Pricing

Pricing

For new bikes you will see listed MSRP, meaning, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. We are not allowed by the manufacturers to advertise anything else for new current-model-year bikes. Do deals get made? Of course; this is the motor vehicle business! But a deal means to us the combination of the bike, the accessories, the trade, and the circumstances of the purchase. So in other words, asking us “What’s your price on this bike?” isn’t going to get you the answer you want, and it’s not because we’re trying to be evasive; it’s just that there’s more to it.

As with most new vehicle purchases, there are many items in the ‘out-the-door’ price. The first of course is the price of the vehicle itself. Next is the cost of getting it to the dealer. In the bike business, we call it freight; car people call it the destination charge. We are charged freight separately from the price of the vehicle by the manufacturer; this is not a phony excuse to charge you more. And actually, it costs you less this way, for if manufacturers included freight in the cost of a vehicle, this cost would become inflated by the dealer’s margin over wholesale. Sure, some dealers mark up freight anyway, but we charge the exact standard freight amount our manufacturers charge dealers; we don’t mark it up.

Next is the setup charge. To have bikes available to you, we have to buy them in advance, pay interest on them, pay to store them, pay to have them uncrated and the crate recycled, pay to have them delivered from a local warehouse, pay to gas them up and service them into running condition, and pay for damage, wear & tear, and demo use & depreciation. For each model we figure a fee that reflects an average for these real costs.

What you won’t see here is a big round number called “freight and setup.” When you do see this elsewhere, it should be considered very suspicious. We’re here to offer bikes for sale, not freight and setup, so we do all we can to keep these charges to a minimum.

We are required to collect sales tax based on the rate at our shop, not where you live. Do note that in Washington State there is an additional 0.3% sales tax on vehicles, over and above the sales tax for a given region (so don’t be surprised). Out-of-state purchasers do not pay Washington State sales tax only if they meet requirements, complete the necessary forms, and present the required documents. It is also necessary that you have the bike shipped to you or record a temporary license with us for use transporting the bike (even if it’s in the back of your truck). You can either bring a temp from your state or province or purchase one from us.

Title/license fees are so very complicated because of local add-ons (but unlike sales tax, this one is based on where you live) that we charge a good estimate, then settle up with you when we mail you your license plate or renewal tab. Usually we’re within a few dollars.

Something you won’t find in our out-the-door price is a document fee. We think it’s ridiculous to charge our customers to do the paperwork. After all, it’s not like you’re buying a house! What’s really amazing is that the Washington Legislature greatly increased the allowable ‘doc fee’ in 2009 in answer to the economic crisis. It was seen as a way to help struggling vehicle businesses, which is really the same as admitting that the fee has nothing to do with the cost of doing paperwork at all!

So in the box pertaining to each model, besides pictures and descriptions, you’ll find listed the MSRP, freight to dealer, setup, tax, and title/license estimate, plus any manufacturer rebate or non-current deduction.