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Are bike prices negotiable
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 2009-06-23 10:29 PM |
Veteran  167   Middleton, ID |  Subject: Are bike prices negotiableWould you feel comfortable trying to negotiate the price of a bike from your LBS. I go to them for everything I need, I'm on a first name basis and they do everything for me. But I don't know if this is something that is done. I have a friend who told me that he has always negotiated the price when buying a bike, he says it's like buying a car, and when that amount of money is involved you should be able to haggle with them. Thanks in advance |
 2009-06-23 10:30 PM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2009-06-23 11:03 PM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Extreme Veteran 362 Security, CO | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable YES! Make a respectable offer, you will be suprised at the response. |
| 2009-06-23 11:10 PM in reply to: #2238602 |
Extreme Veteran 3177  | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable I cant say for certain but I know that with my next bike purchase I am looking at getting them to put together a "package deal" for me that will save me a lot of money. Getting the bike, fit, pedals, other accessories etc... and the negotiating the price for all of that together is a good way to get an awesome deal and not necessarily feel bad about it (if you might feel bad about haggling for something) |
| 2009-06-24 1:55 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
Expert 658 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Give them a figure that your max is to spend. For example, you have no more than $1000 to spend. You can try and negotiate bikes $1200 or more down to $1000 if your lucky. |
| 2009-06-24 4:14 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| New user 30 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable My LBS is quite amenable to negotiation. I ended up with 15% off across the board on my "package" and dictated the contents of the package. They were quite flexible when products that were ordered in weren't suitable/available. |
| 2009-06-24 5:20 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Pro 4353 Wallingford, PA | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable What could it hurt to ask? The worst that can happen is that they can say "no, sorry, that's the best I can do on that bike" and you can decide if you can live with the price or not! But chances are, they WILL have some flexibility on the price. |
| 2009-06-24 5:36 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Regular 281 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Bike shops are hurting so bad right now they are extremely flexible. When I got my mountain bike it was during our "Gas Crunch" and trying to negotiate only drove your bike price up for wasting their time. Now they are hurting extremely bad and you can take them to the cleaner. My mountain bike was $800 and no one would budge on the price. My buddy got his mountain bike that cost $780 for $700 and had Cannondale baggies and a new helmet thrown in for free plus 50% off a Camelbak. I'm going ot set his bike on fire one day because of my jealousy. You just have to be 100% ready to walk away if they don't move. |
| 2009-06-24 6:59 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Expert 1053 Culpeper, VA | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable You can absolutely negotiate price on a bike, no need to feel bad about it either. |
| 2009-06-24 7:30 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Veteran 427 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Like someone said earlier, the worst they can say is no. However, I would definitely do your research. Trying to lo-ball just makes you look bad. Know the market price for the bike and see if can work around it. |
| 2009-06-24 7:37 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable We never did. Margins on bikes suck, especially in the high end. If you were gonna drop $3 or 4k on a bike, then maybe we would do something extra, but in general the only way to stay in business was to set your prices reasonable based on the market and give good customer service. Depending on the type of shop and the lines they carry, they may be able to beat other shops with their pricing because of the volume of sales and level of dealer that they were. My old shop is one of the nations top 100 Giant sellers and as such gets a certain level of pricing. Instead of trying to make more margin by charging what others did, we set our prices a little lower to pass on the benefit that we got as a higher volume Giant dealer. As others have said, it can't hurt to try as many shops are hurting right now and want to make sales to keep their costs covered. But from an industry standpoint it is a bad thing ....... and it is NOT like buying a car. Are you going to go into the supermarket and negotiate the price of a filet mignon?? How about a grill or riding lawn mower from Home Depot? |
| 2009-06-24 7:39 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| 94 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable I have to disagree with everyone on this board on this issue. Growing up my dad owned a bike shop and would constantly complain about people that haggle with him. He haggled because he needed to make sales to put food on the table but its still in bad taste. His shop never had big margins. Typically he had less margin than they have on bikes at target or clothing. Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so. I guess to sum up what I am saying I put it this way. Yes you can do it, its not unlikely they will come down, but should you I dont think so. The guy is just trying to put food on the table, and he is charging what the bike is worth. I think its in bad taste to haggle. |
| 2009-06-24 7:47 AM in reply to: #2238968 |
| Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Sager - 2009-06-24 8:39 AM I have to disagree with everyone on this board on this issue. Growing up my dad owned a bike shop and would constantly complain about people that haggle with him. He haggled because he needed to make sales to put food on the table but its still in bad taste. His shop never had big margins. Typically he had less margin than they have on bikes at target or clothing. Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so. I guess to sum up what I am saying I put it this way. Yes you can do it, its not unlikely they will come down, but should you I dont think so. The guy is just trying to put food on the table, and he is charging what the bike is worth. I think its in bad taste to haggle. See my post above yours ...... ^^^^^ I was trying to be nice.  |
