UKC

Im thinking about replacing my commute bike so looking around local and online retailers. Anyway found something suitable and as an added bonus its a sale item. However when i asked to go look at it and whether it was available via Cyclescheme I was informed that there would be an 11% increase on the sale price if purchased this way. Surely the retailer gets the asking price for the bike from the scheme and the repayment is between the employee and Cyclescheme, just as with a full price bike? Is this normal practice as i didnt come across it last time I purchased a commute bike, although that was over 5 years ago.
Cheers

In reply to the sheep:

That seems a little bit dodgy? Why would the retailer do that? They get the original asking price for the bike regardless?

Upping the price pretty much negates the benefits of doing it through the c2w scheme.

In reply to the sheep:

Maybe it takes a while for the bike shop to get paid, or there's a lot of admin for them somehow? Sounds a bit strange though.

In reply to the sheep:

When I bought mine, I was told that the retailer could not increase the price over the original asking price, but that I was not eligible for reductions such as sale discounts - I had to pay the full asking price. This came from the Cycle Scheme coordinator at my work. It may be that if the bike you are looking at is a sale item, this is the problem that you are having...

In reply to kathrync:

Hi, yes the bike is in the sale which i just took to be an added bonus, however the 11% increase would not take it back up to the asking price so cant see that being the case.

In reply to the sheep:

Ah - ok, in that case a bit weird!

In reply to the sheep:

I was told in my LBS that it was because they are charged a 10% admin fee by cyclescheme, normally their markup on the bikes covers this but when the bikes are already discounted in the sale they can't take the extra cycle to work scheme hit.

In reply to alisonk:

I got mine from Halfords and they specifically mentioned that any bikes on " sale " would be included and at the sale price.

In reply to coinneach:

It's more than five years since I bought through a salary sacrifice scheme, but I seem to remember that the scheme operator cut came in the form of a commission from the retailer. I can see you a retailer might want to adjust the price on a bike that they have heavily discounted.

In reply to the sheep:
It is cheaper to buy on an interest free credit card with a sale reduction and 10 per cent one payment discount. Check the cost to continue ownership of bike after one and three years with cycle scheme. I have been stung.

In reply to onefootholdinthegrave:

It can be, it depends on the discount, the scheme, your tax rate. It isn't always.

In reply to onefootholdinthegrave:
Yes. I'm sure Boris Johnson and that other effin cycling Tory have some self interest in cycle to work schemes