Topic: Price shopping for helmets, it pays to shop around!

[cleveland]

Living in Harley town it is easy to get used to riding with out a helmet (I know, stupid choice).  So the Mrs. gives me the speech "Who is going to take care of us if you split your head open when someone cuts you off in traffic?"  I told her some good looking Latin gentleman with a sexy accent, but she didn't think that was funny.   It makes sense to wear a helmet though.  I have insurance for my health, house, cars, guns, jewelry, why not my head?   

So I did some shopping around and the first thing that hit me was the price.  I thought I would get a top of the line modular helmet for around $200.  Oh boy was I wrong!  The Shoei Multitec goes for $450-$500 depending on where you go.  Then I found a listing on ebay for one at $350 plus shipping.  So I called back one of the stores locally and after 2 days of haggling, the guy agreed to sell me one locally for the same price.  What a deal!  So I am off first thing in the morning to pick up my new helmet!   

What is the point of this post?  Take a little extra time and you will get what you want for the price you want to spend, or at least close to it.

[mattcb350f]

I just bought a new HJC CL-15 helmet last week. regularly around $150, but I waited and got it for $125. Not as good a deal as yours cleveland but I'm happy.

 Matt.

[Klark Kent]

define "haggling."  beyond "i have a gun to your son's head" i can't imagine anything I would say that would make any of the shops around here come back with anything other than "then buy the thing off ebay."

is your technique sharable?

congrats

[cleveland]

is your technique sharable?

I am a retail salesman (please refrain from booing and hissing until the end of the explanation  )  Basic retail sales knowledge is that wholesale product costs 40% to 60% of retail cost.  So for a product that sells for $490 (this was the store's price on the helmet but I will be paying $370) the company pays a wholesale cost of $196 to $294.  Best case scenario they made $174 and worse case they made $76 on the transaction.  Either way they want to make money, especially when retail sales are so low due to the economy.  In addition the salesman makes a commission on the sale and he wants to do whatever it takes to get paid.  Lastly, and this is the clencher for anyone looking to establish a long term customer, they know that they will be high on my list of places to go when I want to make another purchase.  It works too, the guy doesn't know it but I plan to get a nice set of gloves too.  When I was selling bike parts, I would sell them cheap enough that I would get emails on a regular basis for parts just because I sold them the last part so cheap.  It takes a bit more work to do, but you earn a great reputation. 

You can haggle the price on ANY product that requires a salesman to sell.  As a society, Americans tend to be crappy negotiators.  I haggle the same way when I buy appliances, bikes, even cell phones.  After a lengthy conversation with Sprint I got 3 Rumor phones for free, and a $50 mail in rebate on all of them.  So in the end, they paid me $150 to get their phones.  The down side? I have a 1 year contract, but the company knows they will make a nice profit over 2 years.

 

[tramp]

just bought a new helmet myself
finally found one to fit my oblong head

[DammitDan]

Do it the same way you buy anything off Craigslist.

Go with x number of $20 or $100 bills, and say, "This is how much I want to pay" while you wave the stack of cash in front of their face.  The majority of time they will take the money or haggle down to a decent price.

You can do the same thing with retail; large household applicances, vehicles at dealerships, big box items...  Just sit down with the cash in hand and it works just about every time.

[cleveland]

The majority of time they will take the money or haggle down to a decent price.

Exacty.

The other point to bring up is knowing when to shut up.  Once you have made your offer, SHUT UP!  Normally the next person to speak after an offer is made, looses.  "I found this helmet on ebay for $120 less then you are selling it for.  The guy has over 2500 positive feedback so I know he is legit, but I would prefer to support a local business.  Can you match the price?"  The phone was dead for 30 seconds, then he said he would call me back.  I called back 2 days later and said I would like to come down and get the helmet if he could match the price.  He said "Get down here, it's yours!"     

[Klark Kent]

nice-

and my people are supposed to be good at this type of thing (i'm a jew)

i already had the love of argument- you might have created a monster here guys. 

[BobbyR]

Nice work Cleveland and thanks for sharing the wisdom.

