 Poster: A snowHead
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I have my own skis but looking at the cost of 6 day rental it seemed I should be able to rent a car for the price they quoted. This was is in ordinary resorts in Austria.
Admittedly, they only have a couple of months a year to make hay - but the outlay on skis is a fraction of the cost of a car. An example is Crystal in Bad hofgastein quote £84 for standard skis and £111 for 'intermediate' skis.
What is a fair price? Is it just a tour operator/hire shop ripping off customers? There is a disparity between resorts that is also difficult to explain.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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mers? There is a disparity between resorts that is also difficult to explain.[/quote]
Cartels and captive markets.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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George Jones, you can get a week's car hire for £84? Where?
You can explain the expense wthout getting into fatbob's, conspiracy theory paranoia. Season lasts a maximum five months, for large parts of which most of their stock will languish in the shop unused (first two weeks of December, all of January, period between school holidays and Easter. Etc.) Punter wants nice new modern skis, shop has to get new stock in each year. Shop owner has (outrageous) expectation of being able to pay his staff, feed his children, have a life etc. Disparity between resorts will have at least something to do with rent/taxes/etc - you pay a lot more to rent a shop in the middle of Courchevel 1850 than you would on the outskirts of Villard de Lans, for example. (You can obviously charge a lot more for the same skis in Courchevel as well, as the place is full of people with more money than sense. This is called 'what the market will stand' rather than 'ripping off the customer'.)
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We have recently booked our ski hire and just paid £175 for 2 sets of adult skis (intermediate ones) and 2 set of children's skis, boots and helmets in St Anton. We did this through AlpinResorts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
George Jones, you can get a week's car hire for £84? Where?
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A Ford Ka for a week in November 2012 in Malaga £48. If you want a Ford Focus it is £53.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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George Jones, that's not a car, it's a skateboard. 
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NickyJ's example is a good one. Depending on the time of the season, the advance booking services like Skiset and alpinresorts give from 20% to 50% discount off the normal hire rates. Definitely beats paying full whack.
George Jones, it's all very well getting a Ford Ka cheaply in Malaga but you'll never get anything bigger than slalom skis into it and Malaga's got a pretty dire snow record. I'd be surprised to get prices like that out of Geneva or Grenoble.
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Imagine if ski rental was run by Ryan air (or some car rental companies). The charge rate would go something like this:
Rental (7 days) 1.5 euro
Fee for entering shop 10 euro each time
Insurance 20 euro
Booking fee 20 euro
Adjustment fee 10 euro
servicing charge 30 euro
Fee for advising which skis to have 10 euro
fee for paying by cash, or debit card 10 euro
fee for paying by credit card 30 euro
fee for paying by cheque 100 euro
fee for return of skis 10 euro
fee for using own boots 20 euro
fee for poles 30 euro
tip for staff (only applied in USA or Canada) 20 euro
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| This is called 'what the market will stand' rather than 'ripping off the customer'.) |
How is "what the market will stand" a totally different concept from "captive market pricing" in a geographically constrained market?
I'm sure that the reports of Ski Republic being welcomed with open arms into resorts are also... erm....
I've yet to find a ski town where rental prices have been as keen as those shops in the valley or on the road up. Presumably because they have to pay a premium to ship their stock to such an altitude 
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| George Jones wrote: |
| Lizzard wrote: |
George Jones, you can get a week's car hire for £84? Where?
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A Ford Ka for a week in November 2012 in Malaga £48. If you want a Ford Focus it is £53. |
Yeah, because the demand is MASSIVE!! - I would wager you can hire Ski's for a week for 50p in July in Champagny....?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| admin wrote: |
| George Jones, it's all very well getting a Ford Ka cheaply in Malaga but you'll never get anything bigger than slalom skis into it and Malaga's got a pretty dire snow record. I'd be surprised to get prices like that out of Geneva or Grenoble. |
If you could hire skis at a reasonable rate you would not need to get them into a Ka, you would pick them up in the resort. Otherwise, pay the extra and hire a Focus. From Malaga you could drive to Sierra Nevada for better snow.
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