Moving from Used to New...

Quote:

The centralization of the vending process to eliminate dealerships in
favor of regional
offices is interesting.

I would use a more colorful word than "interesting".

The level of service and responsiveness to customer requests has
suffered from all manufacturers adopting this mode.

I expect Chinese and India companies in the future to take advantage of
these weaknesses.

TMT

Let me throw my two cents in. There are fewer and fewer dealers as

Quote:

Just a small point, when did you ever see a salesman (any variety) not
lying?

Quote:

Kevin Cunningham wrote:
Just a small point, when did you ever see a salesman (any variety) not
lying?

Ha! How can you tell a {salesman | laywer | politician} is lying? His
lips are moving! I run into this all the time buying network gear,
especially from some of the more inexperienced salesmen. The veteran
guys know better--they know if I catch them in a lie, I'll take my
business elsewhere. Unlike microscope dealers, network equipment
dealers are a dime a dozen.

Gary: the guy who got a BX-51 with DIC for $8k--was that new or demo?

Quote:

"Too_Many_Tools" <too_many_tools@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1165556705.022753.188510@79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...

The centralization of the vending process to eliminate
dealerships in
favor of regional
offices is interesting.

I would use a more colorful word than "interesting".

The level of service and responsiveness to customer requests
has
suffered from all manufacturers adopting this mode.

I expect Chinese and India companies in the future to take
advantage of
these weaknesses.

TMT

Let me throw my two cents in. There are fewer and fewer
dealers as
manufacturers take over more areas. Nikon now runs the SE
directly for
instance. However this is not as good as it seems. The Nikon
folks are not
as skilled as the users could hope. I like these folks quite
well but they
need more help from Nikon. Training is a huge issue but since
it costs
money manufacturers just want it to go away. The interenet has
allowed
users to get info from other users which has increased price
pressures.
Manufacturers are desperately trying to get this to go away but
their
methods, holding their breath till they turn blue, hasn't
worked for them.
The internet is here to stay.

I've been talking to my dealer buddies and they have the same
ole' problems.
It costs a lot, about $1.5 mill., to be a dealer, its very hard
to get sales
staff and it very hard to find a bank that will lend you money
for expansion
or stocking. A lot of dealers are trapped in the late '70's at
best. One
huge problem is territory size. Some dealers have small, 50's
type,
dealerships. This means they don't have enough accounts to
hire people
other than their family. Sounds good until your in your
sixties and want to
sell, but to whom? Hiring staff is difficult. It takes a year
to fully
train a sales person and get the person accepted by the
customers.

Most manufacturers discount equipement to dealers at 30%, Nikon
ranges from
40% to 50% for bench top and research stuff. Student stuff is
sold by
discount so its at 40% at least so it can be discounted more.
A dealer need
18% to cover costs so any more than a 10% discount is a
problem. Demo stuff
is at the discrection of the manufaturer but usually the dealer
has to buy
demo stock 3-4 times a year. Not a bad deal, usually its used
to boost
profit margins and the rest sweetens deals usually to a buyer
that will be
buying some more later. It's rare to sell demo stuff to an
amateur but
anything can happen once. There are constant equipement needs,
most
equipement is built once or twice a year, when it runs out, its
out.

There are just not enough amateurs to make that market viable
thats why its
hard for an amateur to be treated properly, you see so few of
them as a pro.
I can count on one hand the amateurs I've seen in all my years
(I start
waving my cane now, it gets tangled in my beard) in the biz.

Quote:

Just a small point, when did you ever see a salesman (any
variety) not
lying?

Quote:

buying some more later. It's rare to sell demo stuff to an amateur but
anything can happen once. There are constant equipement needs, most

Why did you say "rare"?

Quote:

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 14:04:01 GMT, "Kevin Cunningham"
smskjv@mindspring.com> wrote:

buying some more later. It's rare to sell demo stuff to an amateur but
anything can happen once. There are constant equipement needs, most

Why did you say "rare"?

daniel mcgrath
--
Daniel Gerard McGrath, a/k/a "Govende":
for e-mail replace "invalid" with "com"

Developmentally disabled;
has Autism (Pervasive Developmental Disorder),
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
& periodic bouts of depression.
[This signature is under construction.]

Quote:

Default User wrote:

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm on the thin edge of plonking
you for this outrageous behavior.

It annoys me too. If it was anybody else, I'd say he was an attention
seeking troll. Some trolls actually do invent plausible "conditions"
such as ADHD, but I've never come across one who posts notes from his
mother before.

Be prepared for a ticking off from some pompous asses. Daniel has his
pals on aue who will forgive a lot.

Quote:

mike.j.harvey@gmail.com wrote:

Default User wrote:

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm on the thin edge of plonking
you for this outrageous behavior.

It annoys me too. If it was anybody else, I'd say he was an attention
seeking troll. Some trolls actually do invent plausible "conditions"
such as ADHD, but I've never come across one who posts notes from his
mother before.

Be prepared for a ticking off from some pompous asses. Daniel has his
pals on aue who will forgive a lot.

Some AUE regulars have met Daniel and his mother in person. I have no
doubt he's the real article. If your idea is to change his conduct
through ridicule, you have no chance. He's also obsessive-compulsive,
and he is capable of outlasting Methuselah. I don't consider this
"forgiving" anything, just an acknowldgment of reality. As soon
forgive an oak tree for dropping acorns.

The question is who's really the ass: the person who wastes his time
acting snotty in an effort to change the behavior of someone who is
unable (not unwilling -- unable) to change, or the person who points
out the futility of such snottiness.

Don't bother answering.

Quote:

It annoys me too. If it was anybody else, I'd say he was an attention
seeking troll. Some trolls actually do invent plausible "conditions"
such as ADHD, but I've never come across one who posts notes from his
mother before.