Amazon
Why aren’t e-Gel and e-Fuel on Amazon.com?
We realize that many of our customers shop on Amazon regularly, so we thought it would be useful to explain why e-Gel and e-Fuel are not sold through the site.
Keep Prices Low
If we allow Amazon to directly sell e-Gel and e-Fuel, we would have to raise our prices about 30% to cover all of Amazon’s fees. While we would probably sell more product, our customers would pay more. Selling direct through cranksports.com allows us to provide the lowest possible pricing. The trade-off for those that pay for Amazon Prime and receive free shipping is that we charge for shipping, but it’s a flat rate of just $4.95 and the overall pricing is significantly lower. In addition, the cost of shipping can be eliminated with our Crank Points and Buddy Referral programs (see below).
Crank Points
Our customer loyalty program gives our customers a credit on each purchase in the form of “Crank Points”. Customers receive one point for every dollar spent. Points can be used on the next purchase or stored up until you have enough for a free order – it’s up to you! This is all automated and managed through the cranksports.com web site and it further reduces the cost of our products to our loyal customers. If the products were sold through Amazon.com we would not be able to maintain this program.
Buddy Referral Program
…more points!
Our buddy referral program (started in 2002) is extremely popular and it allows our customers to earn additional points on all of their referred friend’s and training buddy’s purchases. This is not a one time credit, but on ever purchase their friends make in the future as well. Again, this is all automated and managed through the cranksports.com web site and it further reduces the cost of our products to our loyal customers. If the products were sold through Amazon.com we would not be able to maintain this program.
Customer Relationship
When you purchase form cranksports.com you are dealing directly with the developers of e-Gel and e-Fuel and we care about all of our customers. If you call during normal business hours, you can not only place an order but we’re here to answer your product questions. Often times we include free samples or make special arrangements for athletes that have an upcoming race, game or competition. If we handed the on-line business over to Amazon, we would no longer be able to provide many of these services that our customers have come to appreciate.
Long Term Success
We have been making e-Gel and e-Fuel since 2002, never selling on Amazon.com. During that time we have seen lots of competitors come and go. We strongly believe that to succeed in this industry you need to make excellent products and you need to provide an excellent customer experience. While Amazon does a fantastic job of selling lots of items (currently 480 million different products), they really don’t care which products you buy and how well they work for you. We want to make sure that e-Gel and e-Fuel are around for our loyal customers for years to come, and in our determination the best way to ensure that is to continue to maintain our direct customer relationships.
Thanks for your understanding and loyal support!