Originally Posted by
unterhausen
I feel like, "why can I buy parts at retail when my lbs can't get them at wholesale" is very close to a self-answering question. They can also buy parts at retail, but that doesn't exactly pay the rent, does it?
I saw the owner of my LBS buying parts from Amazon. That guarantees they lose money on those parts. I know over the last couple of years, they have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find parts and it's not always possible. They were trading parts with people. There has been some indication that big mail order businesses were getting parts through normal channels while small shops couldn't. It has been a difficult time for most bike shops.
If the shop can buy a component from Amazon for less than they sell that component, then there is margin and profit to be made.
This is especially true when labor is then charged for installing that component.
So in one scenario a shop doesn't have the component and makes no money on it or the install.
In the other scenario a shop makes a little money on the component and makes money on the install.
I fully understand a shop needs to have X % margin to stay open, but they also need $Y revenue to stay open. The first scenario gives them $0 and 0 margin.
^ each situation is unique and many examples could be crested which nullify my comments above. But then I could also come up with an equal number of hypothetical that support my comments above.
Also, a shop could easily just say 'that will cost $50 for us to purchase right now' and buy it from an online retailer even if the component usually costs $40 from QBP. It's not like the customer knows what shops charge- there is no shop that I know of with a displayed list of costs for components. That helps the customer out and allows them to make an informed decision.