I worry about the folks that don't have a proper business license or
the accountability that comes with it. Eventually they end up selling
something stolen and they get a reputation for it. At least that has
happened in SLC a few times.
We love it when there are more people selling used bikes, as long as
it is on the up and up. We have a great working relationship with
those that do.
We have one guy who is legal, has a home occupation business permit
for a bike shop, and we send him lots of work. He sends folks to us
to. Our competitors are golf and the tv, not each other.
If I could suggest anything it would be to make sure what you are
doing is legal, ignore and don't react to rumors, they just make the
folks that spread them look bad and paranoid. That is a self
correcting issue.
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
On Mar 31, 2010, at 11:11 AM, Joel Gillespie joelgillian@hotmail.com
wrote:
I'll apologize up front for the large amount of exposition to come.
If you'd prefer to thin-slice, my question is this: What conflicts
have other collectives encountered with "shade tree" mechanics and
other unofficial LBS's, and what are reasonable steps to take to
avoid unnecessary competition with them?Hi, this is Joel Gillespie from The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign
(http://www.thebikeproject.org) in Illinois. We've recently entered
into a Facility Use Agreement with the University of Illinois to
collaborate with the U of I to open an on-campus location for our
cooperative, to be known as the Campus Bike Project (clever, right?).A student group funded by an optional student sustainability fee
gave us a grant to convert an old garage into a shop, and the
university is allowing us to use the space rent- and utility-free
(at least for the first year), and they're paying a 20-hour-per-week
employee (me) out of the facilities budget.In return, we're doing basically the same things we already do at
our original location -- assist with member repairs and build-a- bikes, refurbish and sell or donate used bikes, and sell a few very
low-end, consumable or safety parts like tires, tubes, helmets,
locks and lights. Our collective has an ongoing relationship with
the U of I parking department where they give us the abandoned bikes
from the previous school year (this was something that they
approached us about, not something we sought).This new location has been the last straw for one of our erstwhile
volunteer staffers, who operates a used-bike sales, frame painting,
and bike repair business out of his house. He's made some noise on
the local bike listservs and has been accusing us of some pretty
nasty things like misusing our nonprofit status and has threatening
an FBI investigation, etc., but I guess that's not really the point
of my question. His view is that we're unfairly competing with him
because we accept grants and get benefits from working with the
university.The most reasonable part of his argument is that we're unfairly
competing with his business since we sell repaired bikes to non- members, and we also don't have the best membership tracking system,
which has probably led to non-members taking advantage of multiple
unpaid visits for repair help. We have a "first visit free" policy
for use of the shop and tools, after which you have to buy a
membership to use the space -- $25 per yr for students, $40 per yr
for non-students. Those points have some merit, and we're taking
steps to make things more member-centric. We're also going to have
very visible maps and handouts showing locations and contact info of
LBS's.So, I guess what I'm asking, is that enough? Does what we're doing
sound unreasonable? We don't want to bend over backwards to please
someone just because they're complaining, but at the same time, we
want to be a good neighbor to folks trying to make a decent living.
Thanks in advance for your time and insights.Joel Gillespie The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign
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