Just noticed that Genesis have released the 2020 Croix de fer frameset. Been kicking around the idea of building one up. I had been looking for second hand but they are rare.

I know we have a few bike trade insiders – anyone know how the discounts work. Do Genesis tell their dealers when to discount and how much the previous years? They all seem to drop their prices around the same time.

BTW if you like orange the new frameset is really orange!

Dealers generally discount left over stock. Some companies such as Trek will reduce the price of their wholesale stock to pass on to the customer. Madison do too (Genesis distributor) so always worth asking.

Don’t ask, as someone did to me two days ago for a hefty discount on a 2020 bike that had literally been released to the public 24hrs before!

How about now? After all, it must be 72 hours by now.

Some dealers will offer that discount though – its beyond me why though…

Companies that have overstocked, will cut their throats at some point to shift all the stuff for the most money before they’re stuck with it. Some sales managers forecasted closely and either ran out of stock early or just in time, others massively over estimated demand and got stuck with it.

You won’t get a big discount on a popular sold out model, but you will on an overstocked turd.

some shops just discount dead stock at their own loss, normally at what it cost them just to get some cash flow.

Don’t ask, as someone did to me two days ago for a hefty discount on a 2020 bike that had literally been released to the public 24hrs before!

Yeah, but did you consider that they ‘never pay RRP for ANYTHING!’?

Get on the freewheel mailing list and they’ll email you when the genesis bargains are out. Seem to remember some good reductions on cdf last year.

I’ve had this discussion with a bike shop owner when I was looking for an old model Hightower.

He indicated the manufacturer will usually hand their largest volume retailers the excess stock to sell at a discount and the smaller bike shops lose out that way.

He also indicated that stock management has tightened up and there is less excess stock generally at the end of the season.

The outcome is that old model deals may be harder to find. Anecdotally, I also mooched around for old model Scotts, Rocky Mountain and Ibis and again old model deals were few and far between on those brands.

Cruelly, I suspect there may be a surplus of Hightowers in 2020. Reading the US forums in particular, it has fallen flat. Being fugly and the media referring to the Hightower as a “dad bike” has not gone down well it appears.

Dealers generally discount left over stock. Some companies such as Trek will reduce the price of their wholesale stock to pass on to the customer. Madison do too (Genesis distributor) so always worth asking.

Cheers Rocket, that’s what I thought. How does it work when a shop has stock bought at full wholesale and i.e. Madison discount what they have? Do they rebate the shop for the stock it holds or is the shop SOL when it has to drop prices to compete against the shops that are ordering the discounted wholesale?

Don’t ask, as someone did to me two days ago for a hefty discount on a 2020 bike that had literally been released to the public 24hrs before!

Trade for an X box?

Get on the freewheel mailing list and they’ll email you when the genesis bargains are out. Seem to remember some good reductions on cdf last year.

Thanks, Davros, didn’t think of the email list.

There still are some bargains of cdf, if you ride XS.

I managed to miss the deals last year, I seem to recall the dealers discounted before the price on freewheel dropped on another bike I was looking at – what prompted my question. Seemed like the shops discounted at the same time but Genesis themselves were slower.

Do they rebate the shop for the stock it holds

No, they don’t

or is the shop SOL when it has to drop prices to compete against the shops that are ordering the discounted wholesale?

This

Seems like that would discourage shops from having much in stock, which might not be in the best interest of the brand.
Also means those shops who carry the least stock are best positioned to sell the end of year bargains at a discount. Something to keep in mind when I’m shopping.

Also means those shops who carry the least stock are best positioned to sell the end of year bargains at a discount

It’ll usually be bigger shops with more money that will buy up end of year discounted stock. Smaller ones will be hoping that they’ve managed to sell through as much of the current year’s stock as possible without discounting so that they can afford to pay for the pre-season orders of next model year stock that they’re forced to take to be allowed to continue stocking the brand.

In a previous life I worked for an importer of high end electrical hobby items, if there was a promotion going on (or end of year clear out) then we would reimburse the retailer the price difference.

Do they rebate the shop

No the shop has to suck it up, and they wonder why shops don’t carry bikes in all sizes and models!

Happily most of our discounted bikes this year are the ex demo ones this year so we won’t have to look at wages expenditure to offset the losses. Pre season orders are difficult to do as so much depends on that decision to buy in stock.

So does it help the smaller LBS if customers order the discounted stock thought them (e.g. if my LBS orders a frame from Genesis for me that is on year end discount). Does the shop take a hit on that too?

So does it help the smaller LBS if customers order the discounted stock thought them (e.g. if my LBS orders a frame from Genesis for me that is on year end discount). Does the shop take a hit on that too?

Distributor will take take some of the hit, shop will have a reduced margin but will still make something.