Originally Posted by Waldo
[RANT]
Super-high markup in a bike shop? Ha! Mail order places distort what items "should" cost by selling many items around or below dealer cost. This makes price matching or even approaching their pricing a losing proposition.
Shop guys resent people bringing in mail-order stuff because those places are playing by different rules than us and are doing a fine job of helping to put shops out of business-245 (or so) went under this year. While that purchase is money out of their pocket, they shouldn't display an attitude towards you.
It stinks that your LBS are lousy (as this turns people away from the LBS in the long-term and makes the rest of us look bad), but I think you need to consider the financial aspect from the shop's perspective as well. They are just trying to make a living-no one gets rich in this business.
[/RANT]
I empathize for all the good LBS stores that have to compete with mail-order companies who have much lower costs and overhead. But mail-order companies aren't evil (I've bought pads through mail-order but never a bike). Afterall, they're just trying to make a living too.
I find many bike stores are adapting by offering other services such as workshops, forming local bike clubs, sponsoring community events, etc.
As for discounts, of course it would be nice to get a deal everytime. But then it's the store owner's perogative to give a discount or not, and my perogative to buy retail or not. I once bought a bike at full price rather late in the season, a helmet at full price, and the top of the line Kryptonite lock at full price all at once and the LBS didn't even offer me a discount. But hey, no one held a gun to my head to buy it.
Conversely, my last bike was a fantastic deal. I didn't even have to ask for a discount. They just offered it when they saw I was 50/50 about buying it. It was late in the season though.
From an LBS point of view, what is the best approach to ask for a price break without totally insulting the LBS?