LBS v online shopping

kerryscoob

Was in a rush today and needed to buy some cleaning products for the bikes.
Stopped off at the LBS in Cork and came home with
Finish Line Chain Cleaner set, Muc-Off Bike Clean 1lt, and Shimano Degreaser 1lt can. Total €71.40

Knew I was paying a few euro extra at the time but was curious when I got home to how much versus on line shopping.

Bike24 including shipping (€10) and an additional 1lt of Muc-Off Bike Clean on offer total cost €55.26.

CRC Total €54.84.

The chain cleaner was €25 in bike24, lbs €45....
Moral of the story, plan better.

CaoimH_in

You paid extra to clean your bike that day. You paid extra for a hub of information for fellow cyclists and the cycling community. You paid extra for local jobs. You paid extra for advice for application of the product digested by someone with experience and explained to you. You paid extra for the convenience of always knowing that if someone catastrophic goes wrong with your bike you can get it fixed locally. You paid extra for the same convenience for others. You paid extra for a real returns policy. You paid extra for same day convenience for other products.

You paid about 20 euro extra.

Lumen

CaoimH_in wrote: »

You paid extra for advice for application of the product digested by someone with experience

In Cork they drink the degreaser so you don't have to.

kerryscoob

It was cleaning materials I purchased, I wasn't looking to go to the moon, I didn't require advice? but yes there was staff on the premises, who require to be paid, rent to be paid, Irish jobs etc etc.

I don't have a problem with paying extra but it's the daylight robbery that bugs me.

It goes back to the days when Aer Lingus were the only airline in the country. Robbed, what few customers they had, Ryanair decide to change the rules and instead bring airline travel to the masses, (I realise people bitch about these people also).

If you can justify paying that type of extra charge on a chain cleaner without feeling being done, your a better person than me, and also I hope better paid

katnia

CaoimH_in wrote: »

You paid extra to clean your bike that day. You paid extra for a hub of information for fellow cyclists and the cycling community. You paid extra for local jobs. You paid extra for advice for application of the product digested by someone with experience and explained to you. You paid extra for the convenience of always knowing that if someone catastrophic goes wrong with your bike you can get it fixed locally. You paid extra for the same convenience for others. You paid extra for a real returns policy. You paid extra for same day convenience for other products.

You paid about 20 euro extra.

I know where you are coming from on this issue but personally I think your reasoning above is a wee bit forceful IMO, I'm all for LBS and local jobs but I think in the current climate some people may find paying an extra €20 on a relatively modest spend for the 'local' convenience hard enough to justify. I think there can be a happy medium between the two methods of shopping - online and LBS. If everyone spreads the way they spend their money between LBS and online then I think there isn't much of an issue.

Slo_Rida

I bought a chain cleaner in my lbs for €20...Crc price was €21, that's the only price I can accurately compare so your particular lbs is the problem on that front, not all bike shops.
This post sums up one of my 2 beefs with the whole local shop versus web shop. People buy online, then go online and complain about their stuff not arriving within 5 minutes. OR people buy in a shop (where prices are clearly displayed) and then complain about the price! You wanted product in a hurry and got exactly that and you're not happy.
Rant over!!

smacl

Retail in Ireland is a very tough call at present, the so called rip off culture has more to do with upward only rent reviews than anyone making a fortune, and surviving is the new being profitable. I tend to buy either on line or 2nd hand more often than using a retailer because I'm very value conscious, but I wouldn't begrudge the LBS their prices any more than I'd envy their position.

nophd08

I use a petrol and diesel mix as chain cleaner, 1.50 odd a litre for each,
3.00 euro or so for two litres. Simples.

shaka

My LBS is cheaper than online but I can guess which shop in cork you bought that in, that's a rip off and there is no justification for it..

CramCycle

nophd08 wrote: »

I use a petrol and diesel mix as chain cleaner, 1.50 odd a litre for each,
3.00 euro or so for two litres. Simples.

Your buying tractor diesel, or you have found the cheapest petrol / diesel in the country.

route66

CramCycle wrote: »

Your buying tractor diesel, or you have found the cheapest petrol / diesel in the country.

