Actually, I do get it but I have been clearly talking about replacement cost, not depreceation. I know how much a bike's value tanks once it is used but me and others are talking about getting our bikes at less than retail. With the internet, I easily see $1500-2000 disparities in prices between same bike builds at my LBS.

I understand overhead costs of a LBS, but the frame and components are identical but the LBS chooses to sell at MSRP or close to it. So the bike HAS A retail price that it could be sold for, but each seller will adjust their own profit margins. So I and others here bought $5k bikes for $3500. I routinely do that at my LBS by paying cash and having spent 10s of thousands of dollars in past. A fleeting customer may pay retail but the bike has an ultimate price. You can split hairs all you want about economics, value etc, but it is not that complicated dude. You know what I am saying as are others that swipe some nice deals on new bikes.