I've been going to the same LBS for quite some time now. They are right around the corner from my house and even though the owner isn't the most personable guy the employees are always friendly and helpful. They are always busy because of their beach cruiser sales and probably do more business than other stores in the area which are twice the size.

Since I'm always tinkering with my bikes and needing small parts or cables they've received plenty of my business over the years. Their markup for parts seemed fairly standard when I first started going to them, but over the last couple years it seems like prices make a jump upward each month. With the small items I could justify the cost since I was not having to pay $8 shipping on a $4 part and then turn around and wait for the item to arrive at my door.

When I recently decided to put some funding into my 'everything' bike and upgrade a few of the decades old parts the markup on what we discussed putting on the bike was 30+% over the asking price of other retailers (even over not-so-local bike shops the next city over).

Part of my is trying to justify the extra cost I am paying in my head thinking these guys are just trying to make a living. I know the basics of retail and know that every square foot of that place costs them money in some fashion. Another part of me wants to let them know that their price jumps each month are getting a little haywire and that it might be time for me to find another LBS since their markups are getting out of hand.

Has anyone else run into this? What would/did you do?

I don't expect them to change on account of me, but I am sure that I am not the only person who has noticed this or has begun to pass on their pricing for items and just buying the same thing for a lot cheaper somewhere else.