North of You

I’m very tempted by this R3 at the LBS. So far the service has been great except for some issues with getting a 58 put together for me to test ride. But NBD.

As for the price, how much room is there on these things in June when they seem to be selling rather well at this shop? Throw in a set of peddles? Throw in jersey? Or will they tell me to get stuffed?

What you think??

campyman099

Do you ask for a discount everywhere you shop? Best Buy? Whole Foods? Then why a store that sells bicycles?

Pwnt

Campyman has a point. But I've also found money talks.

topflightpro

Can we just make this a sticky since people clearly can't or don't use the search function.

North of You

"Do you ask for a discount everywhere you shop? Best Buy? Whole Foods? Then why a store that sells bicycles?"

Why yes I do, and you would be shocked how often I get a deal. It’s not always a great deal, but every little bit counts. Just don’t be an a$$, show a little finesse and charm, and give it a try.

North of You

You could say that about 95% of the posts made here. But thanks for your insight.

Staggerwing

Certainly you should expect less wiggle room now, than when there is 6" of snow on the ground and getting dark by 6PM.

However, for a clean sale, I don't see anything harm in asking if there is a "cash" discount. Just be prepared with a stack of Benjamins. OTOH, if you need some additional gear, perhaps ask if they will cut you a deal on the accessories, where there is traditionally, a higher percentage markup.

TheBand

Lets create a place where people come and post questions and then those questions get answered, and we can store these questions for everyone to search that way no questions will ever have to be asked again. I will call this place aboutGoogleYahooAnswers.Com

Psimet2001 

Hmmm...this again...Can't wait until I can get wound up again.....

In general - ask for what you want to ask for. it is up to the shop whether or not they are going to let you have the deal. Just don't get PO'd or feel like you're not getting a deal if they stick to full price. We have covered this here quite a bit and as far as commodity businesses go the bicycle shop has a poor basic structure and is predisposed to making poor margins as it is.

That said it is a free market - survival of the fittest, etc.

giantdefy

Your obviously not a smart shopper. LOL! Every bike store I have encountered offers discounts, majority will give you 10% easily off MSRP or 20-30% if they see your serious about buying. If your getting a current bike year in June, either they have already sold out for the year or its very possible to ask for discounts as much as 30% off. Bikes always show up during the Fiscal Year, i.e. 2012 models will show up sep-oct 2011. Never hurts to ask, you got nothing to lose. I managed a 22% discount off my Tarmac. This was when the bike was not even released in stores yet and had to be special ordered. Most stores will want to move inventory, specially if its been sitting too long. My bro purchased a 2010 Fuji ACR 1.0 model last week, msrp was $1899, he paid $999 plus tax.

campyman099

I'm not being an ass, just that's the viewpoint of many bicycle stores, as I have managed a few very successful bicycle stores. Consumers think there is some crazy huge margin to be had on a bicycle, when in fact they are mistaken.
If you ask for a discount everywhere else you shop, why post in here and ask our opinion, just go about your MO.

pbd

Service and accessories are a great place to get some differentiation, IMO. In my town, some shops will give 1 free tune-up, and that's it. Some shops add things like 10% off any accessories you buy the same day as the bike.

The shop I ended up buying my first bike from gives free tune-ups for a year, 10% off all accessories for a year, and 10% off a second bike if bought the same day (so I got 10% off my wife's comfort hybrid). They won't really move at all on their bikes if you're buying one, but they'll give you some back on all the extras where they do have some wiggle room (service, accessories).

There's no harm in asking, what's the worst they're going to do? "Naah, we don't really have any room on this, it's a good deal. Come back in a few months when the 2012s are out and you might get lucky if we still have any 2011s in your size". They'll still want to make a sale, they're not going to make a stink about it. If they do, walk out.

sh00k

you can definitely haggle and if they don't budge - you take your business elsewhere. I bought my 3 trek fx's at an excellent shop in Queens (NY) and got steep discounts on each. I got a few hundred dollars off the 7.7 i bought, i got almost $150 off of the 7.3 i bought. they even threw in free tune-ups for life.

for the shops that give you discounts, they lock in their customers. im surprised more shops aren't doing this... what's $100 of profit on a $2,000 bike if that $100 could almost garuntee you repeat business?

cheers.

roadwarrior

Thank you. How many threads are there on this subject? A thousand?

roadwarrior

That's because there's a big markup on those items so a 10% discount still means a 40% margin. That stuff makes up for the bikes. In other words, I can make you feel good about yourself and still make money.

Velo Vol 

Show some leg when you ask.

Psimet2001 

great - here's the thing though - average margins on bicycles are 30-40% on most lines in most shops. That would be average GROSS MARGIN. Not Net margin. This is before they pay for everything associated with the store - lights, displays, cash register, the 2%-4% credit card fee , etc.

