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Anyone advise me on this dilemma?
The brakes I want are online for £240, however the retail price is £300. So a reduction of 20%.
I've read before that it is unfair to force a LBS into selling me this item by asking them to price match but £60 is a lot of money.
So, do I go and buy them online, or do I ask the LBS to price match?
Is it unfair of me to enquire about a price match?
I will not be spending an extra £60 just for the privilege of giving business to my LBS.
I would be interested to hear LBS owners opinion on this.
Ask them. They may be able to match or get close, they may say no. You'll never know without asking.
You can always ask. It's better to ask if you have a good relationship with the shop- if you're in there reasonably often then they'll be able to at least go most of the way to matching online, but also probably fit them for you for free.
If you don't have a good relationship with them, buy gear cables/tubes/odds and sods from them regularly and once you're a familiar face they'll cut you some deals in future.
This is how we operated- we'd not be so willing to do it for any old person off the street, though we'd do our best, but regulars get better treatment.
If i were serving you, i'd check our margins, check if 20% is workable (i'd doubt it unless the shop was keen to shift). But offer to fit (including cutting hoses and bleeding) for 10-15% off dependant on what margin we're looking at.
Plus i'd make the argument that if you have any problems, we're here to sort it. Any warranty has (99% of the time) to go through a shop anyway.
Does that seem reasonable?
Don't go in all guns blazing, nothing wrong with enquiring if your LBS can match. It's also silly to turn away a customer who has cash there and then and is wanting to buy. As david dickinson says "cash is king".
if you don't ask, you don't get. it's not cheeky to ask to price match but be prepared to pay more than online if they can't match and don't get on your high horse when they refuse. be polite and decline or accept their offer
I've got a set of code r's going for a song if youre interested? Brand new, never used. On the classifieds... Mail me for more details...
Interesting.
I'd actually be happy with 15% and fitting. Save me doing it and they'd do a better job than I would.
The overall opinion is that it's OK to ask then? I wouldn't be offended in any way if the didn't/couldn't do me a deal.
As a punter I may be tempted by 10% off incuding fitting and back up should there be s problem. Thats s reasonable value for £30 to me. Someone else who is less comfortable fitting cutting hoses may find the full £60 value.