General Cycling Discussion - Ethical Question

There is an LBS in my area that is going out of business. Supposedly, their landlord riased the rent on them substantially and they can't make it. The owner is having a liquidation sale to get rid of current and old inventory. I usually do not shop there at all. I have picked up a few tubes, stans goo, etc in the past but never big ticket items. I ride with a bunch of their 'team' though and they called me to let me know about the sale.
Would you feel OK about going in now to swoop up whats left, like some Vulture swooping down for some LBS Carrion?

am I just overthinking it?

There is no ethical issue if the sale is open to members of the general public.

Evidently the owner/s have to move their inventory and don't care who buys it. You may be doing them a favor. Sounds like a win win to me.

No ethics about it- its economics. If it would make you feel any better you could pay me the difference between MSRP and the sale price.

Its a theoretical query only. Unfortunatley, I have all the bikes and supplies I need through next year

Yeah, you're overthinking.

Ultimately, some bank is going to take the entire proceeds of the sale. The owner will pretty much be left with whatever he's left with and it won't change too much regardless. He's going to be plucked as clean as they can.

I don't feel too sorry for the bank either. They made a business decision and, I assume, have been collecting interest for all these years based upon their assessment of the degree of risk. Sometimes they guess right and make a pile, sometimes they guess wrong and have to take a loss.

unfortunately your local shop is going out of business, the damage has been done, so now you might as well take advantage and stock up on some cheap buys.

I would speak to the owner, tell him your sorry to hear that he is closing. Wish him the best of luck in whatever he is doing in the future. Then buy whatever you want.

If you feel that bad about it you could always offer to help him pay his rent so he could stay open.

If anything, you'd probably be helping them out.

When businesses have liquidation sales the leftover prices of items tend to get lower as the sale progresses. Where at the end they are stuck with the junk stuff. So if you go there early you will find the better items and would be helping out the owner by purchasing his stuff. Like someone previouisly said a win win situation.

As a business owner: if something is being liquidated, the shop owner needs to get rid of the stuff, you're doing him/her a favor if you buy.

Is this LBS in a mall or mini mall? If so you may want to complain to he mall's management company. Several years ago the same happened to a great pet store we do business with - one of the few pet stores that actually cares about animals. So many people called the mall management to say something along the lines of, "I only shop at your mall because of that pet store..." that they got a deal on the rent and managed to stay open.

People who go into business know the risks. If a company cannot make a profit, then the company will not survive. The owners will cut their losses short and move on to something else.

A moral wrong is stealing. A liquidation sale is not stealing. Even though we often say the purchase was "a steal", it isn't stealing.

Would you feel OK about going in now to swoop up whats left, like some Vulture swooping down for some LBS Carrion?

am I just overthinking it?

Watch the first 5 minutes of the movie Miller's Crossing for a more thorough lesson in the application of "ethics."

BTW, the rest of the movie is darn good, too.

They call YOU up and you don't know if it's "ethical"....
Obviously there are too many polls on BF!

When businesses have liquidation sales the leftover prices of items tend to get lower as the sale progresses. Where at the end they are stuck with the junk stuff. So if you go there early you will find the better items and would be helping out the owner by purchasing his stuff. Like someone previouisly said a win win situation.

Mmhm. If you don't buy it from the store at their sale price, then in the end the bank will hand off all of the remaining goods to a liquidation company who will take it off the banks hands for a *fraction* of what you would've paid, so the shop owners would be much more likely to be in trouble in the end. Buying it from the store personally during their closeout gives them a better chance of coming out of it all clean, or even with a small take away.

I don't think its immoral at all. Sad that the owners store would be closing down, but unless you can provide them with another solution to their problems, buying at that time would be helping them out, because liquidators won't give them any kindness.

Go shop there.

Don't worry about the lease thing - that's a standard line for any business that's closing down. "Lost our lease!". We used to joke about that - "what, they don't know where they put it?" until we were the one who "lost our lease".

If you feel bad for the shop owner/s, pay cash.

This is the time to pick up things like tools, expendables (tubes, tires, etc.), and new old stock (NOS) - cheap BMX bike, a beater bike for commuting, etc.

Healthy shops regularly look through closing-down-shops in order to get more workstands/truing stands, tubes, tools, second air compressor, a few boxes of tools, or whatever. A rival shop can also pay to have all the calls forwarded to them (they just pay the phone book bills). etc etc. It's like those nature documentaries where the lion kills the antelope. Once the antelope is down, everyone gets a piece of it, lions to flies. It's all recycled back into the system.

Around what town/area is it? And how long were they around? I need an old quill type 0.833" stem :)

cdr

I scored a really nice tool kit for $68.00, OTD, when I walked into a performance shop that was closing. Been doing my own wrenching ever since. I went there to get spare tubes. bk

As a former business owner, I can tell you that you're doing them a favor. They've already spent the money to buy the stuff and they're not going to be around for as long as it takes to move it normally. Even if they only recover a portion of their money, that's better than nothing. If you don't buy it, they'll end up getting rid of it some other way.

if no one BUYS the stuff, it will end up in the guy's garage & eventually on e-bay. No harm no fowl (t-day joke!)

Not only would I swoop like a vulture on carrion, I'd try to haggle the prices even lower knowing that he's desperate to get rid of the stuff..... if I'm going to swoop I may as well pick the carcass as clean as I can.

No ethical issues. Do it, and come back to report on your finds!!! :D

... Brad

There is no ethical issue if the sale is open to members of the general public.

+1

How can you have ethical issues with reduced prices on bike stuff?

Go crazy. Buy.

There is an LBS in my area that is going out of business. Supposedly, their landlord riased the rent on them substantially and they can't make it. The owner is having a liquidation sale to get rid of current and old inventory. I usually do not shop there at all. I have picked up a few tubes, stans goo, etc in the past but never big ticket items. I ride with a bunch of their 'team' though and they called me to let me know about the sale.

If it was going to be a problem they wouldn't have called you in the first place. The reason they called you is that they want you to swoop like a magpie because for them, it's a choice of clear it out at a discount price, or dispose of it for nothing later. I don't see any ethical issue here.

1) Vultures are very important to the ecosystem.
2) If you really are bothered why not chat with the owner.

There is no ethical issue if the sale is open to members of the general public.

+1

Do you think the LBS owner would be happy if no one came to the sale? He's setting the prices, why would you have a problem with buying from him?

Where did banks come into this? The LANDLORD has raised the rent, the business owner has decided it's too high, and is selling up the stock. No bank was mentioned, and no mention of (a) an overdraft (b) a foreclosure or (c) any other bank interest has been made.

In addition, if you don't have a need for any of the stuff, because you say you have all the items you need into next year... well, a basic tenant of the current human nature is greed, so go for it... beat some other poor b@stard to something he might need, even when you don't want it.

Have a nice day in the jungle! ;) :)