Shopping for a bike is just like purchasing a new car, with a plethora of pricing, models, and types. Don’t pay more than you need to.
There is no shame in haggling. Don’t be too proud to ask for a better price. Bike shops want to make the sale as much as you want to buy that new bike.
Be Bold
Lose your fear of negotiating. Make yourself feel good about spending money by not paying the asking price. The markup on bicycles leaves room for negotiating, and salespeople expect you to bargain with them — it’s part of the game. Go into the store with a heads up attitude, walk out with a new bike—and more of your hard earned cash in your pocket.
Make an Offer
Ask the salesperson if they will take less money for the bike. If they say they don’t have the authority, ask for the manager, or the senior salesperson on duty. Then offer to buy the bike at 15 percent off the asking price. This will make them counter with 10 percent off. If they don’t counter offer, be prepared to walk out.
Bargaining Points
Ride the bike and look for defects. Find a nick in the paint, a sluggish gear, a crooked or bent cable. Improperly aligned shifters — a common issue — or brakes that seem spongy are relatively common on bikes that were assembled too fast. Find any minor, insignificant, cosmetic, or aesthetic problem, and bring it to the salespersons attention for leverage to negotiate a better price.
Do Your Homework
Get on the Internet before you go bike shopping. Get prices ahead of time, and use them for bargaining power. Look at customer reviews and know the good and bad points of the bikes you’re interested in, and use those in your bargaining. Know what you want and need from a bike, and stick to it.
Check Competitors
Check out competitor ads and prices and be prepared to show them to the salesperson for leverage.
Cash Talks
Offer to pay cash if they lower the price. If that doesn’t work, tell them you will buy the bike if they throw in extras like pedals, bike computers, helmets etc. Credit cards merchants charge approximately 3% of gross sales to process the transaction. That means that you could potentially get 3% off the bike and the bike shop would still receive that same amount of money for the sale.
Stroke Them
Tell them you love shopping at their store. Inquire if there is a sale coming up in the next few weeks. If they say yes, then ask for the sale price now. Never let them know how eager you are to buy the bike.
Don’t Be That Guy
While keeping all of these things in mind, make sure you are not mean or too pushy. Remember that you will likely be getting your bike repaired here down the road. You want to leave feeling like you got a good price, but you also want to make sure that the bike shop feels good about their sale.
If you develop a good relationship with your bike shop they will give you discounts down the road on maintenance and accessories.