Fecking markups

[ynot slow]

Looked to get new brake pads for bike,online saw price of US $19.95 Plus freight https://www.d2moto.com/shoppingcart.aspx the freight was $18.98,here is costing,but although cheap who knows how they fare,so decided to go with good old NZ bike outlet off trademe,free freight and here today or Wednesday,$129 full set sintered front and rear,at least I could ring the local outlet to get answers.

Mind you also sent an email 4 weeks ago to a bike outlet selling leather care/waterproof product I saw in store,still waiting for reply,only a $20-40 sale maybe but sure as shit doesn't endeer me to buy from them,will go to Sth Island manufacturer direct.

[Edbear]

Well, I'll keep an eye out. Have bookmarked the site so if you expand to anything I need I'll give you a go haha
Dont need a battery at the moment that I can think of though

I sell fire protection equipment including extinguishers and alarms of course; rescue equipment as used by NZ Fire service and Forestry Services; generators and pumps; Portable lighting including torches, emergency lighting and area flood lighting; bullet-proof, (literally), ESS military safety glasses which make great sunnies and protective glasses; Taipan boots; Liquid Image dive camera video masks for snorkelling, diving and jetski fun; Pelican and Nanuk military spec protective cases and the Shorai batteries.

Anything anyone may be interested in, ask and I'll give you a KB price!

[R1madness]

Two big problems with all that.

Firstly, you are being fcuked over by your NZ supplier if they are forbidding you to order low quantities of low-demand products, and you in turn are then fcuking over your customers. The pair of you need to sort your shit out.

Secondly, what on earth makes you think there'd be an uproar if you had to get stuff ex-USA??? I get real tired of hearing about inventory costs being to blame for the prices, because 90% of the time the dealer never bloody has what I need and has to order it in. I don't give a shit about local inventory, ok? I'd rather wait 3-4 working days to get something ex-USA than wait 10-15 working days ex-factory (or even 2-3 days from NZ distributor) and pay three times the price.

I've said it before. Dealers should be able to access inventory in dealerships in the USA, Aussie, UK, wherever, clip the ticket, and supply at a reasonable price and profit in a few days. (Treat dealers worldwide as a distributed warehouse.) There is no need to persist with the outdated geo-political boundaries in the sales model... as is obvious from these threads, it's a lose-lose situation.

Dude, do you really think that a small NZ based company is in a postition to tell a major international supplier how to set their international pricing structure??? 200 units is the LOW VOLUME MINIMUM, the USA minimum order for the same plug is 1000 units LOL we are lucky that they even bother to supply us at all...

I work for a importer not a retailer. We will supply overnight to any shop in NZ. As for 3 to 4 days delivery ex usa... I regularly privately import from USA (non bike related and only stuff not available here) and the standard is 7-10 working days (sometimes i get lucky and the bits are here in under a week but not often). Sure some people are ok with waiting but most are not.

I do agree that franchise dealers should be able to look and order nationally and in some cases this is possable. Internationally it has a downside. That is the NZ bike importer will stop carring any parts, even high demand ones cause they figure... "ok now everyone is happy to wait for it to come from south east kazicstan or Brisbane". So i will order it from there and hope that the 1 insignificant part i order gets sent when they have orders for bulk items comming in from other places around the world. Will they get around to sending 1 plug? maybe but i bet i goes to the bottom of the pile while they send out the large regular orders... cause they know "we are happy to wait"

There is no simple answer, support your local dealer where you can. Buy stuff in when you need to.

[Edbear]

Dude, do you really think that a small NZ based company is in a postition to tell a major international supplier how to set their international pricing structure??? 200 units is the LOW VOLUME MINIMUM, the USA minimum order for the same plug is 1000 units LOL we are lucky that they even bother to supply us at all...

I work for a importer not a retailer. We will supply overnight to any shop in NZ. As for 3 to 4 days delivery ex usa... I regularly privately import from USA (non bike related and only stuff not available here) and the standard is 7-10 working days (sometimes i get lucky and the bits are here in under a week but not often). Sure some people are ok with waiting but most are not.

I do agree that franchise dealers should be able to look and order nationally and in some cases this is possable. Internationally it has a downside. That is the NZ bike importer will stop carring any parts, even high demand ones cause they figure... "ok now everyone is happy to wait for it to come from south east kazicstan or Brisbane". So i will order it from there and hope that the 1 insignificant part i order gets sent when they have orders for bulk items comming in from other places around the world. Will they get around to sending 1 plug? maybe but i bet i goes to the bottom of the pile while they send out the large regular orders... cause they know "we are happy to wait"

There is no simple answer, support your local dealer where you can. Buy stuff in when you need to.

I could reduce the costs of a number of different items by directly importing from the manufacturer as I do with Shorai, but Shorai have a more realistic minumum order requirement, thankfully, though it has still meant I have maxed everything I have financially to become the sole agent in NZ and qualify for max discount. In time, sales will outstrip orders and I'll start to come right but meantime it makes life rather tough. However, that's the commitment you make if you want to do the best you can, you put into the venture whatever it takes and whatever time it takes.

I've got tens of thousands of dollars of stock on hand and haven't got half what I really need yet. The way things are going, my monthly order will soon become my fortnightly order. Anyone want to buy a battery..?

For other items, there are usually minimum order requirements of 3,000 to 5,000 units! Even 1,000 is way out of my league! Of course I could sell the house...

[JimO]

funny how some people are moaning about bike shop mark ups and there is another thread with people moaning about bike shops not being open 7 days

[warewolf]

There is no simple answer, support your local dealer where you can. Buy stuff in when you need to.

