Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Motorcycles? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Motorcycles?

BondJamesBond

Well-known member
Last year I purchased a new car and used a service called Car Cost Canada to find out the dealer invoice price, freight, PDI and manufacturer sales incentives. Some dealerships hate them but many like to deal with educated buyers. You end up negotiating how much uplift the dealer deserves rather than 'price'. Is there an equivalent to Car Cost Canada for Motorcycles? Where can one find the invoice prices of new motorcycles?
 
Last year I purchased a new car and used a service called Car Cost Canada to find out the dealer invoice price, freight, PDI and manufacturer sales incentives. Some dealerships hate them but many like to deal with educated buyers. You end up negotiating how much uplift the dealer deserves rather than 'price'. Is there an equivalent to Car Cost Canada for Motorcycles? Where can one find the invoice prices of new motorcycles?

Instead of trying to determine what a dealer "deserves," why not just shop around until you find the right deal? If you just want to feel good that the dealer is not making any money off you, well, that's another story...
 
Last year I purchased a new car and used a service called Car Cost Canada to find out the dealer invoice price, freight, PDI and manufacturer sales incentives. Some dealerships hate them but many like to deal with educated buyers. You end up negotiating how much uplift the dealer deserves rather than 'price'. Is there an equivalent to Car Cost Canada for Motorcycles? Where can one find the invoice prices of new motorcycles?

Their cost in a lot of cases is dependent on how many bikes they buy at the time they purchased your bike. For example if a dealer buys 50 of the model and year your looking at, they would get a better price on each then a dealer that only buys 5 of the same model and year....

The last motorcycle I bought the dealer showed me their invoice, don't think that will happen everywhere but he was very up front on markup...And unlike alot of people think, motorcycles do not have very much room for markup. Dealers dont make as much profit as people like to think off a $10,000-$17,000 motorcycle
 
I'd like to know how much margin dealers make on the bike I'm shopping for. They deserve to earn a profit - of course they do. But is it $500? $2000? $4000 on a $14500 bike ? I'd like to know. It will help me negotiate especially if I'm also buying accessories and giving them service & maintenance business. Anyone know of a good Honda dealership to buy from ?
 
I'd like to know how much margin dealers make on the bike I'm shopping for. They deserve to earn a profit - of course they do. But is it $500? $2000? $4000 on a $14500 bike ? I'd like to know. It will help me negotiate especially if I'm also buying accessories and giving them service & maintenance business. Anyone know of a good Honda dealership to buy from ?

The margins are nowhere near $2000-$4000

Think more like $200-$400.
 
There are low margins on bikes but accessories/clothing should have ~100% margin. Some stores stock items with ridiculous margins so they can throw items into the deal with a high perceived value (eg. I know of one store that sold snowboard bags for $80, cost was <$13, normally they throw one in with the purchase of a snowboard).

Your best best is to package everything you want and see what price they can come up with for the whole pile (bike/accessories/helmet/clothes/first 4 services/winter storage/etc). Items such as winter storage have little cost for them but can save you significant money if you need it anyway so it could be an easy item to get added.
 
I'd like to know how much margin dealers make on the bike I'm shopping for. They deserve to earn a profit - of course they do. But is it $500? $2000? $4000 on a $14500 bike ? I'd like to know. It will help me negotiate especially if I'm also buying accessories and giving them service & maintenance business. Anyone know of a good Honda dealership to buy from ?

No one knows what cars cost either. Some dealerships started this invoice scam years ago, letting people believe they paid $50 above a fake receipt. Yeah, sure, a 50,000 dealership and 40 guys on the payroll for $50 a car.

Dealers do not make money on the bikes, they make it on the customer in the long run. The big markups are on accessories and service.

If you really want a good deal, do not buy new, or at the most buy a demo, because whatever you pay, it's immediately worth 20% less when you drive it off the lot.

Any end-of season prices top clear stock are dictated by Honda, not the dealer, so they are all pretty much the same in that aspect since Honda killed off motorcycle dealers in favor of the stupid "Honda Store" model.
 
St Onge is the only place I know of that only charge msrp and tax. No hidden fees.
 
Triumph has a 17% markup on their whole line. This I know for a fact though insider info. That tells me other manufacturers will be in the same ball park, except for maybe the luxury brands who are likely 20% or even 25% markup.

But will you even get 10% off? Doubt it, except perhaps at model year-end. We wonder sometimes why so many dealers go bankrupt. Volume is low and the season is very very short. Dealers deserve to make a fair profit and that concept is built into the list price and is the cornerstone to capitalism.
 
Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

I know a few people that run their own business. And so do I...

A tshirt that you bought for $10 costs under $1.00

If it has a Nike name on it, you pay $20 but it still cost under $1.00

A diamond ring at spence that sells $6000 cost $3000

A hotdog you buy for $3.50 cost under $0.75

A $20,000 Rolex cost about $10,000

A lobster you pay $50 cost less then $3.00

A $600 dainese leather jacket cost about $20 to make

a $2000 Louis Vuitton bag cost about $20 to make

GP bikes charges $3.00 for a Ducati O-ring

You can buy 500+ orings from China for that price

If you think the motorcycle and automobile industry is "not making much" off a sale then they must be the ONLY industry in the world..

Not sure how many people own a business here but the overhead on a place like GP bikes with the property the employees is astronomical. What do you think pays for it?

I tip my hat to them for making people believe it


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
Re: Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

I know a few people that run their own business. And so do I...

