen.
It would actually help me out. I could say, "I was listening to that trash's nonsense today,
so the wheel delivery is delayed again."
And as some advice: one reason a certain shitty brand name went under
was that they "used customer addresses and phone numbers for purposes other than shipping,"
and they were calling rim purchasers en masse asking, "Why don't you also tell Nomu-Lab to take down the article?"
Similarly, even if you can identify which customer purchased at 3,800 yen
and figure out who they are, I'd suggest you don't contact them
in any form whatsoever.
Even if it's an apology.←Because then they'll just ask, "So why were you selling it at 3,800 yen?"
July 21 - Further addendum:
I stated it confidently that they were selling bulk items
because someone who came to our shop actually got stuck with a bulk pack,
but separately from that incident, according to someone who recently bought at 3,800 yen,
they received a blister pack.
Before we could even ask why they paid such a price,
they said: if it's a 15% discount, then 2 pairs would be around 3,800 yen,
so I thought it was 2 pairs (1 set), but only 1 pair arrived.
When I checked the site later, it said "1 pair" so clearly and confidently
that I didn't file a complaint and just ate the loss.
In reality, it wasn't a 10% discount—it was an 80% markup.
The price is currently no longer visible,
but I have archived evidence from multiple time points,
so I might post those later if needed.
Addendum:The crappy shop selling it must be watching this,
because by July 20, just one day later, they'd changed the price to 3,700 yen.
Did they lower it by 100 yen to claim that my statement "they're selling at 3,800 yen!" was a lie? (laughs).
What sneaky business practices.
This is my opinion, but selling bulk items extracted from the bulk packaging format
is more of a problem than selling above the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
Or rather, that suggested retail price in the first place is for the blister pack version anyway.
I think product packaging serves partly as proof of authenticity—
proof that the contents are genuine.
Below is the content from July 18
I received a couple of similar comments, so
I'll note this:
If you search "L03A Shimano," you should find it,
The L03A disc pads (Y8PU98040) in blister pack format
come at a tax-included retail price of 2,114 yen for one pair (left and right),
and the bulk format with 25 pairs has a tax-included retail price of 37,642 yen,
making the unit price per pair 1,505 yen,
yet somewhere on Am*zon they're selling the bulk version
wrapped in nothing but bubble wrap for 3,800 yen (tax-included).
Just to be clear, it's not some kind of 2-pair sale.
There are problems beyond just the selling price:
actually, the part number for the 25-pair bulk format
has an incremented final digit: Y8PU98041,
so selling non-blister-pack items
under the name "Y8PU98040" is ethically out of bounds.
but since there are further updates, I've backdated it to July 20
and moved it up in the article order.
However, there's yet another addendum, so as of July 27
I've moved it to the top of the blog.
July 27 - Further addendum:
I don't want to be thought of as a liar, so
I'm posting an image showing the L03A disc brake pads
being sold for 3,800 yen, and
an image showing how the price mysteriously changed to 3,700 yen
the day after I pointed it out.
Regarding this, they might claim something like "it was a pricing display error
and we never actually sold anything at 3,800 or 3,700 yen,"
so I'm also posting
a portion of the receipt copy provided by someone who actually purchased them for 3,800 yen.
This was the limit I could do while protecting personal privacy.
I've written the details about this in the addendum just below, but
when I asked again if they wanted to file a complaint,
they said, "I don't want to deal with this shabby merchant anymore, so let's leave it at that.
I don't think this is the first time this guy's done something like this,
and it probably won't be the last either.
It was my fault too for carelessly assuming it was a 2-pair pack just by looking at the price.
From now on, I'll check the seller's information carefully and not buy from this place again.
If it's no trouble for Nomu-Lab, you can post the receipt copy there."
As for the kind of
I predict the argument will be "there's no legal problem with selling items above the manufacturer's suggested retail price,"
but regarding that, let me offer my own opinion:
For example, vending machines at mountain huts set prices higher than in the lowlands,
and it's common for them to exceed the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
At the summit of Mt. Fuji, a 500ml bottle of drink apparently costs 500 yen,
but regarding that, no explanation is needed—everyone understands
that it includes transportation costs and such.
If you think it's expensive, you simply don't buy it,
and when you do buy something by putting money in, you develop a kind of "acceptance"
the moment you press the button.
But I don't think that same kind of "acceptance" occurs
when you click the mouse to purchase these disc brake pads.
In this case, even though the customer didn't confirm the details thoroughly,
they thought 3,800 yen was the price for 2 pairs,
so they couldn't make the judgment of "it's expensive, so I won't buy it,"
and if they'd known it was for 1 pair, they wouldn't have felt confident enough to buy it.
The 1.8 times markup over the manufacturer's suggested retail price is quite bold,
and it hits that perfect sweet spot that makes you think it might be a 2-pair pack.
Finally, to COZY BICYCLE:
If you think what I'm writing here is a lie, or if you have anything to say like "I'll beat you,"
feel free to contact me—I'm willing to listen.
so the wheel delivery is delayed again."
And as some advice: one reason a certain shitty brand name went under
was that they "used customer addresses and phone numbers for purposes other than shipping,"
and they were calling rim purchasers en masse asking, "Why don't you also tell Nomu-Lab to take down the article?"
Similarly, even if you can identify which customer purchased at 3,800 yen
and figure out who they are, I'd suggest you don't contact them
in any form whatsoever.
Even if it's an apology.←Because then they'll just ask, "So why were you selling it at 3,800 yen?"
July 21 - Further addendum:
I stated it confidently that they were selling bulk items
because someone who came to our shop actually got stuck with a bulk pack,
but separately from that incident, according to someone who recently bought at 3,800 yen,
they received a blister pack.
Before we could even ask why they paid such a price,
they said: if it's a 15% discount, then 2 pairs would be around 3,800 yen,
so I thought it was 2 pairs (1 set), but only 1 pair arrived.
When I checked the site later, it said "1 pair" so clearly and confidently
that I didn't file a complaint and just ate the loss.
In reality, it wasn't a 10% discount—it was an 80% markup.
The price is currently no longer visible,
but I have archived evidence from multiple time points,
so I might post those later if needed.
Addendum:The crappy shop selling it must be watching this,
because by July 20, just one day later, they'd changed the price to 3,700 yen.
Did they lower it by 100 yen to claim that my statement "they're selling at 3,800 yen!" was a lie? (laughs).
What sneaky business practices.
This is my opinion, but selling bulk items extracted from the bulk packaging format
is more of a problem than selling above the manufacturer's suggested retail price.
Or rather, that suggested retail price in the first place is for the blister pack version anyway.
I think product packaging serves partly as proof of authenticity—
proof that the contents are genuine.
Below is the content from July 18
I received a couple of similar comments, so
I'll note this:
If you search "L03A Shimano," you should find it,
The L03A disc pads (Y8PU98040) in blister pack format
come at a tax-included retail price of 2,114 yen for one pair (left and right),
and the bulk format with 25 pairs has a tax-included retail price of 37,642 yen,
making the unit price per pair 1,505 yen,
yet somewhere on Am*zon they're selling the bulk version
wrapped in nothing but bubble wrap for 3,800 yen (tax-included).
Just to be clear, it's not some kind of 2-pair sale.
There are problems beyond just the selling price:
actually, the part number for the 25-pair bulk format
has an incremented final digit: Y8PU98041,
so selling non-blister-pack items
under the name "Y8PU98040" is ethically out of bounds.