Lead Time on our Tanks

[ironworks]

Originally Posted by DriverzInc

Roger,
This has been my number one gripe over the past year. Nobody has a shop anymore, just a website, and a business license. Meanwhile, we're paying rent, liability insurance, payroll, and a light bill on a real brick and mortar location. So meanwhile, my competition just pays his mortgage on his house, and sells a product for 5% over cost. What good does that do anybody? Then, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, when every arm chair warrior with a computer will buy from a guy, who doesn't know anything about the product, or the customers car, and I have to price match him to stay in business?

I've actually written a 3 page essay about the problem, and I'm about to post it to google here in the next week. I'm sure it won't be popular with some people, but bottom line, is people need to know, that what your paying for is somebody's knowledge, and you cant call a guy like you, pick your brain several times for hours at a time, and then call www.(blank) because they sell that product for 25 bucks less than you do.

Oh, and then call you and ask you to trouble shoot a problem with said product. That's always a good one too.

We're making some huge changes around here at my shop too. We're not discounting to match these guys anymore. And we're pushing more of our own products, and products where there is some sort of dealer protection. We're just wasting time with everything else.... I have a huge problem with this over at Pro-T, but we're dealing with it.

That is the exact reason I don't push much of anything like Wilwood and other stuff like I used to. There is always another guy who will go ten bucks cheaper on Wilwood. Or wait for 10 more orders so they can get an even deeper deal but not tell you or pass on the discount for waiting. I tell you hay I need one more kit and with that kit I have the buying power to give you so much more off. But now I just order parts for cars we are building and a select few who think I know what I'm talking about...... YEAH RIGHT. Corbeau sells average seats, I will not ever put their seat in a car we build, But they will drop you like a rock if you sell their seats at anything but retail. But I sell more seats for them from referrals then I do from my own means.

We are slowing coming out with various brackets and parts to help the home builder and shops with simple fixes in the build process. I'm working on raising the price to a point where the vendor can make a nice spread on the parts. But I will require the bracket be sold at a certain price. Not a Minimum Advertised Price, but an always retail price and only to real shops. Same with our frames. But the shop better know all about my products. I want them to want to study up on my product and want to push my product, because at the end of the day we are all here for a profit.