Bike shop profit margins?

[cave weta]

Ive just been reading CARVERS thread on Boyds Suzuki KTM in Hamilton.

seems to me that shops are either customer driven or profit driven. They are all buying from the same wholesalers, Northern, Darby, Off Road Imports, CrownKiwi, EuroTred, Whites, blah blah blah.... yet the management decide whether they will have a nice quiet shop where the salesmen can snooze all day cos thy have price tickets with as many digits as the parts numbers (that Aprilia shop on Hewletts road Tauranga) Or they run a shop like Boyds- where 20 staff are zipping around the place sorting all the new bling that is coming in every day and getting anything that is over two months old onto the specials tables!

Their parts and accessories depertment is HUGE! they have stuff in there that many other shops dont have or even know about!

How come these guys are so busy every day when straight accross the road is another shop that is like a funeral parlour....

Simple - low margins quick= turn over of stock = happy bikers and happy managment

Im in there quite often - and all the other shops in tauranga and hamilton.

Its simple; This place is different!

What other shops have you guys noticed are always honking when the others are slow?

[Shaun]

Ive just been reading CARVERS thread on Boyds Suzuki KTM in Hamilton.

seems to me that shops are either customer driven or profit driven. They are all buying from the same wholesalers, Northern, Darby, CrownKiwi, EuroTred,
whites, blah blah blah.... yet the management decide whether they will have a nice quiet shop where the salesmen can snooze all day cos thy have price tickets with as many digits as the parts numbers (that Aprilia shop on Hewletts road Tauranga) Or they run a shop like Boyds- where 20 staff are zipping around the place sorting all the new bling that is coming in every day and getting anything that is over two months old onto the specials tables!

Their parts and accessories depertment is HUGE! they have stuff in there that many other shops dont have or even know about!

How come these guys are so busy every day when straight accross the road is another shop that is like a funeral parlour....

Simple - low margins quick= turn over of stock = happy bikers and happy managment

Im in there quite often - and all the other shops in tauranga and hamilton.

Its simple; This place is different!

What other shops have you guys noticed are always doing it when the others are slow?

www.motodynamix.co.nz

We have been on here for a few years now, and have always helped the biker, and will continue to.

We are having a NEW WEB site built very very soon, where I will be online t least 2 hours every day, and all enquiries will be awnsered with in 24 hours MAX!

We only deal in product from

Eurobike wholesalers

Darbi accesorries

Plenty of top quality from both importers.

PS well done to Boyd Suzuki for looking after there customers

[sidecar bob]

Why did you single out "that Aprilia shop on Hewletts rd"? Is that the same shop that damages your bike while they are servicing it & then blatantly refuse to accept any liability for it? or the same one that get given a poster for advertising the BADD run & throws it in the bin?
Edit. Having spoken to Ron from Strada, Apparently the BADD poster blew off the noticeboard & was damaged by a bike riding over it, That is why it was subsequently disposed of.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Ive just been reading CARVERS thread on Boyds Suzuki KTM in Hamilton.

seems to me that shops are either customer driven or profit driven. They are all buying from the same wholesalers, Northern, Darby, Off Road Imports, CrownKiwi, EuroTred, Whites, blah blah blah.... yet the management decide whether they will have a nice quiet shop where the salesmen can snooze all day cos thy have price tickets with as many digits as the parts numbers (that Aprilia shop on Hewletts road Tauranga) Or they run a shop like Boyds- where 20 staff are zipping around the place sorting all the new bling that is coming in every day and getting anything that is over two months old onto the specials tables!

Their parts and accessories depertment is HUGE! they have stuff in there that many other shops dont have or even know about!

How come these guys are so busy every day when straight accross the road is another shop that is like a funeral parlour....

Simple - low margins quick= turn over of stock = happy bikers and happy managment

Im in there quite often - and all the other shops in tauranga and hamilton.

Its simple; This place is different!

What other shops have you guys noticed are always honking when the others are slow?

If you think it's that simple...open your own shop and have a go mate!

[cave weta]

Why did you single out "that Aprilia shop on Hewletts rd"? Is that the same shop that damages your bike while they are servicing it & then blatantly refuse to accept any liability for it? or the same one that get given a poster for advertising the BADD run & throws it in the bin?

WOW!! That will be them- Its as though they are in the business of alienating motorcyclists! I could not believe their stuck up , elitist attitude! its as though they are only interested in existing Aprillia owners. Come back when you own one!

[nodrog:Me]

..Is that the same shop that damages your bike while they are servicing it & then blatantly refuse to accept any liability for it? or the same one that get given a poster for advertising the BADD run & throws it in the bin?

or the same one that runs a $1 reserve auction for a 07 Super Duke R, which sells to a mysterious new bidder in TGA for $16500, and still has the bike at their shop 4 months later for $23500?

[cave weta]

If you think it's that simple...open your own shop and have a go mate!

