Is this normal LBS behavior on pricing?

"Jacque_Strapp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop?

It's pretty standard in my experience. There are several
factors at work you have to realize. One is that some
manufacturers don't like shops marking their bikes cheaper
than list price. I would recommend you find the shop you're
most comfortable with, who take the time to FIT the bike
properly for you and look like they have competent shop
staff and pay whatever they want. Well, try to knock them
down a big.. ;-) Believe me, a proper fit and competent
staff are worth the bucks.

Cheers,

Scott..

Hi Jacque, Yes, this is pretty much normal in just about
every bike you'll walk into. It's nothing to be leery, or
afraid of. I understand what you say how this makes things a
bit confusing. Never be afraid to ask them what thier bottom
line price is for anything, Bikes, Parts, Servicing.

Yes, hybrids/MTB's like Trek/Raliegh can get quite pricey.
Easily exceeding $1,000 in price. I recommend getting a
price on a bike you like, take down its model number, and
come home, and at least do some homework online, or possibly
visit another trek/Raliegh dealer in town if you have one.

If your looking for basic transportaion, in a bike that is
not too shabby, and the prices are very low (less than
$200), maybe check out Wal-Mart?

No, naturally, they are not of Trek, or Raleigh quality, but
some aren't all that bad either for a basic bike. The choice
ultimately has to be yours for what exactly you are looking
for. There's pro, and con in buying a $149 bike versus a
better quality bike in the $300-$500 range. Usually the Wal-
Mart quality bikes will have components that are of much
cheaper quality than these better brand bikes. Things like
wheels/tires/saddles brakes/etc.etc.

One thing you won't find at Wal-Mart though, is someone who
can help you when your bike has a problem down the road. If
you have no great knowledge in maintaining, or servicing a
bike, then the bike shop will be a wiser move.

Most, if not all Bike Shops will service/adjust/inspect your
bike for free from when it is first purchased. Some shops
will do this up to one year from date of purchase, and that
is a nice plus versus somewhere like Wal-Mart.

Most bike shops have pretty decent people there, and welcome
your business. hope this helps, and best of luck, Mark

It doesn't meanJacque_Strapp
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more
than $100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for
tooling around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some
light dirt trail riding. There is a shop near me that
sells two of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and
Trek), but when I asked the guy about prices I got a
strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

Umm..................... they tell you that you can buy it
for less than list and you're complaining?

You could always just pay list price! :-)

Most bike shops will horse trade to some degree.

"Jacque_Strapp" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more
than $100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for
tooling around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some
light dirt trail riding. There is a shop near me that
sells two of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and
Trek), but when I asked the guy about prices I got a
strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

Jacque_Strapp (great name for an athlete) said:
Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more than
$100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for tooling
around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some light dirt
trail riding. There is a shop near me that sells two of the
brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and Trek), but when I
asked the guy about prices I got a strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable behavior,
or should I look for another shop? I realize I should
support a small bike shop, but there are a couple other
small shops within driving distance (but this one is in
riding distance).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bill, riding bent in Florida (hence the screen name)

I may be old and fat, but by golly,

I'm Slow!

To e-mail, remove undies

SORRY 'BOUT THAT; HIT WRONG BUTTON

Jacque_Strapp (still a great name) said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more than
$100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for tooling
around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some light dirt
trail riding. There is a shop near me that sells two of the
brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and Trek), but when I
asked the guy about prices I got a strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable behavior,
or should I look for another shop? I realize I should
support a small bike shop, but there are a couple other
small shops within driving distance (but this one is in
riding distance).

What, you never bought a car?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bill, riding bent in Florida (hence the screen name)

I may be old and fat, but by golly,

I'm Slow!

To e-mail, remove undies

Quoted message said:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more than $100), and
thinking of getting a hybrid bike for tooling around town, maybe to
ride to work, probably some light dirt trail riding. There is a shop
near me that sells two of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and
Trek), but when I asked the guy about prices I got a strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

That's going to vary by shop. There are quite a few that
will mark up something higher than they normally expect to
sell something for and, if somebody's willing to pay that,
great, it's money in the bank. But there are also shops
(like ours) where the price on the tag *is* the price, no
matter how much haggling one wishes to do. We price our
bikes to be competitive and go out of our way to make sure
the bike fits properly and doesn't sit in the garage... and
it's our job to make sure that the bike is worth the price
on the tag. If we can't convince the customer of that, we
lose the sale. But if our staff didn't recognize that the
bike on the floor does have a value, and that that value is
a result of what we put into it... I think we'd actually
sell fewer bikes, not more, if we had a moving-target for
pricing. And I'm positive our service to the customer would
decline, because the way things are set up now, everyone in
the store knows we have something to live up to. If they
can't stand behind the price on the tag, then they're not
going to live up to it, either.

There are lots of different ways to do business, and there's
no single one that's right or wrong for everybody.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"Jacque_Strapp" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more
than $100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for
tooling around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some
light dirt trail riding. There is a shop near me that
sells two of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and
Trek), but when I asked the guy about prices I got a
strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more
than $100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for
tooling around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some
light dirt trail riding. There is a shop near me that
sells two of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and
Trek), but when I asked the guy about prices I got a
strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop?

I would think that by comparing list prices, you could get
a pretty good idea of the relative actual selling price as
well. For example, if one model lists for $100 more than
another, it's probably going to actually sell for $80 to
$100 more than the other, no matter what the actual
selling price is.