Generalizing that stores "want to move inventory" is, like all generalizations, not truly applicable. Some stores may need the cash and will make a poor business decision in order to help out their cashflow, but rest assured that if you're getting a 30%-40% discount or higher that you actually cost that store money to sell that item to you.

As I have said 1,000 times - it's that store's decision to make and they will reap the long term effects of making poor pricing decisions if they make a habit out of it.

I understand some people feel that driving need and burning desire to feel like they got a colossal deal that no one else got - I get it. If anyone reading this is one of those individuals then by all means pursue your normal routes to try to acquire deals.

It begs the question, "why have these threads though"? It would seem like these threads are made for 1 of 2 reasons:
1. The OP wants to make sure they didn't leave any money on the table at all - even if it means the shop loses money.
2. The OP wants to honestly feel like they got the best price they could get without being too "unreasonable" or "rude" by asking for too much of a "discount".

In either case we have answered the question time and time again. Gross margins on bikes are 30-40%. Most net operating margins for shops are in the 3%-4% range. In general if you ask for a discount larger than 3%-4% then you're taking food off of the shop's metaphorical table. If you get more than 40% off then not only did you indeed take all the money off of the table, but you took the guy's shirt and shoes with you as well. If that makes you happy then Kudos - you won.

roadwarrior

Well said. 100% correct. Your second and third paragraphs are primarily why so many stores have gone out of business the last few years.

Velo Vol 

No, you're not taking anything; you're simply asking about a lower price.

abstractform20

i have found saving enough money to buy something that i want results in great of transactions.

like it has been said, bicycle mark-ups are not significant.

i have no problem paying full price on an item that reflects the quality of the products and the services that it comes with.

getting a discount is a BONUS.

a good bicycle shop provides more than low prices; knowledgeable staff will help you enjoy your bike, and your riding.

Psimet2001 

Semantics, but if you ask for a price below that shops operating margin then you are taking from them contribution margin that they could have used to pay the bills. If you ask for a price below their gross and they agree then you in fact did take some of their own cash away from the deal with you. it's just locked up in value in your new rig.

Again - it's the shops decision, but this constant willingness on our part to detach ourselves from both sides of the transaction is an embodiment of how much of a consumer economy we have truly become. It is all about what can be bought and at how low of a price and not about anything else.

I like to put it on the shop. If they aren't smart enough to understand all of the economics involved then they should pay the price, but at some point you have to step back and look at this population. The shop owners I know aren't all that smart honestly. Most to all of them don't even do their own accounting. They think they are doing well when they can buy a ton of bikes up front and get the credit extended to them allowing them to get a handful of points off on the front end - only to not pay their bills and rack up interest during the off season on the back end....when they are willing to sell bikes under cost in order to gain cashflow.

As a group of consumers you can decide that:
1. You don't care. You ask for a deal. If you get it then you win. If they go out of business then that's their fault and you'll find a different place to buy your stuff.
2. You have some interest in maintaining the brick and mortar structure that currently rules the industry. It's not a cheap structure and will require revenue form customers in order to maintain it in it's current form.

Personally...as a cyclist I don't care either way. I have my own dealer accounts with most distributors and have deals with many large OEM's. I personally pay cost for anything I use. As a business owner though, while I understand the motivation of consumers it is frustrating to know that if the pricing could stay at list or wihin 3-5% of it I could go out and start a shop tomorrow....but that's just a pipedream. sad.

North of You

Just ONCE I would like to start a thread and not be told that "it's been asked a million times before". Sorry to those whom I offended.

AdelaaR

That. Exactly that.
It is my good right as a customer to ask for a good deal or even a great deal or even an impossible deal.
It is the job of the shopkeeper to run his shop and keep track of his margins and propose me a deal which I can be satisfied with.

I live in the center of bike-mekka and so there are literally hundreds of LBS's in a 20k radius around my house ... some of them choose to be very "chique" and expensive and offer a more personal approach and thus they sell less in more time but make more per sale ... others choose to be dirt cheap and thus they sell more in less time but make less per sale.

In the end it is as you say "a free market" and so it should remain ... still ... I don't see any reason why a consumer should feel bad for playing his part in this by asking for a great deal ... whatever that deal may be.

Personally I don't care for LBS's much ... I do almost everything myself and I buy almost everything online

Joemess

I like my local shop to stay local. I know these guys aren't raking in the cash, but they are super nice and overly helpful...which has value to me....so I want them to stick around even if I think I can jam them fora few dollars more.

I assume they are being honest brokers and asking what they need to ask on a bike. So I pay what they ask until they show otherwise.

abstractform20

i think if you want a discount, but want to let the lbs have an actual profit, just find out how much tax is and ask for that amount as a discount (rounded).

i personally have no problem paying for something that is expensive it reflects the quality of the item and service.