Originally Posted by
oldbobcat
I'm saying that a shop knows its clientele, and if it knows that it's a slim chance a customer will walk through the door looking for an $8000 bike, then it's pretty stupid to put an $8000 bike on the floor. You guys think that all a shop has to do to be more successful is cater to your whims.
Sure, come in and test ride our bikes. That's what we're here for. Even better, buy one someday. But don't tell us you're not going to by a Madone 5.2 because we don't have a Cervelo S5 to compare it against. We're still trying to sell our last 2011 S3.
No, that's good business. You want some outrageously high-end bling item to show that you've 'got the good stuff', even if pretty much nobody buys it. High end stores use this all the time - you actually think Tiffany intends to sell thousands of their $750,000 multidiamond holiday necklace that's on display front and center next to the $200,000 pair of diamond earrings and the $350,000 diamond ring? Heck no, but they're sure as hell glad to make a sale of a $8000 ring as a result of you seeing them as the 'top end' of jewelry. Even in cheaper stores, you always have a higher 'reach' model that's really not aimed to move, but aimed to impress if you're doing your sales right especially in items with high sale value.
You can still put that $8k bike up front but be reasonable about letting it out on test rides. No problem in denying customers the test ride of the uberbike for something like that - if they take offense at that, that's their problem and likely a customer you're better off not hassling with. I do however, think an LBS shoots themself in the foot by not allowing test rides on bikes the customer specifically is interested in buying. Why not order online at that point? (It will definitely be cheaper online.)