Pricing and Customer Service Policy
Pricing Policy
It is pretty simple. We offer our best prices every day, to everyone on any volume.
- Everyone gets the industry discount: Half or our sales nowadays are to gyms, personal trainers and others that are associated with the fitness industry. In the interest of simplicity and efficiency, we offer everyone our best price on the website (no discounts for industry or anything) every day.
- We don’t do finance. The cost of this has to be incorporated into the price, making it more expensive. If you need finance you can use Paypal Pay In 4 for smaller purchases. Or you can get your own Buy Now Pay Later card these days. For larger purchases we recommend you find the best finance solution that works for you. Not the one that works for the retailer.
- We don’t negotiate on price or price match. We don’t waste time negotiating. It is time consuming, plus discourages online purchases – which also costs time. We have exclusive distribution on our equipment. Plus our generic items like plates, bars, dumbbells etc are often better quality. So we don’t waste time matching prices. The price you see online is our best possible price.
- We don’t do volume discounts. With all the new shipping rules and costs from transport companies, it is mostly easier and cheaper to ship smaller orders. Incorporating volume discounts into pricing is complicated which adds more time. Plus by offering the cheapest price on all initial orders, we can welcome more people into the Sam’s Fitness family. The bigger the family the cheaper the prices for everyone!
- We don’t do sales. In nearly 20 years we have never done a sale. Yet another complication and waste of time. By keeping it simple we aim to give you our best price when you need the product, not when it is Black Friday, EOFY etc.
Given the above is quite significantly different to a lot of retailers you are probably thinking I am a bit crazy. Which is something I am quite proud of 🙂 I have never seen tougher economic times in my nearly 30 years of working in business. We need to to do things differently to give you the best possible equipment at the best possible price. In my mind these are not radical policies, but rather common sense. IKEA is a massive global company that makes you go into the warehouse and pick your own order. Seems like a crazy idea but it works.
For those of you who are still not convinced, here I go into more detail.
Tight Ass Tuesday Everyday
Our aim is to provide you with the best quality gym equipment at the best possible price. Although some of our products are not cheap (ATX & Ironmaster Gym Equipment), they are priced competitively making them excellent value. Some of our products are cheap, but they are great quality and even better value.
We achieve this by keeping our overheads low – our warehouse is old and rundown but cheap. There is no fancy offices. We use generic or recycled packaging. I ride my push bike to work. Anything to keep a lid on costs in an environment of ever increasing prices.
The C Word
Covid has flipped the World on it’s head, especially for the gym equipment market. It spiked demand which has led to an average cost increase of 30 to 40% on most items. Sea freight went through the roof, up to a 300% increase on some costs. Shipping within Australia also went bananas. We used to be able to ship hex trap bars to Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra for $50-$60. Now it is more like $160.
I don’t need to tell you that these cost increases have not been confined to gym equipment. Whether it is a trip to the supermarket or a feed at your favourite restaurant, you would have noticed that prices have been steadily increasing. To further rub salt in the wound, interest rates are on the rise. This not only affects homeowners with mortgages, but renters whose landlord also has a mortgage.
While all this may seem like doom and gloom, there is a positive side. Being sandwiched between rising costs and reduced disposable income has made us rethink all aspects of our business. Every time we increase prices I feel that I lose a group of potential customers who are on a tight budget. So we are trying everything to keep a lid on price increases. Our aim is to make quality gym equipment like ATX and Ironmaster available to as many people as possible.
Necessity The Mother of Invention
As a result we have streamlined everything to make it simple and efficient. We always have been, but now we are just taking it to the next level. A lot of the things we are doing are different to our competitors. There is a good reason for this. Covid introduced a lot of new competitors to the market. In my opinion too many for the post covid demand. My belief is that if we don’t do something different we may not survive.
No Package Deals or Discounts
We don’t do discounts for certain groups or negotiate on prices. I believe that everyone should get the best price. My theory is this way I can sell more products, which in turn will allow us to offer better prices. Plus negotiating prices is time consuming. When you have multiple staff members doing it makes it even more complicated.
It seems crazy to me in 2022 that online businesses would negotiate on prices. By encouraging people to buy online it saves so much time. This leads to savings and ultimately better prices. Plus your aim with a website is to keep people on your site and purchase. Inflated prices are a sure fire way to get people to leave your site.
For years we used to put together package deals. We would either offer a pay upfront discount or finance. During covid we stopped nearly all packages as it was a nightmare as we had bugger all stock. We would have the power rack and weights, but no barbells as an example.
During this time ATX has continued to expand their range. If we were to do power rack packages there would be a lot of work managing them. There are so many racks, barbells, gym benches and weight plates to choose from. Whatever package we put up, nearly all customers would like to modify some part. This takes time, sending emails back and forth. It is just easier for everyone if we offer a lower price and get the customer to add whatever they want.
Our time is better spent on advising customers who are new to training what equipment will best suit their training needs.
The other issue at the moment is that prices are constantly changing. Every container that arrives requires some adjustment to prices. This would also create a lot of unnecessary work at the moment.
No Finance
Previously we only offered finance on package deals. We have never had Afterpay or Zip Pay. As we are no longer doing packages we wont be offering finance unless we can apply a surcharge.
That is the reason we don’t offer Afterpay or Zip Pay. Both charge the retailer approximately 5%. Given interest rates are rising I imagine that this will increase.
No business is offering these buy now pay later options for “free”. This percentage is built into their retail price. The reason I don’t like this is because all prices are inflated to compensate. Therefore people that pay upfront are subsidising those that use these options.
Instead of cutting a finance company into a deal, I would much prefer that value gets passed onto the customer. Plus I am a bit old fashioned in my thinking that if you can’t afford something then don’t buy it.
