In article
,
" wrote:

On Jan 24, 6:24*pm, Chalo wrote:
SMS wrote:

It's really annoying have so few bicycles come standard with basic
accessories, especially on commute and touring bicycles where it's
pretty well accepted that the buyer will be adding things like racks,
fenders, bells, bottle cages, etc. $100 worth of retail accessories
would cost the bicycle manufacturer about $8, which would end up adding
maybe $22-25 to the retail cost. I was kind of impressed that the
Raleigh Sojourn comes with most of that stuff.

Bike manufacturers have a symbiotic relationship with bike retailers,
which are usually service shops as well. *Retailers depend heavily
upon accessory sales. *When I was in the bike shop business, markups
on complete bikes ran in the 35% range, while markups on accessories
were usually 100%. *The margin on bikes might cover the cost of
keeping bikes on the floor, but it was the margin on everything else
that made it plausible to do business.

That's surprising to me (the bike markup, I had an idea what the
component markup was). Are shops in the habit of selling bikes for
what they paid when they need to get them off the floor for the next
years model? I think I paid around 65%, maybe 70% of MSRP for my last
bike and often see bikes on sale for 50-60% of MSRP. I know when a
car dealer tells you they're actually losing money selling you a car
at a certain price it's hot air - do bike shops actually do this?

As an aside, I've never bought a car from a dealership but I've come
close and am ruthless in negotiations (I've also helped others
negotiate cars from dealers).

I did buy a new car at a dealership; am happy with the car and the
purchase. I decided what car and features I wanted and what a fair
price was. The saleswoman wrote up a contract, then said she was
going to the sales manager to have it reviewed. I said that if
the sales manager did not pass on it, I would be lowering my offer.
She laughed.

--
Michael Press