Opening a car audio shop soon..what is a good site to order equipment from?

[outsideshot23 10+ year member]

Your in Northeast AK you need to get hooked up thourgh a distributor, you have several options close to you in Ohio,Texas,and TN that all carry Kicker, and a wide assortment of brands from budget to high end, until you can become more established to go direct, most are a 1-2 day turn around and are going to be more reliable than online retailers.Its fine if you want to make your money off the installs , but finding a reliable source for the product you install is key to being successful even on a small scale.

not to mention kicker is located in stillwater.. which is okla... which borders arkansas.. unlike tx

 

[Worlddre 5,000+ posts]

everyone saying that you need inventory is not necessarily correct. You really only need a distributor of the products that you intend to carry nearby. Keeping inventory in the store at all times can get expensive so always having a wide selection of products in the store is not what I would consider the best of idea. At the shop where I work we have next to no inventory on hand, however, our two main distributors are at most 30 mins from us so anything we need we can get our hands on usually within a couple of hours. It saves us from having a bunch of inventory we cannot move which will intern lower overhead.

 

[will3 10+ year member]

I guess 8-12 hours is "close"... Like evryone else said you need inventory laying around. people do not like to come in and order off of catalogs. You will make a ton more business by people coming in and looking around and buying something spur of the moment because they wnt it installed today. i would not buy anything and have to wait a week...

This is true we live in a buy it now world , having it on shelf is the best way, but just starting out most people can't have $5,000,$10,000 + worth of inventory laying around eating money , The large distributors can have it to you in 1-2 days, if you are going in just to buy the gear, most will not wait, but if they are setting up appointments to have major installs done, it is not as big a deal.

 

[will3 10+ year member]

not to mention kicker is located in stillwater.. which is okla... which borders arkansas.. unlike tx

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Kicker doesn't really want someone to carry a couple of CVR's and coaxils , they want vendors or dealers to carry the full line , if your area is clean you can be a dealer thourgh the distributors with alot smaller buy in and less hassle.

If he has a large distributor closer have at it.

 

[SacTownBully84 10+ year member]

sonic electronics is good ive bought alot of my new stuff w them and there good CS also

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Best bet would be to carry Kickers full line along with audiopipes full line. All of our local shops carry kicker and audiopipe and there always seems to be a line of people trying to get into the store. I dont care for either brand but there cheap and thats what most people care about. I would also try to carry one high end brand like DD, DC Audio to get the smarter buyers into the store.

 

[axeten 10+ year member]

I dont know how it is in America. But here, We cant just buy from a retail shop and then sell the gear. Not legally. You'd better get a financial advisor or something to run you through all the legalities and then get onto some dealers from there. Though if your asking where to buy stuff from. You need more than 6 months of preperation before you can start.

Unless you only want a tiny shop and dont want to make money.

You also might want to write up a list of what stuff you want. If you want two brands full lines then you will need one of everything for display stock and stuff out the back to sell. Will add up well into the 10,000's

 

[aaron7114 10+ year member]

So does anyone know some distributors around my area? Im located in Paragould, around 20 miles north of jonesboro.

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

figure out which lines you want. contact the company and ask if they have distributors or if you have to deal direct if they have distribs in ur area they'll steer u in the right way.

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

not to mention kicker is located in stillwater.. which is okla... which borders arkansas.. unlike tx

unlike Tx? so Tx doesn't border ark?

 

[Durry 10+ year member]

you should start with known companies....like Kicker, rockford, JL, mb quarts, polk, alpine, pioneer & kenwood (i hate kendwood)........ famous brands....they are not necessarily the best but i think it would be the best for you they sell fast.