I was getting a haircut the other day, chatting with the hair stylist and mentioned I own a bike shop. She said "oh, my son is looking for a trick bike, how much are they?" I said "a good one is around $500". She says "oh, I was looking for something around $200 do you have anything in that price range?". I said "nope, the cheapest is $385". She said okay and kinda dropped it. But then after a little discussion about the skatepark the city is building down the street,she starts to tell me about the department store bikes he has broken lately and they cost $300 each and have no warranty or anything. Well I said for the $600 you spent you could've got a good BMX with a lifetime warranty on the frame. It clicked, and she got it, buying one good bike costs less in the end.
The same day, some dude that looks like one of the standard ruffian's that roams the area comes in. He does a lap of the store and heads straight to a pretty expensive bike. He asks to see it, rides it a little around the store and says yeah, I'll take it. So cool, but while I am doing up the bill, buddy starts telling me his story (everybody has a story). He wanted that bike since it came out and he was about to order one online. But figured before he hit the confirm button he would do a little local search and found my little shop. Checked my price for the bike and it was cheaper than ordering from the US would be. How can this be you ask? Buddy figured out that the shipping, duty and taxes added to the US price it would put it over my price and he would be without a warranty (Any bike shipped over a border automatically loses its warranty). He is a big guy and doesn't plan on babying the bike and wanted a warranty. I was very impressed and said I wish more people thought their purchases through, not only would they get the warranties and service they deserve but they would be helping a small business stay open for a little while longer.
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