I've wrote Tighe, and Scuba Center too, but I thought I should bring my question to the people and let them decide!
In my quest to find a good foil to fly solo up here in northern MN this past winter, I stumbled upon Vio kites. Since there was no North American retailer I went direct to the designer and canadian importer to ask for one. When I got it I thought it was pretty damn cool. I wrote them and told them that I loved it and they wrote back and said, "Wanna test our protos?" Damn right I wanted to! So more kites came and I flew the crap outta them. I designed some logo for them and got in good with the crew. Then they said, "Wanna be a distributor?" Of course I said I wasn't a kite shop, I had no money for stock, and wasn't really interested in trying to sell kites as much as I was into flying them. So they allowed me to just fly their kites and promote them and sell them if anyone was interested. So of corse, I wanna sell them at cost to people.
Here's where it gets hairy. If a guy is selling pretty damn cool kites (in my opinion) at cost that's gonna piss off people that are trying to make money at it right? All I wanna do is get protos to test and fly their kites, but unless I win competetions (which will never happen) what kind of proof do they have that I'm doing my part if I never sell a kite?
Since they are an unknown brand and still in the infant stage of marketing no real threat right? I mean how many sales could I actually steal from our kick ass local shops? Companies like Best are doing it and some love em and some hate them to death.
What do you guys think? Do you want to buy kites at cost while we still can before they get popular or should I promote kite shops to carry them and make contract deals with Vio? Should I open another kite shop out of my garage and do it myself? Give me your opinions because this is your scene and I'm not a competitive sales guru.. I'm a kiter.
A.
Need ethical advice from the peers.
Moderator: MK
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rudeboysaude
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 9:14 am
- Location: Sandstone, MN
- Contact:
Dude,
Add a modest mark-up and feel good about it. I'm a sailer, not a kiter and I tire of middlemen (persons?) portrayed as profiteering leeches. When a buyer has a problem, the factory wants them to call you so you can sort it out and give them the straight scoop. That's worth something.
Middlemen have kids and mortgages too.
Dave H
Add a modest mark-up and feel good about it. I'm a sailer, not a kiter and I tire of middlemen (persons?) portrayed as profiteering leeches. When a buyer has a problem, the factory wants them to call you so you can sort it out and give them the straight scoop. That's worth something.
Middlemen have kids and mortgages too.
Dave H
Determining cost
I've got some years in the business and can assure you, 'that which you put attention to grows stronger'. If you want to be a kickass rider, stay out of business. If you want to be a kickass purveyor of kites at a good price, you'll definitely have your riding attention cut back. No matter how you look at it, you can't have both.
As for determining cost...you have no idea at this time. What's your time worth...especially when you're sacrificing great riding time to set someone up on a kite...$5/hr, $15/hr. I can guarantee you that you'll not get it from the guy you sold your kite to at what you thought was 'cost'. Do you have any personal assets? If something happens to your customer or a bystander, you're definitely in the line up should a lawsuit arise. If you got nothing to lose, no problem.... This was one of the main reasons so many garage shops came into being in the boardsports industry. Are you going to make all your sales final...no warranty or guarantee? Our history has shown that very few manufacturers are in a position to solidly back their products. Who ends up eating the bullet? The guy that sold it. Fact of the matter is...the customer 'is' always right, you don't argue with him about what's 'right' or 'wrong'. Most are far more reasonable than you'd expect, but you better build in something for the kites you're going to eat.
But most of what I'm saying is pointless for you. Your best bet is to find a guy that's got your passion to ride who's done the bargain retail thing for some time. Pick his brain. If this is a big deal for you, go spend time with him/her and see if it's 'really' what you want. Have some lengthy discussions about the determination of cost. Any 'real' shop needs to make a 30-35% profit margin just to break even. Garage shops can get by on less, but anything less than 20% is guaranteed to come back and bite you in the pants over time. Too many 'good guys' have lost their positive vibe when four years down the road they find themselves in the hole financially and on the dark side of their friends.
Do you owe anything to other retail shops? I don't think so...it's a free country and if there's a niche, go for it. But remember...you owe yourself the consideration of following your heart's desire to what YOU want to put attention to. There's simply no way to sell something to someone without strings...without attention. You've got to figure this into your 'cost'. Too many people have gotten sucked into this 'busy-ness' only to find out it's not really where there heart is. It seems a well-lived life is based on the same 'conscious' decisions we make when we ride. Best wishes in making your heart's intention aligned to your actions.
As for determining cost...you have no idea at this time. What's your time worth...especially when you're sacrificing great riding time to set someone up on a kite...$5/hr, $15/hr. I can guarantee you that you'll not get it from the guy you sold your kite to at what you thought was 'cost'. Do you have any personal assets? If something happens to your customer or a bystander, you're definitely in the line up should a lawsuit arise. If you got nothing to lose, no problem.... This was one of the main reasons so many garage shops came into being in the boardsports industry. Are you going to make all your sales final...no warranty or guarantee? Our history has shown that very few manufacturers are in a position to solidly back their products. Who ends up eating the bullet? The guy that sold it. Fact of the matter is...the customer 'is' always right, you don't argue with him about what's 'right' or 'wrong'. Most are far more reasonable than you'd expect, but you better build in something for the kites you're going to eat.
But most of what I'm saying is pointless for you. Your best bet is to find a guy that's got your passion to ride who's done the bargain retail thing for some time. Pick his brain. If this is a big deal for you, go spend time with him/her and see if it's 'really' what you want. Have some lengthy discussions about the determination of cost. Any 'real' shop needs to make a 30-35% profit margin just to break even. Garage shops can get by on less, but anything less than 20% is guaranteed to come back and bite you in the pants over time. Too many 'good guys' have lost their positive vibe when four years down the road they find themselves in the hole financially and on the dark side of their friends.
Do you owe anything to other retail shops? I don't think so...it's a free country and if there's a niche, go for it. But remember...you owe yourself the consideration of following your heart's desire to what YOU want to put attention to. There's simply no way to sell something to someone without strings...without attention. You've got to figure this into your 'cost'. Too many people have gotten sucked into this 'busy-ness' only to find out it's not really where there heart is. It seems a well-lived life is based on the same 'conscious' decisions we make when we ride. Best wishes in making your heart's intention aligned to your actions.
Ride...just be it!
www.just-be-it.com
www.just-be-it.com
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rudeboysaude
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 9:14 am
- Location: Sandstone, MN
- Contact:
Right on man..
See all that kind of stuff is the problem. I guess you can't really have it all huh. You either pay a lot for your kite and do whatever you want, or you get them free and are a slave! haha. Who knows. I like these guys that are behind Vio. Just a cool bunch of guys. The designer is ex-paraglider and made special colors for the 2004 kites just in celebration of his new baby boy. Pretty laid back cool guys. The advice is helpful. I'll guess I'll have to think about all that stuff and decide what to do.
See all that kind of stuff is the problem. I guess you can't really have it all huh. You either pay a lot for your kite and do whatever you want, or you get them free and are a slave! haha. Who knows. I like these guys that are behind Vio. Just a cool bunch of guys. The designer is ex-paraglider and made special colors for the 2004 kites just in celebration of his new baby boy. Pretty laid back cool guys. The advice is helpful. I'll guess I'll have to think about all that stuff and decide what to do.