yerteasoot
Senior Member
- Location
- Glasgow
As Im part of a cycling club our lbs gives us 20% off bikes 25% off parts and great discounts on clothing, this week they were giving us 50% off all clothing as well as £20 off services.
LBS and RRP
- Thread starter e-rider
- Start date
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Pale Rider
Legendary Member
It depends how you use that service.
My local bike shop has ordered two things for me from ebay using their account.
Saves me having paypal, which I don't trust, and saves me waiting in for the courier.
Trouble is for an LBS the overheads are so high as to make business extremely hard. Take something like this http://propertylink.estatesgazette.com/property-details/5933097-30a-sincil-street-lincoln-ln5-7et £20,000 a year rent alone add to that another £15,000 and then some wages, takes some earning out of low value sales and small margins.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
I think my local bike shop benefits from being well-established.
Having said that, the owner has told me of hard times in the past, laying off staff and having to pay wages from his own money for the staff he could afford to keep.
It does seem to me a bike shop can be made to pay if you know what you are doing.
Which is only right, a skilled businessman should be able to earn a living from his chosen line of business.
Having said that, the owner has told me of hard times in the past, laying off staff and having to pay wages from his own money for the staff he could afford to keep.
It does seem to me a bike shop can be made to pay if you know what you are doing.
Which is only right, a skilled businessman should be able to earn a living from his chosen line of business.
As it happens, the screw they gave me wasn't fit for the purpose in the end and they were far from helpful when my mate took the part back to try again. He was actually buying something else at the time too, so not wasting their time.
All fair with the added extras for the price paid. If I just want tyres to fit myself and they are more than double the price then it doesn't make sense?
andyfraser
Über Member
- Location
- Bristol
Long story short, I had some tyres from CRC. One wasn't fit for purpose and CRC agreed to replace. I needed tyres so went to LBS and asked for 28mm tyres, ideally Marathon Plus. They had one 28mm tyre and an average road tyre at that (I forget which now) for £35. Halfords had 28mm M+ for £28 each. They would've been cheaper online but I needed them so I paid. I now only buy tyres online and check them when they arrive and long before I need them.
I've mentioned this before but my 2 nearest bike shops are Hargroves and Halfords. A lot of shops here don't open on Sundays. One shop couldn't true a wheel because their mechanic was on holiday. Another 2 wouldn't true a wheel without me booking it in and the earliest they could do it was Tuesday[1]. It's no wonder I buy a lot of stuff online and want to do all my own maintenance.
[1] I understand that they can't just drop everything for everyone who wanders in but I would've had to wait and would've been happy to wait and maybe would've bought more stuff as I was already there.
outlash
also available in orange
- Location
- ice station zebra
It doesn't quite work like that, economies of scale, price breaks etc etc. Back in the 90's Dave Picconi who owned Black Market records in Soho was buying singles on offer from HMV on Oxford Street because they were cheaper than he could buy them in from the distributors.
IMO, LBS' have to offer service and get involved in the community to survive. The majority of a LBS' customers won't be 'proper cyclists', it's the mum's & dad's looking to buy their kids' first BMX/mountain bike, people who use shoppers and the like. Cycling is a broad church. To ask a shop to cater for everyone, hold stock and be competitive price-wise compared to online would be commercial suicide. It's something I certainly wouldn't contemplate.
If anyone thinks they can do better, put your money where your mouth is and see how long you last.
Tony.
I totally follow your points and agree @outlash. It just appears that the LBS model you suggest doesn't fit with people like us then, yet we still tout using the LBS every time on here as if it does.
Your point about Black Market Records is what I was implying regarding the LBS not buying from the right place.
Your point about Black Market Records is what I was implying regarding the LBS not buying from the right place.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
Agreed, and I'd not buy locally in that case unless in extremis.
That said, on tyres, a difference of a fiver or less is something I'd consider worth paying so as not to have to work a day around a courier's schedule. As I say, for the Brompton, a local dealer can often be cheaper, or matching in anycase. (The Schwalbe Greenguard I have on the front wheel currently was cheaper from Harry Hall than I could find it online at the time, plus I had it in hand within an hour or so of deciding to buy it).
outlash
also available in orange
- Location
- ice station zebra
TBH, if you're got a modicum of mechanical skill and have access to the internet, LBS' are a bit uneccessary. There's two LBS in the town where I live and neither one stocks the sorts of parts I use. If you're lucky and live near somewhere like Sigma Sport, that's great but they're few and far between.
The point I was trying to make is that the little guys simply can't compete at trade with the big guys. When you buy in at trade, quite often there's price breaks if you buy a certain amount of an item.
Take my HMV/Black Market analogy, HMV could go to a label/distributor and say 'I want 10,000 units of X, what's the price per unit?', distributor replies 'It'll be £1 per unit'. HMV can now sell those at £2.50 and still make a healthy profit.
Black Market could never shift 10,000 units as they're only one shop, so they ask the label/distributor 'how much per unit on 500?' and the cost would be £2.85. Dave Picconi sees that HMV are selling them at retail for £2.50 where do you think he's going to buy them in from? Add in their overheads, which would take more of the margin than a chain of shops and you're on a hiding to nothing. Online at least have the advantage of having a fraction of the overheads of a bricks and mortar business.
Tony.
The point I was trying to make is that the little guys simply can't compete at trade with the big guys. When you buy in at trade, quite often there's price breaks if you buy a certain amount of an item.
Take my HMV/Black Market analogy, HMV could go to a label/distributor and say 'I want 10,000 units of X, what's the price per unit?', distributor replies 'It'll be £1 per unit'. HMV can now sell those at £2.50 and still make a healthy profit.
Black Market could never shift 10,000 units as they're only one shop, so they ask the label/distributor 'how much per unit on 500?' and the cost would be £2.85. Dave Picconi sees that HMV are selling them at retail for £2.50 where do you think he's going to buy them in from? Add in their overheads, which would take more of the margin than a chain of shops and you're on a hiding to nothing. Online at least have the advantage of having a fraction of the overheads of a bricks and mortar business.
Tony.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
As I've mentioned several times, my local bike shop manages to compete on price with online retailers on most things.
I did pay a few quid more for a Brompton tyre, but it was fitted 'free', so I was happy enough.
Rightly or wrongly, it can be a face fit job.
A regular customer, or someone who previously bought the bike from the shop, is more likely to have something knocked off when they return for parts and accessories.
I did pay a few quid more for a Brompton tyre, but it was fitted 'free', so I was happy enough.
Rightly or wrongly, it can be a face fit job.
A regular customer, or someone who previously bought the bike from the shop, is more likely to have something knocked off when they return for parts and accessories.
The thing is getting the balance. I totally get them not offering a discount if people are prepared to pay the asking price. That's clearly good business.
What I don't get is when you ask if that's the best they can do, based on your knowledge of Internet prices, and they say they can't do any discount only to offer it to the guy whose "face fits".
Surely the best way to maximise profit is to sell at the highest price, where you can, and then sell at a discounted price to all those that ask rather than to the select few only? With those in the middle going to buy elsewhere!
What I don't get is when you ask if that's the best they can do, based on your knowledge of Internet prices, and they say they can't do any discount only to offer it to the guy whose "face fits".
Surely the best way to maximise profit is to sell at the highest price, where you can, and then sell at a discounted price to all those that ask rather than to the select few only? With those in the middle going to buy elsewhere!
I know two of our local bike shops are handcuffed in some respects to certain suppliers they just can`t be competitive, and I know of another a bit further away who seems to be to deals and special offers on all sorts of stuff from complete bikes to accessories, seems to do quite well out of it ?