Training and a healthy lifestyle make you a better person. But it involves discipline and sacrifice. Your financial well being is equally as important. Learning to budget and save is as important as lifting weights in my opinion. Especially at the moment when there is so much uncertainty surrounding the economy.
No Price Matching
For our range of ATX and Ironmaster gym equipment price matching is not an issue. We are the exclusive distributors for Australia.
We do however offer generic items like weight plates, rubber hex dumbbells, barbells, cable attachments etc. Although these items may look the same as a competitors on a flash website, the quality does vary. Sadly, many people found out the hard way when they purchased some real junk off new entrants during covid.
When buying these items, you have the option to get different levels of quality at corresponding prices. We always opt for the better quality. No use buying a schmick ATX power rack with Ironmaster Bench and rounding it out with cheap barbell that rotates on PVC bushes.
Our Power Maxx barbells look generic, but they are very well built for the money. They have become popular with gyms who are looking for a real no frills work horse.
No Sales
In nearly 20 years I have never had a sale. The reason I started a business is because I had an interest in business. Back in the day I had a BRW (Business Review Weekly) subscription. Unlike today’s news that is tweeted, snapped or shorted – the BRW used to go in greater depth of business successes and failures.
Big W and K-Mart used to be fierce competitors. K-Mart used to have sales every other week. Big W had the principle of low prices every day. Big W gained the upper hand (and my patronage) as K-Mart shoppers would wait for the next sale.
I guess sales are handy if you are over stocked on certain products and you need cash in a hurry. As a conservative businessman I have not needed to do this. Plus when the market for gym equipment is cold you are lucky to give the stuff away.
Black Friday sales is just another trashy piece of American culture we have inherited. Some places specifically get in cheap junk to lure those who get caught up in the hype.
The post covid environment makes these type of sales even more unappealing from a business owner’s perspective. Staff shortages are rampant. The transport system has improved but still it is not back to pre-covid efficiency.
Having a sale creates a spike in your workload. Then the transport system gets overloaded. Instead of offering a cheaper price for a few days it makes more sense to me to offer solid price consistently.
The Proof Is In The Pudding
Now after reading all the “No” you are probably thinking I am the original fun sponge. I can understand how some of you might get your nose out of joint. We aren’t doing many things that you have grown accustomed too.
For those of you who want to buy a quality product at a great price when you need it, these policies do work.
As of the 27th October 2022, here are some price comparisons on both domestic and international products.
Our Olympic Lock Jaw Collars are an example of a quality generic product that we sell for cheap. They don’t have a brand name on them cause that costs extra.
The Ironmaster Quick Lock Dumbbells proved to be one of the most sought after items in the world during the covid period. If there were to be a product we could charge a premium for this would be it. Instead we give you the best deal in the World!
The Ironmaster Quick Lock Dumbbells proved to be one of the most sought after items in the world during the covid period. If there were to be a product we could charge a premium for this would be it. Instead we give you the best deal in the World!
Customer Service Policy
Sam’s Fitness “Equipment for Life” has based its success on providing excellent customer service. So we go to great lengths to ensure that the products listed are currently in stock and the price and details are correct. However with such a large range of products mistakes are bound to happen. We reserve the right to make changes to orders – but only after your consent.
Orders
We aim to get your order packed and ready for transportation the day after we receive the order. Standard delivery times are usually within 5 working days. Eastern capital cities are quicker. Remote areas can be a little longer.
If we don’t have the item in stock we will notify you as soon as possible, if we have a suitable replacement we will offer it to you, otherwise we will cancel and refund the order.
Occasionally we make changes to the back end of the site which have unintended consequences on the front end, one such instance is when we erroneously changed the price of an Ironmaster Cable Tower to $2. We reserve the right to adjust the price in instances like these, but you will always be notified first.
Refunds
Our business is based on repeat business, so we strive to make sure all our customers are satisfied. We do not normally give refunds if the customer changes their mind. This is because once fitness equipment is assembled, it is hard to repack and return in a condition that will enable us to resell it. If we offered refunds it would mean we would have to increase our selling price.
Please read the fine print of those that offer returns. Typically you have to pay and organise the return freight. This might not sound like much of an issue, but it is. For a heavy item (over 25 to 30kgs) shipped from from a residential address it is going to be expensive. Very expensive.
Plus you don’t get the initial freight refunded. If it gets damaged or lost in transit that is on you. Also the retailer will reserve the right to charge a re-stock fee if the product is not in “as new condition”.
After going through all that you would have wished you kept it. Or sold it on Gumtree.
As we only sell reputable, international brand gym equipment, you can research the equipment online. Many of the machines we sell have been sold around the world for 20 years. So you know that you will be getting a quality machine.
However if your gym equipment is faulty or has been wrongly described on our website, we will happily exchange it for you.
See what our customers have to say...
Nathan
Purchased the Ironmaster Quick Lock Dumbbell System from Sam, who offered excellent advice on what to purchase for my...
Review posted: 26/03/2018
Michael Ryan
Top notch products and service! After numerous purchases over the years I may be biased but the equipment speaks...
Review posted: 28/09/2015
Danny - Brisbane
Good gear, nice people, quick and painless delivery, I will buy from them again.
Review posted: 15/09/2016
Tom Masters
Would definitely recommend Sams Fitness. Matt was very helpful with my inquiry, he suggested the best package for my...
Review posted: 22/01/2017
Harrison Dell
I bought over $1000 of weights and a barbell, and they are great. I received the ABC Bulls...
Review posted: 03/05/2016
Clearview Coaching
Very helpful. Great company.
Review posted: 18/09/2016