Lots of Vendor Talk, here's my Jerry McGuire

[sik68]

I can't say it any better than what everyone here before me has already said...and it is the internet's fault like Todd is saying.

Among the admirable vendors on the left side of the screen is DSE. I can draw so many parallels to Apple I won't waste my time, but they built a brand, focus on their products, prove it in the field, and stay off forums. Their price is their price...and although I don't own a single DSE product, it's a brand I aspire to buy "because it just works."

[Bucketlist2012]

Being in the service business almost 30 years, Quality Service, parts, and follow up are key.

I understand the mark up on parts....I did it....Always the good customers come back, over and over again..

Why when I go find a Killer shop to work on my car, would I try to barter down to near his wholesale price ? Sure to save money, but I will make it somewhere else and Pay the man for the parts and the Labor..

Sure i see what I can get them for, so as not to get ripped off, but to say to him, " I know you get it at cost, so what is my price ? " , to me is getting spit in my food....Get my drift ? I would not want to work on my Car...

Instead, I have a loyal relationship with a great Builder, and My job is to go make My money so I can pay him what he needs ..

It was always just under what I would pay retail so no biggie..

In my Trade, We are charging 1.2 times on parts, so a 50 dollar part is 110... I understand how it is.

[bret]

[FONT= " Courier New"]Back in the day, you had to have a brick and mortar location to become a dealer for some manufacturers. Now, you can buy Ridetech from a dude sitting at a laptop in his boxers in the comfort of his own living room just cuz he has a website. Hell, I’ve even caught manufactures selling product direct for less then what dealer cost is?? WTF is that about? That just isn’t ethical to me." [/FONT]

Jon...just trying to clarify...are you saying that you have seen RideTech sell product direct at less than retail price? Or are you saying that Some RideTech dealers may be mostly internet based?...or are you saying both?

[camcojb]

OK, I edited the original post. I don't want to lock the thread. The frustrations and info regarding this industry, vendors, and customers is great. But let's keep individual company names out of it. Everyone still gets the point and most know who the edited name is anyway. This way hopefully the thread stays constructive instead of turning into a cluster that has to be locked.

[NewGenWheels]

Originally Posted by bret

[FONT= " Courier New"]Back in the day, you had to have a brick and mortar location to become a dealer for some manufacturers. Now, you can buy Ridetech from a dude sitting at a laptop in his boxers in the comfort of his own living room just cuz he has a website. Hell, I’ve even caught manufactures selling product direct for less then what dealer cost is?? WTF is that about? That just isn’t ethical to me." [/FONT]

Jon...just trying to clarify...are you saying that you have seen RideTech sell product direct at less than retail price? Or are you saying that Some RideTech dealers may be mostly internet based?...or are you saying both?

No Bret, its just to get the POINT across. I will however say that some dealers are mainly internet based, you and I both know that is true though.

And to be clear: I said I've even caught "manufactures" selling for less then dealer cost not you specifically. How did I do it? I called them and pretended to be a retail customer, and they priced me out at 15% back from what retail is on their website.

And how did I price match my competitors? I did the same thing. I called them, or had Justin call them from his cell phone, and pretend to be a retail customer, and got 15% off brand X without even trying.

To everyone reading my midnight thoughts, read it as this: Look for the underlying theme, and think about what the point is, and take something away from it that is constructive. Maybe the next time you go to buy a part you'll think about who your spending your money with, and what you are going to get in return from that transaction. And please, PLEASE, have some integrity and some loyalty to the guy working his arse off for you. If you spent countless hours working with him on backspace for your wheels, don't turn around and call wheels for less .com to buy them for 50 bucks cheaper. (As an example, and you can apply it as you see fit).

Todd, I did, and still do have very loyal customers. The business that was lost was to new guys, who found us on the web, or met us at a show, and then called in to price match us. We lost those bidding wars, but they didn't hesitate to take all the free tech info Justin and I could dish out until we were blue in the face.

Thanks for letting me speak my mind Lat-G. I plan to take more of the DSE route myself from here on in as NewGen.

[68protouring454]

great post jon!!!
Non of us are perfect, however with that said beating prices further and further down doesn't help anyone but the end consumer, and thats ONLY when he gets his parts on time.
Nothing better then a customer who wants to do business with you, doesn't care about discount(not that he is going to overpay, but knows going prices) and just expects on time delivery and support.
great thoughts!!

[bret]

To be clear: RideTech DOES NOT molest the retail price. Ever. Not for any person, Not for any reason. And we never have. And I don't intend to.

By federal law we cannot dictate the price that anyone else sells at. I wish we could. We can only influence that scenario by maintaining the integrity of the retail / dealer / distributor price levels.

I totally agree that discounting is a fatal race to the bottom. It is a disease that will eventually consume the discounter.

How does a manufacturer police this? I don't know. I wish I did.

Internet based dealers are another problem. Some are good...some are not. Before the internet we had these same comments about mail order companies...with the same results.

When asked about the best place to buy, my recommendation is ALWAYS:

"Buy from whomever gives you accurate, reliable and relevant information about your impending purchase and overall project."

[Ron in SoCal]

Originally Posted by NewGenWheels

To everyone reading my midnight thoughts, read it as this: Look for the underlying theme, and think about what the point is, and take something away from it that is constructive. Maybe the next time you go to buy a part you'll think about who your spending your money with, and what you are going to get in return from that transaction. And please, PLEASE, have some integrity and some loyalty to the guy working his arse off for you. If you spent countless hours working with him on backspace for your wheels, don't turn around and call wheels for less .com to buy them for 50 bucks cheaper. (As an example, and you can apply it as you see fit).

Thanks for letting me speak my mind Lat-G. I plan to take more of the DSE route myself from here on in as NewGen.

Jon the part I quoted is probably the best thought out, most articulate thing you've written in this thread. Although there is a certain amount of cost/benefit discussion that will take place with any customer, NO ONE should milk a vendor for free tech and turn around and take the business elsewhere.

Conversely, no customer wants to hear vendors complain about the deal that didn't go their way. It sucks for sure, but is also a part of our world today. Vendors need to have a unique value propostion that will attract and retain customers. I know Jon has brand loyalty with many. The challenge is to create that realtionship with all even though it is next to impossible.

[Stuart Adams]

If I were a vendor or a dealer I would be very upset at Dealers that hold others money to pay for parts ordered before. THAT is the real problem.

Think about it, if the bad dealer is selling parts at cost then the other dealers are not selling at all because of this ploy. Bad dealer doesnt need a profit because he is using this current money minus his cut to pay for the previous orders. That is what is killing the ethical dealers. Profit on the order is NOT the way BAD dealer makes money.

[NewGenWheels]

Originally Posted by Stuart Adams

If I were a vendor or a dealer I would be very upset at Dealers that hold others money to pay for parts ordered before. THAT is the real problem.

Think about it, if the bad dealer is selling parts at cost then the other dealers are not selling at all because of this ploy. Bad dealer doesnt need a profit because he is using this current money minus his cut to pay for the previous orders. That is what is killing the ethical dealers. Profit on the order is NOT the way BAD dealer makes money.

ding ding ding... exactly.