Re: Fair price....

[Eric Sheley <eric@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 01:22 PM 12/29/1999 -0500, Blake Sobiloff wrote:
 >I'd suggest the dealer who only made $1,000 in initial profit would be
 >better off, all other things being equal. Why? The dealer now has double
 >the number of potential revenue streams from regular maintenance,
 >accessory sales, etc. Maintenance and accessories are generally more
 >profitable than the actual vehicle sales, although sometimes not by a
 >whole lot.

IF they went back to that dealer for service and accessories. If you bypass 
the local dealer and go to one 150 miles away for a better price, where are 
you going to go for maintenance and accessories ? Also, in this age of 
electronic commerce (not to mention mail order catalogs) the days of  being 
committed to a single dealer for accessories are long gone. Egane (sp?) 
from Cycle World did a really good column on supporting your local dealers 
and mail order several months back (looking at the demise of some smaller 
shops). Add to that the problems with warranty work reimbursement........

When we last talked about profits the following was offered by a well 
respected Triumph dealership owner....

 >The avergage motorcycle dealership doesn't have a licence to print money.
 >There are good and bad operators in any marketplace. Find yourself a good
 >one, and pay his price. If he's any good at all, he'll know all about
 >win-win and you'll both benefit.
 >
 >'Course you can ring around and haggle and haggle until you get the lowest
 >price....but ultimately it's a Lose-Lose deal...
 >
 >If you could walk a mile in your average common or garden motorcycle
 >dealer's shoes, you'd not only pay his asking price, you'd throw him another
 >tenner to buy a beer with...

Really that's all I was trying to say.............

- - Eric


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