....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Quoted message said:

One thing you won't find at Wal-Mart though, is someone
who can help you when your bike has a problem down the
road. If you have no great knowledge in maintaining, or
servicing a bike, then the bike shop will be a wiser move.

Most, if not all Bike Shops will service/adjust/inspect
your bike for free from when it is first purchased. Some
shops will do this up to one year from date of purchase,
and that is a nice plus versus somewhere like Wal-Mart.

In addition, most bike dealers aren't opposed to servicing a
decent quality Wal-Mart bike either. A LBS can actually make
more money on service and accessories than on bike sales and
I generally don't see LBS turn away any business.

In article <[email hidden]>,
mikej1 @ix.netcom.com says...

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The implication being they are open to haggling. That
kind of makes comparison shopping impossible, even
between different models in that store. Is this
acceptable behavior, or should I look for another shop?
I realize I should support a small bike shop, but there
are a couple other small shops within driving distance
(but this one is in riding distance).

That's going to vary by shop. There are quite a few that
will mark up something higher than they normally expect to
sell something for and, if somebody's willing to pay that,
great, it's money in the bank. But there are also shops
(like ours) where the price on the tag *is* the price, no
matter how much haggling one wishes to do. We price our
bikes to be competitive and go out of our way to make sure
the bike fits properly and doesn't sit in the garage...
and it's our job to make sure that the bike is worth the
price on the tag. If we can't convince the customer of
that, we lose the sale. But if our staff didn't recognize
that the bike on the floor does have a value, and that
that value is a result of what we put into it... I think
we'd actually sell fewer bikes, not more, if we had a moving-
target for pricing. And I'm positive our service to the
customer would decline, because the way things are set up
now, everyone in the store knows we have something to live
up to. If they can't stand behind the price on the tag,
then they're not going to live up to it, either.

There are lots of different ways to do business, and
there's no single one that's right or wrong for everybody.

This appears to be similar to what the shop where I bought
my bike does: Of the bikes where I'm familiar with the list
price, he's always under the list price, but doesn't haggle.
He's always willing to answer questions, and I try to return
the favor by buying stuff from him when he's at least close
to what I can find it for elsewhere (mail order, that is;
there's very little difference between his price and that of
other shops in the area).

...

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

Jacque_wrote:

Quoted message said:

...There is a shop near me that sells two of the brands
I've been looking at (Raleigh and Trek), but when I asked
the guy about prices I got a strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

Just think of it as exchange, if you've ever done foreign
currency. Compare the listed or tagged prices, then be
pleasantly surprised. LBS will throw in extras (car
racks, rear racks, bottles, tools, you name it) and
they'll swap out parts. So besides paying, say, $150
instead of $160, you'll get freebies to get you out on
the road. HTH --Karen M.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:03:15 -0400, Jacque_Strapp
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Thanks for the replies all, that helps. I will probably have
some more questions before I ultimately decide...

Quoted message said:

Hi all:

I am new to biking (at least with bikes that cost more than
$100), and thinking of getting a hybrid bike for tooling
around town, maybe to ride to work, probably some light
dirt trail riding. There is a shop near me that sells two
of the brands I've been looking at (Raleigh and Trek), but
when I asked the guy about prices I got a strange response:

"The price on the tag is probably higher than what you'll
actually pay."

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

"Jacque_Strapp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The implication being they are open to haggling. That kind
of makes comparison shopping impossible, even between
different models in that store. Is this acceptable
behavior, or should I look for another shop? I realize I
should support a small bike shop, but there are a couple
other small shops within driving distance (but this one is
in riding distance).

No-haggle pricing does exist, but most shops aren't willing
to lose a sale over a small amount of money. If the bike is
already on sale, then I don't think you will normally be
able to haggle. Also, some shops prefer to throw in some
accessories instead of haggling on the base price, since the
margins on accessories are very good, but the margins on
bikes are not.

Some shops won't haggle at all. I.e., as Mike J. stated, his
shop doesn't do this, and I have found his prices to already
be lower than other stores.
I.e., I ended up paying $100 more than his price on one Trek
bike that I bought ($1100 versus $1000), plus I had to
drive 60 miles each way to get it, because I needed a
size that he didn't have and couldn't obtain because it
was a end-of-the-year close-out.

I wouldn't let a $50 difference on an $500 bicycle be the
factor in determining where to buy. But similarly, the most
expensive shop is not necessarily the best shop. I tend to
wait for sales, i.e. one good shop near me periodically
mails out 10% off sale notices, once they were up to 15% (in
January, during a "Super Bowl" sale where they took another
5% off during the game).

Saturn gave no-haggle pricing a bad name, with mediocre
products at high prices (compared to products from Toyota
and Honda dealers at least). But a fair no-haggle price is
fine. I think that with haggling the norm on so many higher
priced products (cars, houses, furniture, appliances, etc.)
that it's sometimes hard to believe that a store can
actually price items fairly.

Quoted message said:

Saturn gave no-haggle pricing a bad name, with mediocre
products at high prices (compared to products from Toyota
and Honda dealers at least).

Maybe, but Saturn's dent-resistant side panel ads are still
pretty funny. Obviously I'd feel differently if it appeared
the car was at fault when the bike runs into it, but heck,
could be those flexible panels absorb some of the impact and
save cyclists!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