If you go back and carefully read again what I said.....

All I have said is that there are a couple of different approaches to retailing
and the customers prefer the one that benefits them.

If you own a business and it is not doing well - dont jump on me for making you feel that you could be doing better- get around the other shops and see what makes them more successful!

[sidecar bob]

WOW!! That will be them- Its as though they are in the business of alienating motorcyclists! I could not believe their stuck up , elitist attitude! its as though they are only interested in existing Aprillia owners. Come back when you own one!

Ive already got two Aprilia's & it aint helping any, so no, i dont believe your theory works on that one.

[Hitcher]

Great. Another "bash a bike shop" thread.

Any motorcycle dealership that's been in business a while must be doing something right.

I don't believe that business is as simple as making a choice between being customer driven and being profit driven. Indeed the proposition put forward in this thread's first post implies that these two goals are somehow mutually exclusive.

I couldn't run a business like a motorcycle shop. The thought of having all of that stock sitting aroung eating its head off in finance charges would keep me awake at night. I also know enough about this form of retailing to know that margins are slim at best.

I'm happy to be a customer of bike shops that I think give me a fair go.

[sidecar bob]

or the same one that runs a $1 reserve auction for a 07 Super Duke R, which sells to a mysterious new bidder in TGA for $16500, and still has the bike at their shop 4 months later for $23500?

Seems to be a pattern emerging. Yes i followed that auction & i can guess exactly who the highest bidder was.
Also the one that gave me a PGO 50 scooter capable of about 55kmh to ride back to work 21km amongst logging trucks in a 70 & 100kmh area.
They said i was soft, but i didnt see them at the have a-go-day.
The last time i had my Aprilia at a shop the Demented salesman gave me a 1098 Duke to go back to work on. Now thats more like it!!

[ferriswheel]

Last 2 times my bike was in the shop they did it whilst i waited
Now thats service

[ManDownUnder]

If you own a business and ...

... and what sage advice awaits those that don't own a business? Shop somewhere else perhaps? Get the best deal you can by shopping around? Don't bitch and moan about others when all you need to do is move along?

A heads up about your experiences with a particular bike shop is fine - if there is a balancing right of reply. Or is this the interweb prerogative being exercised yet again, beating up someone in their absence... again... ?

[pixc]

Last time I was at a shop/bike mechanic, I dropped the bike on me...and they had to come out and peel it off me... hahaaahahahaa

[cave weta]

Great. Another "bash a bike shop" thread.

Any motorcycle dealership that's been in business a while must be doing something right.

I don't believe that business is as simple as making a choice between being customer driven and being profit driven. Indeed the proposition put forward in this thread's first post implies that these two goals are somehow mutually exclusive.
I couldn't run a business like a motorcycle shop. The thought of having all of that stock sitting aroung eating its head off in finance charges would keep me awake at night. I also know enough about this form of retailing to know that margins are slim at best.

I'm happy to be a customer of bike shops that I think give me a fair go.

Mutually exclusive? - is that when you both decide that you will fuck just one person at a time?

And yes me too! Im happy to be a customer of bike shops that give me a fair go...I buy a lot of stuff having 9 bikes that are ridden all the time.

Top Fun Motorcycles in Hamilton - One guy runs the whole place - god knows how he does it- but he has always got all the good dirt bike stuff in stock his prices are sharp as! And he can get pretty much anything you need within a few days as he is not tied to any franchise deals. So he sources the best bits from all the best manufacturers!

[vifferman]

Don't bike shops have a right to charge what they like? The trick is making a reasonable return on investment without charging too much and losing potential customers.
There's always a risk with selling stuff too cheap that they could go out of business, so then they're of no use to the customer base they've built up anyway!

I guess the bottom line is that the customer FEELS like they are valued, and enjoys doing business with the shop. While I like to get a good price for things, I don't mind paying a little extra if I feel the shop is looking after me and isn't just interested in a quick buck.
F'rinstance - the shop I bought my bike from made a good profit on the bike, and on the bike I traded in on it. But they've made nothing (zero, zip, nada!) in the four years since then. I've made a point of buying my Honda parts elsewhere, and my accessories, consumables and bike gear from any shop but theirs.
Why?
Because they basically lied to me (about my trade-in, and about accessories for the 'new' bike), and because they made it very clear their attitude was profit before customer service.
Very shoddy.
All it would've taken for me to give them my on-going custom, and to have spent several thousands more dollars in their shop, would've been to have told me the truth, and to have been prepared to sacrifice $50-$100 in order to gain more future custom. Overall, they would still have made a HUGE profit on the initial sale, but would have conveyed an entirely different message.

The biggest regret I have (apart from buying from them in the first place) is that I haven't told them all this, so they have no idea how much custom they've lost.
But fukkem - if they were doing their job right, they'd know all this stuff. Obviously they're too arrogant to notice.