Not really - using pumps.ie, I got the following prices per litre for Petrol & diesel respectively: 1.57, 1.50.

But what does one do with this hybtib solution when done?

Run_to_da_hills

Chain Reaction Kryptonite New York = 118.98

LBS = 99

smacl

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Chain Reaction Kryptonite New York = 118.98

LBS = 99

Fair play to your LBS for providing a good price, but I wouldn't use CRC as a baseline for value. They're not charging for postage thing is a joke too. For example, go to your lock, set the country to UK mainland, and currency to £Stg. Now change the location to Ireland, and the price hops up £2.48, even though they advertise shipping to Ireland as free. Cheap postage for sure, but not free. I don't spend much time in bike shops, so find on-line more convenient, and compare shipped prices for most purchases. If there's not much in it I'd use www.cyclesuperstore.ie to spend the money in the local economy, outside of that bike24, bike-discount.de, ribble, and SJS have all been significantly cheaper for specific items.

For stuff like degreaser that you know you're always going to use, buying in bulk makes sense, something like finish line 3.8L for €40. Also makes sense to purchase a number of items together rather than bits and bobs as you need them.

Ryath

smacl wrote: »

Fair play to your LBS for providing a good price, but I wouldn't use CRC as a baseline for value. They're not charging for postage thing is a joke too. For example, go to your lock, set the country to UK mainland, and currency to £Stg. Now change the location to Ireland, and the price hops up £2.48, even though they advertise shipping to Ireland as free. Cheap postage for sure, but not free. I don't spend much time in bike shops, so find on-line more convenient

They have to charge the Irish VAT rate of 23% vs UK 20% nothing to do with charging more to deliver to Ireland.

Crippens1

All retailers really need to embrace the net and provide information online even if a customer still needs to go to the shop to purchase. I see cyclesuperstore is mentioned above and this is a good example of a retailer providing information online; I find they are often cheaper than the major online shops. All local retailers really need to be doing this. It isn't diifficult - any tech savvy kid can build a website.

I usually check local prices before shopping online even if it means phoning shops to ask their price. I'll only buy from a foreign retailer if the price difference is signifiant.

JMcL

As others have pointed out an LBS isn't always more expensive than online.

My recent post Christmas treats have included BBB Coldzone gloves €19 (Wiggle €27.79), Lezyne Road Drive pump €35 (Wiggle €42), and a set of Kysrium Equipe wheels €375 (Wiggle €410, CRC €426). While I may have been able to get these cheaper from Germany, at the end of the day I'm happy to pay a small premium to keep the lads going, and that's before taking into account the value of good service

on_the_nickel

kerryscoob wrote: »

Was in a rush today and needed to buy some cleaning products for the bikes.
Stopped off at the LBS in Cork and came home with
Finish Line Chain Cleaner set, Muc-Off Bike Clean 1lt, and Shimano Degreaser 1lt can. Total €71.40

Knew I was paying a few euro extra at the time but was curious when I got home to how much versus on line shopping.

Bike24 including shipping (€10) and an additional 1lt of Muc-Off Bike Clean on offer total cost €55.26.

CRC Total €54.84.

The chain cleaner was €25 in bike24, lbs €45....
Moral of the story, plan better.

If it's the shop I think it is, I wouldn't call it a LBS, more a megastore cashing in on triathlon's increasing popularity.

That said, I'm struggling to think of a LBS I like in Cork.

Two of them are run by the grumpiest f*ckers I've ever come across, one with a tendency to shut up shop at no notice while your bike is ready for collection and the sun is shining. The others are not really local.

I tend to use http://www.corkbicycleservices.ie/ for servicing and big components, online for the smaller stuff and drop in to the tri-megastore when stuck.

on_the_nickel

PS I bought a can of that Shimano degreaser and kicked the f*cker over 2nd time I was using it. I reckon €15 of it spillled. FML.

CramCycle

on_the_nickel wrote: »

The others are not really local.