I think in part you misread my post.

You make it sound like we should be grateful we are allowing you to shaft us, because you certainly are sounding grateful your supplier is allowing you to be shafted by only ordering 200 rather than 1000 when you really only need 10.

You'll only ship overnight if you already have it in stock. Still means I can't walk in to the dealer Sat am and finish the job that afternoon. I'd rather it arrive direct from the USA by the following weekend than pay 3x the price... to wait 2-3 weeks for you to get the stuff from Japan or Europe through the outdated system. Yes my private imports arrive that fast, via USPS, not exactly a premium service either.

Whether I am "ok with waiting" or not is irrelevant - I said I'm forced to wait due to lack of inventory; I don't have the choice. I'm just sayin' change the source to improve price & speed. I'm happy with a 5 working day turnaround, heck its 2-3 times faster than the current system!

I hear what you are saying about low-volume orders being bumped - it has happened to me with tyres bought through official channels. So it won't be anything new. But funny how the wholesale levels are happy to do that, yet retailers aren't, eh? And the higher levels are trying to stop retailers who offer good customer service across geo-political boundaries.

I paid a premium to my local dealer for years because they were driven from the top with a high service ethic. Now the franchise has gone to someone else, and they suck. They are basically disinterested in selling stuff if it is not already on their shelf. Not paying a premium to get shafted, thank you. Hello private importing.

[warewolf]

Do any of the detractors on this thread drink at a Bar?

Ever start arguments with staff/owners there about mark ups?

Yebbut a barman doesn't take your order then tell you to come back in a couple of weeks when he's got your beer in...

[bikaholic]

Fark me you guys have all these problems just trying to retail and buy these items, imagine what it is like trying to put designs into production here, give up, the fact that china is cheaper is just a bonus.

[DMNTD:Me]

Yebbut a barman doesn't take your order then tell you to come back in a couple of weeks when he's got your beer in...

Fair comment....then would it also be fair if a bike shop made the same mark ups that bars do so he too could provide the same level of speedy 'service'?

[R1madness]

[QUOTE=warewolf;1130209725]You make it sound like we should be grateful we are allowing you to shaft us, because you certainly are sounding grateful your supplier is allowing you to be shafted by only ordering 200 rather than 1000 when you really only need 10.
QUOTE]

Greatfull... you got to be joking, i spent the first part of the thread saying how it was wrong... but its the rules... not my rules or even my bosses. Its the suppliers rules. Yep they suck but there is no way around it for us. Should we risk loseing our distributorship just to buy in 10 plugs from USA...?...?
Or not bother to suppply them at all??? or supply them even at a (very) high price so at least people that need them have speedy access?
Hey lets face it everyone knows how to use the internet but some people just wont... dont ask my why...

[warewolf]

Fair comment....then would it also be fair if a bike shop made the same mark ups that bars do so he too could provide the same level of speedy 'service'?

Hmmm maybe; maybe you would get a split in consumption, some paying top dollar for on-premise, others using the wholesaler to save a buck.

But really I don't think it's a fair comparison. The sheer volume of motorcycle inventory items alone is a big differentiator to FMCG.

[warewolf]

Yep they suck but there is no way around it for us. Should we risk loseing our distributorship just to buy in 10 plugs from USA...?...?

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

A few weeks ago I wanted a spark plug. No dealers in town had one, ended up picking one up at Repco, last one they had. Shoulda got one with the rest of my order for filters etc ex-USA. Almost the same story with brake pads; rang almost every shop in town and finally found the last set in stock. As slight change of topic, I've never known it this bad, but I suspect with the economic downtown shops are reducing inventory as much as they can in order to reduce costs. Which unfortunately has the negative effect of reducing service and driving customers to alternate suppliers.

[DMNTD:Me]

Hmmm maybe; maybe you would get a split in consumption, some paying top dollar for on-premise, others using the wholesaler to save a buck.

But really I don't think it's a fair comparison. The sheer volume of motorcycle inventory items alone is a big differentiator to FMCG.

Indeed and I think it's fair to say that that is already happening on a level at the moment.
Must say that it is just one reason why I have left the motorcycle industry recently....share frustration as I can see both sides of the coin.
The main difference is that most can only see it from the consumer's point of view

[SS90]

Yebbut a barman doesn't take your order then tell you to come back in a couple of weeks when he's got your beer in...

Yes, but as DMNTD has already said, the margins a bar has allow extremely high stock levels, so high, that in some cases, PUBS ACTUALLY RUN OUT OF BEER!!!!!!!

You have demonstrated that you understand the concept that in order to survive, shops are having to lower stock levels.

Add to this the fact that, due to private imports, stock levels are lower as a result, as well as tight margins, it starts to become clear that bike shops (worldwide) are in survival mode, and most simply don't have the capital to stock parts people want, but are unwilling to pay for.

R1Madness has thrown me a bit, he has been in this game for a few decades now, and even he is (to a level) championing consumers getting their own stuff online.... I could be persuaded to consider that "special order" stuff that one person in a thousand wants is acceptable to buy online, but, things like plugs, filters, chains, sprockets??????? Support you local dealers, because if you don't, you will not be able to find a bike shop that's open 5 days a week, let alone 6! (mumble mumble, troublesome journey, mumble mumble Templeton boy)

[MSTRS:Me]

...economic downturn shops are reducing inventory as much as they can in order to reduce costs. Which unfortunately has the negative effect of reducing service and driving customers to alternate suppliers.

Which reminds me of the old story....

It was October and the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Chief in a modern society he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find. Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever."

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."