The question is:
Is this the wrong direction for the car audio industry?
The question is:
Is this the wrong direction for the car audio industry?
theCybe
5,000+ posts
sector three
Purchasing these products at a discounted rate enables us to experiment.
I learn what to buy, how to install;
I learn from the conversation and exchange of information;
I learn from the various physics, equations, logics, and sciences involved;
I learn from mistakes;
These are virtues that will ultimately /improve/ the industry. As long as there are enthusiasts, new and old, there will be a market for quality product.
^ this is how it should be done.
--
or, in your ideal market, i just go buy it at the shop, and drive off playing loud music.
^ not the way I function.
^ i don't need your shops.
I learn what to buy, how to install;
I learn from the conversation and exchange of information;
I learn from the various physics, equations, logics, and sciences involved;
I learn from mistakes;
These are virtues that will ultimately /improve/ the industry. As long as there are enthusiasts, new and old, there will be a market for quality product.
^ this is how it should be done.
--
or, in your ideal market, i just go buy it at the shop, and drive off playing loud music.
^ not the way I function.
^ i don't need your shops.
phantom240
5,000+ posts
ALL YOUR INTERNETZ
I second that motion
I haven't posted here a whole bunch, but I have been reading the forum for quite some time, so here is my two cents......
As far as I am concerned Mom and Pop businesses are slowly fading away. If you want to stay in business you need to be where the money is. You have to cater to rich people who could care less about what ohms and crossover slopes mean. All they want is to get their car done quickly with flashy gear. I know you all don't don't like Unique Whips, because of their shotty installing techniques (some are very ghetto, like painting a dash with spray bombs and such) and neither do I, but they are successful because rich people, ie. Athletes, musicians, whatever, couldn't give two ****s about the things we enjoy in car audio, and Will Castro Knows that. He gives them some B.S. about how tight this stuff is and how cool these rims are. They don't care, as long is it is different from everybody else.
So if you want to be successful in the Car Audio business you are going to have to put a business plan together, get a loan, build a shop like Will, somewhere in Cali or Florida or wherever it is hot out year around, in an area with professional Athletes, Movie Stars, High Profile Business men with spoiled kids etc. It is pretty straight forward. But you have to be willing to loose everything and not be afraid to go broke in order to make it big, because Car Audio is now more of an industry for the elite, rather than the common folk, because most of us are trying to scrape all the nickles we have to buy that new amp or XXX.
Peace.
As far as I am concerned Mom and Pop businesses are slowly fading away. If you want to stay in business you need to be where the money is. You have to cater to rich people who could care less about what ohms and crossover slopes mean. All they want is to get their car done quickly with flashy gear. I know you all don't don't like Unique Whips, because of their shotty installing techniques (some are very ghetto, like painting a dash with spray bombs and such) and neither do I, but they are successful because rich people, ie. Athletes, musicians, whatever, couldn't give two ****s about the things we enjoy in car audio, and Will Castro Knows that. He gives them some B.S. about how tight this stuff is and how cool these rims are. They don't care, as long is it is different from everybody else.
So if you want to be successful in the Car Audio business you are going to have to put a business plan together, get a loan, build a shop like Will, somewhere in Cali or Florida or wherever it is hot out year around, in an area with professional Athletes, Movie Stars, High Profile Business men with spoiled kids etc. It is pretty straight forward. But you have to be willing to loose everything and not be afraid to go broke in order to make it big, because Car Audio is now more of an industry for the elite, rather than the common folk, because most of us are trying to scrape all the nickles we have to buy that new amp or XXX.
Peace.
- Thread Starter
- #65
Today I came across a perfect example with this, a customer of mine wanted to put a system together. I still get the hookup for just a bit over dealer cost at the shop i used to work at, so I got him a quote on some JBL equipment for only about $100 over what I pay. I gave him a quote and he seemed interested and for what it was it was a smokin deal. Well, today I lose the sale becaue the guy found some shady merchant online that was willing to sell for below dealer cost, let alone my cost.
