Car Audio + Wholsale + Internet = Bad

[Ray]

ok..........

how many people does it take to run a internet based sales site that does 1million a year?

prob 2

overhead..none.

so your letting these 2 people make all this money, or roughlt 10 people if it had a store front.

10 pweople spread money faster than 2

[littleitaly1990]

think about that for a second.

the last 5 yrs, that about when the ebay boom started to crush out brick and mortar stores

but the economy has been declining for the past five years also...you're a smart guy, I know see all of this talk about recessions and shit. When it rebounds, our sport will blow up, especially with great forums like this showing people what the sport is really all about. I'm not trying to argue, I'm just a kid who knows enough about the economy to know that that is by far the biggest underlying problem right now. You guys will see a lot of success when the markets get their shit together....

and don't think if Sundown doesn't come up with a 8000+ watt amp soon I won't be looking at DAT

[Ray]

i get a sense of both sides, do i work at audio biz no but i worked as semi mechanic, and well its been over a year since i work they have to let all but 4 mechanics go becuz the truckers could afford to rent or lease the trailers and couldn't afford to come to us for repairs

nothing to do with internet using ups and fedex.

instead of manu shipping to stores via freight.

youve got a little tunnel vision, but its all good.

not everyone will agree,

But i cant afford to do a show this year because of sales.

shit I can barely afford rent..lol

I hope all internet sales go away.

I can say when times were good, we gave out better discounts, cause we could.

Not because of greed, but because my son has to eat. Thats why prices are pretty firm now.

[Mtgrooves]

So I have to throw my 2 cents in here because I think this a great topic...I've worked at a mid sized shop here in Montana for over 12 years and we almost went out of bussiness 3 months ago. Places like Sonic and the guys that are transhipping and back door selling almost killed us but we made a change in the way we do bussiness here. We decided to become totally proactive and educate our customers. We braught back the art of the demo and started teaching the kids the craft of car audio. With no car audio mags out there the only resource for these kids is the net and if they learning about car audio successfully on the net then why not trust them to sell ya goods your looking for. For that matter why would they even want to come in and talk to the old guys at the shop down the street. So thats why we have been working with our high schools shop classes and having free clinics for car audio tuning. It gets our name out there and we get to teach these kids the right way of doing things, plus it's a whole lot of fun. We are also getting a full RTA dual mic TermLab and are going to do free sound offs on the weekends. I think this economy has hurt our store but it also just made our store stronger.

[LordArcane]

nothing to do with internet using ups and fedex.

instead of manu shipping to stores via freight.

youve got a little tunnel vision, but its all good.

i mean't it more in the way of alot of places are going down cuz everyone loseing money and having to cut back and well when someone cuts back you got to find better deals on what you want, wasn't trying to say the trucking biz and audio were same was just trying to make the point its not just audio shops going down, atleast not in michigan, here everything going down slowly

[redbaron80]

internet sales http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/ban.gif

[littleitaly1990]

So I have to throw my 2 cents in here because I think this a great topic...I've worked at a mid sized shop here in Montana for over 12 years and we almost went out of bussiness 3 months ago. Places like Sonic and the guys that are transhipping and back door selling almost killed us but we made a change in the way we do bussiness here. We decided to become totally proactive and educate our customers. We braught back the art of the demo and started teaching the kids the craft of car audio. With no car audio mags out there the only resource for these kids is the net and if they learning about car audio successfully on the net then why not trust them to sell ya goods your looking for. For that matter why would they even want to come in and talk to the old guys at the shop down the street. So thats why we have been working with our high schools shop classes and having free clinics for car audio tuning. It gets our name out there and we get to teach these kids the right way of doing things, plus it's a whole lot of fun. We are also getting a full RTA dual mic TermLab and are going to do free sound offs on the weekends. I think this economy has hurt our store but it also just made our store stronger.

This is exactly the point I'm trying to get across.

I was taught at a young age that the blame game gets you nowhere. We are in a capitalist society, and in capitalism, the best company wins. I am your consumer base, which is why I am stating my opinions so strongly. I WANT you guys to not only stay in business, but grow and be successful. Going around blaming the internet or ebay won't help your business (and in all fairness, you guys just might be ranting, we all need a rant sometimes), but still, if you are worried about your business, you have to give customers like me the incentive to come in to the store and off the computer. Find a way to be profitable in the rough times such as now...stop saying internet this, undercut that. That is just the world of competitive business and the reason consumers can afford anything. Do things such as free educational sessions, make them fun, bring in young guys who will soon get their licenses. Also, I notice some of the really nice shops that do go under only sell the best of the best products. They may be the best, but if you don't also sell lower priced more consumer friendly brands than don't expect to be in sales for long.

Don't want to come off as an asshole or anti-shops, because that is the opposite of what I want. You guys need to find a way to either increase efficiency, sell lower than the internet stores, or bring in new customers that otherwise wouldn't exist. Thats just economics 101.

Keep in mind, these internet stores work like fast food chains...they don't work by quality, like you guys do, they work by quantity. They barely make any profit per product, but sell a ton of product, whereas you guys sell a little but make a good amount each time. And in times such as these fast food gets way busier and restaurants start closing. Again, economics 101.

[Ray]

internet sales http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/ban.gif

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[redbaron80]

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lol, the thing that I hate is when people ask me " how much did you get it for", you tell them, and they say they got it on ebay/internet store for 2.99 cheaper, no warranty.

Try returning it and see if the 2.99 you saved was worth all the trouble. There is nothing like picking up the phone and calling the dealer direct. I have never had bad service that way:)

[Ray]

some people get it .... some dont..