ok, that voicemail is getting posted for sure now.

zoeb,

 

Since I work at a shop, I will tell you some stuff.

Since about 2 years ago, shops no longer can base their mark up just on some funky fixed % #. It is no longer possible, as there are about a billion internet shops that buy parts at hook-up prices and re-sell from their mama's garage for few bucks over their cost. They have no overhead, no insurance, no nothing. They can even sell you a $2000 set of rims and be happy with $20 profit. Normal shops cannot do that.

First, they are not allowed to sell below certain price, otherwise they could loose the account. Of course, some shops that buy from 3rd party can pull it off, but bigger shops cannot.

Second of all, they have to compete with Johny's mama's garage internet shop. Most of the time they cannot compete because of the first reason, or they simply don't want to devalue the product or they don't want to "*****" parts out.

Finally, they have to have a mark up high enough to cover for shipping, credit card fee (if a custom uses a credit card).

What brick and mortar tuning shops provide is service, expertise and face to face communication. Some do it better, some worse. But everyone tries.

Also remember, everyone got ups and downs.

I personally don't have a problem with Vivid. I just find it amusing how everyone thinks they are Sears' like size company when they are in fact not. And, I wonder how many H2 exhaust systems they sold, since they went car global.

 

Jenna Jameson where art thou?

Asia?

Tera?

 

mmm Jenna

 

Exactly my thought. And they are not a rip off!

 

Jerk off, more likely.

Back on topic, my biggest beef with Vivid was their horrid customer service. I totally understand about ROIC (return on invested capitol, what you made off selling product) and NOPAT (net operating profit after taxes, what you made after the gov't takes everything and you pay bills) What I can't abide by is a company that treats their customers like ****.
<rant>First aftermarket part I ever bought for my Suby was a Blitz NUR Spec exhaust, from Vivid. I didn't mind paying the $50 more that they were selling it for. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. I was told to expect it in 10 days. A month goes by and I call back and get the same thing. "We're shipping it out now." 2 months after that, and having been told both that there's a problem with their shipping dept. and once again it's on the way, I get fed up and want my money back. They wouldn't give my money back. I even emailed Dan (the owner) directly and was basically told, "Too bad, so sad."
8 mos and many mods later, I finally got my exhaust. </rant>

:monkey Vivid

 

Oh, as it turns out, they were lying to me. No one had any NUR Spec exhausts as Blitz USA was completely out. So what I wanted to know is, are they either: 1) So dumb they don't even know what's going on in their own shop? 2) Embarressed they can't get parts? or 3) They just really don't care?

 

Ug, I'd be so pissed if they did that to me... I'd be tempted to drive down to AZ and kick the **** out of that piece of crap. I hope he's dead somewhere on the road.

 

Fire a missle at their shop. Mission accomplished.

 

yeah...not a fan of those guys.

When I first got my car I was gonna get some JDM headlights. The non-hid ones. they were selling them for about 70% more than ANYWHERE else I called. Gruppe S had them for $300 less and had more of them at one point in time. I emailed them first...took them a month to get back. Then I called to make sure they were correct on what I was asking (gave them part number) and they were. I then laughed and hung up. I've called/emailed/asked them questions many times in the past..when I first started getting into buying a subaru. They have the worst customer service and the worst costs of any place I have delt with. The only people that shop with them are ricer/street racers...and the unfortunate unknowing.

I'd gladly shop from any of our local vendors first. No reason to deal with those bastards when you have people around like subydude, mpj, LIC, etc.

 

This is an honest question, not meant to be argumentative:

Gruppe-S basically kicks everyone's *** in parts prices and last I was there Gary's momma didn't live there. (Although there was this scruffy, old chick with really short hair and a British accent), How do they manage to get such sweet prices? I've seen them beating eBay prices! Go banana!

I don't really expect an answer, because that's prolly private to Gruppe-S business practices. My point is, it does seem possible to provide excellent service, be a true shop with all the overhead, and still kick *** in prices.

Who knows, maybe they eat ramien for breakfast, lunch and dinner and whenever they make a sale they celebrate by putting some frozen peas in it


jason

 

Bruce,

Thanks for the info. To make sure I do not forget about their terrible service. I wrote this down in my WRX file.

It is one thing to get lousy service at a fast food place or at a retail store when the cost of the product is not significant or you are dealing with some shmuckle high school kid. But when you are dealing with high priced goods and people's cars it is not smart to be playing bullsh1t games.

 

+1 for local shops.

-1002389 for Zoeb (just for existing.)

 

I've actually had no issues with any Subaru Car Parts dealer of the dozens I've ever dealt with, including Vivid. Of course, I don't just buy stuff randomly, but research prices and talk to the vendors.
"Cheapest STi Injectors I've seen are $XXX from this guy, can you match or beat that?"
I ordered a boatload of stuff from Vivid once, it all arrived when they said it would, completely fine, and the prices were all the lowest I'd ever seen or heard of elsewhere.
My coworker has ordered nearly $10k of stuff from them over the last few years and never had an issue they didn't resolve immediately.
Obviously, YMMV.

300% mark-up is considered overhead-covering, and profit-generating in the retail world.
800% is not uncommon.
Whether you are willing to pay that is another matter.

When I had a computer business, I actually stopped selling hardware and peripherals because the margin was 2-3%, and that is normal in a highly competitive business.
I just wasn't willing to make only 2% on a sale and let the State make 8% in sales tax off my work.
So no more hardware.
Instead I did research and offered lowest price finding for clients, letting other vendors handle the overhead associated with ordering, storing, shipping, competition and advertising, etc.

There is a lot more to car parts selling that many folks don't think about.
What your $20K buys today, may cost you $30K next time around due to international exchange rates, the dollar being weak, etc.
Do you keep your prices high enough to cover that event or just wait and tell your customers, sorry the cost went up?
Hint: Customers don't like it when you raise prices.
Do you include shipping or charge for it?
Shipping costs different amounts based on the item and destination.
Customers like free shipping but it is never really free for the vendor.
And what you see as someone like Vivid's costs, are really what some distributor or manufacturer in Japan or Australia is charging Vivid to make a profit for themselves.
So really, even buying at Vivid's cost, your are still "losing" money to company that sold it to them and has already made their profit (2-800% ).

There are 2 sure ways to bring prices down:
Make the items yourself for less cost and outsell the competition(like some local US vendors do, though the R&D may end up costing more than you think)
Get all your friends to buy car parts (the more demand, the more profit, the more profit the more vendors, the more vendors the more competition, the more competition the lower the prices - heh).

Whatever the case, you can always research, and nickel and dime every vendor you ever deal with to get the best price you are able, then you only have yourself to blame for paying too much (same is still true if you buy at whatever price things are advertised at, only yourself to blame, so might as well research, though that takes time, and your time might be worth more than what you end up saving).

You could always form a race team and solicit manufacturers for parts for free, but then you'll spend more than the cost of the parts on other things(entry fees, insurance, track time, gas, safety gear, new tranny, tires) unless you are really, really good at racing and can get everything you need for free.