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  • Madison Freewheel – LBS owners of STW thoughts please…
  • Pierre
    Full Member

    Would be interested to hear from bike shop owners about how they feel about customers who try to haggle.

    Totally fine with me. We’ll charge RRP when we can because that margin is what pays for the rent, the utilities, the staff wages, etc. We’ll discount on parts sometimes – we offer British Cycling discount, LCC, various local clubs and groups, NHS, and discretionary discounts if the customer’s buying lots of stuff or having a big service. We don’t discount labour because our servicing is worth paying for and our staff are paid fairly (we’re Living Wage employers, very few bike shops are).

    And I’m totally fine saying no to customers who want unreasonable discounts. There’s no point unequivocally competing with online shops, we regularly have to charge more because the customer wants us to be local, able to give them advice and able to competently fit the part and deal with any warranty problems. That’s why I’m also totally fine with customers buying stuff online and bringing it to us – sometimes even getting a multitude of packages shipped to the shop (we’re open 7am to 7pm, much more convenient than them waiting around for a courier / missed delivery!) and booking a workshop slot for us to build the lot up for them.

    The price difference between an online shop and a bricks and mortar shop is a difficult balance. It comes down to how much each customer values the advantages of the LBS. A good LBS makes that price difference worth spending because they add value, whether that’s convenience, community, servicing, advice, coffee, bike fitting, warranty stuff, ongoing maintenance and support or whatever. It’s up to every customer how much they think their LBS is worth paying the extra for. It’s up to every LBS to show the customers they’re worth paying the extra for.

Viewing 41 post (of 41 total)

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