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Live blog: Evans Cycles owner Mike Ashley calls for 20 per cent tax on online sales to save the High Street, Deloitte RAB entries open, e Yorkshire fly thru + more

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road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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8 comments

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roadmanshaq | 5 years ago
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I haven't bought a bike or bike accessory except emergency repair stuff for years. They all stock goods with a massive markup that I don't need. Chain reaction and planet X have supplied what I want at a third of the cost of a brick and mortar operation, why would I want to shell out on a markup?

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risoto | 5 years ago
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So Evans wants government help to stay competitive? Why should high street shops have special treatment. How about a 20% tax credit for online shops - they are better after all. As Canyon48 rightly says - you don't get a sale if you havn't got the product stocked in the store. The most basic logic of retailing. And if people prefer to shop on-line? Move your business to where the customers are. That is the second logic of retailing!

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don simon fbpe replied to risoto | 5 years ago
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risoto wrote:

So Evans wants government help to stay competitive? Why should high street shops have special treatment. How about a 20% tax credit for online shops - they are better after all. As Canyon48 rightly says - you don't get a sale if you havn't got the product stocked in the store. The most basic logic of retailing. And if people prefer to shop on-line? Move your business to where the customers are. That is the second logic of retailing!

Don't you need customers to have money too?

Not sure which logic that is, I hadn't realised that logic was countable either. Full of learning this thread is.

Canyon might not be the best example either as they struggle to get another important factor whch is availablity. No good having a good price if people can't get hold of the goods. Good job people are stupid, eh?

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Organon | 5 years ago
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20% on shopping, plus 2.5% tax on income just for being alive and over 40. Because 40 year olds are 'old' and rich of course. When is the next referendum; they all need lining up against a wall....

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ChancerOnABike | 5 years ago
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I lived  In seattle in 2010 and most of the bike shops had innertube recycling back then. A local company made bags and things out of them. I still have a messenger bag with a seatbelt for a strap. Great idea but it had stained quite a few cycling tops 

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John Smith | 5 years ago
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Failing business model in desperate calls for government meddling.

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
1 like

I bet Ashley's got some great avoidance schemes for what comes into his own pocket. 

Also, good luck with this 20% thing seeing as most of the 'big' companies seem to be avoiding paying their fair shair in the first place. 

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Canyon48 | 5 years ago
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20% tax on online sales, that seems REALLY steep.

I'd happily buy all my cycling gear from a local bike shop, but that would require my LBS to actually stock the brands I want to buy (they don't) and actually have the item I want, in the size I want, in stock (which is a rarity).

It's particularly difficult when I have to drive for 30 minutes just to get to a bike shop...

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