Is this normal LBS behavior on pricing? - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

04-26-2004, 09:14 AM

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).

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:15 AM

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?

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:15 AM

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?

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:15 AM

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?

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:15 AM

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?

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:15 AM

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?

>>

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

04-26-2004, 09:20 AM

> 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
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Jacque_Strapp" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> 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).

04-26-2004, 09:20 AM

> 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
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Jacque_Strapp" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> 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).

04-26-2004, 09:20 AM

> 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
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Jacque_Strapp" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> 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).

04-26-2004, 09:20 AM

> 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
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Jacque_Strapp" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> 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).