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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90/E92/E93 Marketplace (For Sale / Trade / Wanted) > Vendor Comments/Review/Feedback Forum > Vendors asking you to PM for pricing, advice and questions



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      04-06-2012, 08:05 AM   #23
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Agreed- most of the time when I used to PM (or do still). The prices I get back are much higher than what a google search would give me. Case in point, I pm'd someone for 4 LED h8's. I get a shipping price of $18. Google gave me the same thing w/a shipping price of $10. $8 is not a huge deal, but proportionally- there is a huge difference there.
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      04-06-2012, 10:27 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EVO_S4 View Post
PM is fine but to only get a 5% off from the listed price is a joke or hugh markup on shipping
You'd be surprised how large 5% off is when it leaves vendors with less then 1% profit all said and done. We have to cover shipping expenses, website expenses, overhead and other fixed costs, 3% merchant fees... I can go on and on. Trust me the customer is winning everytime.

Imagine making $7 on a $900 item...

Last edited by Jeff@TopGearSolutions; 04-11-2012 at 02:57 PM..
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      04-09-2012, 03:37 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itsmeek View Post
Agreed- most of the time when I used to PM (or do still). The prices I get back are much higher than what a google search would give me. Case in point, I pm'd someone for 4 LED h8's. I get a shipping price of $18. Google gave me the same thing w/a shipping price of $10. $8 is not a huge deal, but proportionally- there is a huge difference there.
Just ask for alternative... most of the large vendors get discount on shipping anyways. You shipping something will be largely different in price than Apple shipping an item.
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      04-11-2012, 02:36 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions View Post
You'd be surprised how large 5% off is when it leaves vendors with less then 1% profit all said and done. We have to cover shipping expenses, website expenses, overheard and other fixed costs, 3% merchant fees... I can go on and on. Trust me the customer is winning everytime.

Imagine making $7 on a $900 item...
This

I've had times when I've had to make zero dollars just to stay competitive and then still lose the sale. Its brutal guys. Jeff isn't lying. You guys always benefit from this type of competition... but I don't think you realize what 5% really is.
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      04-12-2012, 10:22 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions View Post
You'd be surprised how large 5% off is when it leaves vendors with less then 1% profit all said and done. We have to cover shipping expenses, website expenses, overhead and other fixed costs, 3% merchant fees... I can go on and on. Trust me the customer is winning everytime.

Imagine making $7 on a $900 item...
Don't forget the Grief if something is not perfect or the customer wants to return it.
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      04-12-2012, 10:31 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by The Cleaner View Post
Don't forget the Grief if something is not perfect or the customer wants to return it.
Funny you say that, cause its so true.
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      04-13-2012, 05:59 PM   #29
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Is it possible to be charged actual shipping? That 1% profit grows when you see the shipping/handling charges on some items. On some items, the shipping is more than the actual item.
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      04-13-2012, 08:08 PM   #30
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My 4 led angel eye bulbs from bms cost $10 to ship, that was the cheap price. Go straight to bms and try to buy them and it's $15 to ship. Are you fkn kidding me?

On top of all that- the outer rings don't even light up. I mean like, almost unnoticeable. My gp thunders were WAY better and actually went back in.
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      05-29-2012, 07:39 PM   #31
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yea. the shipping and "handling" charges kill me. to pay $12 for $12 VERY LIGHT roundels is ridiculous. Or even better, $10 for new numbers off the back that are plastic that would easily fit in a $4 flat rate usps.. dont give me the overhead costs of website, blah blah blah, amazon hosting for a small business site is peanuts nowadays. how much stuff do you actually handle anyways. most stuff these days are dropshipped directly from the manufacturer. All "vendors" do is act as a middle man since manufacturers wont sell directly to consumers. So the manufacturer hits the vendor with what it will cost to ship to zipcode and the vendor multiplies that by what they want to make off it and boom, your 1% becomes 20%.

Take the m3 lip spoiler thread about it being $59 from ebay shipped... same thing the vendors are selling for 130-150 and then tacking on $20 in shipping.

I use to order from the vendors but realized they all import the same stuff, tack on a price they want to make 50% on and bump the shipping, well, because "shipping things is expensive because of gas.."

That said, i know who the great vendors are and they have always been helpful. Im not knocking service or price of what i've paid because i knew i was being taken care of and would get what i paid for. Vendors like Bimmian, EAS, BavSound, Khoa, Umnitza, GetBmwParts, and TMS have all been vendors worth looking at.
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      05-30-2012, 07:21 AM   #32
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100% agree, this was my point as well. It's cumbersome, misleading, and many vendors think we must be idiots.
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      05-31-2012, 05:03 PM   #33
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This has been danced around and possibly even hit right on... but basically once you find a vendor that you trust and build a relationship with that vendor you won't really have to "shop" around so much anymore. Sometimes there might be a certain product you can't buy at your vendor of choice, but as I have learned that is usually not the case. Even if they don't "usually" sell that item they can usually get it for you. As a repeat customer you will usually be able to get good deals and special discounts. Also, customer service, fast and reliable shipping and return policies, etc. should play a huge part in your decisions.

I have 1 person I call. He either has what I need or can usually get it. I get prices below advertised or at least at the lowest advertised just because I have a relationship. We work together for a mutual benefit. I can even call and get hook-ups for a friend at times. Don't expect somebody to bend over backwards and sell you a part at cost if you haven't shown any sort of loyalty. Everybody needs to make/save money and everyone has an itch on their back to be scratched at times.

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      06-11-2012, 07:16 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JYohay View Post
i am a manufacturers sales rep in the consumer electronic industry.
there is something called MAP pricing, which is Minimum advertised price.
this is somewhat of a new policy since the rise of E-tail (internet retail)
Manufacturers set a MAP to even the playing feild.
You may see on some websites that you have to add the item to cart to see the price.
this is because of MAP.
it makes it so that the consumer cannot just go to price shopper or price grabber or nextag to find the best price.
if there was no MAP price, then consumers would choose the vendor on price alone.
MAP price makes it so that the customer has to interact with the vendor, and in many ways this helps make a customer a repeat customer for that particular vendor.
if the lowest price is out there for all to see, then every vendor would match the price, and then whoever is willing to work on the least profit margin will get the business.
what this does in the end is make it so no vendor can make any money on the product.
hope that answers your question.
Call MAP what you like, in a free market economy, it is by definition, illegal. You cannot legally require a company (or individual for that matter) to sell a product for a minimum price. That being said, a manufacture is legally entitled to sell to whomever they choose, so unfortunately for the retailers they have no choice but to follow MAP pricing or they simply get cut off.

I understand its not the fault of the dealers or online retailers because they are forced to uphold the MAP pricing when they sign up to become wholesalers to certain manufacturers, but its amusing how all the retailers support it because your ultimately the ones that are loosing out.

The manufacturers still make the same 25-40% when they sell a product to the retailers/wholesalers as they would without MAP pricing. With the MAP pricing, however there is less margin for the dealers to make profit because they aren't 'allowed' to advertise a product for sale below the set MAP price of that given product.

Retailers CAN still sell a product below MAP pricing, however if word gets around that they do, the manufacture will simply cut them off which is why most are very reluctant to go below the MAP set prices for products. No legal action whatsoever can be taken between the dealer and manufacture because like stated previously, its illegal to demand/require a set minimum price for anything in a free market economy.

Last edited by shaginwagon13; 06-26-2012 at 05:20 PM..
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