The competition part of the business isn't what bothers me. The manufacturer's could eliminate people like Summit and Jeg's from strong arming the prices. The little guys are what put these people on the map with the buying public. Then they drop them for large mail order companies. If they companies would lock in pricing like Westin does this wouldn't be an issue.

Buck
#183

I will agree with you there buck. It is ashame that manufacturers ALLOW themselves to be strong-armed price-wise. Many, many times I have watched manufacturers drop extreme points to entice mail-order to take their line. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

It's a game played by all...

1) Lot's of compainies have MAP (minimum advertised pricing) policies, It is against the law to mandate what anybody sells your products for.
2) Atech (summit) actually has a very good wholesale program, but a lot of small shops refuse to buy from them because they do not want to support the competition. So they'll pay more, make less money, and go out of business.
3) Most small shops don't realize that they can generally buy parts through a warehouse for the same money, (probably get it quicker) or close when you consider freight policys.
4) Having the parts in stock is the KEY to any business being successful. Would you have your local supermarket order you tomatos so you could make a salad ?

And it's Atech and Buckeye that allow them to do this. They won't sell to Summit or Jegs direct "technically", but Atech sells to Summit, and Buckeye sells to Jegs "technically" to circumvent that whole thing. It just mean the little guys have to have that added value service for the extra money spent. Or specialize in something where tech advice or product variety exceeds anything they can offer.

I don't think places like carparts or racesearch are doing so well, they spent too much too fast.

And "locking in pricing" is illegal. That's huge thing we battle in our industry (not auto aftermarket).

If Walmart or Target carried Edelbrock, for example, you guys would be in for a rude awakening on how the world works. Summit and Jegs issues would be dwarfed. And they'd have to buy assorted boxes of Holley carbs. LOL!

Remember when Jobber price meant something?:D:D:D

But everyone is out there to make a buck, and the long term effects are not always predicted perfectly.

Rum:

Now I see the perspective you're coming with. I agree, if you are a jobber and buy from ATECH, you need to have your head checked. I was soley playing devil's advocate (hehe) and speaking from both the manufacturer's and consumer point of view.

AH yes, and if you do not comply with MAP, you can lose co-op dollars. And a place like Atech probably gathers a couple million in co-op funds each year. So, they'd stand to lose MORE $$ than a smaller WD because of their size if they do NOT comply. If they do comply, it makes them even more money. (or they can undercut non-map'd items and make money in that respect.

Summit's old trick used to be offering the Holley carb (1850) for an awesome price, but carb kit, jets, etc were not priced that well, so they made up the money on the complementary sales. Not sure if they still do this sort of thing or not.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RumRunner
[B]1) Lot's of compainies have MAP (minimum advertised pricing) policies, It is against the law to mandate what anybody sells your products for.


Westin started regulating their prices about 2 years ago. If a warehouse is caught selling Westin to me below a certain price they WILL be cut off....PERIOD.

There was a large price war with my warehouses a couple of years ago on Westin products. After the SEMA show that year EVERYONE started selling at the same price.....hands down. It is still enforced to this day.

I like it. I know my competitors can't buy cheaper then me. If they decide to sell cheaper that's up to them.

Buck
#183

You can bet your ass they still do this. Every SKU in the database has related complementary SKU's so even the dumbest of phone clerks can up-sell with that whole scenario in target.