Eljot

I went to a Stevens bike shop to get a 2020 bike I had already taken for a test ride and by accident I noticed a bike hanging from the ceiling. I asked them about it, and it turned out to be a Stevens light weight bike(6.9 kg) with a carbon frame, Ultegra components, and DI2 Shifting. I took it for a test ride and it felt great from the first moment.

I was also amazed how great the DI2 shifting is. The official price is 3700 Euro. It turned out to be the Stevens Xenon DI2 2017 model so they said, I could have it for 3000 Euro. Although I think 700 Euro off the original price isn't bad, I still think it's 4 years old(considering that they're starting to get the 2021 models).

There probably is no fixed rule how much they should deduct the price but what would be a reasonable deduction or is a 700 Euro deduction a good price?

WGB 

I would think they want to sell it and they have made an offer to encourage you to buy it.

You are probably the first person to express an interest in that bike in a long time. I'd ask to speak to the manager and point out that bike is sitting there and clearly they can't return it or they would have done so long ago and now it's not selling. Ask him/her what they need to sell it for. If they ask what you have in mind make an offer. Alternatively ask if they would be offended if you made a counter offer to the 3000 and make an offer that is less than that number, yet close enough that you won't insult anyone.

Bottom line if I wanted that bike I'd bargain

Eljot

Yeah, I'll probably ask if I can speak to the boss in a friendly manner to see if they can deduct it a bit more. They're all pretty nice at that shop but they sold so many bikes this year that none of the 2020 models are on sale.
Usually this time of the year they'd be all on sale to make room for the new collection but due to Covid it's all a bit delayed and also all the 2020 models will still get sold at full price.

The 2021 model is only 3600 Euro so b4 I'd pay 3000 Euro for a 2017 model, I'd prefer to dish out 600 more and get the newest one.

DaveSSS 

I would expect 30-40% off. I just bought a current model frame at 36% off. There's a lot of mark up on bikes.

znomit

Usually even last years models go for 30% off where I live. No such discounts this year though

mstateglfr 

This exact scenario is why some companies don't have model years and Cannondale specifically stopped using model years this summer.

Its absurd to think a bike is suddenly worth 25% less just because its been around for 11 months now. conversely,, its absurd to claim its worth 25% more that it will soon be just because its been around for only 10 months.

If a performance bike has limitations in design that reduces its appeal, then discount it. If a performance bike has an old group, then discount it.
But if a bike has current trend features and current group, what does it matter if it has an arbitrary model year associated to it?

In this instance, the bike's drivetrain is one gen old and it has rim brakes. Many want rim brakes so i don't see that as an automatic discou t. Its tough to argue the drivetrain is somehow worse than the newest, but we all want the newest, so its time to discount.

$820usd is a significant discount for what in reality are very insignificant difference.

Eljot

That's why I wrote "There probably is no fixed rule how much they should deduct the price".
I still can ask for a further discount though and if they say no, decide if I either pay the 3000 or rather pay 600 Euro more to get a brand new crisp 2021 model.

True but that's how the market works. I bet if I buy a 2020 model and sell it on the used market next year I would get more money than if I sell the 2017 model that I buy in 2020.

WhyFi

If it was taking up your warehouse space and your inventory dollars, you wouldn't think it absurd.

If manufacturers move away from a model year format and it works for them on the balance, more power to them, but they've been using the format for a long time and not without reason.

Sy Reene

I'll agree that there can be objective vs subjective value. Objectively, a year-old new model isn't really a lesser bike, and from that standpoint a discount shouldn't need to be that great. OTOH, a 5yr old new bike, is IMO quite a bit different, especially if bought and resold. Imagine buying it and deciding to sell it a year from now. You're now selling a bike that you'll have to list as a 6yr-old used bike. Some brands (eg Trek) provide a 3yr warranty to subsequent owners (if original owner provides copy of sales receipt) of the used bike, but if the OPs bike shop/manufacturer doesn't do this, then that should have a significant effect on price.

DaveSSS 

Bike exchange sells new and used bikes and frames. I bought a 2017 Colnago C-RS rim brake frame that retailed for 1700 for only 700, brand new in the box. They still have some for 900.

Iride01 

This is being sold as a new bike with full manufacturer warranties on everything? And you'll also get the goodwill of the shop that wants you to continue to be a customer?

If so, I'd have no issue at all if it's what you want in the size you want. Inventory being short still in many places, you may not be able to do much dickering.

New old stock from the dealer is better in most cases than even newer used bikes from a previous owner that for some reason wasn't happy with a bike.

IMO..............

Eljot

I agree. I know that due to Corona they don't really have to go down with the prices at all, like they didn't do with the 2020 models which usually happens around this time of the year.
The reason is they know they will sell all 2020 bikes anyway because so many bikes are sold out everywhere and also because they might have difficulties getting the new 2021 bikes as soon as they expected because due to Corona many bikes
parts from Asia are hard to get.

If they don't go down with the price I might either buy it anyway or prefer to buy the 2021 model at full retail price for 600 Euro more. At the end, I would still get the bike at this shop except I'd have to wait longer for the 2021 model.
I like this shop because they have a really friendly staff who lets you test ride as much as you want to, plus they have an extra repair shop. You don't have this kind of service everywhere.

Eljot

The shop actually deducted the price w/o me asking. I ended up paying 1000 Euro less. I think the reason was that I couldn't decide between this 2017 model and another model from 2020 with disc brakes.
They probably thought it's best to get the older model sold. I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't even indicate I wanted any further deduction.

Having said that, it was a really tough decision between a super lightweight 2017 carbon frame bike with Di2 shifting and rim brakes or the 2020 model, still light enough, carbon frame, disc brakes and Ultegra,
Both bikes are great:
2017 bike: https://stevensbikes.de/2017/index.p...=BE&lang=cs_CZ
2020 bike: https://www.stevensbikes.de/2020/ind...=DE&lang=de_DE

Trakhak

There's a lot of markup on frames. Much less on complete bikes, both inclusive of and exclusive of costs of assembly, storage, etc.

Trakhak

Bike Exchange buys clearance stock from distributors at highly reduced prices. Very different from a retail shop that likely would have paid considerably more for the same bike or frame.

eduskator

It depends on several factors such as the manufacturer (some do authorize higher discount than others), the LBS, the market in the area (COVID has resulted in a shortage of bike so rebates are almost impossible to find since there are almost no leftovers right now (well, where I am!), how long has the bike been hanging around, etc.

If you are able to get a discount on a new bike that you like, get it! 700$ off 3000$ is almost 20%, which is nice but not that much considering that it's a 2017 and that 2021 is knocking at our doors. If that can help, I bought a 2018 bike (Liv/Giant) this summer for my girlfriend and I got 20%. The 2019 were 15% off.

Eljot

In the meantime I got the bike for 2600 instead of 3600 Euro(I wrote 3700 in my original post but realized it was 3600) so 1000 off of 3600 is almost 30%. I think that's a price I can live with.

Psimet2001 

A "lot" is a highly subjective term. In most of the arrangements I have had with bike OEM's that would put your frame sale at break even.

OP - any discount during this year is a unicorn. Sure you can always ask for more but don't be surprised if they say no. If it's been there then not a lot of people have been looking at it but there is a customer for every bike this year. Just a matter of them getting the word out.