[detdrbuzzard]

got the white hjc cs12 close out from dinnis kirk $46, black hjc cl15 $107 from chaparral, $21 for each dark smoke face shield      [img width= height=]http://usera.imagecave.com/detdrbuzzard/icth_DSCN0309-copy.jpg.jpg[/img]

[DarkRider]

During the spring i was looking at different helmets to replace the Bell modular i have as my main helmet and after awhile it came down to the Zeus Varmit, the Scorpion EXO 700 and the HJC FS10. But as you guys know from reading the gear threads i went with the FS10. However i didnt have to haggle because it was a price i could handle paying...with helmets is how much of a value you put on your head. Cleaveland valued his at $370. And at the time i bought my FS10 i valued mine at $320. Sometimes it doesnt always pay to get a cheeper price on gear...

[cleveland]

Sometimes it doesnt always pay to get a cheeper price on gear...

I agree 100%, but to get a $500 helmet for $370 seems like info worth sharing.

BTW, I picked it up this morning and I love it!!!  My glasses don't get pressed against the side of my head, face flipping up absolutely ROCKS, and the color isn't bad either.

[DarkRider]

That sort of info is great to have...i was just getting to the point that in some cases that great deal may be costly in the end..mostly refering to $160 no name helmets that seem to be a good idea at the time...

[cleveland]

mostly refering to $160 no name helmets that seem to be a good idea at the time...

That is what I had ($100) and never wore it.  It was uncomfortable, bent my glasses, and just sucked in general.  Now I have no excuse not to strap it on every day. 

[DammitDan]

Actually DarkRider, research has found that price has doesn't have everything to do with protection value when it comes to a helmet.

Here's a snippet from WebBikeWorld.com's review:

Do inexpensive DOT-approved helmets protect better than helmets than expensive Snell-approved helmets?  The June 2005 Motorcyclist magazine addressed this controversy.  That issue contains a detailed article on an extensive test that was conducted on 16 different motorcycle helmets, ranging from the $89.00 Z1R (wBW review) to the $700.00 Schuberth S1 (wBW review).  Their conclusion is that the inexpensive, polycarbonate shell Z1R transferred an average of 152Gs to the head-form, vs. 211Gs of the Snell-approved  Scorpion EXO-700.

Also, the UK's RIDE magazine tested 28 helmets in the May 2005 issue.  While the testing methodology was slightly different, they also found that the HJC AC-11 provided the second best impact absorption of the lot.  Could it be that a motorcycle helmet doesn't necessarily have to be expensive to provide good protection?

There's much, much more to the story, and we strongly suggest reading both articles and studying this subject before you buy your next helmet.  One of the conclusions in the Motorcyclist magazine article is that a softer polycarbonate DOT-only approved helmet may provide the highest levels of protection.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/motorcycle-helmet-faq.htm

I think that comfort and quality have a lot more to do with price than protection does.  If you buy a cheap helmet, it will probably be ill-fitting and noisy and uncomfortable (though not always), whereas if you buy a $900 Arai helmet, it will be quiet and comfy and fit like a glove (though not always  )

[75modrat]

and my people are supposed to be good at this type of thing (i'm a jew)

That just made my day. I always make statements about the fact that I am Polish. Usually something to the effect that "it is not my fault I was born Polish. Stupidity is in my DNA." I simply find it humorous that other people use stereotypes against themselves (not that a single one is true).

Frank

[firecracker]

...not that a single one is true.

Except the one about me being tight with money because of my Scottish heritage.  After all, copper wire was invented by two Scots fighting over a penny.   

[DarkRider]

oooopppsss looks like i started a helmet debate now didnt i? Havent had a chance to read the Ride article but i have read the continuation of the motorcyclist one. Granted there are some cheeper helmets that may provide better protection in a crash then some of the more expensive ones however they were built with street usage in mind while the more expensive ones are geared towards track use only due to the way they are constructed. Im pretty sure that my FS10 and Cleavelands new shoei are only DOT approved so im not coming from the angle that Snell approved helmets are better...just on the idea that i would rather have a higher end helmet from a welll known maker protecting my head. Zeus doesnt seem to be that well known same with M2R. However Scorpion and HJC are..Chances are my next lid may just be a Scorpion EXO..I prefer to have two good helmets on hand at all times if i can..And since my bell has hit the pavement a couple times im probably gonna be looking for a second lid soon..

[SEBNN]

Just got a cl-15 for 90 from Chaparral, granted it isn't a solid color, but I figure if it isn't close enough I can always repaint it to match.

As for quality, on a similar note, they found for bicycle helmets that the 40.00 bell was better protection than the top end ones because the top end ones generally cut a lot of material out for vents and such.  I don't know how that compares to motorcycle helmets, but it is something to think about.