• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

motostrano question

Brokenlink

Brokenlink

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2004
Location
hangtown
Moto(s)
FZ-09

DRZ400SM
Name
Mike
So I know a few of you buy stuff from Motostrano. Local shop, lots of stuff, blah blah blah.

So today I was pricing tires. I look up the tire I want and nearly shit my pants at the price. I go online and find the tire cheaper, a lot cheaper. And hey Motostrano has a little "find a cheaper price?" button. So I hit the button report the price and say I would prefer to buy it from them and don't expect them to match the internet price, but can they come down at all.

The price difference was nearly 100 dollars for the pair (including shipping costs). This is quite a bit of money in profit for a pair of tires.

Meanwhile I call around and Scuderia has the same tire, also cheaper than Motostrano. In fact, both of the tire types I was checking were significantly cheaper at Scuderia.

I get an email from Motostrano stating that they don't price match tires (despite the claim on their website) and that if he lowered his prices he wouldn't make any money. Basically the attitude was that I should be happy to pay extra to purchase from him.

I replied back and told him that Scuderia was even cheaper (a Ducati dealer vs. a parts shop). His reply back was that he would be doing charity work if he reduced the price.

Now as I said, I want to support the independent shop. But come on. I'm gonna go ahead and take Scuderia's charity work and buy my tires cheaper.
 
So what's the question? :laughing

I buy stuff everywhere. If it's much cheaper and I can wait for it I'll buy from the large internet superstores (Bike Bandit, Motorcycle Supertore, Motorcycle Gear, KTMtwins (Scuderia). If there isn't such a huge price difference or if I fail to plan ahead I'll get my stuff locally from Road Rider, Santa Clara Cycle, & Motostrano, Cycle Gear too though I try to avoid it.

Some parts you're better off ordering online, others you can easily pick up off the shelf. I'm not one to haggle for price, if I don't like the price I'll get it from somewhere else, no sense hassling the owner over it.
 
I wasn't hassling the owner. They actually have a button to report a lower price for them to match. Then they email you to tell you that they won;t match it and you should thank them for it.
 
Tires are a low margin leader. Sell them low and sell a lot or sell them high and don't sell a lot. Motostrano probably doesn't sell very many tires.

I buy my tires from www.jakewilson.com and have MotoTireGuy install them. It's win-win if you ask me...cheap tire prices while still supporting a local business.
 
mcarb said:
I wasn't hassling the owner. They actually have a button to report a lower price for them to match. Then they email you to tell you that they won;t match it and you should thank them for it.
Click to expand...


:laughing

Well I have read that the owner can be, umm, cranky?

I found him to be alright, didn't kiss my ass or anything but didn't make me feel unwelcome, I was there yesterday and today. He gave me a good discount on Wolfman luggage too.
 
mcarb said:
I wasn't hassling the owner. They actually have a button to report a lower price for them to match. Then they email you to tell you that they won;t match it and you should thank them for it.
Click to expand...

I never buy from a price-match. I like to reward the first vendor w/ the lower price!
 
I'd like to reiterate that I didn't ask them to match the price. I asked them if they could lower their price at all. They said no.
 
Yeah I've heard the owner of Motostrano isn't the most, shall we say, customer service oriented.
 
seems stupid to put a price match button on there at all - that going to encourage people to look around for a cheaper dealer, and why not just buy from that dealer ? Especially if they're out of state (no tax) and ship for free.

Even more stupid of they then refuse to match price.
 
Not really something worth pondering for any amount of time... If you haven't noticed, there are many shops (online and otherwise) will work hard for your business these days. Next!
 
I consider MS my local shop. They don't always have what I need, but like you I like supporting the local independent retailers.* I have followed them and shopped from them since they were a tiny place on Hurlingame Ave in Redwood City. I have defended them a few times.

No matter what allegiances may be in place, if you feel someone treats you rudely or is conducting business in a shady manner, vote with your wallet and take your business elsewhere. I hope we all know that lesson.

Sucks that you got such an attitude, MS used to be on the board somewhat regularly, hope they see this and make amends or offer some sort of story regarding the answers you got.

*One benefit of shopping locally on a consistent basis is that the peeps behind the counter know your face, if not your name. And if they recognize you and you ask, they may give you a price break.
 
I love Motostrano. They have gone above and beyond for me many times in the past. The last set of tires I purchased was from them (Contiforce SM) and I didn't mind paying a little extra for no waiting and no shipping hassles.

I actually find going into the store refreshing, they don't bother you or hassle you at all.

I'm also a firm believer in supporting my local B&M shop.
 
Stan,
I agree with what you said. I will always pay more to buy from a brick and mortar local shop. But how much more is acceptable? In my case, the difference was over 80 bucks from an online retailer (MS). It was about 20-30 more expensive than another brick and mortar shop.

They actually have a button that says "Find a lower Price?". This isn't meant to be a bash motostrano thread. They haven't done me any wrong. I was just a bit baffled that:
1. The have a frigging "find a lower price" button that asks you to report a lower price and they will try and match it. When pushed and link given and request made for them to slightly lower price (not match), they responded with a firm "No"

2. The attitude that the guy was doing me a favor by marking up the tires by 80-90 a pair.

3. The insinuation that he would be "doing charity work" by lowering his price.

I tend to think of it as "Hmmmmm, I could either respond and state that the profit margin on tires is incredibly low, but I could knock off 5 bucks and gain a customer, or I could give this customer an attitude and lose a potential customer."

What was interesting was that in his response he mentions how customer service is important too and by giving good customer service, people are willing to pay more. And this I completely get and agree with. Completely.

So why be an asshole when responding? How is that good customer service? The dude really could have done better. Perhaps a sticker or something would have been all it takes to change my mind. Or mounting them for half price. Or give me a five dollar break. I never asked the guy to price match. I stated the difference was drastic and if there was ANYTHING HE COULD DO.
 
mcarb said:
Stan,
I agree with what you said. I will always pay more to buy from a brick and mortar local shop. But how much more is acceptable? In my case, the difference was over 80 bucks from an online retailer (MS). It was about 20-30 more expensive than another brick and mortar shop.

They actually have a button that says "Find a lower Price?". This isn't meant to be a bash motostrano thread. They haven't done me any wrong. I was just a bit baffled that:
1. The have a frigging "find a lower price" button that asks you to report a lower price and they will try and match it. When pushed and link given and request made for them to slightly lower price (not match), they responded with a firm "No"

2. The attitude that the guy was doing me a favor by marking up the tires by 80-90 a pair.

3. The insinuation that he would be "doing charity work" by lowering his price.

I tend to think of it as "Hmmmmm, I could either respond and state that the profit margin on tires is incredibly low, but I could knock off 5 bucks and gain a customer, or I could give this customer an attitude and lose a potential customer."

What was interesting was that in his response he mentions how customer service is important too and by giving good customer service, people are willing to pay more. And this I completely get and agree with. Completely.

So why be an asshole when responding? How is that good customer service? The dude really could have done better. Perhaps a sticker or something would have been all it takes to change my mind. Or mounting them for half price. Or give me a five dollar break. I never asked the guy to price match. I stated the difference was drastic and if there was ANYTHING HE COULD DO.
Click to expand...

Hi Michael,

I think what you asked and did was more than reasonable as a consumer. And yeah, it sucks sometimes when you really want to support a local shop, but prices are cheaper to be found elsewhere. It's not an easy time to be a shop owner that's for sure.

While I can't speak for the owner, all I can say is that we're all human, and sometimes we come off as one way when we say certain things.
 
I buy from Tokyo Moto in SF thier prices are arent that much differnt than my place online so I support them and they have great service!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top