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| *Vultures Knob>>>Bicycle Shop |
How should I negotiate a deal when buying a bicycle? |
A friend of mine told me that you can negotiate with a bicycle salesman. I was told, on average, that bike shops can discount up to 15%. The usual mark up on a bike is 30% - 40%. What is a reasonable offer on a $550 bicycle? Absolutely you can negotiate price. Don't expect huge markdowns from the original price though. You may have better luck negotiating some sort of deal for service. Pay the shop what they are asking for the bike and get two or three free tune-ups. Check on other bikes and see if you can find a cheaper one for almost the same or the same performance.And literally say the the salesman, "Well I found a bike that has the same performance for a cheaper price.." And a reasonable offer on a $550 bicycle would be somewhere around $470-500 Considering the cost of inventory and overhead, most bike dealers do little more than break even on bicycle sales. Their sugar is in service and accessories. Lets look at the sale of a single bike: A $550.00 retail bike costs the dealer about $305.00 plus $19.00 shipping plus the cost of storage, labor to assemble and sell, insurance, rent, and all those other things nobody thinks about. This leaves the dealer with about $41.00 in profit to buy more inventory, pay taxes and to live on. Can you live on $41.00 for whatever period there is between getting the bike in, selling it and buying another to replace it, not to mention paying for the typical free service included with most models? Lets look at it another way.... The average mini market grocery store marks up their strawberry ice drink thing 200% to 300%. Are you asking them to go down on their price? I bet most people spend more than $550 a year on them.... Don't be so cheap. If you want a good deal look for a leftover model or buy a used one. 27 years in the industry I would do some shopping on the Internet for the model bike that you want and ask the shops if they will do a price match on the same bike. Also ask them to throw in extra accessories to make up for the difference if they don't price match, like a helmet, water bottle cage, hydration packs etc. Look for last years closeout specials in big bike shops in your area or on the internet. Most bikes from last year are just paint and graphic changes anyway. Good luck! I think the best way to bargain is to show them that you can get the same bike from another source for $X and ask the to match it. Use PriceGrabber or SearchAllDeals to find the best price online and take the price to the bicycle salesman. http://www.PriceGrabber.com http://www.SearchAllDeals.com |
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