Redmax online sales policy

[bwalker]

Ben, You have stated before that no other outfit can compare to your lodge, that there is no exact equal. That in itself may be what tilts the market to your advantage ( or your perception may differ wildly from reality, I'll never know because you won't take my 1/2 off offer) . You state that there is no competition to your lodge because there is no "apples to apples" comparison. .

Thats correct. The business model we use is too difficult, labour intensive and time consuming for most people.
I can say with some certainty that you will not find a fishing lodge in Ontario that offers higher service levels than we do. Not to mention the quality of our fishery which has been catch and release only for 15 years.
Can you go to some bean and pork outfit and catch a bunch of dink fish for half the price? Sure, but thats not the customers I am after.

Let's say I did prostitute my store all over the internet and every other dealer did the same thing. If we were all successful , we would pretty much split the sales among the dealers and have the added expense of a shipping department and web related expenses. Or we do away with online sales, save the expense and headache and divvy up the sales anyway

If every dealer was online you, essentially would be back to the way it was before the internet. Prices would trend toward a higher level than they are at now as now one would have a leg up and the market would set the price. Of course this is in theory as in reality as not all business are run properly and sharp business people would find a way to sell cheaper and garner more customers/profit.
FWIW your dead wrong on the costs of sale in regards to selling online. A couple of HS/college kids working for just above min wage constitutes a shipping department and it doesn't cost much to have someone answer phones take orders. I know this to be fact, because a friend of mine is the largest online retailler of Carhart clothing in the US. I have seen his shipping department and its exactly like I described.

 

[Cam501]

We don't sell much online but have sold some saws and trimmers over the net, but in any case it doesn't really matter now since with saws we can now only sell the 137 and 142 online per the new rules.

 

[Pissfirwillie]

Dumb move by Husky!

I think this would be a dumb move by Husky. Around here everyone runs Stihl, and all shops have both. The only guys I ever see running Husky are those fellows living somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. They run Husky because they can get the saws and parts over the phone or online. So now Husky is going to be just like Stihl, they already lost that war around here.

 

[Cam501]

I think this would be a dumb move by Husky. Around here everyone runs Stihl, and all shops have both. The only guys I ever see running Husky are those fellows living somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. They run Husky because they can get the saws and parts over the phone or online. So now Husky is going to be just like Stihl, they already lost that war around here.

In my area we're the only dealer within 50 miles of here that has both stihl and husky. Most other ones have one or the other. A majority of our customers though, are not the average sawhead on AS. I'd say 95% of our homeowner customers don't do their own repairs. I'd also say 85% of our pro customers have never modded a muffler or done anything like that, and don't do their own repairs which makes service important to most of our customers. For the knowledgable DIY customer, they probably won't like having to go to a dealer, especially if their dealer is crappy and screws them over repeatedly as I've heard of some doing. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to deal with a crappy dealer. I'd like to thnk that we offer good service and value to our customers. In my opinion there's more to value than just price. Price is important, but it's not everything

 

[Pissfirwillie]

Cam501,
I don't doubt that there are many good Husky dealers all across the U.S. But good dealers should not be intimidated by an internet seller. Most of the general public is scared as heck to shop off the internet in the first place, especially when it comes to complicated products such as chainsaws. If it were something basic like bars and chains, that would worry me more. Many of us out west have great distances to the nearest shop, so the internet is important for us. Gas was $3.25 today!

 

[redprospector]

Come on guys. You tell new members to use the search feature when they want to talk about something that's been hashed out several times before.
We've all been here, and done this before. Was it Husky first, and then Dolmar, or the other way around? I don't remember, but the post are almost identical in all these threads (except for the Amics bashing).
Dealers: Rejoice!
Consumers: Bend over!
We're just beatin a dead horse here.
:deadhorse:

Andy

 

[spike60]

It is about money, but only indirectly. Directly its about VALUE. A dealer doesnt deserve my business by virtue of having a dealership.

Aw shucks Ben, it looks like we end up agreeing again! (In part anyway.)

I've always agreed with your above statement. Even if the internet didn't exist, any business still has to earn it's customers patronage. And it needs to create the additional value that you mention. You have to give your customers a reason to prefer to come through your door.

Another thing that cracks me up in reading your other post about "pork and bean" fishing lodges is that we both have very similar approaches to our businesses. We have no interest in what we call the low end of the business either. We refer those people to other shops in the area. We cater to the pros who become loyal repeat customers and upscale homeowners who have the money to buy the bigger ticket items where we actually make a living.

