|   question re: LBS etiquette (bike prices) | L.A. MTBR'er
Sep 29, 2001 8:47 PM | | I was in a LBS today, one which I used to visit all the time a few years back. My visits have become less frequent the past few years because of a new owner who doesn't seem to know very much about the bike business, I'm sorry to report.
The former owner kept up with new models, and blew out old ones to have the money to keep up with the market's demand for newer, lighter, more travel, etc.
The current owner, however, has tons of bikes that he just can't sell. We're talking tons of 7-speed bikes with RockShox forks that they don't even make anymore, bikes with cantilever brakes, STX components, etc.
I feel terrible for this guy, and always check up on him to see if he's made any changes to update his bike inventory, but it's always the same story: he might bring a few new bottom-end dualies like Mongoose, but nothing decent.
Today, I told him that he should consider blowing his bikes out at drastic discount so that he can replenish his inventory with newer, better bikes. To help in this effort, I offered him $1,000 for a 1998 Mongoose 9.7 downhill bike ... has STX-RC crankset, 8-speed deraileurs (I think LX), some cheapo V-brake set with LX brake levers, an extended travel Judy fork (I don't even know if it has damping control), and I think STX-RC hubs with Mavic rims. The sticker on this bike says something like $2,400, but come one -- who's going to buy a 1998 with an 8-speed gearbox at THAT price?
He actually went as low as $1,200, but understandably with marked hesitation. I really wanted to help this guy out, and I don't really need another bike right now either. I just thought if I could help this guy out by getting him some cash into his register, and at the same time score a pretty decent bike for a Supergo-type price, I'd drop the cash today. But, the deal didn't go down.
The owner said he paid something like $1,400 wholesale for it, but with the bike being 3+ years old now with dated components, I thought that by getting some of his money back on this bike that this would be a good thing.
Was I in the wrong for offering such a low price for this bike? Or, was I being the good Samaritan that I thought I was being by trying to help this guy unload one of his dinosaurs? Hey, $1,000 is better than $0, right? It's been sitting in his showroom for a looooong time, obviously.
IMHO, if I owned the shop, I'd be selling everything at slashed prices just so that I could bring in some updated merchandise that people actually want to buy. He's even got a 1996 DBR carbon-fiber hardtail with an Indy fork on it, 7-speed cassette, and cant brakes. He still expects to get something like $670 for it. Come on, a 1996???
What would you guys do if you were in his situation??? |
| I've noticed a lot of LBS's doing the Ebay thing... | Eric F
Sep 30, 2001 5:42 AM | | either selling the bike as a whole, or parting everything out and selling the seperate pieces, there's still a market for 7-8 speed parts, crossers still use canti brakes, etc... Seems like he bought way too much stock in the first place, then never did anything to get rid of it. Most small LBS's I've talked with have an insanely low amount of bike stock on hand, what's on the sales floor is what they've got (plus a few in boxes), they have most models, but if you want one it's either gotta be ordered or assembled and picked up later.
On the other hand, a huge LBS, with more than about 6 stores in SE Wisconsin has a HUGE amount of stock on hand, but what's not on the floor is usually still in a box... but they also have a huge bike sale every year to get rid of the old. |
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