so you are saying if you don't get a discount, shop somewhere else? if i misunderstand you, i apologize. if i am correct, you are a d!ck customer.

I guess "if you can come to a mutually agreeable figure" was lost.

I prefer to support my LBS but when I can get parts at less than half their price online it's hard to do it. For the price the LBS charged me to supply and fit a chain and cassette I could buy the chain, cassette, chain whip, lockring removal tool and chain tool online and still have a little cash left over. When their price for a basic bottle cage is £9.99 compared to £3.99 online it doesn't help. But at the same time if their listed price is £9.99 there seems little point expecting them to offer a 50% discount to get the business.

I still refer people to them because they are helpful and for anything I'm not confident doing myself I go there for their mechanics. If their price for something is within about 10% of the online price I'll still support them because their continued existence has a value to me. But it's pointless to pretend I'm going to pay whatever price they care to stick on something just as a matter of principle.

without derailling the thread, let me just say....

what many people may not understand is, a bike shop has heating, water, salaries, internet, phone, and other expenses they must pay to keep going and keep providing the knowledge and experience to people who need it. yes, you can always get things online cheaper, which is great if you are going to do all the work yourself and don't care about supporting local small business. some people act like bike shop prices are arbitrarily made up, and they charge whatever they feel like, which isn't true. a bike shop must figure out the line between making enough money to stay in business and charging so much no one will pay.

back to the original thread. as i stated, you can ALWAYS ask if there is a discount, but if you don't get one, you shouldn't get angry and threaten "i'll take my business elsewhere" because that makes you a blackmailer, and when people say that, we don't want them as customers anyway. do that enough times and you have nowhere to shop.

Cash talks and crap walks. I will ask for discounts pretty much anywhere I go short of big box stores. I will only ask for discounts if I'm paying with cash only, not credit cards or layaway or whatever. Stores/shops have to pay creditcard fees and stuff like that and I won't expect them to give you a discount if you are paying by credit or expecting a favor (layway) or both But if you pay cash, then I don't mind bargaining.

Sure they have to make enough money to stay in business. At the same time they have to offer enough value to justify the higher prices they charge, and to accept that "I can order it" doesn't help a lot of customers. If I order something via my LBS then unless it's something pretty mainstream they need a commitment to buy it, give me a discount of about 10% off the retail price, and take a few days to get it in. What value does that offer when compared to click-click-click and it's at my doorstep tomorrow morning at a 50% discount off the retail price?

I want to support my local business but they have to make it easy for me. Even if they aren't making a penny in profit on their higher prices I've got to use my own resources efficiently as well. I know small businesses are struggling but it's not as if the man in the street is awash with cash either.

I guess it depends how you phrase it. "Give me a huge discount or I go elsewhere" sounds in-yer-face but I don't see anything wrong with making it clear how much you can afford to pay and seeing if the guy can match that price, which makes it equally clear up front that if he can't match it you won't buy it. I've gotten online retailers to honour week-old sale prices a couple of times just by telling them that if they can still honour it they get the order right now and if not they don't.

Pablosnazzy,
Every expense that you mention in your #28 post is shared by the online warehouse.
However, you also must consider that they have to maintain a huge inventory of stuff, maintain a computer catalog with ever changing sales and prices, Their warehouses need equipment to move stuff around and their employees get benefits. They pay workers comp and other insurances. They have to absorb damages and returns.
All this on a much grander scale than the Mom and Pop down the block. If something comes in damaged mom and pop notes it and it gets returned. If a warehouse employee damages some stuff and no one knows about it, tough luck. They have to eat it.
By the way, I don't think asking a vendor if they can sharpen their pencil is getting in their face.
They may even be happy to move some older inventory to make way for the new.

Tip the mechanic, you probably make more money than they do.

If I buy a package of oreos, should I ask for a bro deal on a half gallon of milk, too?

The last 3 bikes that 4 bikes that I bought I got a great deal and I do suggest a price. Last bike I got for my daughter was on sale and the owner dropped the price some without me asking since he knows that I am really cheap. I have some clothing stores that I frequent that steer me directly to the sales since I only buy sale items.

Also I got lay-a-way on 3 of the bikes. I didn't ask on the last one, but he let me take it home with paying $50 down and the rest the next week. But I've know the shop owner for 25 year.

exactly. does everyone ask for a discount at the supermarket? do you ask for a discount at your coffeeshops? how about a discount when you take your car in, or at the dentist?

If I'm buying a few things there are all sorts of places where I'll ask for a discount. If I'm buying two tyres for my car at the same time I'll see if there's a discount available, if I were to have a lot of dental work done I'd look for a discount for immediate settlement or for having all the treatment done at once, if I buy a car I expect something off the screen price.

At the supermarket I know the person behind the till is a minimum wage worker with no authority to vary the prices, and without so much as the authority to let me pay with two £50 notes if my total bill comes to £100.01 - they don't have the freedom to ignore that extra penny. The difference here isn't that I don't want a discount for buying £100 worth at once, it's that I know full well the person I'm dealing with has precisely zero authority to vary the price even a little.

If I'm dealing with the kind of place where the staff have some freedom to negotiate on price a little then by all means I'll ask for a discount if it seems appropriate. So if we can come to a price where I'm happy with the price and the owner is happy that he's not working for nothing then I go ahead and buy. If the owner isn't happy with the profit he won't sell; if I'm not happy with the price I won't buy. It really isn't difficult.