My gripe with the internet, as well as the box stores, has always primarily been that they get a free pass on the responsibility to service the product they. And, that I'm in turn expected to cheerfully provide that service. It has never really been price, since my saw prices are as good or better than anything you will find online.

 

[spike60]

Just a quick little note on "competing".

Some of you may know that we are a huge Exmark dealer. Several years ago, a dealer from another town low balled a unit into my backyard. I didn't call anybody to complain. I called his local newspaper and advertised the same unit for the same price that he sold it for. Had just the effect I was hoping for. He actually had to give a couple of his customers a $300 refund to keep them happy. He called me and asked why I did it. I said "Gee, you seemed to feel that was a good price when you sold one in my county. Why isn't that a good price in your backyard?'

Never had a problem again.

Note to Ben: I hope this doesn't make me a communist for artificially manipulating his market.

 

[computeruser]

We don't sell much online but have sold some saws and trimmers over the net, but in any case it doesn't really matter now since with saws we can now only sell the 137 and 142 online per the new rules.

Irony of ironies. I read the letter that Husqvarna sent out to its dealers and had to laugh; the only products that Husqvarna is allowed to sell online are the very products intended for the market segment least capable of caring for and safely operating their equipment. Go figure.

Again, and I'm beating a dead horse here, as a consumer I'm disappointed to see another brand give up on online sales. I do like my Stihl dealer, but life is often very busy and I happen to like being able to order something online and have it waiting for me when I get home if I need the item but don't have the time to drive down to the shop to buy it in person. I never would have purchased my Husqvarna hedge trimmer otherwise.

I think that another first- or second-string OPE brand has a good chance to pick up market share by pushing online sales. Echo still allows buy-and-ship, albeit for phone orders only, which is an increasingly strong point in their favor...

 

[bwalker]

My gripe with the internet, as well as the box stores, has always primarily been that they get a free pass on the responsibility to service the product they. And, that I'm in turn expected to cheerfully provide that service. It has never really been price, since my saw prices are as good or better than anything you will find online.

I have never understood this point of view. Since the margins are thin on the units themselves why in the world would you not want to do all the service work you could.

Note to Ben: I hope this doesn't make me a communist for artificially manipulating his market.

Thats called competition. Now, if you had whined to Exmark and they strong armed the guy into selling for a set price or in a set area that would be artificial manipulation of the market.

 

[Pissfirwillie]

One thing is for sure, you can expect Red Max and Husky pricing to increase. If I were running Husky for a living (all I have is a 346), I would be stocking up while the getting is good.

 

[Big Woody]

Saw dealerships today remind me of the small town hardware stores from the 70's. You know the Hardware Hanks and the Coast to Coast stores and similar ones. They only stocked limited items since there stores were small and if you wanted what they didn't have they pretended its wasn't available since they wanted to force you to buy what was in stock. They knew you weren't going to drive 50 miles to a bigger town for a few bolts.

Internet commerce is "The Great Equalizer":rockn:

 

[Cam501]

Saw dealerships today remind me of the small town hardware stores from the 70's. You know the Hardware Hanks and the Coast to Coast stores and similar ones. They only stocked limited items since there stores were small and if you wanted what they didn't have they pretended its wasn't available since they wanted to force you to buy what was in stock. They knew you weren't going to drive 50 miles to a bigger town for a few bolts.

Internet commerce is "The Great Equalizer":rockn:

I must be out of touch with the way many dealers are. I can't imagine not having at least 1 each, if not many more of 10 models each from stihl and husky in stock I stock a majority of he husky models... we have 2-137,2-142,3-345,6-350,1-353,4-455,2-460,2-359,2-357xp,4-362xp,2-570,2-575xp,1-385xp,3-334t, and 2-338xpt. If i don't have what the customer wants I will order it for them and have it within a 2 days tops, and often next day as we are only about 2 hrs from husky warehouse. Same goes for stihl, we have 3-MS180C, 2-MS180CBE, 3-MS210, 1-MS210CBE, 1-MS230, 1-MS230CBE, 4 MS250, 2-MS250CBE, 4-MS290, 3-MS310, 4-MS280, 2-MS260, 3-MS361, 2-MS441, 1-MS460, 1-MS660, 2-MS200T, 1 MS200, 2 MS192T. Of course I'd prefer to sell an item in stock, but I"m not helping myself or the customer if I push them to buy what they don't want/need just cause it's in stock.