BNSF

Exactly. At $85, they might make just a couple bucks on each sale but they make up for it in volume. Given their druthers, they probably would rather price it higher, but when the "street price" over the internet is $85, well, they have to sells theirs at $85 too if they want to sell very many of them at all.

In every market, there is always at least one old-timey mom-and-pop store where everything is marked full retail (IE, "MSRP") and there are no discounts. In this case, $115. Not necessarily just bike shops; it could be auto parts, hardware stores, vacuum cleaners, toy trains, you name it. They cater to the crowd that still doesn't use that internet thingie. If you have to blow the dust off the items on the shelves to see what the price tag says, you'll probably find it is marked full price.

CliffordK

Hmmpf...
Some of the "True Value" stores are great!!!!

We've got at least one micro chain auto parts store, as well as one true Mom & Pop auto parts store... dusty, but, unique place, but unfortunately closed due to COVID-19 (hopefully reopening soon).

In an environment with a lot of competition, both local, and online, stores and shops really have to take care to build a customer base rather than lose a customer base. And this includes multiple factors including price, quality, standing behind their products, etc.

I've started driving again, and started getting very annoyed with local support.

I realize that going online I have to put my faith in myself, but it is easy to lose faith in the local services.

Sy Reene

It doesn't seem so long ago the shops were bemoaning the overseas vendors. Now that that ability to shop from the UK for sram/shimano has been pretty well shutdown, we're still hearing about how shops still can't compete with anyone that sells online even if they're in our own country?

WizardOfBoz

Ben's packed my Mom's bike for shipping to me here on the East Coast. One of the last excursions out of the house I made with my late FIL was to Ben's. Cool place.

And yeah, they are a brick and mortar store so if they are selling a part for 85 bucks, I'd have to think that its a reasonable price for the LBS to meet.

philbob57

Do Ben's, Bike Tires Direct, Universal Cycles sell stuff in their stores for the online price?

We've got a good shop here that has at least an ebay presence with decent prices. They also have a big warehouse and will ship to a local store for free. I'm OK with that, but if they're shipping to the store, I'd expect an online price, but they charge MSRP. I'm happy to pay MSRP for in-stock stuff, but not if I have to wait longer than I do to get stuff from Amazon.

Then - for a non-sequitor - there's Home Depot's 'in stock' filter. 'In-stock' to those schmucks seems to mean anything they can get to a local store in 5 days....

MAK

The point is that we often accept inflated costs because they are necessary and beyond our ability or comfort level to try ourselves. For some reason, if a bike shop tries to make a profit, some people want them closed down. I love cycling, but I understand that it's a costly sport. There's an old saying that when you buy a boat, it's like a hole in the water you throw money into. For many of us, cycling is the same hole, but just a moving one on dry land.

Since I'm sure that the "war" on this topic isn't over, I propose an armistice to cease hostilities.

dedhed

I've never had an issue with any local store giving me their online price picking up in store. That includes Ben's, Bikesmith's, Wheel & Sprocket. REI

dedhed

The consumer shouldn't, and doesn't care, about the shops wholesale cost. The consumers commenting is, and always will be, about the "fairness" of the price in relation to themselves. All they see, know, or care, is they are paying 20% more than they can get it from somewhere similar including other B&M. If that particular shop is paying 20% more on the wholesale level, then maybe THEY need to reevaluate THEIR supply chain, not the consumer. If they aren't big enough, savvy enough, whatever, to compete on the retail level with others, then they need to find a way to create added value to that sale like free installation, free pickup of the bike, whatever they can do to add enough value in the consumers mind to justify the higher price they are paying. Saying "Because we pay more from our wholesaler" doesn't carry a lot of weight with the consumer paying the bill, nor should it.

tkamd73 

Supply and demand, you had the demand. If not happy, find the cheapest price on the internet, wait for delivery, and fix it yourself. Your on this forum, so I assume you have another bike to ride in the meantime right?
Tim

Oneder

Better yet a recent picture, birth location, IQ, education level and current age and address, all verified. Then you won't waste time on absolute morons, shills and trolls from other countries, young teens and so on.

Oneder

Big Bicycle strikes again!

Reminds me of when I was reading on some fish forums. Anyone who wanted to buy just 1-2 african cichlids got a giant speil you had to buy 7,8 even 9 at once or they will all kill each other instantly and anyone disagreeing got ran out of town on a rail. Turns out that the posters pushing this nonsense were making a bundle selling off a baby fish for 15 bucks a pop in groups of a half dozen to a dozen what a coinkidink eh. 15 bucks is OK for a nice looking fish but paying that for half a dozen or more of several types really adds up, and they poop out babies at the speed of light once you have a breeding pair, anyway.

Koyote

If you really intended that as sarcasm, you need to work on your technique.

Koyote

That may be true....But I don’t see the relevance to your posts.

Koyote

This is too funny. You’ve made my day.

southpier

key word was "convenient".

southpier

there's another saying about boats: the best days of boat ownership is the day you take delivery, and the day you sell it.

Blu3Suede

Don't forget the other boat saying "sell it when you get the trailer lights to start working."

Blu3Suede

I love my LBS. I gladly paid $15 for a pair of grips that have an MSRP of $6.50 and wholesale for $3.75. They had them, I needed them, they are 20 miles closer than the nearest shop and they need to keep the lights on.

1joel1

The independent auto repair shops have been doing this for a long time. For a water hose, Nissan wanted $17 (generic was $6), they charged me $35. When I mentioned this, they claimed it was the only way to make a profit. I never went back.

southpier

I call that "grabbing with both hands". as you mentioned, once is enough. hope they spent the overage wisely.

southpier

amazon, in my jammies @ 5:30 (am or pm!), with coffee. if amazon sold plywood & 2"x4"s, I would never go to the big box store or lumber yards, either. and A is not always the most moderately priced, but does offer the least amount of BS per consumer dollar I have ever encountered.

southpier

quoted for google translation

stephr1

Yep. Cheapness is ugly, and even worse when one complains abt it. Since we all have freedom of choice, either decide to support the LBS or decide not to spend more money than necessary, buy it at the the lowest cost (on line or local) and do the work yourself. Easy decision....

dedhed

Cheapness may be ugly to some, but some of us wear frugality as badge. Living below our means assures we'll retire comfortably at an age where we can enjoy it and don't really care if someone thinks we're "cheap". Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly pay the price if the value is there, but in the OP's case it didn't appear there was any added value for the added price.

stephr1

You make a good point abt frugality. Call it cheap, call it frugal, call it miserly, call it whatever one wants to. It's our money that we have earned and it's our right, privilege, freedom, etal. to spend it how we want to spend it...or not spend it at all....and no one should be judged for making that kind of choice.

Your comment abt value is spot on. I might qualify that comment with "One person's trash is another person's treasure." Value is how we each perceive and define it for one's self. And it is not always a tangible concept. In this case, someone might see that paying more than MSRP for a product *is* a value to him/her because it helps to keep the LBS open and accessible. Others may see it differently.

All a matter of perspective and priority.

Cheers.....