[NewGenWheels]

Another thing, there’s a lot of talk about “It’s only the rich guys that say that”. Like in a post I read earlier tonite regarding you get the customer service you pay for. Dear customer: I’d propose this to you, do you think maybe you’re playing outside your means? Yeah, I said it… maybe it had to be said. If you can’t afford a subframe, don’t buy one. If you can’t afford expensive 3 piece wheels, don’t buy them either. Rethink your game plan, and if you can’t wait, and save up the extra duckets to afford it in a few more paychecks, well, then you can’t afford it (period). Don’t hunt and fish for the poor vendor who is willing to discount the product so severely that he practically lost money on the sale, because I’ll tell you this, you may have saved a few bucks, but you’re going to end up one of those guys on the forum bitching about his parts being late or how the finish on the wheel was inferior.
I learned a LONG time ago, there is always going to be another guy out there with more money than you, building a nicer car. So what? Let it go. Build the car you can, within the means that are available to you and have fun with it. Stop coming on the message board and pointing out the rich, like it’s a problem they buy expensive parts. They’ve earned their money somehow, and can afford to buy nice products, at retail, probably direct from the manufacturer. And you know what, good for them. They probably will get their parts sooner too. But if you bought at a deep discount, and are left waiting at the door a little longer for UPS to drop off your parts, don’t complain about it. You should have expected that. You saved 200 bucks though, woohoo!

When you shop, take into account this VERY important rule. There are three things everyone wants out of any transaction:

1: Price

2; Customer Service

3: Time Frame

Pick two of the three, that’s all you’ll ever get.


You want to know what I think? I think everyone should start selling at retail. Level the playing field. I think Frank, Matt’s Classic Bowties, Ironworks, DriverzInc, Muscle Rodz, and all the other vendors should start selling at retail, period. Then let the chips fall where they may. You want to talk about customer service? They’d be forced to out do each other with customer service and knowledge. And you know what, they could then afford to do it! If not, then maybe they'd be forced to do something new. Then everyone can start buying from who they like, and price wouldn’t be a factor. the last guy standing would be the one who knew the most, and customer serviced the best. I also think that everyone of these vendors should start talking to each other. Hell yeah, why not? You guys could share stories about that customer that just called you and tried to beat you down on price, and tried to play one vendor against the other. Hell, at least that would stop that nonsense from going around. No more, “Well I called (?) and they said free shipping, or they said they could do it for (x)”.

I think manufacturers should start forcing retail. Yeah, I said it. I’ll say it again. Margins are what they are for a reason. It allows enough profit in there for a vendor to maintain a living, and a legitimate business. And, it keeps the retail value of your product where it’s supposed to be. And if people stop buying your product, re-think your manufacturing, and find away to make your product cheaper so you can lower retail across the board.

Makes sense, don’t it?

Now I’m pretty sure I just stirred the pot, and I’m sure many of you may want to rebut. I’ll leave you with this final thought, until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, you’ll never know what it takes to successfully run an aftermarket parts business, so don’t pretend to know. If you’ve done it, and are still doing it, then good, you have reason to post. If you haven’t, stop and just think about what you just read, and take away from it what you will. That is the real reason why I feel like posting this… hopefully you learned something. If you’re “that guy’ who thinks they could do it better then the vendors here, I beg you to try, and I’ll talk to you in 5 years about it, until then, don’t pretend you know, just read the post over again and take into consideration that I once, was just like you, and thought parts businesses made a killing, and that it would be “easy”. Uh, no, its not. Especially in this economy, and especially dealing with customers in today’s market who expect instant gratification.

Moral of the story? THINK about who you are spending your money with. And know that you are supporting them buy spending money with them, and if they are a little more in price… oh well, you put dinner on that dude’s table that night, or helped him buy his daughter that cheer-leading outfit they couldn’t afford, or helped pay for a portion of his mortgage that month when he thought for sure he was about to lose his house. And, finally, maybe, just maybe, you get what you pay for. And if you are ‘that guy” who shopped every vendor against each other for the little better deal, then don’t get all huffy when your order is treated the same way….you now know why.