Im going to look at a few new bikes tomorrow around £1200, mainly to checkout the giant trance x4 which is up for £1150, and the whyte 901 which is a similar price. whats the best way to barter with bike shops? ill be paying cash which should be in my favour, can i expect to knock em down to a grand or get a helmet and accessories thrown in? or am i expecting too much?

On 2012 bikes, d say you stand a better chance of getting a few goodies chucked in. Good luck!

I got a great deal recently – I was looking at interest free finance but had not taken along any utility bill … Doh.

The shop asked what what would it take to buy the bike outright there and then. I stayed silent, not because I am a good negotiator, but just because I wasn’t really sure what to do!. Without any prompting they knocked a further £200 off.

So I got a £2000 2011 bike for £1200. Remember it is the retailer that pays for the interest free credit so it looks like it can be used as a bargaining tool. Not that I had any idea beforehand 😆

Paying cash? So you better expect less of a saving considering how much it will cost them to bank the cash ;O)

I’m a terrible negotiator, but I do get results… I just do a little research, choose a price that seems reasonable, and stick to it.

While back I bought a frame that’s known for its inflexible pricing. Not that there’s price fixing going on 😉 Anyway, every shop sold it for the exact same price. So I just picked up the phone and called some asking for a £50 discount. First few wouldn’t bite at all, the 3rd said “Why would I do that, it’s this price everywhere”. So I said “Aye- so give me a reason to buy it from you not from one of those other places that it costs the same”. He laughed and gave me the discount.

The trick is, to fix on a price that’s more than it cost the shop, but less than you want to pay. Don’t be a knob about it, just be reasonable and look for a victory for both parties. If they think they’ll sell it to you for full price they won’t discount, but if they think they’ll get a smaller profit, where otherwise they’ll get nothing, then there’s room for a dialogue.

And above all, remember what it’s worth to you. Bad negotiators will walk away from a good deal just because it was £1 more than they’d decided they wanted to spend, or ruin an ongoing relationship for a short-term saving. Know what you want to achieve- are you genuinely not happy to pay full price, or do you want the product and you’re just hoping to save a little.

Most shops will only chuck in lids, locks etc rather than give discount on the bike itself. Means overall they get more silver over the counter. If you manage to get them to knock cash off the latest model, your doing well.

When i spoke to one shop on the phone about an 2010 model which is discounted, they said that they couldnt offer that deal on finance as they pay the interest, which i thought was a load of bull sh** but it may be true then.

ill update this tomorrow and let u know how i got on. ill aim for money off first, accessories second

Very few stores will offer old stock on 0%

Interest free credit is where the shop pays the cost of lending you the money to buy the bike.

I had the very same thing buying a watch. We were going to go interest free but were told no discount if we did that. They eventually offered a 17% discount to pay cash, which we did – offer to pay cash where possible and you’ll maximise your chance of a discount.

If you absolutely cannot afford the cash upfront, but have the monthly incomings to pay it off over a couple of years at most, get a credit card with a 0% purchase rate, or a balance transfer one if you have another card already.

Had 10-15% off my bike (latest model at the time) which meant that i had quite a lot of upgrades for free. I also get 10% off everything I buy in store since I bought the bike.

one of the biggest bargaining tools you have is to make it clear you want to do the deal now.
Unless it’s a current model that’s selling well, you should be able to get something off.
I’d wade straight in with an offer of 20% less than the ticket price and work from there

although they’ll never call it so, there is price fixing going on with the importers/distributors so they may not be openly able to sell for less than the ticket price so some creativity may be required, I got a set of forks thrown in with a deal, which I then sold on for a good price
I’ve never found cash to be a hindrance , whatever form of payment you offer will cost them a small amount to process

well the 2012 model im going to look at today isnt available for another 2 weeks apparently, (ah so how am i looking at it u ask. One of the shops employees friends works for giant and is bringing the bike in for me to drool over).

so providing it ticks the right boxes, ill be offering full payment on a bike i cant even collect for 2 weeks, the ball should be in my court.

be back in a couple of hours

TBH

I don’t think that puts you in a very strong position for bartering

Nope. Especially not if they are already taking orders on it

1 Do your research first, but don’t quote it to their face.
2 Know your budget, keep to it.
3 Let them know you are prepared to purchase, now – but you are happy to walk/think.
4 Don’t try and negotiate in a busy shop – or at a busy time.
5 Find the person in charge, ie the one who makes the decisions.
6 I often use a quote along the lines of, ‘I don’t want to rob you, but obviously I’ve now idea what it owes you’
7 But remember, they still need to make a living
8 And don’t attempt to fix the price until you’ve added everything you want/need to buy – they know their margins, and consequently where the money is made.

Agreed, why do a deal on a bike that’s in demand? Someone else will buy it full price. Debit card is the preferable payment method, cash is only advantageous if they’re bent!

Best way to get a deal on a 2012 bike? Wait until the 2013 bikes are coming out.

Is the new colour THAT important? Not much else really changes.

I’d imagine you’d get more of a deal on a 2011 bike as they’d want to clear their stock to make way for the 2012 range. 2012 bikes, especially Giant’s are likely to be in great demand, therefore they are less likely to need to shift them at lower prices. But I suppose there’s always a deal to be had.

I’ve never paid full price for a bike, always got at least 10% off (I even managed that on a 200 quid commeuter in halfords!). Don’t get fobbed off with freebies either (unless you need them). My preferred approach is:

– Let them spend 20 minutes on the sales spiel (even if you know more then them) – ideally get the manager to do this (normally the oldest person in the shop!)
– Then pick an arbitary number somewhat below the sticker price, and say ‘Hmmmm i really like this but…. the wife will litterally kill me if I go back to her and i’ve paid 1200 quid for a bike and not negotiated a bit. Anything you can do on the price?’*
– Then stay silent (make sure they speak next!)
– Hopefully they’ll knock a bit off. Then come back with ‘how close could you get to <insert arbitary number here> – that’s how much she thinks i’m going to spend’
– Then stay silent
– etc.

Don’t go in at a busy time of day (near the end of the day is good), and don’t be afraid of walking away. Someone will offer you a decent discount – esp on something as common as a Giant. Normally I find the longer they’ve spent trying to flog it to you, the more likely you’ll get a discount (e.g. if you’ve paid for a test ride and been in a few times).**

* It doesn’t matter if you have a wife or not, you’re trying to get them to join in with the conspiracy .

** If you’ve paid for a test ride, then obviously once the price is agreed, then bring it up ‘presume you’ll knock the test ride price off as well’.

I ordered my bike and got 10-15% discount on a model who’s component spec wasnt even confirmed. Theres always room to strike a deal. If not go to a different dealer.

got £100 off a 2012 giant trance x4 so paid £1150 and some pedals thrown in which had a £37 price tag. im happy enough with that. take delivery of it on thursday but may have to wait till weekend depending on work.

Im now clearing out one of the spare rooms to make shrine for it to live in.

Im going to look at a few new bikes tomorrow around £1200, mainly to checkout the giant trance x4 which is up for £1150.

got £100 off a 2012 giant trance x4 so paid £1150

How is that £100 off?

Get the best deal by seeing a shop still has the bike you want months after it was bought

Cash is king in independant traders – in chain stores its about as popular a shitting your self at the counter !

On a brand new new stock unreleased bike – you might get a helmet if the guys in a good mood.

£1150 as quoted in my original post was for the 2010 model which was out of stock now anyway, rrp is 1250 and thats the price most are selling for, sure there will be one or two shops selling for less but not round my way. found one wanting 1450 online.