In fact this topic was discussed very recently.  Try visiting bikecollectives.org, find the menu item thinktank archives and see, among others, the thread about "bike sales out of control" from earlier this month.

chris

On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 3:47 PM, Alex Rosenblatt <rosenblatt.alex@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello all!

Alright, so I'm sure this has been posted to the list 54 times over.

But:

How do y'all make money?

More specifically: Our bike co-op has traditionally been, on the front
end, a completely volunteer based earn-a-bike program. We have paid
staff but aside from that money is not exchanged. We are considering
selling bicycles, charging a per hour rate, and selling parts but we
are afraid of alienating a large part of our population. How do you
balance retaining your goals, ethics, ideologies - like promoting
bicycle access, providing (largely) free transportation,
anti-capitalist leanings, skill empowerment -  with keeping your shop
autonomous and self sustaining?

Thanks all! Apologies if this is an all to often repeated topic and
feel free to ask for clarification.

Alex
Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles. (RIBS)
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