Special Pricing!!!
05-04-2014, 05:19 PM
#16
Tough crowd Shawn -- as you see, very discriminating. There are, however, good ideas in the posts for you as you develop your business. Thanks for reaching out and good luck.
05-04-2014, 05:28 PM
#17
Drifting
05-04-2014, 11:25 PM
#19
Race Car
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
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To respond to all of you. I do not have the funds to keep an IT guy on staff to do our fancy fliers and banners.
Before you jump to conclusions let me give you some insight. Again I am not a new start up, I am new to Porsche OEM but have been in the game for a few years. I had a larger staff but had to start letting people go because people would call us for prices, fitment, help with their builds etc. which we were and are happy to provide then at the end of the call they turn around and buy from our competitor who has no overhead and is selling parts at 2-3% margins.
I do not like this business model of what the internet has made resale car parts. There are so many eBay sellers, and not to mention amazon who undercut Brick and Mortar stores in every way possible. We either offer great support, a great warranty and decent prices and lose business or we sell rock bottom and hope our volume makes up for it. Either way it's a lose lose.
We are living in an economy where despite what many of you may feel, is based on bottom dollar sales vs customer service. Even places like Best Buy and Lowes are suffering. They go to a showroom to learn about a product and turn around and make a purchase online once they are aware consumers.
By business model is at a cross roads. I can take the cheap route or the customer service route. I am opting the CS route and mind you this deal is just to get my volume up with my supplier for better prices.
To give you all some insight I am selling at cost and I am second highest tier pricing. I am still getting replies that I have quoted above retailer X price so they must be selling at lower then my cost is and the difference is maybe 2-3% so goes to show you.
I just made this offer for you guys and gals. If you are not comfortable with doing business with me its fine. I understand.
Our new website is under development and won't be up for another month or so. You can use www.valkyriemotorwerks.com to browse parts but we have a lot not included since those are 3rd party catalogs.
Before you jump to conclusions let me give you some insight. Again I am not a new start up, I am new to Porsche OEM but have been in the game for a few years. I had a larger staff but had to start letting people go because people would call us for prices, fitment, help with their builds etc. which we were and are happy to provide then at the end of the call they turn around and buy from our competitor who has no overhead and is selling parts at 2-3% margins.
I do not like this business model of what the internet has made resale car parts. There are so many eBay sellers, and not to mention amazon who undercut Brick and Mortar stores in every way possible. We either offer great support, a great warranty and decent prices and lose business or we sell rock bottom and hope our volume makes up for it. Either way it's a lose lose.
We are living in an economy where despite what many of you may feel, is based on bottom dollar sales vs customer service. Even places like Best Buy and Lowes are suffering. They go to a showroom to learn about a product and turn around and make a purchase online once they are aware consumers.
By business model is at a cross roads. I can take the cheap route or the customer service route. I am opting the CS route and mind you this deal is just to get my volume up with my supplier for better prices.
To give you all some insight I am selling at cost and I am second highest tier pricing. I am still getting replies that I have quoted above retailer X price so they must be selling at lower then my cost is and the difference is maybe 2-3% so goes to show you.
I just made this offer for you guys and gals. If you are not comfortable with doing business with me its fine. I understand.
Our new website is under development and won't be up for another month or so. You can use www.valkyriemotorwerks.com to browse parts but we have a lot not included since those are 3rd party catalogs.
Look at Eric at Bumper Plugs for example. He started out selling painted little plugs to fill the holes in bumpers where the license plates mount. Now he's evolved into all sorts of things like doing painted bits and pieces for Porsches with core swaps of parts.
Ever year of UUC Motorwerks? Look them up. I was with Ben and Rob the day they started that company in a parking lot in NJ as they looked at the short shift kit i'd bought for my M3 from AC Schnitzer for $ 650 and they figured they could make one for about half that price and make money doing it. They found a niche.
Do something no one else is doing. That's the key. Want a few ideas? Here's some:
1) make a jack pad for the Porsche 991.
2) make a clear rear reflector set for the rear of the car (991) to go along with the clear tail lamps
3) 991 again: Make and interior center console extender to bring the armrest up 3" or so.
4) Aston Martin owners want aluminum overlays for the cheap plastic power seat buttons on their cars.
There are ways to take your business forward. Complaining about the internet isn't one of them. Good luck.
05-05-2014, 05:57 PM
#20
Former Vendor
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Sounds like you need a new business, I hear this sort of thing from fellow furniture store owners about 6 months before they go under. Boo-hoo....rather than having a pity party, you have to change the way you do business. I've re-invented my business 3 times in the past 28 years, each time coming back stronger than the prior time. It takes work, time, and foresight to do so. During the height of the Recession I told my wife my store was finished, I was down to my last $ 1,000 in the store bank and went looking for a job to discover - there were not any jobs out there. I figured I best get busy and re-direct. First thing I did was learn Desktop Publishing (self taught) and how to set up a vbulletin forum myself. That was difficult but not impossible, and necessary to learn it as I could not afford to hire it done.. I created a new web presence and took a different marking tack and my sales took off. My sales in 2013 were the best I've ever had since the business began in 28 years. If your existing model isn't working - change it.
Look at Eric at Bumper Plugs for example. He started out selling painted little plugs to fill the holes in bumpers where the license plates mount. Now he's evolved into all sorts of things like doing painted bits and pieces for Porsches with core swaps of parts.
Ever year of UUC Motorwerks? Look them up. I was with Ben and Rob the day they started that company in a parking lot in NJ as they looked at the short shift kit i'd bought for my M3 from AC Schnitzer for $ 650 and they figured they could make one for about half that price and make money doing it. They found a niche.
Do something no one else is doing. That's the key. Want a few ideas? Here's some:
1) make a jack pad for the Porsche 991.
2) make a clear rear reflector set for the rear of the car (991) to go along with the clear tail lamps
3) 991 again: Make and interior center console extender to bring the armrest up 3" or so.
4) Aston Martin owners want aluminum overlays for the cheap plastic power seat buttons on their cars.
There are ways to take your business forward. Complaining about the internet isn't one of them. Good luck.
Look at Eric at Bumper Plugs for example. He started out selling painted little plugs to fill the holes in bumpers where the license plates mount. Now he's evolved into all sorts of things like doing painted bits and pieces for Porsches with core swaps of parts.
Ever year of UUC Motorwerks? Look them up. I was with Ben and Rob the day they started that company in a parking lot in NJ as they looked at the short shift kit i'd bought for my M3 from AC Schnitzer for $ 650 and they figured they could make one for about half that price and make money doing it. They found a niche.
Do something no one else is doing. That's the key. Want a few ideas? Here's some:
1) make a jack pad for the Porsche 991.
2) make a clear rear reflector set for the rear of the car (991) to go along with the clear tail lamps
3) 991 again: Make and interior center console extender to bring the armrest up 3" or so.
4) Aston Martin owners want aluminum overlays for the cheap plastic power seat buttons on their cars.
There are ways to take your business forward. Complaining about the internet isn't one of them. Good luck.
05-05-2014, 10:51 PM
#22
Race Car
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
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Hope you find your niche.