That is why our brethren in Canada pay so much more. Moco sells it to Deeley Canada, Deeley marks it up to make a profit. Canadian Dealers then mark it up to sell to the consumer to make their profit. Here in the US, it goes right from the MOCO's distribution center (run by Caterpillar ironically) to the dealers. Deeley is a racket.

 

I talked at length to one good dealer, the actual owner, aprox 12 years ago, & he had just opened the shop the month I was passing through, he suprised me, but the motor company told him pretty much what he had to carry, & he had to buy "Harley" display racks, which were extremely over priced, he quoted me prices, but I dont remember, but was ticked off to say the least, & was struggling, because of having to spend several hundred thousand dollars unexpected to satisfy Harley to carry all they made him carry. sad thing is his business was gone in a few years, I guess he didnt make it, but was one of few decent shops I been in, as most places treated me bad.

 

Clothing is marked up a bit more than it should be. Parts are not mre than 30%.

 

I paid 26K and wasn't offered and refuse to pay over $30. for a t-shirt with a dealers name on it. I wear a competitors $10. clearance t-shirt.

 

ever heard of 'triple key'?

in the jewelry business, an item is marked up 300%. so they buy something for $30, sell it for $90, and then discount it 50% and still sell it for $45 and still making a decent return.

 

Harley-Davidson, like every other enterprise, charges what the market will bear. If you don't like their prices, don't buy anything there. They are not obligated in any way to offer what you might consider 'fair' prices. If enough customers stopped buying their products, H-D would lower their prices as much as they could (or just fold the tent and go out of business). But the majority of their customers won't, and H-D won't. And all the daily whining on these forums will NOT change anything.

 

I sell T shirts for the fire department where I volunteer. I pay $6 a shirt and sell them for $10 for members and $15 for everyone else. Now if I took bigger quantity I could get them as low as $4 a shirt.

 

+1 i saw my boss mark up parts 100% even for his family members.

 

How sad.

I would guess that the biggest markup happens between Corperate HD and the dealer. Maybe as much as 1,000% markup.

 

30% won't even open the doors. Anyone that's ever owned a business will tell you you need to mark up 125% at minimum to keep the doors open and show a livable profit. Bikes, parts, T-shirts - makes no difference. Overhead has to be covered and an owner should earn a respectable profit for his/her investment of time and money.