BigWil

I walked into my LBS to get a bike. I looked around, got an idea what I wanted, and then did some looking online. I placed an order for a bike, and a bunch of accessories. I was told that they provide 3 years of free service labor on all new bikes, and I would just have to pay for parts if required. While chatting, they found out I was military, and gave me a 10% discount on everything. At that point, I was more than happy...I would have paid full price without haggling if required. The 3 years free service is a pretty good deal in and of itself.

revchuck 

Excuse me while I interrupt this discussion to reply to the OP's question.

There are two variables in your question that need to be clarified. R&A Cycles has a significant online presence, so is this an online purchase or an in-store purchase? Also, is this a current, in-demand bike or a leftover?

If it's an online purchase, then the store has some room to negotiate because there's no labor involved. Ditto if it's a leftover or less desirable model.

I work in a shop that sells Specialized and Giant. We don't discount Shivs because demand exceeds supply and they're a PITA to build and set up. A hybrid takes 15 minutes to build and tune; a Shiv is a 2+ hour job since fitting to the rider is required. I can't comment on Giant's TT bike because while I'm sure they're excellent, we haven't sold one in the three years I've been there because customers would rather wait for a Shiv.

You can order the bike online and bring it to your LBS and have them build it, but expect to pay for it. Our standard price for building a TT bike is $200, and that's the lower end of the price range. I strongly recommend against buying a TT bike online regardless of the deal.

The Quiet One

I'll be forever happy that bike shops don't route you through an F & I person before they let you out the door like car dealers do. "You need paint and fabric protection on that." "You need an extended warranty. Can you afford (whatever inflated price they quote for such and such a part)." (Answer, Yes). Someone up thread mentioned buying beans as a metaphor for buying a bike at a LBS. When we recently bought a new car, I used beans as an argument for why I didn't need an extended warranty. I asked what the F & I person would do if she went to the grocery store to buy a can of beans and at checkout they told her she needed to buy insurance in case the beans had salmonella and she needed to go to the hospital. It was obvious that they deal with that question all the time, because she had a pat answer. Anyway, other than hesitation and mild whining that the price is a little more than I wanted to pay, I don't negotiate. I'm just not good at it. I admire those who can do it, and bear them no ill will for employing their skill in any setting.

rickyk76

It doesn't matter to me whether people ask for discounts or not. It's up to the biz, any biz, to decide how they're going to sell their products. That being said, some are set up to work within negotiations and some aren't. People keep referencing car sales, but dealerships are set up to sell cars through price negotiations. Invoice price isn't the lowest they can go, though it's the lowest many will go; and, they also get sales bonuses for every car they sell from the factory. They make their money always. AFAIK, Specialized isn't kicking back sales bonuses for every bike sold.

I usually ask if they provide a military discount or if they have a sale coming up. This will usually lead to their offering a discount if they think I'll wait for the sale. When I bought my daughters' bikes a couple months ago, I didn't get the chance to ask about a sale. The girl there told me about one coming the next week, said to wait and that she'd make sure they had the sizes I wanted when I came back.

I-Like-To-Bike

Double down on not wanting to do business with an LBS that has the attitude that customers have to pay full price on the bike to get good service in return.

I-Like-To-Bike

I expect it is the same reason why there is so much near hysterical bashing of retail outlets that sell products far less expensive than that found at the typical LBS on BF - a large slice of the posters have either financial or emotional attachments to the LBS business model and the products sold at them.

I-Like-To-Bike

I once witnessed a person at a garage sale select a piece of costume jewelry marked with a 5¢ sticker and ask the seller "would you take 3¢ for this"? The seller told the haggler to get lost but in less friendly terms.

Now you know what price point some people are comfortable haggling; relevance to purchasing a bicycle at an LBS? The same as a can of tuna fish.

eja_ bottecchia

Exactly!

eja_ bottecchia

Once again, 100% correct.

southpier

pick me, pick me!

because after you ride your bike, you don't have scales stuck to your legs?

but seriously ... I was in a shoe store once and a guy was haggling with the clerk over a pair of running shoes ...

some people should just stay home.

southpier

and it exhibits the willingness to have your continued support. most people equate price/ cost with value. they know the price of everything ....

Maelochs

basically the correct answer here is exactly the same as it is in every other BF thread---whatever I say it is.

If I think one should haggle or not ... that is Right. Built into the fabric of the Universe. Existentially Correct. Unassailably factually incontrovertibly The Way It Must Be.

People who agree are genius. People who do not ... well, it's just sad.

So ... swing you legs over your cans of tuna and ride, people. Now that you know The Answer ......