My guess is some of these are being purchased through gray market channels, or by abusing employee accomodations.
In the end, the seller probably only made $10 on the $800 + worth of equpment.
The problem is, dealer prices are for dealers, and employee accomodation prices are for the employees. not for the end customer. Now you get your average joe coming to you and expecting you to pay him to take the product because he sees that ebayer selling for $10 less than your shop had to pay for it.
There shoudl be penalties for such things, I know that manufacturers likely would not warranty a product bought through an online dealer, but I Think they should crack down a lilttle better. I know some of you would cry if you couldn't go on ebay and buy that $1000 amp for $200, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.
My guess is some of these are being purchased through gray market channels, or by abusing employee accomodations.
In the end, the seller probably only made $10 on the $800 + worth of equpment.
The problem is, dealer prices are for dealers, and employee accomodation prices are for the employees. not for the end customer. Now you get your average joe coming to you and expecting you to pay him to take the product because he sees that ebayer selling for $10 less than your shop had to pay for it.
There shoudl be penalties for such things, I know that manufacturers likely would not warranty a product bought through an online dealer, but I Think they should crack down a lilttle better. I know some of you would cry if you couldn't go on ebay and buy that $1000 amp for $200, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.
- Thread Starter
- #66
There will always be need for shops, because there is a huge % of people that don't want to or don't have the skills to install themselves. Also most products have restrictions on warrantys vs professional installation. Otherwise, you install it in your garage at home and you screw up the wiring, bye bye warranty.
The market is getting too cheap for itself, the bottom line is that such a high percentage of this stuff is being sold outside the manufacturers TOS. If any of you have ever tried to setup a dealer account with a major brand, you will find out just how strict they are, for one they have zoning, otherwise you can't have too many shops selling the same brand in a small area, and they have requirements of volume and price too.
These dealers online where you just bought your amp $10 below dealer cost are somehow getting around the manufacturers TOS. Some brands are more lax than others, thankfully there are actually some that take a hard assed approach to it too.
You have to respect where its coming from, and my point was, the general public was never intended to be able to buy stuff direct from manucaturers
There are still several brands out there that you hardly ever see online or on ebay unless they are old models, closeouts etc. Focal, Audision, JL audio, etc. etc. etc.
ebay and other "net stores" dont have over head they make their extra money on shipping. they dont have to pay sales people, installers and do not have to keep a store front never the less a sound board (those arent cheap). warranty is a problem on line as most of the stuff isnt authorized. your warrantee costs the retailer money and time if you ever need to use it. most people dont see the whole picture they only see the end result as how it effects you. you want quality? you get what you pay for. want service ?? you get what you pay for. you think if 50% of the car audio market went to ebay do you honestly think you would have the same type of stuff/technology avalible? i highly doubt it as much as people want to save money they people who know what they are doing want to make money and if its not worth their time why should they? its not like some rich guy will donate money for an audio cause. the cheaper stuff gets the less it will be offered.
how could a large corp/manufacturer make money if they have noone (shops) to sell it too? the equipment isnt on consignment the shops buy it. then when the large manufacturer sells their stuff at a blow out price they themselves lose money. on a large scale that becomes ALOT of money. its a large loop but trust me if a retail shop is forced to sell at net prices they wont be around for very long. kind of like alot of net sellers and retailers.
how could a large corp/manufacturer make money if they have noone (shops) to sell it too? the equipment isnt on consignment the shops buy it. then when the large manufacturer sells their stuff at a blow out price they themselves lose money. on a large scale that becomes ALOT of money. its a large loop but trust me if a retail shop is forced to sell at net prices they wont be around for very long. kind of like alot of net sellers and retailers.
- Thread Starter
- #68
yeah, i see a lot of ebayers advertizing that they buy in the largest quanities and shave their profit margins down razor thin. They mave have moved $100,000 in product and only netted $2000 profit.
