Old 07-27-10 | 12:37 AM
  #36  
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DArthurBrown
Chasing the horizon.
 
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 500
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From: Michigan

Bikes: 2016 Felt F75, 2008 Mercier Corvus Steel, 2006 Trek 4300, 1985 Trek 620 (modernized)

Originally Posted by njkayaker
Sound like you are the one with the "mood of entitlement"! Why should the LBS sell you something for "I offer a few dollars more than their cost of the part" (that quoted cost probably doesn't include things like rent, utilities, salary)? Loosing "your business" would seem like a smart move on the LBS's part!
Not at all. But I will shop around to get the best price. I can't justify spending $65 /tire when I can find them online for $20. I think it's very reasonable to say to an LBS owner, "Look, I've done my homework. I know you can't match this price, but I know you can still make a small profit on me and I won't go buy my tire elsewhere. They can either make a couple bucks off of me, make me happy and I'll keep coming back, or they can be stubborn, act like they deserve to make a $25 profit on a tire, and I'll get the tire cheaper elsewhere and they get nothing. They're going to lose either way. It's not entitlement, it's informed consumerism.

Another anecdote: I've been jersey hunting. Of course I like to buy what I can try on. I go into bike shops and look for a jersey that fits properly. But what's this? They don't have my size. Fair enough. Perhaps they could order one for me to try on next week. But then they want to charge a 50% deposit on the order....*facepalm* The reason I want to try it on first is to avoid spending unnecessarily.

Another anecdote: I want to build a custom Shimano cassette, and the LBS sales clerk says it cannot be done. Instead, he tries to sell me an Ultegra cassette over the phone for $20 more than the Harris Cyclery webpage I am currently staring at telling me exactly how to build a custom cassette for cheaper than what the LBS clerk is pitching....

As posters above have said, the game is more competitive when consumers have more information. It isn't as easy to dupe us as it once was, and some shops have had a really hard time swallowing that fact. The ones that adapt to the online market, focus on service, or provide honest advice (Cyclotopia, Corvallis) do well despite fierce competition.

This issue isn't limited to bike shops. Restaurants and auto mechanics are now held accountable by all sorts of online opinion pages and information forums like this one. It's getting harder to rip people off.
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