[TheThinkTank] Random Thought: Creating a bicycle parts/tools distributor for Community Bike Shops.

[1304bikes]

I really like this idea as well, mainly because we here at 1304bikes fall
into the not established enough to get a distributor account.  This means we
usually have to pay retail prices for anything we happen to need.  A lot of
the local bike shops to give us a nice discount, but we still pay some
markup on wholesale.

I agree with option 2, that it is worth doing.  I'm just not sure how one
would go about doing so; but i certainly love the idea.

-Doug
1304bikes
Raleigh, NC

On 3/12/08, Jonathan Morrison <jonathan at slcbikecollective.org> wrote:
>
> Distributors (
> http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Distributors) are just
> the middle men separating manufacturers from retailers.  Just like food
> cooperatives that buy in bulk and disseminate food at bulk rates, we could
> do that with bike parts.  For those of us that buy using distributors it
> would save an roughly 25% off of wholesale, and for those community bike
> shops that aren't established enough to get a distributor account -- we
> would be providing an option that is 75% off of MSRP.
>
> Ideally we would get accounts with tool manufacturers like park tool,
> pedros, hozan, etc.,... as well as wearable items like grease, bearing,
> chain lube, patch manufacturers, and then lower-end (but quality) parts
> manufacturers for things that we don't get enough of donated, or that aren't
> worth re-using.  This will be different for each shop, but as an example in
> SLC we don't re-use bearings, spokes, cables or housing -- they get recycled
> and we put new ones on bikes.  We also buy new road tires (27" & 700c)
> because we don't have enough decent ones donated, either they are too worn
> or dried out.
>
> I can think of 2 conclusions:
>
> 1) It isn't worth doing.  The 25% cut a distributor gets is worth paying
> given the hassle and it is just another random thought that might result in
> spending $5 to save $3.
> 2) It is worth doing.
>
> --
> Sincerely,
>
> Jonathan Morrison
> Executive Director
> Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
> 2312 S. West Temple
> Salt Lake City, UT 84115
> w: 801-328-2453
> c: 801-688-0183
> f: 801-466-3856
> www.slcbikecollective.org
>
> Get Addicted to Crank!
> http://www.slcbikecollective.org/crank/
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>


-- 
1304bikes
2419 Mayview Rd.
Raleigh, NC
1304bikes.org
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