This is a local shop, for local people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfT-RbjgD5M

thebouldwhacker

Sorry but if people are gonna part with that much cash for what is essentially soap I have no sympathy.
The emperor has no clothes in this case, chain cleaner I can appreciate but you only need a drop of that stuff to work, its toxic crap and shouldn't be flung about like shower gel, a tin if that pollution potion should last so long that a few quid in the difference is not worth getting worked up about it. But muck off etc is a first world rip off.
As for online vs lbs, I reckon lbs's should issue membership cards and only serve lbs customers, people wouldn't be long appreciating what they do then when they are stuck for white valve caps on a Saturday morning before they put in their weekly 20km on their online carbon framed bso that cost €2000 and will work out to be €10 a spin before it gets put into the garage.

In the last 12 months my lbs stopped me from buying a new rear wheel as he fixed the old one for free instead and a saddle as after a conversation he made some suggestions and urged me to keep my old one. I can try before I buy with same minute returns, as well as loans of things, info on events, tips and tricks of bike repair. In return I am his customer, so I get customer service...... Not a bloody transferable website code.

I'm so hard I surf websites to see what I want to buy off him.

ratracer

I hope my lbs survives for a very long time. I get almost everything i need there. Its a small shop and so doesn't have the capacity to stock high end stuff all the time, but will order whatever I'm after and have it in a few days the same as online shop would. The service and advice the lbs can provide is miles ahead of any online store. And sometimes just dropping in for a chat is good too.

ROK ON

I really think that this thread is a microcosm of modern consumerism.

For almost every good or service, we can in many cases purchase at a lower price thru large online megastores. The purely economic argument of rational homo-economicus would only purchase online.

This has implications and some of them are negative.
Local stores are essential to the very fabric of urban life. They are important for society. While we can't expect to buy cheaper from the local store, they must realise that they have to compete on something other than price in order to win our business - it is a two way street.

Interestingly, the economies that tend to do well in global downturns are ones that have a wide variety of disparate small businesses. They are in societies benefit.

I use the online stores and LBSs. I we only prioritise low price then I fear we contribute to a race to the bottom - I have wondered for example just how culpable the likes of Tescos drive for ultra low prices have had in the recent horse burger incident.

kerryscoob

on_the_nickel wrote: »

If it's the shop I think it is, I wouldn't call it a LBS, more a megastore cashing in on triathlon's increasing popularity

You could be right

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

As for online vs lbs, I reckon lbs's should issue membership cards and only serve lbs customers, people wouldn't be long appreciating what they do then when they are stuck for white valve caps on a Saturday morning before they put in their weekly 20km on their online carbon framed bso that cost €2000 and will work out to be €10 a spin before it gets put into the garage.

I think the bikes in the garage get more than 20km a week .

ROK ON wrote: »

. I we only prioritise low price then I fear we contribute to a race to the bottom - I have wondered for example just how culpable the likes of Tescos drive for ultra low prices have had in the recent horse burger incident.

I think if you were look in my shed, it would be clear that the equipment is not about price.

I'm delighted to read that so many posters are customers who will continue to return to their LBS, this is due to the service they are receiving. But as an example the "chain cleaner was €25 in bike24, lbs €45...." is daylight robbery.

smacl

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

In the last 12 months my lbs stopped me from buying a new rear wheel as he fixed the old one for free instead and a saddle as after a conversation he made some suggestions and urged me to keep my old one. I can try before I buy with same minute returns, as well as loans of things, info on events, tips and tricks of bike repair. In return I am his customer, so I get customer service.

Well tell us the name of the shop then for God's sake! Poor bugger is probably reading this post, waiting for the inevitable bit where the shop name is mentioned and is horrified not to see it by the end of the post. Something similar happened to me last year, when I broke a spoke on an old RD80 wheel, and holyboy from beecycles fixed it, had to get a new tool in for job, and wouldn't take a penny off me as he reckoned the wheel was on the way out anyway. Nor was he particularly interested in selling me a new wheel, but told me to come back to him when I wanted one built.

Small businesses thrive or fail on word of mouth, and I say that having been in business myself for the last three decades. If you're getting outstanding service, don't be shy about naming the shop.