Sorry Phil but this was still sitting in my craw!...

Quote:

If you are the only one making a part, cant you charge whatever you want?...(within reason obviously)



NO!!! you cant!!!


Why is it that those who are NOT in business think that those who are (particularly the small specialty businesses) are off screwing the customer...but that the BIG business is offering a cheaper product so they must not be....

I had watched this from it's innocent begining to it's bitter end, and remained quiet but some of the implyed and straight forwardly stated comments were to much...


Ok here goes...

I'm in a business that has maybe 5 competitors across the USA...we are a HIGHLY specialized producer...our customer base is VERY limited and THEY are possibly aware of two of my competitors...due to the nature of the business and the remote locations of the competition...we all run virtually solo in our respective market areas…shipping costs would make any gains in price prohibitive to do business with my competitors...if your in MY area...so in short I HAVE LITTLE OR NO COMPETITION...

According to your postulation I can therefore charge what ever I want (within reason as you put it) BULLSH!T !!!!
I would have retired by now were that true...
I can charge only what the market will allow...yes I have no competition, however my customers are not total fking morons and they only have so much $ to spend...they know when they're being screwed (and quite frankly so do we).

To imply that, because you're the only player so you can charge anything you want, might work in a Mad Max movie selling water or gasoline...but in the real world it doesn't quite cut it...most especially with the small businessman...

There are jobs I have to quote at a break even or even a loss, just to keep the doors open and my employees working…I’m not making a single penny, but I am still open and my guys still have work, and perhaps next month we’ll turn a profit…perhaps that job I just took a bath on will blossom, and the next time they order I might do OK…I got NO COMPETITION so WHERE’S my HUGE PROFITS!!! According to your theory I should be rolling in it and using 100 dollar bills to light $50.00 Cuban cigars…Your right when you say you know nothing about the business side…and it shows.

The bigger companies that you are asking to get involved “because they will keep the prices down…Brilliant!!! Oh there you are right, they WILL keep the cost down…and soon they will drive the little guy out…then there is no competition for the big guy…they have MASSIVE buying power and with power comes abuse…talk to any vendor that deals with Wall Mart and ask them how olde Wally world is to deal with…They are total and complete jackasses and they demand their price and if you can’t meet it tough sh!t, they will go elsewhere to get it…quality HUH!! they could care less, they are after the $$$ and the bottom line…if some company is making jeans in China for less $$$ then that’s where their jeans come from…don't like that go buy your jeans somewhere else...oh you can't to bad! Customer service…yeah sure go tell the President of Wally world that you got an issue…see how far you get….

I’ll GLADLY pay more for a part from a smaller vendor over a similar part from a big conglomerate some where IN A HEART BEAT!!! Because first he actually gives a Sh!t about his product, and me as his customer…and because of that I might pay more but I GET more…

One of the vendors here, you know those robber barons, well I had issues with two parts from them, one I broke (because of MY STUPID move) the other I had an issue with MONTHS after the purchase…upon inquiring about the one I had issues with, I MENTIONED the other which I SCREWED up, and why I thought it happened…I was told to return them BOTH…and they were BOTH replaced…now one I got within days…The one I broke…the other took MONTHS…yep MONTHS…I was told that there were issues with the supplier…so I waited…and it came….and it cost me ZILCH…both of these issues could have been easily ignored or I could have been told that they were WAY past any reasonable warrantee but instead I got SERVICE…

And THAT is why I gladly will pay a little more…the profit margin’s that the big guys work on is miniscule at best why??? Well since your business acumen is so bad I’ll tell you…volume…you see if you make one percent on a ten million dollars in sales…that’s a 100,000 in profit…but if you make 30% of 50,000 in sales that’s only 15,000….hardly retiring to the Islands on that are we….and THEIR COSTS are MORE so the reality of a 30% margin is crap…they NEED to make more because they sell so little…yet the market often will not bear what they need to make…

This is why I buy my parts from my dealer, will I pay less at bike bandit, or some other super center… you bet I will…but my dealer is a local guy, and YES he has a face and I HAVE broken bread with him….but you know what …HE has broken BREAD with ME and I have a face TOO…and that is something you just can’t put a price tag on…some of my best customers know they can ask for the seemingly impossible and we will do what ever we can for them, so that their customers are happy…they didn’t get gouged, or taken advantage of because I’m the only game in town…but we have a reciprocal understanding…we are in business we need to make $$$ and fair is fair…and in return for that understanding, we offer the best possible product we can and the best service we can.

Big guys purchase plating cheaper because they order more…period. They walk in and say I got an order for 100000 gismos and I’ll pay you this to plate them…if you can perform I’ll order X more next month…if you don’t like it we’ll go to Johnny and see if he’ll do it…soon enough the little guy shows up with a 100 part order for the SAME PARTS and now they have to WAIT in a CUE to be serviced and then the price per part is much higher…Now little guy has to mark up his price and pass it on to you…but big guy, well he has to mark it up to…but he doesn’t need to mark it near as much AND he didn’t pay anywhere as much, to begin with…

So if you’re thinking that you were just asking a simple question about supply and demand you are mistaken…more suppliers DOES NOT equate to better! It often might seem that way at first but in the end it actually means you get a lost in the shuffle forced to purchase inferior product and with no recourse…Go find that little do-dad that you need, and the local hardware store always had, at Home Depot…and wait till they tell you that they don’t move enough of them to stock them….then tell me again how bigger is better cause it makes things cheaper…

The fact that you premise your statement with I’m only saying I think more suppliers would be better…is a bogus misconception more does NOT always mean better it just means more…and soon they are competing amongst each other for your business…and that starts a price war…but to cut costs and stay competitive they have to cut corners, and soon quality is crap…but H3LL You are paying less…then, suppliers (without deep pockets) start to drop out of the chain…but you still get you cheap parts and you have to go to Mega Mart to buy them, because Joes parts isn’t there anymore, but Mega Mart doesn’t carry everything you need, so you get cheap crap and only the cheap crap that everyone else wants!

You original statement of “If you are the only one making a part, cant you charge whatever you want?...(within reason obviously)”

Just Highlights the fact that you do indeed have NO understanding of business! I have no issue with anyone wanting more to select from…but your desires seem to be based upon faulty logic.

And if you really did understand business then you never would have asked (or implied) the question to begin with.

THE VOICE OF REASON per: Stewart AF&AM/Shriner/Scoutmaster 130/45 TBS 2shim SS Uni 18/42