A bike shop charging more than MSRP?

Today I went into a certain high-volume bike shop on Wells to buy a replacement chain for my winter bike. I do that pretty much every 2 years and go for a SRAM 850. Previous times I paid in the upper teens.

The clerk hands me the chain, which has a price tag of $25 on it. I mention that I think that is much higher than I used to pay. He says "let me check" and looks at his computer for a while. He comes back and says "The MSRP is $18. You can have it for that". I pay $18 and leave with a new chain.

Question: is it normal that bike shops price their items 39 percent over MSRP? I have no problem paying MSRP for parts, but this sounded like they were trying to overcharge me. By a lot.

Have you ever experienced something similar?

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Permalink Reply by Bailey Gene Newbrey on July 15, 2013 at 6:40pm

Adding a mark-up to items increases profit, which helps cover over-head. MSRP is $16 for that chain, which I gladly charge. My shop, however, doesn't have air conditioning.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 16, 2013 at 2:53am

MSRP is $16? Then they priced it 56% over MSRP.

Buyer beware.



Bailey Gene Newbrey said:

Adding a mark-up to items increases profit, which helps cover over-head. MSRP is $16 for that chain, which I gladly charge. My shop, however, doesn't have air conditioning.

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on July 16, 2013 at 3:29am

I purchased a rear cassette from The Bike Lane, I called and the price they quoted was over MSRP.  I went in and it was priced over MSRP.  When they checked me out the computer spit out a price that was below MSRP.  

Apparently they have 2 dif systems, one for ordering parts w/ one price, then the true price at check out. 

 

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on July 16, 2013 at 4:12am

Certain Bike Shops have locations that enable them to charge more because they cater to a Customer that does not pay attention to "small bills" (that is to say less than $100) and simply want fast service.  I suspect that the price charged was the "installed" price as that shop doesn't cater to many "self-repair" types.   That being said, this is not extraordinary.  My son was charged by Children's Hospital $90 for "pain medication".  It consisted of a grand total of TWO co-tylenol's.  That's something like $5.00 worth of Drugs if purchased through "open" channels.  Did we fight it?   It wasn't worth it when compared to the rest of the bill for the broken arm.  (And with the current "system" of Health Insurance, all we would have done is shifted some part of the bill which had been paid by the insurance company back to us... so the fight would not have saved me anything... )

Permalink Reply by Eli on July 16, 2013 at 4:54am

Johnny Sprockets on Bryn Mawr charged me several dollars more than the price on the sticker (which I believe was the MSRP) for a chain they sold me. It wasn't worth arguing over but it certainly was irritating.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 16, 2013 at 5:09am

The less the item costs the more likely it is to be priced over MSRP or have a higher markup than more expensive items.  The shop I work at charges a couple bucks over MSRP for that chain.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 16, 2013 at 5:11am

The MSRP is only a suggested price. Go buy your chain form another shop if you don't like their price.

Permalink Reply by Eli on July 16, 2013 at 5:54am

An MSRP may be only a suggestion, but it is deceptive, dishonest, and and probably illegal to place a price sticker on an item and then charge a higher price than is on the sticker. Stores are generally required by law to honor the marked price (http://commonlaw.findlaw.com/2011/09/pricing-disputes-you-pay-the-l...).

Permalink Reply by djm on July 16, 2013 at 6:55am

I have seen prices marked above MSRP at another well-known Chicago bike store .  I dont shop there.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on July 16, 2013 at 12:27pm

This is why I usually look at the part in the store and ask the sales people questions. However, I then usually tell them I forgot my wallet and go home to order it on Amazon. I dislike Chicago bike shops and their employees quite a bit. This charging above MRP is pretty typical.

Permalink Reply by S on July 16, 2013 at 12:37pm



El Dorado said:

This is why I usually look at the part in the store and ask the sales people questions. However, I then usually tell them I forgot my wallet and go home to order it on Amazon. I dislike Chicago bike shops and their employees quite a bit. This charging above MRP is pretty typical.

That's BS.  If you don't want to buy from the store and possibly pay above MSRP, that's fine.  But don't go in to the store, waste the employee's time by asking them questions and then using that advice to buy the item cheaper online.  Use your own time to do the research online or by asking friends and then buy it online if that's the route you'll be going.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 16, 2013 at 2:27pm

So let me get this straight, you go into a shop that pays rent on its space as well as insurance and utilities just to be open.  Take a look at the merchandise that they paid to have there for people to look at.  Take up the time of of the staff they pay to be there because you need their knowledge/opinion and then, after taking all of that from them you go and buy it from some internet store who can offer a cheaper price because they do not have a retail space you can check out product at or staff you can ask real questions of?

Which leads into an interesting question; why do people think it is ok to do shit like this to bike shops?  Seriously, I want to ask all of you that question; after several years of working in shops I really want to know why it is people do things at bike shops they never would at another business.

Would you walk into a restaurant, ask how they make their food and then leave to go home and make it yourself?

Would you go to a car mechanic and ask if you could use their tools to perform a repair in their parking lot?

Would you stop in a restaurant to sample dishes, buy nothing and then go home and order delivery?

Would you go to a car mechanic, buy the parts you needed and then demand they put them on for free?

Seriously, why does everyone think that bike shops should just give stuff away to them?

Other industries use crazy mark ups over MSRP on stuff as well, auto shops being just one of them but I don't see this kind of complaining there.

El Dorado said

This is why I usually look at the part in the store and ask the sales people questions. However, I then usually tell them I forgot my wallet and go home to order it on Amazon. I dislike Chicago bike shops and their employees quite a bit. This charging above MRP is pretty typical.

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