Joined
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330 Posts
Can anyone explain it to me?
Why is it "bad" for shop owners to make a living by selling products for more than they pay for them? Isn't that how commerce works? I source products from a company or distributor, sell it to a customer, and if there's a problem, I'm the person the customer deals with. I deal with the sourcing, the stocking, and the warranty issues. I should do this for free?
Repairs at bike shops... So often I read that bike mechanics are idiots. That shops rip people off by charging for small repairs. Forum posters command people to learn to work on their own bikes so that they can put bike shops out of business. Seriously.... WTF?
I pride myself on having extremely satisfied customers. People leave here feeling like they got more than they paid for (which they usually do), and they don't need to come back because of botched repairs. I charge fair prices for both products and labour.
Yet, I'm lumped in with the "all bike shops suck!" cries. I feel like my livelihood/passion is being assaulted and insulted. Maybe I need to HTFU. I worked crap jobs (Auto mechanic for 10+, web designer for 5+, bike mechanic for 10, etc.) for years to get to the point where I could open my own shop and be my own boss, and any attack on that makes me really angry. (If anyone also posts at RBR, they probably know which post/topic I'm talking about)
So let's here YOUR opinions about bike shops. Problems, bad shops, good shops, reasons that bike shops should continue to exist, etc.
Why is it "bad" for shop owners to make a living by selling products for more than they pay for them? Isn't that how commerce works? I source products from a company or distributor, sell it to a customer, and if there's a problem, I'm the person the customer deals with. I deal with the sourcing, the stocking, and the warranty issues. I should do this for free?
Repairs at bike shops... So often I read that bike mechanics are idiots. That shops rip people off by charging for small repairs. Forum posters command people to learn to work on their own bikes so that they can put bike shops out of business. Seriously.... WTF?
I pride myself on having extremely satisfied customers. People leave here feeling like they got more than they paid for (which they usually do), and they don't need to come back because of botched repairs. I charge fair prices for both products and labour.
Yet, I'm lumped in with the "all bike shops suck!" cries. I feel like my livelihood/passion is being assaulted and insulted. Maybe I need to HTFU. I worked crap jobs (Auto mechanic for 10+, web designer for 5+, bike mechanic for 10, etc.) for years to get to the point where I could open my own shop and be my own boss, and any attack on that makes me really angry. (If anyone also posts at RBR, they probably know which post/topic I'm talking about)
So let's here YOUR opinions about bike shops. Problems, bad shops, good shops, reasons that bike shops should continue to exist, etc.