BigWil

Good group of employees, and being pro military and law enforcement, I feel comfortable shopping there. The added discount means I'm a local customer as long as I'm in the area.

jefnvk

And I got them at a discount, because they were a model that was going away. Done the same with hockey equipment, too. Continued success tells me that such shops are more than willing to deal on inventory they want gone.

And if they are willfully cutting Military/LEO/etc discounts, the idea that they make too little of a margin to cut discounts quickly goes out the window.

southpier

the owner of the local bike emporium has a philosophy: sometimes the best way to get rid of a pain in the butt customer is to give him the tire. so maybe it's working for you because it's the quickest way to get you out the door.


(yes, I do business there, and he gives me online prices, free repair instruction, and parts. I do the same for him so it works out for both of us)

I-Like-To-Bike

I prefer to do business with emporiums where the owner has the business like, if not friendly, philosophy of encouraging customers to shop in the store.

Maelochs

Or maybe it is working for him because the owner really wants to move the merchandise to have the space to display more profitable items, knows exactly what he paid for the item, and has calculated how much more he will lose if he leaves the thing sitting there taking up display space.

It's great to use words like "profit margin," but if the store has more than one item in it, there is more than just profit margin to consider.

I might sell something for a dollar loss if I could replace it on the shelf with something I could sell for a ten-dollar profit. Because if I wait long enough, the thing with the ten-dollar markup also gets old, and now I have two products I cannot sell for a profit.

If I have something marked down to a dollar over cost, and it is costing me money just sitting there ... offer me cost or a dollar under ... if I haven't seen any interest on the item before, then I can pretty much figure that's the best deal I am Ever going to get. Otherwise, in year it ends up on the Crap Table, I mean the "Bargain Bin," being sold for half cost or less just because I don't want to actually throw it in the garbage but I can't have it taking up space in the storeroom or showroom any more.

southpier

why are you stocking so much junk that it needs to be discounted to move? it doesn't sound like you know your customer base.

southpier

of the myriad of bike shops in iowa, I doubt we'll risk crossing paths.

SquidPuppet

The more expensive the item, the more acceptable negotiating becomes. In fact, it's expected by the sellers.

jefnvk

Or a customer special ordered something that they decided they didn't want, as in the case of my front rack. Or it is a model year old, and needs moved, as in many things I have bought as a discount. Heck, a local bike shop with five or six shops in the area operates one of their stores strictly as the outlet store, with most stuff marked 20-50% off MSRP, that is every bit as large as their regular stores. Or, it is merchandise that Specialized/Trek/etc encourage their bike shops to carry, that may not make sense, like the last Specialized winter fat biking softshell I bought at a shop that mainly caters to road riders. Or, it is a new line of products that the shop took on that simply didn't move well.

Most shops by me run a garage sale in the spring months with some pretty solid bargains, would you suggest all of them do not know their customer?

Maelochs

As jefnvk notes ... your negative and possible less than fully considered view is inaccurate.

Other reasons--stores order a distribution o f sizes based on past sales. Not everyone who bought a medium before can still fit as medium .... and not everyone who shopped at the store before necessarily still shops there. The store might have new customers with different shopping habits and sizes. People might buy items for gifts. So there is one medium winter shell that didn't sell, and a couple extra-large jerseys because that guy moved away.there are three small shoes in one make and model, because people preferred a different make and model which the store was happy to order and sell.

Does "knowing you customer" mean knowing that one of them will decide to build a bike and need a 90-mm 17-degree stem of a certain make ... or knowing that he mis-measured and needs a different one? or knowing that when you buy 15 saddles only 13 will sell? And ... when new stuff comes out, people want to see it, check it out, maybe buy it. If you have the old stuff, which is just as good, on the shelves ... you lose customers.

So ... there is the "Sale" table, the bargain bin, the markdown day.

Maybe you have noticed, maybe not ... but pretty much Every Single retail business which doesn't handle perishables has a markdown section. or an outlet store. Or s "Spring Sale."

Whatever. Sometimes we just like to fight.

southpier

you're right, and rather than delete my posts I would like to offer the group as a whole an apology. i'm a little out of sorts today; I think it might be chafing from these last season's damn padded shorts I haggled.

guess the dealer is having the last laugh, eh?

TheLastOfUs

What bike on earth is 6 grand?! :/

tajar66

I have gotten significant discounts on two new bike purchased. First was a current model year mountain bike. I got 10% and a set of high rnd pedals. My road bike was last years model I negotiated 30% off that one. I always ask for a discount on lots of purchases new and used
You will not get any discount if you do not ask.