Geordi Laforge

just out of curiosity - anyone know about what the average wholesale price via QBP would be on, say, a $100 msrp item?

darksiderising

It varies greatly depending on the type of item and brand.

monsterkidz

Wouldn't it depend on the item? Don't some items yield higher mark ups than others?

gospastic

It definitely depends on the item.

Re-Cycle

Its been a while since I looked through a QBP catalog but I think parts average a %40-50 markup

Geordi Laforge

that's what I figured the average would be. thanks.

malpag3

Yeah it depends on a lot. I know if something is above $99 then the markup is different.

Scratcher33

Typically, the markup is 2:1 for items under $50, 1.8:1 for items $50-$99 and 1.6:1 for items over $100. It's going to vary, but that's a pretty common guideline.

AidanJ

ask your LBS for an old catalogue to flip through.

queerpunk

there are shop catalogues with wholesale prices and there are customer catalogues without prices.

oneangrytoast

if you want to tell me what your looking for i can get the exact shop cost for you

peabodypride

Hope you or your friend/whoever doesn't get fired. Most places are absolutely pedantic about not letting wholesale prices get out.

malpag3

Yeah, why are you wondering? Shop employees can lose their discount by divulging specific pricing information.

I'd have to assume that it's because if enough people knew how much they're getting ripped off, they probably would do something about it.

oneangrytoast

its his shop, so i doubt it.

oneangrytoast

also, you should assume that markup is anywhere from 50-100% on anything you buy. thats how the world works. dont like it? open up your own bike shop. and electronics store. and supermarket. and the list goes on....

jim-bob

Getting ripped off? I wondered why all those shop rats owned yachts and mansions!

silver_ghost

I'm afraid I've got to take issue with this too. Like angrytoast said, 100% mark-ups are not unusual at all in any buisness. I have a friend who used to work in a flower shop, and the mark-ups were more like three or fourhundred percent. It's worth mentioning too, that the markup on bikes is considerably less than that on parts and accesories.

If you ride a lot, develop a relationship with a local shop (yes, this means paying more for stuff like chains, lube and tubes than you might if you got them on line). Pretty soon you will find yourself getting discounts here and there, having small jobs done for you for free and, if you're interested, recieving all sorts of valuble advice and instruction from experienced wrenches at NO EXTRA COST!

On top of that, Performance et. al. isn't likely to carry anything obsolete or unusual (need the tool to remove a French threaded bottom bracket from that beautiful Peugot you're converting?). Find an established shop and they'll be likely to have what you're looking for AND (even more importantly) some crusty old dude in the back who knows exactly what to do with it.

I've never met anyone working in a bike shop who's there to "rip people off". Anyone entering the industry with that idea would quickly figure out what a fruitless endevour it would be.

mparker326

Not a lot of bike shop owners out there getting rich either.

malpag3

I love this place.

First, I work at a shop.

Second, I am not speaking as if the shops are ripping people off. I'm speaking more towards the fact that the industry itself is a bit of a rip off. How many times have you seen price increases but nothing change in the actual item being sold.

Yes, just because all of business does it makes it more right? That's still a logical fallacy.

jim-bob

I'm still a bit curious about where the ripping off comes in. What are you talking about specifically?

malpag3

I don't feel like arguing it because I'm sure I'm wrong. BF is all about arguments. No one can make comments without getting flack from someone else.

I feel that some of the prices in the "industry" are inflated. Doing price changes in the shop recently made me angry because I was upping prices on things like cleats, but the cleats haven't changed! I was upping prices on pedals, but nothing about the pedals changed.

It's just lame in my opinion to up the price without anything more being gained.

Ingleside

It is lame that prices go up for no good reason. When out 2008 bike came in and cost on average 7 to 10 percent more than the previous year's bikes we were pretty pissed off. What can you do? The economy stinks, more people are wanting what are already scarce resources every day, and companies are going to pass the buck to the consumers. They are not going to absorb the higher costs to keep us happy. What is happening to our industry is happening to almost every other industry on the planet.

But I do agree, there have been times when I am pricing something and I have to take a second look at what the cost is. This could not be any truer when it comes to MKS and Sugino products. The prices for these parts have sky rocketed in the last year and a half. May be it is (or was) the weak dollar or a supply and demand factor. Who knows, but it sucks having to raise the price on parts knowing that customers are gonig to feel it in their wallets.

supercub

Well it's not lame of the costs of production have risen (and they have for most businesses), and the manufacturer needs to raise prices to maintain a profit.

revenue - costs = profits

If costs increase and revenue stays the same, then profits will decrease. Raising prices is a way to increase revenue and offset increasing costs.

malpag3

Well it's a bike forum, so I didn't expect it to take that long for the business man response.

jim-bob

Those greedy money hungry pigdogs! How dare they try to stay in business?!