I'm sure it's not intentional, but it's kind of funny to me that the way Riv sort of hypes up the drop of each frame several times over the weeks and days leading up to a sale, combined with talk of how few frames there are and how long it'll be before more come (no doubt because they're trying to set expectations), ends up I think being a massively successful sales tactic that does exactly what they appear to loath - sells frames extremely fast because people are buying opportunistically to some extent. It's now a rare and coveted opportunity to spend your money on a Rivendell, and that in itself is attractive.
Anyway, I think the lottery system is pretty darn fair - it evens the playing field more than pretty much any other option. I know it's not the best method for me, who has the flexibility to be ready to purchase at the drop time and is pretty quick with a computer, as well as being reasonably well-connected on Riv stuff, but that's sort of the point isn't it? My preferred option would be the ability to pre-order - you might have to wait a long time but you know you're in the queue. I know Riv doesn't like having this hanging over their heads but honestly, a deposit on a frameset that can be cancelled for store credit at any time, which has no guarantees on lead time at all but you will get your frame in the order the deposit was received, seems the best to me. Plus it gets them some money in the bank ahead of delivery date. On Wednesday, 6 October 2021 at 15:39:03 UTC-7 iamkeith wrote: > > In addition to the attemp to make it fair, I think the $50 is just "ernest > money." If they didn't ask for that, there'd be untold numbers of people > putting their names in the hat without a firm commitment to buy. No point > in wasting time on tire-kickers (or, worse, scalpers/speculators) when > there are more than enough people out there who legitimately want a bike. > It all seems to be pretty reasonable to me. > On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 3:18:35 PM UTC-6 Johnny Alien wrote: > >> I mean it IS essentially a raffle ticket. You buy a ticket and it gets >> randomly selected. The only difference is that you get a refund if you >> aren't selected. I think the idea on their side is all of the people that >> don't get the bike will maybe just keep the $50 in credit so that it leads >> to more sales. >> >> On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 4:55:10 PM UTC-4 Joe Bernard wrote: >> >>> I think it solves the "everybody click at once at noon then a bunch of >>> people are pissed off" problem, but I guarantee - no matter how many times >>> Will explains it - that someone is going to think they bought a $50 raffle >>> ticket. Fun! >>> >>> Joe "ooh, a LimeOlive Clem I don't need..." Bernard >>> >>> On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 12:49:18 PM UTC-7 Edwin W wrote: >>> >>>> I am glad to hear the demand for Rivendell bikes is high. So high that >>>> most sizes sold out immediately when posting last time they opened them up >>>> to sales. So this time: >>>> You buy a $50 "ticket." >>>> They draw tickets out of a hat for the "winners," who have 24 hours to >>>> purchase a bike. >>>> If someone doesn't buy, they pull another name out of a hat. >>>> Sounds complicated and added work for the folks down at Riv. >>>> How many people REALLY wanted a Riv and weren't able to get one at the >>>> end of the day? >>>> >>>> Seems like overthinking to me, but I am living in the lap of luxury of >>>> owning two Rivs, so what do I know! >>>> >>>> Whatever the process, good luck to Riv, >>>> >>>> Edwin >>>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1de416fa-52f4-42d2-932d-430d33fdc34bn%40googlegroups.com.
