Dilemma
- Thread starter iancity
- Start date
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i hate hills
Its my day to be brilliant
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
It's a difficult one this. On a purely price level, I'd say B - but at the same time I don't believe unprofessional retailers who provide poor customer service deserve to be rewarded for it by giving them repeat business.
However, if I was buying a big ticket item with a substantial retail mark-up, which bikes and accessories have, I'd expect at least a token sweetener discount in return for A getting my business rather than shop B. After all, £50 off a £1k bike isn't going to kill them, and it's another sale all said and done.
The discounts being offered off bike fits, clothing, and gear are no good if you don't actually want a bike fit, clothing, or gear. I'd sooner have a few notes knocked off the bike itself. It reminds me of the old trick used in the motor trade where bits like extra mats and mudflaps etc would be throw in, but the dealer was still reluctant to discount the car price from RRP.
Given the choice of a good dealer who wants to charge full price and only offer discounts on extras I might not want, or a crap dealer who is cheap, but I would begrudge giving them a penny, I'd probably look for an option C, which might involve buying the same thing either online, or buying secondhand way cheaper than either A or B.
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hoopdriver
Guru
Go with A. I’m guessing it will be cheaper in the long run. You could always tell them about shop B’s price and explain your quandary. They may well come down a bit, but even if not they seem to me the better deal.
Why buy online? Yes, it might be cheaper still, but surely having a decent local bike shop is worth something. Is the online shop going to offer meaningful advice, fit your mudguards, be there when you need repairs, do a bike fit? The people who will, and do, run shops that require customers to survive. Yes, the prices may be higher than online, but you are buying something worthwhile for that extra money.
Price should not be the sole criteria. That’s just foolish
Why buy online? Yes, it might be cheaper still, but surely having a decent local bike shop is worth something. Is the online shop going to offer meaningful advice, fit your mudguards, be there when you need repairs, do a bike fit? The people who will, and do, run shops that require customers to survive. Yes, the prices may be higher than online, but you are buying something worthwhile for that extra money.
Price should not be the sole criteria. That’s just foolish
If bike shops as you say have large margins how come so many shut? could it be they are not making a profit. That £50 could in a lot of times be way less than they make selling that bike.
winjim
Straddle the line, discord and rhyme
Do you know what the markup is on a bike? I got a good deal on my last purchase and was surprised at how little the shop was making. Factor in the mechanic's time spent building it, plus business costs, and there ain't much left.
Dunno but that's the figure quoted in the OP. Buy online if you want to, but don't complain when the only bike shops left have inept mechanics, crappy service and there's nobody left to fit your mudguards.
Very few people seem to understand the difference between margin and profit.
lane
Veteran
What I meant was buy accesories and clothes online (not the bike) and they will be as cheap as the shop after the discount so no real saving.
KneesUp
Guru
Bikes always seem over-priced to me - you can get a Focus or similar for 20 to 25x the price of a mid-spec bike, and no amount of economies of scale overcome the fact that the car has about 140x as much material in it including all sorts of exotic elements in even the most basic car. I fail to see how a few welded tubes, a couple of wheels, some bearings, two wheels and some springs and levers can be £800. I know 'BSOs' are bobbins, but the cost differential in using slightly better aluminium or steel, and slightly better components, does not add up to £650.
I suspect that the bike manufacturers are controlling price. Not in an illegal way of course - there will be no contract saying you can't discount the bikes without permission, but I would speculate that if you did that, you might find that when you re-ordered stock they'd not have any to send you, or your credit limit would be reduced so you'd have to pay upfront, or something like that. In doing this they are maximising profits for themselves, not the retailers. So if you are a bike manufacturer, and you can make a bike for £100, you can sell it direct to the customer for £800, or you can sell it in to a bike shop for £600 and the bike shop can sell if for £800 (of which £134 is VAT, so they would make a profit of £66, less cost of sales, less tax) I don't know what the margin is - it's probably not that tight - but I would bet that the huge majority of the profit is going to the manufacturer, and they are allowing the shop just enough to keep them in business, because they need the shops to sell the bikes to consumers. That's the only model that makes sense economically.
winjim
Straddle the line, discord and rhyme
I also think people need to remember to take VAT into account. That £999 bike is really only an £830 bike.
i know what you meant. I also know that bike shop owners get frustrated when given parts to fit bought online that a) they could have supplied at the same price, and b) are not compatible anyway.
Think of it as an investment.