Protocol on asking for a discount?
 

I know it's somewhat of a sore spot for some, but I'd rather ask here before making the LBS staff all pissy.

2012 models are coming out. Historically, from what I gather, most shops mark the 2011 models down a bit to make room for the '12's, right? But what about when there is a price increase year over year for the same model with minimum changes?

Case in point is one shop is asking $525 for the 2011 and $610 for the 2012 for the same model. Is it in poor taste to ask for a discount on the older model, even though it already has a lower price point by default? Especially when it's going to have to be put on Layaway instead of cash and carry?

While margin on parts is usually 100%, the margin on bikes is far lower, especially on sub-$1,000 models. While in your LBS, pretend you're at CarMax. The price is the price, no haggling. You're better off saying, "If I buy this bike at your asking price, can I get 25% off on X component?" That's reasonable.

Why be scared to ask? The worst thing that could happen is for them to say no, it isn't like they are going to belittle you and insult your mother....

"WHAT?!? DISCOUNT? Where do you think you are, the street market in Istanbul? Go back home and rub wrinkle cream on your mama's ..."

You have no idea how BAD I want to say that to the mouth-breathers that infest Walfart right after xmas....... One old fool thought the whole store was on a 50%-off sale today.

I wouldn't expect a discount on a lay away item. I'd be surprised if a store gave that to you. But who knows. I guess it could happen.

Personally I don't like the haggling systems. I prefer to shop at a store like Walmart, where the prices are the same for everybody. The pushy people don't get the best deals. It's all out in the open for everyone.

As far as I know, there are no laws against haggling anywhere. Could be wrong.

Wouldn't think haggling on a layaway would be successful.
I don't haggle.

The last two bikes I bought I asked for and received a substantial discount from the advertised price.

America still has some capitolism left so use it. If the shop doesnt like the terms they are free to say no. If you dont like the terms you are free to shop somewhere else.

The protocol is this: "Can you go any lower on the price?"

Then you decide if the price is worth it to you. If so, buy it. If not, keep looking.

You can and maybe even should always ask if they can go lower. In my opinion, there's never any down side as long as you're pleasant and business like.

This doesn't mean you have bargaining power. You have bargaining power only if you have options, know about the options, and are willing to pursue them.

You should know what your options are before you try to bargain - that way you'll know what price will make you happy. For all you know, the asking price is really good and there's no point in haggling.

With layaway, you probably decrease your bargaining power by 99.9%, but no harm in asking the simple question.

Seriously? What you describe after that comment is 'free market', not capitalism. TRUST me, America is FULL of capitalism -- check Wall Street, Detroit, and the innards of the DC Beltway!

The sad part is, the definition has become "profit at ANY price".

Of course, if you place a special order for a new bike, the time for negotiating ends when you place the order.

"That's a little more than I want to pay. What can you do for me so that we can wrap this up today?"

Confusion in terminology here. "Markup" on parts is typically 100%. This translates to a 50% margin. Margin on bikes is more typically in the 30-35% range, depending on price point.

Your aim should be extra accessories rather than cash off. Your benefit will be the same but the cost to the bike shop will be less.

Shopping for a high-end Trek for my wife a year ago, when asked, all the shops offered the exact same discount. It was the greatest official discount allowed by Trek on that model and configuration. One shop offered that discount plus 10% of the price of the bike in free stuff. That's the deal I went with.

Note that the it cost the dealer a lot less to give 10% free stuff than a 10% discount. A 10% discount would cost the dealer 10% of the price. 10% free stuff only costs the dealer his price on the stuff, which as mentioned in previous posts, is ~50% of the list price. Of course he's out the profit on those items had I subsequently bought them there.

How about asking for a raise in your Job, so you feel the costs
of running a bike shop , rent, heat, lights workman's comp
and shop liability, burglary, robbery, and so forth .. insurance,
and giving a few jobs to some mechanics,salespeople, etc, is not unreasonable.

there is inventory to be done now for taxes, so maybe there is a motivation to
turn inventory into liquidity to pay those taxes, that may work to your advantage.

Trek still operates like that. I bought a Trek and when I asked the price, they quoted me ~10% less than list and 10% off stuff for the next week. Because I wanted to support my LBS, I bought clipless pedals from them (instead of online) and they installed the pedals for free :-)

You'd be in a better position if you had cash in hand.

i work in a shop, and this is how we feel about it (at our shop, other shops and people may feel different)....

we discount what we can. we expect to get the posted price we are asking for.

you can ALWAYS ask about a discount. it depends HOW you ask. a straightforward "is there a discount?" is usually the best way.

if you ask and we can, we will give a discount. if we say "no, sorry, we can't" then we can't, don't try to argue with us or push the point.

one guy came in, upset that we didn't have a shirt in his size, so he asked us about a discount. we said we would give him 5% off. he argued and said that was hardly anything, and wanted more. we stopped helping him at that point.

as with anything in life, the big rule is, don't be a d!ck.

My nephew in his earlier years was a car salesman for a dealership. This was maybe 20 or so years ago. Eventually that new car will get sold and it is a matter of time and the number of customers who walk into the lot. That's how they look at it. Maybe not that much now with the recession and all.

The motto was "if you throw enough mud on the wall, some of it will stick".

Easy. Develop a relationship with the owner of a good and worthy shop, then:

1. Give them ALL your bisiness,

2. Say good things about them,

3. Refer your cycling friends there...and

4. Pay cash.

In my experience, the discounts will find YOU.

It takes a little luck to find a good shop and some time to develop the relationship...and some discipline to avoid the on-line suppliers.

Loyalty goes both ways.

fact

Other than food and medicine you can bargin on most anything. Even if the price is posted, your question should be---"what can you sell me that thing for"? If you dont ask you could be paying too much. I was able to talk down the price on 2 of the last 3 bikes I have bought.

All of this^

Show your interest and after some talk casually ask "is that price written in stone?"

Remember, you are the guy with the wallet. Nothing wrong with asking any vendor if they can sharpen their pencil. If you can come to a mutually agreeable figure, so be it. If not just walk away with your wallet and go somewhere else.

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.