Ridetech, hotchkis, etc. Why no discounts?

[Paraman1]

"Smart money shops value."

If you want cheap, buy cheap. If you want quality, buy value.

"Smart money shops value."

My motto has always been , "Buy Quality , Cry Once " .

That being said I had my suspension system picked out and was saving my money for it when I noticed Summit had it on sale for about 450 bucks less than I had budgeted for it originally so I bought it a little earlier than I had anticipated . The money I saved makes a nice start towards other portions of the project .



The fact that many of the higher end suspension components are made in the USA is also a plus to me . The job I save buying their product instead of the Ebay knock off might be my own .

[killer69]

I think Bret said something that most are afraid to say. "we need to make profit" the dealer needs to make PROFIT. Everyone who touches the item needs to make money from the raw material supplier to the box company. When I look at how many times the individual parts are touched just before the end user opens the box for the last time it is amazing. Speedtech is in the same boat with Sales and Discounts. We normally do a monthly "SALE" for different products weather they are new or overstocked, but we don't discount our parts pricing. But we will give you the best service both before and after the sale we can. and we stand behind our product.

[Robsutt]

My motto has always been , "Buy Quality , Cry Once " .

That being said I had my suspension system picked out and was saving my money for it when I noticed Summit had it on sale for about 450 bucks less than I had budgeted for it originally so I bought it a little earlier than I had anticipated . The money I saved makes a nice start towards other portions of the project .

The fact that many of the higher end suspension components are made in the USA is also a plus to me . The job I save buying their product instead of the Ebay knock off might be my own .

Yea this was exactly my point to the post. Not that these guys need to start doing bed bath and beyond type coupons (that crap drives me nuts but my wife's eats it up). But where and what should I expect when making a purchase of one of their products. I'm not looking for knock offs but the real deal and to know I'm not over paying just cause I didn't know to check summit for example.

[killer69]

Yea this was exactly my point to the post. Not that these guys need to start doing bed bath and beyond type coupons (that crap drives me nuts but my wife's eats it up). But where and what should I expect when making a purchase of one of their products. I'm not looking for knock offs but the real deal and to know I'm not over paying just cause I didn't know to check summit for example.

Speedtech for Example, if you go to the web site find the part you want, the price is listed right there. if you are paying more than that price then you are paying too much. you can do a Google search by part number and see what comes up.

[Classic Nova & Performance]

the the best way to get discounts are places like Summit racing. They don't discriminate when it comes to brands. When they offer 10%, there are no hidden disclaimers. You can get Hotchkis products cheaper from them than Hotchkis themselves.

I have been looking for a deal on a DSE frame....waiting for Ricks camaros sale and have Summit price match.

I don't want this to come across as a rant, but as food for thought.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind with this strategy.
1. Summit cannot always get the complete product line or upgrades for a given manufacturer. If a base kit is what you are after, then its not a problem. If you want upgrades it will be a problem.
2. Summit doesn't install parts, and to most of them it is just a part number in their computer system. Quite likely they have no hands on experience with the parts.

As the owner/operator of a small shop that builds cars, sells & installs parts we have been used in that way multiple times, as recently as last week. A potential customer contacts us for an estimate on ridetech parts. They also had numerous technical questions about the installation of the parts. After spending 20+ minutes on the phone walking them through the installation I put together the estimate and emailed it to him. The next day he emails us to ask if we will beat Summit's price on the kit, along with a copy of their offer to beat our price.

My hope is that people realize that the value of a product or service is not just a question of where you can get it the cheapest. We are competitive on our pricing, but feel the added value we give our customers is our product knowledge and experience working with the products we sell. We are in the process of scheduling a week to go work with one of our manufacturers so we can expand our familiarity with their product lines, as well as the manufacturing process. This is expensive for a shop to do, but adds value to what we can offer our future customers. I do understand the financial side of building cars. I just hope people will consider the true value of what an independent shop/dealer has to offer.

[Robsutt]

I don't want this to come across as a rant, but as food for thought.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind with this strategy.
1. Summit cannot always get the complete product line or upgrades for a given manufacturer. If a base kit is what you are after, then its not a problem. If you want upgrades it will be a problem.
2. Summit doesn't install parts, and to most of them it is just a part number in their computer system. Quite likely they have no hands on experience with the parts.

As the owner/operator of a small shop that builds cars, sells & installs parts we have been used in that way multiple times, as recently as last week. A potential customer contacts us for an estimate on ridetech parts. They also had numerous technical questions about the installation of the parts. After spending 20+ minutes on the phone walking them through the installation I put together the estimate and emailed it to him. The next day he emails us to ask if we will beat Summit's price on the kit, along with a copy of their offer to beat our price.

My hope is that people realize that the value of a product or service is not just a question of where you can get it the cheapest. We are competitive on our pricing, but feel the added value we give our customers is our product knowledge and experience working with the products we sell. We are in the process of scheduling a week to go work with one of our manufacturers so we can expand our familiarity with their product lines, as well as the manufacturing process. This is expensive for a shop to do, but adds value to what we can offer our future customers. I do understand the financial side of building cars. I just hope people will consider the true value of what an independent shop/dealer has to offer.

Indeed. It's the total package.

[Buryingthesun]

I could care less about saving $20.00 on a $500-$800 coilover set up as long as the manufacture responds to emails and phone calls with questions and concerns about a product. Id rather spend my money with a company that wants to do business with me then a company that just wants to collect my money by cutting the throats of others

[BonzoHansen]

A potential customer contacts us for an estimate on ridetech parts. They also had numerous technical questions about the installation of the parts. After spending 20+ minutes on the phone walking them through the installation I put together the estimate and emailed it to him. The next day he emails us to ask if we will beat Summit's price on the kit, along with a copy of their offer to beat our price.

"That guy" sucks. I used to run into that all the time when I ran a tire outlet. It's abborent behavior IMO.

[bret]

I could care less about saving $20.00 on a $500-$800 coilover set up as long as the manufacture responds to emails and phone calls with questions and concerns about a product. Id rather spend my money with a company that wants to do business with me then a company that just wants to collect my money by cutting the throats of others

Can I make a T shirt out of this?

[Classic Nova & Performance]

Bret, I'll take an XL if/when you do!! :-)