| 2009-06-24 7:47 AM in reply to: #2238968 |
| Veteran 1097 Elizabethtown, KY | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Sager - 2009-06-24 8:39 AM I have to disagree with everyone on this board on this issue. Growing up my dad owned a bike shop and would constantly complain about people that haggle with him. He haggled because he needed to make sales to put food on the table but its still in bad taste. His shop never had big margins. Typically he had less margin than they have on bikes at target or clothing. Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so. I guess to sum up what I am saying I put it this way. Yes you can do it, its not unlikely they will come down, but should you I dont think so. The guy is just trying to put food on the table, and he is charging what the bike is worth. I think its in bad taste to haggle. Well, you're wrong. People don't negotiate pricing at the grocery store for two reasons: lack of leverage and prices too low to be worth negotiating. Perhaps your analogy should be a place like Lowe's. Do you think Lowe's will negotiate the price of a $1,500 appliance? You can bet they will. In fact, they'll meet the lowest price of any competitor. The reason mom and pop's go out of business is that they're inflexible. I think most people get that LBS's are "just trying to put food on the table" but that's the general consensus in this thread has been: Don't lowball, but respectively give them a chance to be more competitive. And there's creative ways for a LBS to negotiate, such as mentioned above. Keep firm on the price but 25% off all accessories, or something similar, for example. Edited by roch1009 2009-06-24 7:51 AM |
| 2009-06-24 7:49 AM in reply to: #2238960 |
| Veteran 1097 Elizabethtown, KY | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Daremo - 2009-06-24 8:37 AM We never did. How about a grill or riding lawn mower from Home Depot? Well, you should. They are often willing to negotiate on bigger ticket items. |
| 2009-06-24 7:53 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Master 2460 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable I wish I had the money to just give it to the LBS at list every time, but for a $2k+ bike, for most folks, it's more than reasonable to either: 1) Ask about any deals / packages you can get since you're dropping so much cash 2) Shop around for special discounts I don't think this is at all a matter of being a cheap or bad consumer, or even about being hard on LBSs. The reality is that mid-hi to hi end bike pricing is somewhat flexible, and if you can take advantage of sales or deals, you will save 5-15% (if not more), which translates to hundreds of dollars. Not trivial for most. Also, if you're a frequent customer or anticipate being so, you should feel comfortable asking (nicely) for discounts or when they'll come up. I find it's easiest to ask about any sales/discounts, and they direct me to the options - they're usually more than willing to "deal" on higher end bikes nearby, as that's part of the game of getting you to spend a little more than you were originally planning to. (Those deals are often good as well!) To throw it in reverse, the LBS should have no problems saying no to any discounts if they feel they're unwarranted. The LBS is calling the shots - there is no need to blame it on the consumer, as the LBS ultimately decides what deal is going to go through or not. I understand that bike stores aren't a hugely profitable margin business, but if you didn't know that obvious fact going into it (you don't see many bike store owners driving Lexuses and up), you probably shouldn't be running one. Also, hi-in-demand bikes command list prices often. 2009 Cervelos in your exact size will often run for full list this time of year. Consider yourself lucky if they have it in stock and don't have to special order it for you. A good time of year to buy a bike is during late winter months when they're clearing out inventory - I even got 15% off my Dura-Ace Cervelo P2c without any haggling/negotiation because I bought it so late in the year. |
| 2009-06-24 8:03 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable There are certainly ways to get deals and as mentioned ^^^ certain times of the year are better. If there is a particular model from the last year you like you can always have the shop call their rep. to see if they still have any of the last year's inventory at the distributor which can then usually be gotten for anywhere from 20 - 30% off. And we did work out deals on accessories and parts as an incentive if needed. Then again, we already gave people 10% off for 30 days and 2 years of free service as part of the package to begin with, on top of having the lowest prices (and stock on hand) of our brand in the area. But unless you are in the business, do not presume to know or infer what a shop can and cannot do. If you have not managed a shop, you have no idea what their overhead and margins are. As I mentioned before, bike margins are not that great. And this is even more the case with high end bikes when mass market online retailers buy a 1000 units and then sell them for peanuts and a customer comes in to haggle it down to online prices. That is why I respected Felt so much when they came out with the carbon B2 and DA in '07. They would not let people sell the bikes online, only in person. They were trying to protect their dealers and their margins. Edited by Daremo 2009-06-24 8:03 AM |
| 2009-06-24 8:08 AM in reply to: #2238987 |
