Bike shops and Cycle-scheme

[gps315]

Question first, do bike shops lose any money by selling bikes and kit through the cycle-scheme?

Reason i ask is i have had a less than satisfactory experience at two LBS while shopping for a new bike.

Looking at spending up to £1000, £700 on the bike and £300 on kit.

First bike shop which has clearly displayed a bike at £699 our price £625, when mention the cycle scheme am told we will only sell that at £699!! Am i being to sensitive in taking offence to this? Is it not still my money, hard earned that is being put their way?

Second LBS which likes to think of its self as a bit more "elite" was doing fine until mention of the cycle-scheme and seemed to lose interest in providing any level of customer service to the point of disinterest.

So two questions, repeat of the first, do bike shops lose out because of the cycle-scheme in which case i can understand their approach. Second any recommendations for bike shops that will sell at quoted prices and provide good service to someone desperate to spend £1000 on a new bike?

Thanks

 

[John the Monkey]

They pay a fee, iirc (10% rings a bell)

Some shops pass that on to the customer, some only sell at list price because of it.

Blame the government - they cheerily subsidise the scrappage scheme for motorists, but expect bike shops to pay to sell product to their customers, go figure.

 

[John the Monkey]

Incidentally, you don't say whereabouts you are - one of us may be able to advise you on a shop that will give you a better experience. FWIW, I had no bother buying my Brompton at Harry Halls in Manchester on Cycle Scheme.

 

[gps315]

Thanks for the info

Thanks John that does help to explain the reason for the less than warm welcome from the two establishments.

My location is Reading in Berkshire, have had some recommendations from others at work who experienced the same response from the previously mentioned LBS. So i will be off shopping again this weekend........

 

[Norm]

They do pay a pretty significant wedge to Cycle Scheme for the privilege of selling you the bike, I don't blame the LBS's for not wanting to lose most of their margins to Cycle Scheme.

Better solution is to get your company off Cycle Scheme and find a way of dealing direct.

 

[boylucifer]

I was told yesterday that the shop gets 90%of the value of the voucher, but the shop owner was still willing to do me a deal on a bike - don't want to quote name of shop, but on a Bianchi bike at £747 list price, they reckoned they could do me it for my Cyclescheme £600 voucher + £100 cash, seemed like a fairly decent deal to me.
As a point of note, I didn't ask for a deal, I just think they may be taking the attitude that a customer gained, may be a customer for a while!
Just need to decide now what I really want, as I'd like to spend it with them, but they don't stock the bike that was my original choice.

 

[g00se]

This is about cyclescheme.co.uk in particular - not the ride to work schemes in particular.
As others have said, they get their money as a cut of the member shop's selling price. They say that there is no rule that the shops can only sell at list price - but it seems that for a lot of the shops to make a profit, they say they 'have' to sell at RRP.

I think the shop based schemes - Evans, Ed Bicycle Coop, Hafrauds etc will happily sell at the price advertised.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

I can confirm Cycle Scheme costs the retailer 10% regardless of margin, so if the discount has been funded by them to clear an older model (as apposed to the distributor discounting the bike which the retailer hasn’t funded) then no doubt they will be reluctant to then offer the bike through Cycle Scheme at the reduced price. That doesn’t mean a compromise can’t be made, if they have the bike reduced by more than 10% you can suggest they factor that cost into the price; for sure doesn’t apply in the case quoted.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

 

[The Jogger]

Is this the same as the "cycle to work" scheme that the government introduced, which has got lots of people cycling and other cyclists cheaper than usual bikes or a different scheme?

Didn't the car dealers have to put a grand towards the scrappage scheme?

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Is this the same as the "cycle to work" scheme that the government introduced, which has got lots of people cycling and other cyclists cheaper than usual bikes or a different scheme?

Didn't the car dealers have to put a grand towards the scrappage scheme?

It’s not the Cycle to Work Scheme that costs the retailer, it’s the middle men, one of them (and probably the largest) being Cyclescheme, they take over the administration for the employer and charge the retailer.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Yet nearly every LBS seems to have signed up to cyclescheme sometimes along with many other scheme administrators. So they clearly want a piece of the cycle to work action and are prepared to pay the price to do so. They are selling dozens more bikes, according to the two I asked in recently, than would otherwise be going out the door, and in a recession. In these parts it is fuelling a mini boom in cycle sales.

Haggling points... the avg LBS gets charged to use, say, visa - if you pay in cash many will offer a discount on a complete bike. and then there is your club or CTC membership discount to take off. (But oh for the great days when bikeplus was the CTC shop - if I buy from the shop now it is often more expensive than I'd get from wiggle without the ctc discount!)

Clearly the prices in the store on the bikes are, potentially, a starting point for a negotiation. And if they aren't, or you get lousy attitude - often because buying a scheme bike means you are not regarded as a serious cyclist - find another shop. Even in Evans HQ store will haggle if you find the right person in the store.

That said I'd only haggle on a complete bike and expensive kit in my LBS and I never ask them to price match web stores, unlike some. For the scheme I accept the shop tells me what the price is and thats it - my discount comes from HMG. ymmv.