Online Stihl Dealers For Hire

[Gypo Logger]

Hi There, I know that some saw operators have displayed annoyance at Stihl for not wanting to have online sales of saws and accessories, but can you imagine for a moment what it would really be like for an online dealer?
Most saws are sold to consumers with nil to no saw experience.
That would add up to a dealer on the phone or computer trying to diagnose something that the purchaser was unable to describe.
It would be nothing but a Royal pain in the ass and you wouldnt make any money.
However, on the other hand, internet sales goes well if both the buyer and seller know what they want and what they are selling. When these two factors are met an instant rapour is set up and everyone is happy. It's the Hairy Homeowner that will ruin the internet sales.
Although Iam not a Stihl dealer, I have sold over 100 saws over the net and by phone in the last two years, with only one buyer having any significant problems to speak of. 99% of the saws I sold went to buyers who knew what they wanted and trusted me before they clicked the send button. I surely havent gone unnoticed by Stihl after buying 100 090's and 088's from one dealer alone in such a short period of time, but what I do with a saw after I buy from a dealer is my business. The secret to being a good salesman is to gaurd jealously the trust that a buyer places in you and offer them more than they expected to get and saving them $ at the same time, while looking forward to hearing from them again.
If Stihl offered me an online dealership today I wouldnt have anything to do with it, cause I dont want the homeowner, I want the professional user or avid saw user, who doesnt require continual babysitting.Plus I would have to keep regular hours.
Offering a service to the public can be very demanding.
I have been told that only 5% Americans and 8% of Canadians do their banking online, so what % age of saws would be sold this way?
The bottom line is that internet sales is still in it's infancy, although Ebay as an example, has a system that is exemplary.
I think that Stihl has done well not to let so called dealers ruin what they have by allowing sales over the net, as some dealers do a bad enough job already.
Anyway, I have two brand spanking new 088's and 090's that I bought that are sitting right here and your name is on one if you like at only 1050 and 1150 respectfully, U.S., plus 50$ delivered, with a 25' roll of 46RS thrown in.
Best Regards,
John Lambert
905 702 8357

 

[davefr]

John,
Good perspective, but let me throw this into the mix.

Stihl's ultra restrictive policies are hurting themselves and their dealers. Here are three recent examples:

1. Just yesterday I called Madsens to order some chain. I requested some Stihl 33RM2 loops. Madsens told me that they couldn't sell to me because I'm in Oregon and they can't ship across state lines. Hence I changed my order to Oregon chain. Stihl was the looser here.

2. Last week I bought a genuine Stihl 25" bar on EBAY. The local dealer was not even in the ballpark in terms of being competitive because of Stihl policies. My EBAY purchase sure didn't help any authorized Stihl dealer. Stihl needs to loosten up the reins a little.

3. There's a thread here of someone buying a Husky 261 online cheaper than a Stihl 026. The combination of Stihl's already inflated prices and enforcing local sales (which often involve sales tax) makes this even more of a double whammy. How is giving business to Husky on a "silver platter" helping Stihl or their dealers?

I really feel Stihl is trying to use 19th century policies in the 21st century. This will be a loose/loose for Stihl AND their dealers in the long run.

Where am I wrong?

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Also John just because a customer buys a Stihl saw online doesnt mean the customer has to go to them for service. The customer can still use their local dealer. Just ask John Walker or Madsens how they are doing selling Husky's online, not to mention this site's sponsor Sherrill equipment or Alamia.com.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

My buddy looking for a biger saw is realy drooling at the Madsen price on the 385!

I'm all for supporting the local guy, but why do I have to keep Midwest Stihl afloat too?

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi John, I have a new, never started 385 right here, right now. Let me know what your friend wishes to pay for it and I will include 3 extra chains, three extra sprockets and a new Stihl cap, calendar, keychain and a a limited edition Stihl Timbersports T-Shirt. The Saw comes with a 28" Oregon Pro Bar. Saw Serial# 01 3500078.
John

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Gypo, you cant sell that saw. If you do what will go on top of your refridgerator?