| 94 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable roch1009 - 2009-06-24 8:47 AM Sager - 2009-06-24 8:39 AM I have to disagree with everyone on this board on this issue. Growing up my dad owned a bike shop and would constantly complain about people that haggle with him. He haggled because he needed to make sales to put food on the table but its still in bad taste. His shop never had big margins. Typically he had less margin than they have on bikes at target or clothing. Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so. I guess to sum up what I am saying I put it this way. Yes you can do it, its not unlikely they will come down, but should you I dont think so. The guy is just trying to put food on the table, and he is charging what the bike is worth. I think its in bad taste to haggle. Well, you're wrong. People don't negotiate pricing at the grocery store for two reasons: lack of leverage and prices too low to be worth negotiating. Perhaps your analogy should be a place like Lowe's. Do you think Lowe's will negotiate the price of a $1,500 appliance? You can bet they will. In fact, they'll meet the lowest price of any competitor. The reason mom and pop's go out of business is that they're inflexible. I think most people get that LBS's are "just trying to put food on the table" but that's the general consensus in this thread has been: Don't lowball, but respectively give them a chance to be more competitive. And there's creative ways for a LBS to negotiate, such as mentioned above. Keep firm on the price but 25% off all accessories, or something similar, for example. You may disagree with me but that doesnt mean I am wrong. Its not a question of facts its an opinion and I find it in bad taste. |
| 2009-06-24 8:14 AM in reply to: #2239038 |
| Veteran 1097 Elizabethtown, KY | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Sager - 2009-06-24 9:08 AM roch1009 - 2009-06-24 8:47 AM Sager - 2009-06-24 8:39 AM I have to disagree with everyone on this board on this issue. Growing up my dad owned a bike shop and would constantly complain about people that haggle with him. He haggled because he needed to make sales to put food on the table but its still in bad taste. His shop never had big margins. Typically he had less margin than they have on bikes at target or clothing. Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so. I guess to sum up what I am saying I put it this way. Yes you can do it, its not unlikely they will come down, but should you I dont think so. The guy is just trying to put food on the table, and he is charging what the bike is worth. I think its in bad taste to haggle. Well, you're wrong. People don't negotiate pricing at the grocery store for two reasons: lack of leverage and prices too low to be worth negotiating. Perhaps your analogy should be a place like Lowe's. Do you think Lowe's will negotiate the price of a $1,500 appliance? You can bet they will. In fact, they'll meet the lowest price of any competitor. The reason mom and pop's go out of business is that they're inflexible. I think most people get that LBS's are "just trying to put food on the table" but that's the general consensus in this thread has been: Don't lowball, but respectively give them a chance to be more competitive. And there's creative ways for a LBS to negotiate, such as mentioned above. Keep firm on the price but 25% off all accessories, or something similar, for example. You may disagree with me but that doesnt mean I am wrong. Its not a question of facts its an opinion and I find it in bad taste. Sorry - let me clarify. I wasn't disagreeing with your opinion on "haggling". I was responding to your statement, "Would you haggle at the grocery store. I dont think so." |
| 2009-06-24 8:24 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Veteran 167 Middleton, ID | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Thanks for all of your replies. Let me clarify that my plan was not to go in and low ball them and try and get a bike for nothing. I have found the bike cheaper online and was wanting to see if they will match or beat that price. They already are going to service it for free for the life of the bike. If I was running the bike shop I think I would appreciate my customers coming to me to see if I could beat an online retailers price. If they can't at least I tried, I just would much rather buy local from people that I know. |
| 2009-06-24 8:28 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Master 2460 | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable My opinion is still that even with the thin-margins on bikes, it's not unreasonable for a customer to ask nicely about discounts or sales. If the LBS can't do it, they can't do it, and should feel comfortable letting the customer know that. |
| 2009-06-24 8:51 AM in reply to: #2239079 |
| Veteran 1097 Elizabethtown, KY | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable agarose2000 - 2009-06-24 9:28 AM My opinion is still that even with the thin-margins on bikes, it's not unreasonable for a customer to ask nicely about discounts or sales. If the LBS can't do it, they can't do it, and should feel comfortable letting the customer know that. Maybe the smartest statment in this thread. |
| 2009-06-24 8:51 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
Resident Curmudgeon 25290 The Road Back Gold member | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable Hey Rick! When was the last time you paid anywhere near MSRP for anything bike related?  I love to negotiate, and despite the claim of thin margins espoused here I have found my LBSs willing and eager enough for my business to tolerate and accomodate me. Believe me, I did not pay MSRP for the P2 I just bought (and didn't really "need"), rather the LBS had to offer it to me at a price that I just couldn't refuse. Give a customer a fair (or even great) price on a bike and they will be loyal and profitable customers for accessories and service, which is IMHO the more profitable end of the LBS business. Edited by the bear 2009-06-24 8:51 AM |
| 2009-06-24 8:51 AM in reply to: #2239072 |
| Extreme Veteran 1942 In front of computer when typing this. | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable jkward - 2009-06-24 9:24 AM Thanks for all of your replies. Let me clarify that my plan was not to go in and low ball them and try and get a bike for nothing. I have found the bike cheaper online and was wanting to see if they will match or beat that price. They already are going to service it for free for the life of the bike. If I was running the bike shop I think I would appreciate my customers coming to me to see if I could beat an online retailers price. If they can't at least I tried, I just would much rather buy local from people that I know. Much as I love a good bargain, free service for life is pretty sweet and worth paying a little extra for up-front. To me that is the "discount". I actually wouldn't object to paying a little more for a bike at my LBS vs online because of free service/fitting/advice, etc... And I am pretty cheap! |
| 2009-06-24 8:55 AM in reply to: #2238602 |
| Veteran 167 Middleton, ID | Subject: RE: Are bike prices negotiable The free service is huge for me as well. I just think that when your spending thousands on a bike you want to try and get the best deal possible. I would think that my bike shop will understand that. |
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