This happened with a fellow car perfomrnace part retailer. He was always bragging about how he had brought in one million+ in sales, but then wuold turn around and talk about how he couldn't afford to fix his own car. Bottom line, he marked up everything by like $1 and counted on a certain# of customers rather than actually making a smart decision on how to price his products. That and He didn't stand behind crap that he sold either.
This happened with a fellow car perfomrnace part retailer. He was always bragging about how he had brought in one million+ in sales, but then wuold turn around and talk about how he couldn't afford to fix his own car. Bottom line, he marked up everything by like $1 and counted on a certain# of customers rather than actually making a smart decision on how to price his products. That and He didn't stand behind crap that he sold either.
"Dealer Price" doesn't mean jack. JBL had a MERA program that dropped the price even more. I know for a fact that most scumbags online are happy with 10 point margins, which is very little. Not 2 points as some are suggesting. Buy for 90 sell for 100 isn't the recipe to get rich, but that is about the going rate. I'm not sure how they make money doing it, but they are still around (the Ikesounds, the Etronics). I could be getting BSed by suppliers, but each seems to say the same thing (they are making 10 points over what a distributor pays... so it must be they are in bed with a distributor to make it worthwhile).
Juan
Juan
also have too look at rebates and buy ins if you can sell 1/2 of your buy in inventory before they get it it makes it easier for some shops to get their stuff also helps with buy in discounts there is a long list of reasons. some places figure noone close by will buy so why not do it? i just think if you buy online as your only option you are making a mistake and just useing local dealers for info and or to see the product before you get it is a joke. sure the shops have open doors but remember when you are "shopping" on your free time these guys are working. dont always think they are dumb either alot of times if they see you arent really going to get anything they will act/play dumb so they dont waste time. sure you might save a buck here or there but if the local shops die so does the market as THAT IS WHAT 95% of the manufacturers are GEARED to.
- Thread Starter
- #71
They just count on everyone choosing them over an authorized dealer, the name of the game is making a cetain number of sales.
I would like to see the market be fair to everyone. Yeah, maybe come online and buy your item for $20-$30 less than you can in a brick and mortar store, that would be fair and they would probably make just as much as they do now if not more. but selling them for $10 under dealer cost is rediculous, customers will still buy and they will not have as much of a skewed view of what the price should be.
I like the way JimJ put it. It in itself is not putting mom and pop shops out of business, they themselves are by not changing with the times. Only the super power-houses like Wal-Mart can stick to the old, get it in and mark it up and rotate the inventory spot X amount of times old way of storefront business. They are direct to china with their own brand of name brand knock-offs. An amplifier manufacturer in Korea that I work with builds 5000+ amps for Power Acoustik every month. Every Month....and you guessed it, they could give a sh*t less where it goes and for how much, cause once it's rotated out of their "inventory spot", they've already got their money......and *** loads of it too. Despite having dealers, if you called Gene at Power Acoustik and said you wanted to order a Shipping Carton of amps and you have the Benjamins to pay for them right now, you'd get them at a pretty phat discount and they'd be glad to turn their cheek when someone called up complaining that it was on eBay or where ever else. Shops have to change and get away from that old store-front technology of the 60's-mid 90's.
what you would have left is look at it online and trust what you see lol. you think retail is over priced then i think people dont realise the costs involved in a shop. when people buy a rockford amp online for about regular dealer cost and it breaks and they are stuck with nothing but a broken amp and all you can do is complain and regamble... i think its the customers fault. it isnt a perfect world and the very people who live in it make it as such (trying to make/save a buck) and like i said when more stuff gets sold online there will be far less variety of known good things to buy. if you cant see it hold it hear it before you buy how will you feel confident about buying it? how will you know you have a warranty? most of the "good stuff" that gets sold on ebay isnt wanted there by the manufacturer to begin with.
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