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Huskyman, I will put the Jonsered 2171 DGW on the fridge. I am saving it for to fall some green gold. I dont want it to "catch" anything by plunging it into any Wolf trees. I am woodfibre challenged at the moment and reduced to having fun skidding low grade with an awesome 357XPGW, but I think the 026AW PRO will cut circles around the 357XPGW. However, this will have to be proved at the Clearwater Revival or the Testical Festival.
John

 

[Gypo Logger]

Huskyman, this forum goes so fast I cant keep up. I think Stihl has it all sewn up and knows what they are doing. As it is, North America is their most important market. I think that the problem isnt with Stihl but with their dealers. Most dealers just dont take advantage of the offers that Stihl makes to them. The dealers have lots of oppertunity to encourage the professional to buy their products with the promotional deals they offer.
Most dealers, regardless of make know nil to nothing of the product they sell, thats why we go to the specialist like Walkers, Grefford, etc. etc.
I think that giving online acsess to non commited dealers is bad news.
Here in Canada we have what we call a " Northern Living Allowance" which is defined in our Free Trade Agreement, arcticle #990757, which states that anyone living within Canada or their Territories can purchase items of neccessity such as saws, genererators and ATV's etc. at a 20% reduction to other countries due to our extreme climate, however our Southern friends in the U.S. are welcome to take advantage of this oppertunity as well when they come to visit us.
Keep The Big Chips Flyin'
John

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi there, I oppoligize for bashing the "Hairy Homeowner", when someone comes into your shop, whoever they are, make them feel like the pro they are or wish to be. It's just called inspiration.
So lets do our best to inspire others.

Now Were Loggin!

 

[tundraotto]

john,

if this is the case why dont we see more people selling new saws on the internet (ie. ebay)??? is 20% less really true? i havent seen a great deal on the net yet (except maybe for your 3120xp ). and yes, even a stihl fan as yourself must admit thats stihls policy of selling is very backward in modern day world.

and btw!! love your offer: free stihl cap to the guy who's looking at a 385 husky - lol - all brand pride aside - why didnt you just recommend a stihl?

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Tundra, I hope I havent screwed things up for us Canadiens. I can see it all now, a Chainsaw Tarrif just like the lumber thing, buts its all just a ploy to get Americans to buy more lumber and chainsaws.
On a more serious note: I dont think Internet sales will increase the demand for chainsaws or any other product. Stihl sells saws all over the world and until they are taking less of the market than what they are now, then I dont think they will change.
20% is the deduction against gross income that we apply to our taxes owing which is 50% of net, when buying Northern allowance items such as traps, tobogans, skidoo's, chainsaws, standing timber and fur clothing.
John

 

[tundraotto]

you were trying to lure me there to the land of the "cheap" chainsaw... I knew it sounded too good to be true... so .. got any more junglesaws......

had to edit this post too b/c of heavy drinking

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Tundra, I forgot, thats what they call piggyback advertising, validating one product by validating it's competitor. But I bet the Huskysaw cuts more wood than the Stihl cap does. lol
John

 

[jokers]

Might as well be online

Stihl dealerships in my area are alot like Dunkin' Donuts, seems to be one on every other corner and usually staffed by people who are naturals at asking if you want cream and sugar with your coffee. I don`t say this as a reflection on the quality of Stihl, just their dealership program. I`ll give you a couple of no B.S. examples. Last week I`m in Pulaski, NY and I`m in need of a few rim sprockets. No problem I say because there is a Stihl dealer with a snazzy showroom right over there. I walk in and head to the parts counter, past all the new snowmobiles and ATVs, where only seconds ago, salespeople were seemingly coming out of the wood work as my four year old son stopped me to ogle the toys. When it became clear that I wasn`t atv shopping, but was instead heading toward the saws, everybody splits except the owner who is leaning against the counter, and the poor parts man, who was trapped behind the counter. You should have seen the look on the faces of these two guys when I ask for 7 tooth large spline rim sprockets. Now the owner bolts, presumably looking for his missing staff, and it`s just the poor defenseless counterman and me. After about a twenty second blank stare( no exageration) he says "what are they for?" I tell him a Husky saw but that doesn`t matter. "We only sell Stihl". I don`t care, I`ll take them anyway I tell him. He says "what do you mean?". I tell him I want two rim sprockets of any brand. Grudgingly humoring me, he opens a parts manual for an 046 and says can you point at what you want. I do so and he says I think I saw one of those around here and starts rifling the desk. Well lo and behold he surfaces with an Oregon powermate rim, but now he`s really perplexed, he can`t figure out how much it should cost me, it`s not in the Stihl book. I left without it. Then there is the dealer closest to my home who doesn`t stock any parts and very few saws, all of which are on a shelf in the service area where he installs snowplows. I`m not sure why he`s even in the business. Or how about the dealer 4 miles from my home who only has sparkplugs for Stihl saws, and then when I show him what I want, he has them for $3 each. Or how about the contractors supply places in Syracuse that sell them but explain their lack of service expertise by saying that Stihls never need service. I could go on and on, but what`s the point. I`m not saying that Husky is necessarily any better either, just that you don`t necessarily get anything of value by going to a Stihl authorized "Dealer". There is one Stihl dealer that I know of though that should be the standard for the Stihl role model. House Trucking of Central Square. They sell Husky and Jonsered as well. They are fully stocked in just about any part, for any saw that ever had any popularity and some others as well. Two men, Dan and Ken handle sales, and repairs while you wait in most cases. You generally will pay close to retail or whatever the current promo price is on saws, but they make up for that on the service which is very fair priced and always effective. These are the guys that I would hate to see hurt by internet sales, but frankly they are hurt by a few local dealers who discount prices a little more anyway. I`m not trying to rationalize anything, just stating that price is everything to some people. Sorry about the longwindedness, I just had to vent about the average Stihl dealer around here. Russ

