This weekend was less lustrous then it should have been. It was a beautiful day on Sunday, very mild compared to most of last week, but still not many people out. Weird. We did send home one ride in the early AM, but then it was a day absorbed primarily with new builds! And a vain attempt at cleaning...very little effort actually. Managed to get out three more NEW newbies! Check them out below! Some SAH-WEET rides!
I did have one happenstance on Saturday I found rather irksome. I'll share it with you as a cautionary tale. Had a gent come in last week, looking at the Raleigh Rebuild we had, the one with all the Gary Fisher parts. REAL sharp bike, combined with the almost new parts off of a $1000.00 plus Gary Fisher that had a cracked frame. The bike was flawless and seriously up graded, but because we got the parts bike so cheap, I had it out at only $220.00. So....here's the thing, I have NO problem with bargaining with people, I understand, it's part of the schtick. Thing is, our mark up on bike is NOT all that high. I don't do the whole "Mark it up 50% so you can drop it down 20%. No, our prices reflect what we put into a ride plus a few bucks profit. Hey, gotta keep the lights on! BUT, we follow a few rules on negotiating; be respectful of the work, appreciative of the quality, and don't act like your doing me any favors. Well, this guy broke all three rules. SOOOO, I wasn't dealing. And honestly, I really don't have too. Our bikes are always priced to sell and we never have a problem moving anything. Well, he points to the one thing that was an issue, a small tear in the otherwise pristine seat (an $85.00 seat mind you) and says, condescendingly "I'll give you $150.00, cash. That's a great deal, you should take it, you'll never sell this for what you're asking!" Ugh. Really. Um...been doing this for ten years...I think I got a pretty good bead on what I can and cannot get. Seriously, the wheel set alone was worth twice what I was asking for the whole bike. I smiled, and said no thank you. He wasn't giving up, and actually tried to continue to inform me how to do business, and that I should be grateful for such a generous offer. Again, I declined, and as the bike had just been put out, I informed him we rarely deal for the first 72 hours anyway, as most bikes sell in 48. He just laughed and said he'd come back in three days and he was sure it would still be here and that then I would take his offer.
Ok.
Well....two days later, a couple came in and fell I love with it, knew it was a good deal, and snagged it up, not only for our asking price, but also upgraded the seat and had us put on a couple extras. Well, oy, here's where it gets interesting. The following day, when I was at my other job, the gent came back into the store assured he was going to get the bike for his offering price, as he had seen it still advertised on Craigslist. Yes, okay, hadn't pulled it off the listing yet, as the bike was picked up the day before just as I was leaving for my other job, and I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Well, it wasn't here and he got PI....well, upset. He hadn't called to confirm if it was still here, and went off on Logan as to why it wasn't here. Logan could only tell him "it sold". The guy then proceeded to start texting me and....well, I won't reveal that sort of language, but suffice to say, he was implying that I was lying and hiding the bike from him, because he really wanted it. And that was just bad business.
???????
Um....you didn't want it at the price we were asking, someone else did. Don't know how much clearer I can make it than that. Of course...my penchat for 'killing them with kindness" kicked in, and it didn't make him any happier that what he was trying to imply was not only NOT having an effect, but was actually starting to become entertaining! I don't think I have ever had to deal with such a ridiculous display of unreasonableness as on that day. Eventually, just to stop the annoyance from interrupting my work, I had to use the handy dandy "SPAM" feature on my phone to block his number. It was like, he seemed to think if he bugged me enough, I'd somehow have the buyers return the bike ad sell it to him at HIS asking price.
OY!
So, in conclusion; "treat everyone with the respect you would have them afford you, but if you can't...expect to get burnt!"
OKEY DOKEY!
Now, check out the goodies below...and I am off to work!
That red tandem is gorgeous! (Good thing I don't have room for it!)
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