C_Heath

So, Im looking at a set of wheels. My bike shop sells this wheel for $899 per set. After this, Ill have to pay 6.75% tax. My shop says, "we will discount them 30% because the 2017's are on the way" and they are really proud to say that. Well, thats $670 with tax AFTER the discount. These wheels are pasted all over the net for $499 with free ship and no tax.

So do you die hard "support your LBS or they will close" guys by these wheels to help the LBS? I sure hope not. Ill buy tires and low end stuff there as well as stuff that is comparable but I cant see that. Not unless you just have more cash on hand than you need.

jefnvk

Why would it bother you what others do with their money?

redlude97

if i need wheels right then, sure.

FBinNY 

All (just about) of us have a personal threshold which divides what we'll "overpay" for to either support a shop, or for the convenience of seeing and touching before buying, or easier return or whatever. I won't set a dollar price, leaving that to individual choice.

There's also the threshold based on product type. For example, if a laptop computer dies or is stolen and you can find a deal on the net why not since you know exactly what your buying. Long before the internet, or the popularity of mail order bike stuff, one of the first products to see major shifts to mail order was photography. Not so much film, and small accessories, or even cameras, but expensive specialty lens for top line Nikon and other SLRs. After all, if you own a Nikon and want a 300mm lens you know exactly what it is, and for the seller it's only a question of putting a label on a small box.

Cyclist0108

Are they identical? Same spokes, same spoke count, same rims, same hubs, same competent hand-assembly? If the bike shop is hand-building and warrantying wheels, and the alternative is a set purchased on the internet that are machine-built, then the price difference is justifiable, and I would probably buy locally.

no1mad 

Gotta be careful about those 'no tax' claims, because some states do collect taxes on online orders (OK just started not too long ago).

FBinNY 

Not to hijack this, but to clarify:

In most states, the consumer is the one taxed and liable for payment. If the tax isn't collected by the seller, the consumer is supposed to pay it directly. Some states even have lines in income tax forms for this obligation.

Meanwhile, since virtually nobody pays, some states are extorting sellers to get them to play the role of tax collector.

let's not discuss this here, since it's more of a P&R issue, but there's plenty of information on this sales tax issue on the net, including discussion of various proposed laws to address it.

So, no sidetrack, go to the net and search "interstate sales tax"

MRT2

A couple of years ago, my (stock) back wheel failed. So I take the wheel to the LBS that sold me the bike and we agree on a new, hand made wheel. So the shop builds the wheel and a few days later, I have my new wheel. Everything is fine until last weekend when I pop a spoke. So I take the wheel back to the bike shop that built the wheel and they replace the spoke, retrue the wheel. They do it while I wait. No charge. Sometimes good service on the back end is worth paying a few bucks for up front.

SpeshulEd 

I like to support my shop, but I also like to watch deals.

If I needed the shop to put the component on my bike, then I'd just buy it at the shop. A lot of times I can do (and prefer to do) the wrenching myself, so I'll buy the component for cheap off the internet.

Now if I wanted to demo the wheels and the shop was going to let me ride them for a bit and try out others before purchase, I'd spend the extra money and buy them through the shop.

Right now I'm in the process of building a bike from the frame up with my shop. I ordered a bunch of things through the shop that I couldn't find much cheaper online...however, the brand new Cannondale SiSL crankset I found on ebay for $200 is quite the steal compared to the $975 msrp...considering I just dropped around $8k on two bikes from the shop, they're not complaining at all about crankset.

drlogik 

Tough call. If it were me and I knew that the LBS built the wheels themselves, from scratch, not just tweaked and tensioned, and were good wheelsmiths then yes, I'd buy from the LBS. If not, if they were the same wheels as on-line then no, I would buy on-line. That extra attention to detail that a hand-built wheel provides comes at a price. I'm willing to pay extra for that price if it were $670 as you stated but I would not pay the retail of $899. The extra $170 dollars over on-line is something I would be willing to part with....IF they are good wheelsmiths.

andr0id

I might go 10% over internet price if I "needed" something today. But "need" is really "want" as I have several bikes to ride and should just wait and save the extra cash.

That said, I do all my own maintenance, so they're not going to notice non-LBS parts on my bike.

doctor j

I bought a new set of wheels about 900 miles ago. My LBS offered one brand of hand built wheels that was a little over my budget. I wanted another brand. In talking to the builder online, he was interested in getting his wheels into more shops. I got the builder and my LBS together and then bought the wheels through my LBS. LBS knocked $50 off the price. Everybody was happy.

indyfabz

Why?

fietsbob

they Pay me, I help them..


BTW, spoked wheels last longer if not let go unmaintained, so service after the sale has value .





...

Drew Eckhardt 

No, although I might shop at an LBS if they charged $100-$200 less to cover my time driving and the cost of using my car.

indyfabz

Yep. I know in PA you will get hit with sales tax on taxable items if you order on line from a retailer that has a brick & mortar store in the state. A great example that impacts me is REI.

TimothyH

I don't "Support my LBS".

I make informed decisions about the value of products.


This hits the nail on the head. If buying local adds value then I might be open to paying more.

Supporting the LBS is one of the last things on my mind.


-Tim-

Jean3n16

No, i wont pay more than needed at ANY shop.

My LBS wanted $50+ for new tires and tubes. I went to a local bike organization that helps Vets and got them for $25.

fietsbob

same Exact tire?

there are different features at $48 that don't come on $20 tires, like puncture resistant barriers.

dksix

My threshold is somewhere around 25% more to a local shop who is helpful to me. I don't have a bike shop locally that I use but in the past I dealt a lot with a local (independent) motor cycle shop. I ran across a receipt recently for some parts and a repair I have done at that shop. On it was a Wiseco piston kit at $136 that sales online for right at $100, so I will go above the 25% but generally that's the number I always have in my head.

exmechanic89

This thread should specify that the shop's and online item are the exact same item or the replies dont mean a lot.

kickstart

"hundreds more" for an identical item? No.
If there's a justifiable difference in value ? Probably if the budget allows, and I can't compensate for the difference in value.

FullGas

nah...

been doing this way too long to pay MSRP for something I can order online and install myself.

there's a large contingent of people new to the sport that don't know how to work on their bikes that can provide profit for an LBS.

Jean3n16

Are you saying the organization sold me crap tires?

shelbyfv

I buy mostly online because I do my own work. The exception would be things I want to try on or handle first, like shoes or helmets. I wouldn't go to the shop, try on a helmet and then order it online because it was cheaper. With the OP's wheels, it depends. Did he independently decide what wheels he wanted, then go to the LBS and ask the price? Or did he go to the shop, ask what they recommended, handle the wheels, take up their time and then go home and look for a better price on the internet? Different situations, different behavior.