 

[Fish]

Not to try to defend any brand, but if you have the cash, capital,
etc., you can be a dealer too. No matter what brand. If you know
.325 chain from 3/8 lo-pro, or not.
I hate my local Stihl dealer as well. I am sure I would hate my local Husqvarna dealer too, if I had one.
They seem to be of short supply, and if Lowes starts to sell Husky
they will be very rare indeed. Like Troybilt, right before they bit
the dust.
Fish

 

[davefr]

Jokers,
Your experiences are similar to mine. I personally think Madsen's is the best saw shop in the country but Stihl won't let them sell to me because I'm Oregon and they're in Washington. This is the most idiotic policy I've ever heard of. It's easier to smuggle drugs from Mexico than get Stihl parts from an "authorized" dealer.

There's a dealer about 15 miles aways but they are idotics. They don't stock anything and act like they're doing me a favor just for opening the parts catalog. Everything is a special order.

Hallowell Logging Supply is the best saw shop in Oregon but it's a 140 mile round trip. Hardly worth it when all you need is a few small parts.

Stihl's has got to wake up to the 21st century or it'll be over. The marketplace is totally unforgiving when it comes to poor distribution strategies.

I'm curious if Stihl is private or public? Is old Andreus still calling the shots??

 

[kenabcd]

double post, sorry

 

[kenabcd]

John, I bought a saw from you thru Ebay this summer (044 arctic)
and it is great. I got estimates from 2 local dealers 1 for 800.00 and the other for 890.00 for the same saw that I bought from you for 500.00 + shipping that was quite a savings and I did feel good about buying it from you even though it was slightly used. I figured that you know saws and if you said it was a good saw it was. I had talked to you over the phone before I bid on it and it was just what I needed. The local dealers are just no service, lawn mower/atv salesmen. The no mail order parts or saw deal is a protection for incompetent shoddy service. It hurts Stihl cause people just get fed up and switch brands. I think Stihl only offers 90 days warranty so that was not much of a concern. I wondered how you could sell it for so much less than it would cost around here, it must be that chainsaw discount for you lucky Canadians. What a deal, what a country ! Thanks, another of the 100 satisfied saw buyers

 

[Gypo Logger]

Thankyou Ken from Minnesota, that feedback is 10X better than any I could get on Ebay.
After so many years of buying saws, it is nice to devolope a good relationship between dealer and buyer, however this is the responsibility of whoever has the best interpersonal skills at that moment.
Let me give you an example, I dropped into a saw shop in British Columbia last Sept. The Saw shop had saws on the roof so I know I was close to home.
Anyway, the proprietor, one Dennis Jonsered Dealer, thought I was just another " granola head", until I mentioned Walkers Saw Shop. Once I mentioned Walkers, we have been friends since and Dennis powertuned a 2171 Jonsered which I am still looking to find a 15" bar for if I dont find some big wood soon.
Dennis thought I was too full of S#$T, so the moral of the story is just look thru the "dumb dog" look you get from anyone.
John

 

[wendell hollis]

Here in Redmond we have an awesome Stihl dealer parts, service, knowledge, the works!! To bad his saws are not as good as his service!! Hey Gypo I know about the dumb looks routine
I walked into the Bend stihl dealer the other day, he is also a factory Briggs service rep. They are not a very fast dealer, If I had to rely on them I would probably go to polan, maybe sears My splitter is a briggs 10 hp and needs some service. They told me it would be several days before I would get my splitter back and I told them that was way to long, they could have it for one day or nothing as it can not be down for that long. I offered to make an appointment in a morning time frame and they could count on it showing up, but no they replied, they have several commericial accounts that come ahead of other work, and I said interesting because I run 7 days a week now and cannot be down more than a day!!! WOW, the lights finally came on and they decided maybe anouther comm. acct walked in the door. This was a tuesday and the mechanic had the day off so call them tomorrow. TOMORROW NEVER COMES & neither did my money to them. Went and called up the bend Husky dealer that also does Briggs, not a factory center though and yes no problem we will get you in and out now. They currently are repairing my partners splitter and mine is next. To bad some shops like to go through the deaf and dumb routine and not hear what the customer is really saying!!! How many accessiory sales did this shop miss by not taking the time to listen to the customer???