skunked again by Golite

Left without long-standing alternative of purchasing "nest" for late, great Hex 3, I became convinced that purchasing Shangri-La 5 was a very desirable alternative, not least considering its relatively cheap price as of last week.

Comes time for me to bite tonight, and it's out of stock. Am thinking price will go up, when and if they make it available.

hi Sandia
Are you on Twitter ?

This happens all the time at my local supermarket. Pure cranberry juice on sale (I use quite a bit of this), only one bottle left on the shelf. Of course, once the sale is over the shelves are full. The same is true at REI. Generally, if you don't get there the first day of the sale, forget it, unless the item is not a popular one.

Why? The reason for the sale in the first place was to get rid of overstock, or of discontinued models. Once those are gone, no business will continue offering the sale price.

Not dishonest at all, just standard business practice. No firm is in business to give things away unless there is a compelling reason to get them off the shelves.

Never said it was dishonest. Nor that I wanted something for nothing.

Ideally when purchasing a big ticket item, however, one prefers some stability from the supplier.

I've now gone to GoLite on two occasions in the past month money in hand, for two of their best-known products, and no dice.

Gotta wonder about that.

They restocked their Jams a couple days ago at the same "sale" price so I'd guess they'll do the same for the tents. Keep checking daily.

Made up my mind to purchase the Go Lite 800 quilt . . . .
Out of stock. so I called, girl said they shoud have more in in August, but could not say what they price would be . . . .

$300 is way outta my price range, so I'm looking for alternatives while I wait . . . .

Check out enlightenedequipment.com
I don't work for them. But rather, I was in the same boat with golites out of stock quilts.
It's a bummer because there is even a Golite store in my town. I asked when they would be back in stock.....August.

Good luck

Thanks Cole. Did they say if itwould be the first of Aug. or last? 6 week wait at enlightened, just weighing options.

No problem.
All I heard is August, not any dates.
I believe most people have been getting there enlightened quilts in 4 weeks, but don't quote me on that. I ordered about 3 weeks ago, and will most likely do a review once I get it.
Best of luck on what you pick. I really do believe that both these options are great products, and both have perks over eachother.
-Cole

took me just over three weeks to get my enlightened equipment quilt.

Am not really sure what's up with GoLite pricing. Everything they sell I think is currently "on sale."

Unless they mean by "sale price" the price at which it is sold? But they also list a "suggested retail price."

Suggested to whom? GoLite is the sole retailer of its products.

But if product is unavailable, then obviously, its price, suggested or otherwise, is meaningless.

I tried my "are you on Twitter ? " comment on my wife and she didn't get it either , so I might as well explain it.
The point is that we could have a much faster up-date on the like/don't like status between Sandia and Golite via Twitter...

Golite recently decided to sell directly and not via retail shops anymore.
So the customer now can buy at a much reduced price .
I would think that the term "on sale" is just to highlight the currently lower price and generally it is an accepted term when the price of an item is lower than it used to be.
The new prices have been widely talked about in the various forums so I would expect that orders have also gone up , hence the out of stock situation.
Franco
BTW, I find it rather funny that there was a thread at another forum about how great it is to receive the goods after a 12 week wait , yet some other manufacturers get castigated for keeping their customers waiting 3 or 4 weeks...

Either the 12 weeks' order was one of the several "cottage" companies that doesn't start making your item until you order it, or it was a Big Sky tent....

Yes it is a cottage manufacturer and the waiting period is spelled out , so no surprises there.
I just find it amusing how the same thing can be "great" or "terrible" by looking at it from a different point of view...
Franco

Three weeks sounds good. Look forward to the review.

What quilt did you order and why, 20-40 reg-long?

So you could say it's a sale price with no sale?

At least then perhaps the "sale-which-is-not" is ongoing and the item is not, after all, discontinued. Impossible to say with certainty.

But I still don't understand for whom the "Suggested Retail Price" is suggested.

Perhaps GoLight suggested the price merely to itself, but decided it was bad advice?

Now That's Funny . . . .

Perhaps GoLight suggested the price merely to itself, but decided it was bad advice?

That is funny.

I went to a big sale in south Denver two years ago by GoLite in a huge vacated furniture place. Lasted several weeks. Huge sale. Think it was then that they (or he) decided to screw the retailers selling his stuff and market directly and online. Next year the sale was in a much smaller empty space in the same center, and the "deals" weren't nearly as impressive.

Went to a sale last pre-Christmas and was not impressed at all by the prices, yet just a couple months ago they have a "half-off" everything sale on their website that was much better than anything seen at the end of 2011. I'm starting to wonder what's up here and if they will be around much longer. Anyone else have more insight??

(I'm a bit jaded with most corporations as a retired American Airlines employee who has watched the company go into bankruptcy last November and the execs and board attempt to eviscerate the company to salvage their dwindling cut in this travesty that they had a big part in creating. I don't know . . . I don't think they'll be around much longer. If you have Aadvantage Miles, I'd suggest you use them.)

It's been nice not paying retail for most GoLite stuff the past 2 years -- I've turned into the GoLite poster boy on the trail, but what's going on concerns me.

Perhaps the Suggested Retail Price in this situation is what the price would have needed to be had the company used the traditional retail distribution network with each of the "middle man" costs being ultimately borne by the end user. Thus the present "sale price" just highlights the fact the end user is indeed saving money due to the company not using the traditional distribution network. It is a marketing technique for sure, but not any different than most other techniques used by others.

That would hold if they always sold their product at "half-off" what a retailer would sell at. When they aren't having a sale, they are pocketing the money that would have gone to the retailer, too. It's no big deal, since that's what outlet stores are all about, and most manufacturers allow you to buy their stuff online. Example, I saw an Epson photo printer and bought it at a retailer after seeing it and having it recommended by the salesman. Two years later I bought a larger format Epson printer from Epson's online store. The retailer "made" both sales, they just didn't make any money on the second one.

Are retailers doomed? Suprisingly, not yet.

Shangri-La 5 now in stock. Green only. $262.49. Sounds like a good deal to me.

http://www.golite.com/Shangri-La-5-Tent-P46714.aspx

Boy they go fast!
Temporarily out of stock yet again!!!

Both colors back in stock.

My SL-5 order is placed (about two weeks later than I'd have preferred) at a very satisfactory price. Having used Hex-3 happily for many years, I don't expect many surprises.

I mostly regret the need for "nest" but woman dictates. With nest left at home, weight difference between 3 & 5 seems trivial & I might even dump the forever nestless 3.

It is the nature of the beast for us bargain shoppers. REI dreams on walmart budgets. The only answer is don't sweat the small stuff. You have your target product, either bite the regular price bullet, scour the used forums, or wait some more. Don't wait too long or you will covet the next big thing when it comes out new and will have to wait another year until it is on clearance. Best option is to know what you want quickly and be a proactive shopper. Better option...get into the myog hobby. I have often thought of making a shangrila type shelter. Also find something close and repurpose it...like a kelty noahs tarp. Good luck