DO YOU PURCHASE MOBILE AUDIO PRODUCTS ONLINE, AND IF SO WHY?

[Nathan @ XSpower]

The poll questions are for a purchase you made for a mobile audio product that is available through dealers and online both.

Talking with one big online retailer I found out that Mondays were their biggest shipping days, and that their average online customer visited 2 local retail stores before making their purchase online. So, most of their customers went into a couple stores over the weekend looking to make a purchase, but ended up waiting until Sunday/Monday to make their purchase online. I wanted to see if this is something that goes on across the board or not.

[cgrez33]

It's usually price tht does it for me.

[john253a]

q4, should have a another to allow for postage, i.e. match or with $10 including postage,

my main resin of online is the 50%+ cheaper prices, and in some cases i have payed close to 15% of the rrp at my local for 1 item alone (rrp local $1850 online $299)

my average saving including postage and taxes is around 50%, considering my last purchess i just payed $759 in shipping alone for 1 sundown x10 (making that 1 sub $1320 total including shipping and taxes)

[gr8handogoatness]

Price. I can usually get stuff shipped and it come out better than even the sale price. The local shop had an inventory reduction sale and a few things were like "half" off, amazon was still better for the couple thing I looked up real quick while I was there. The other shop is the same story. Rockford T5s for like 2300 or something stupid high. You can get the same speakers online for the price they are selling the T3s. I would try to support local if they weren't ripping you off. Ocassionally the will install head units for"free"

[Leo1103]

I do a bit of both, I like the cheaper prices online but I also like supporting local stores

[Keith77]

my car audio stores (2 that are in my town) do not carry the things I look for. They mainly carry the "Big Name" Rockford, Kenwood, Kicker, type brands.

The one store I used to go to all the time closed down a few years back and since then I havent looked in a local store.

[boom50cal]

my local shop charges atleast 50% markup on everything they sell. Kicker 1/0 OFC is like $14/ft... Skyhigh is what, $3.50/ft? Guy is also rude as hell, his customer support is awful.

the other shop is SUPER shady and does a lot of stuff under the table... they do good work though. Prices aren't as bad, it's a $50 flatrate fee for a head unit install in whatever.

[CJ18]

Before I got into the business side of selling Car Audio product online, this poll fit me to the T. I tried supporting local shops, but after a couple of years I got completely away from it at went to online purchases only.

There are so few shops out there any more that are knowledgeable its sad. For alot of them, its just another way to make money and they dont know or care about the products they sell. Every once and awhile I will still walk into one of my local shops and just play dumb and ask a few questions about random products to see what the salesman knows or how he tries to sell them to me. Everytime, they try to sell me their highest profit items no matter if they would be the best product to fit the application I am asking about. I understand that shops are in business to make money and have an overhead to cover, but that just isnt the way to create long standing and loyal customers. Help your customer find the right products that fit their build and will make them happy and they will in turn come back again and again(bassheads upgrade) and they will send their friends to you as well.

Now lets get on to the price issue. Most online prices are MAP(minimum advertised price). Being on the sales side, these prices are fair to the customer and leave enough on the profit side for the dealer to make it worth your time to sell. Most shop want to try and get FULL retail. Lets take a DC XL 15 for example. MAP is $485 and Retail is $690. You walk into a shop and see that price and try to talk them down, good luck. Most shops would rather sell 10 of those subs at $690 instead of 30 for $485. Let do some quick math. $690 x 10= $6900----$485 x 30=14550. Fair price will lead to more gross sales and in turn more profit in your pocket. It is fairly simple if you ask me, but most places do see it that way.

Ok, so now let ask the question why do most people go to a local shop? Because they need an install done and dont have the tools or skill to do so. This is where shops can make their profit. LABOR! Give your customers a fair price or a deep discount off of your retail price(make them feel like they are getting a good deal) and then hit them with your $75+ per hour labor charge. I dont know about you guys, but I would work for $75 and hour. Chances are that the shop is paying their installer maybe $15-$20 an hour to do the work, so they are still making $55-$60 an hour. Understand that they have alot of overhead to cover, this is understandable. Now how good is this shop? Is it some hole in the wall, or is it say a Sonus and you are having Ray West do your work? You are going to pay for elite skills because you know the type of work and the quality of the work you are going to get.

That was alot of aimless rambling, so I will sum it up.

Why I dont buy car audio locally anymore.

1) All of my local shops are complete idiots, I know this because I have dealt with every last one of them.

2) They try to rip me off by selling me a product that I dont need for way more than it is worth and get offended when you question the price.

3) They dont know the products that they are selling, they just know how much they cost and how much their commission is going to be.

4) This is the information age. With the growth of the internet and forums like SMD, there is so much knowledge available for anyone who is willing to learn. SMD got me started into car audio and I learned what I know from browsing the forums talking to the embers here and getting out and trying things for myself.

[ROLEXrifleman]

When I worked in the firearms industry retail stores were used simply to "finger F%^&" items and then the purchases was made going through a private FFL holder as the price was always cheaper do to low to no over head AND the product and support knowledge was always superior. In addition brick and mortar generally tend to be biased to brands they carry and in my dealings lie to no end in order to steer you in the direction of the products they carry.

I see car audio the same way. I was an MECP certified installer and did sales in the early/mid 1990's so I'm not pulling this outta my ass. The average brick and mortar has very limited knowledge on products outside of what they carry. Because they have a vested interest in making a sale they never bring up brands they don't carry or try to talk you out of things you don't need. It's sales game no more no less.

I think the biggest change in the last 20 years is the amount of knowledge the consumer can get b4 they make the purchase. In the good old days when there was no internet you had two options. call to get info and prices or drive to a store. Either way it went you got the above^^^!

The only other resource was the product in action out on the streets, word of mouth. But again, if you lived in a certain area you were saturated with only the products being sold in that area.

A consumer with a good grasp on the product, it's use and warranties will the majority of the time buy on line as they will save money, have better support for the same item found locally. Brick and mortar stores for the most part are for those who are uniformed and or "NEED IT NOW." There is that small group that not only need it now but refuse to pay for an item unless they can touch it and feel it. That's the segment of the market that keeps brick and mortar alive. Another demographic that keeps brick and mortar alive is the over 50 crowd, baby boomers and older. Not all have jumped on the technology bandwagon and feel that the old way is just fine for them. And since all brick and mortar stores aren't going out of business you know there are a lot of customers out there.

Asking this question on SMD is a trick bag as the members here know there are 1,000,000+1 different options out there and tons of references and buying options. I think your results on the poll will reflect that.

But then again what do I know.

[gr8handogoatness]

That is another thing, they constantly talk up their stuff and bash the stuff the other store sells. One had JL and other talked crap on JL all day long. Then it switched, the2nd started selling jl now all of a sudden its the best. Neither of them carry much that iI want. both do pioneer. One has alpine mtx and Rockford, the other has Kenwood and Memphis and also has focal and DD. But no sundown or DC. I think they have XS batteries finally.