A tshirt that you bought for $10 costs under $1.00

If it has a Nike name on it, you pay $20 but it still cost under $1.00

A diamond ring at spence that sells $6000 cost $3000

A hotdog you buy for $3.50 cost under $0.75

A $20,000 Rolex cost about $10,000

A lobster you pay $50 cost less then $3.00

A $600 dainese leather jacket cost about $20 to make

a $2000 Louis Vuitton bag cost about $20 to make

GP bikes charges $3.00 for a Ducati O-ring

You can buy 500+ orings from China for that price

If you think the motorcycle and automobile industry is "not making much" off a sale then they must be the ONLY industry in the world..

Not sure how many people own a business here but the overhead on a place like GP bikes with the property the employees is astronomical. What do you think pays for it?

I tip my hat to them for making people believe it


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"

I do work in this industry and well yes, most our profit comes from accessories, parts and clothing, it's not at all the crazy margins you're suggesting. It might cost the manufacturer $1 to make that shirt, but the cost for a dealership to get it will be a lot more, closer to $7 for a $10 retail shirt. And then they put them on sale or give discounts, so not much is made
 
Re: Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

A $20,000 Rolex cost about $10,000

they actually cost a lot less than that to make. Rolex, Vuitton, just proves if you can get way with it, there is big $ in dooshes.
 
I appreciate everyone's views. The message I'm getting is that we don't really know how much a dealer makes on the sale of motorcycles but the best way to get good value for your money is to shop around and add accessories & services to the overall purchase so you can whittle away at the relatively high margins accessories and services have.

Hmmm ... if only I had the money to add accessories and services to the purchase of my new bike...... Ah '*****'...... :)
 
I appreciate everyone's views. The message I'm getting is that we don't really know how much a dealer makes on the sale of motorcycles but the best way to get good value for your money is to shop around and add accessories & services to the overall purchase so you can whittle away at the relatively high margins accessories and services have.

Hmmm ... if only I had the money to add accessories and services to the purchase of my new bike...... Ah '*****'...... :)

The best price/value is what you can spend and feel you've gotten what you would expect for that amount of money.

Now, if you want to get the most possible just so you can say you got everything and the kitchen sink thrown in, that's a different story.

Good luck with the new ride.
 
Last year I sold new motorcycles at a GTA dealership. I was given access to dealer costs on all our bikes. For a bike to have decent margin it had to have a msrp of at least $20,000. Since most bikes sold have msrp's under $14,000. Gross profit (assuming customer pays full pop are under $1200). Bikes under $10,000 have built in profits of between 500-1000. That assumes customer pays full pop. The money is made when the finance department is able to sell financing, extended warranties, etc. There is a reason so many bike shops have gone belly up. Its a tough industry in a cold weather market. I loved selling bikes but it was hard. In the auto industry you can expect to close between 20-30% of your prospects. In the bike industry it is under 10%. There are far too many tire kickers. That is why I now sell cars. A man has to eat.
 
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Re: Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

I do work in this industry and well yes, most our profit comes from accessories, parts and clothing, it's not at all the crazy margins you're suggesting. It might cost the manufacturer $1 to make that shirt, but the cost for a dealership to get it will be a lot more, closer to $7 for a $10 retail shirt. And then they put them on sale or give discounts, so not much is made

No, I know places in Toronto if I buy 1000 shirts I can get it for $3,,, quality make too

From China it's pennies... No exageration


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
Last year I sold new motorcycles at a GTA dealership. I was given access to dealer costs on all our bikes. For a bike to have decent margin it had to have a msrp of at least $20,000. Since most bikes sold have msrp's under $14,000. Gross profit (assuming customer pays full pop are under $1200). Bikes under $10,000 have built in profits of between 500-1000. That assumes customer pays full pop. The money is made when the finance department is able to sell financing, extended warranties, etc. There is a reason so many bike shops have gone belly up. Its a tough industry in a cold weather market. I loved selling bikes but it was hard. In the auto industry you can expect to close between 20-30% of your prospects. In the bike industry it is under 10%. There are far too many tire kickers. That is why I now sell cars. A man has to eat.

There is no way from a business sense., an industry can survive with 500-1000 mark up on a 10,000 costing item. No business in the world can. Unless they manufacturers or wholesalers meaning they move hundreds of units a month. At the least.

Whatever "cost access or prices you are looking at are what they want you to see"


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

Let's look at GP bikes
I am going to throw numbers

I have a 300 sq feet shop
Costs me $2000 a month to maintain. $6/feet which is very good for Toronto!

GP bikes has 24,000 now let's compensate size and location. Let's say his cost is $5 per square feet ok? The actual number is twice that but I don't want this to turn into a thread over cost of operation

That's $120,000

Ok they have 15 full time emoloyees let's say they pay them $13 each and only work 10 hour shifts

That's $58,500 salary a month

Just based on those numbers
They operAte at $178,000 a month. They are closed Sunday's . So they have 26-27 work days a month

$178,000/27=$6592
cost of operation a day. Anything over this is the owners profit

So based on bike sales and 10-15 mark up most suggest.
They have to sell 50,000-$60,000 in bikes per day to break even.

What they make least money on is labor.. In North America labor is the highest operating cost in every industry.

All these numbers are on the lower end...but will give you an idea and something to think about



"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"
 
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Re: Where to find Motorcycle invoice prices? Is there a Car Cost Canada for Moto...

I hate to tell you, your numbers might be correct but your understand of the industry is not. I work in this industry and I can confirm Amazon's posts. We make next to nothing of the sale of bikes: think $500 - $1000. Money can be made from a good service department, financing, and parts and accessories. But not in the quantities you're thinking about.
 

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