MSD News. Summit is dumping MSD products

[LowBuckX]

At Summit racing today they had memos out stating they will no longer be offering MSD products. Once their stock is depleated they will make no more orders.

Reason is Price fixing. Or stated minimun prices. IE MSD told Summit they had to raise the prices on MSD products Including powerchip and a couple others.

This is not new Mr Gasket did this to Summit a few years back so Summit dumped them Then they came crawling back a few months later.

Mr Gaskets excuse was that Summits low prices on MG products made them look cheap.



Well my whole point to this is If MSD doesnt come back in the near future Watch summits clearance section they may try and dump it all off cheap.

[WS6]

This is nothing new in general. Many companies have stated minimum advertising prices. This is why group purchases typically require you to email for the sale price. If MSD happened to be raising the minimum price across the board, Summit shouldn't be getting upset. MSD has already sold their product and made their money. There must be something more to this. Regardless www.barnettperformance.com here in ATL has MSD and they have good prices too. They are also a huge wherehouse supplier like Jegs and Summit. No I do not work for Barnett, they just happen to be my supplier of choice.

[syborg tt]

Similar thing happened to Barry Grant with Summit and they dropped them.

I do like summit but soon they will be the Walmart of the industry.

[TonyHuntimer]

That's ******* Awesome!!!!!! Price fixing? HA!!!!

Actually MSD is making the price so Wallmart...I mean Scummit can't undercut all the little guys like me. We can't make a living when Scummit sells for $2 more than we pay for it. Awesome. It's about time MSD stepped up and won't let Walmart...I mean Summit push them around. I salute MSD.

It's funny if Scummit may be telling the customers they are dropping manufacturers for not allowing them to "give" the products away. The story I've heard is the other way around.

If you were MSD or Barry Grant you would feel the same way. Don't think for a minute that Scummit is watching out for the performance industry. They are actually hurting the industry. If they continue the way they are going unchecked by manufacturers, they'll kill all the smaller performance stores. Imagine life with only Jegs and Summit selling performance parts. The whole aftermarket industry and enthusiasts will get smaller because current shops will lose interest in supporting performance aftermarket.

I completely support Barry Grant and MSD. I hope other manufacturers follow suit.

my $.02
Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[chicane67]

I agree Tony... you nailed this one on the head.

ATech (aka Summit mail order/internet sales) is just killing themselves. MSD will sell product weather or not Summit carries the line or not. JEG's will be the one on top until MSD does it to JEG's as well.

Support the little guy !!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

good for the small companies for sure, bad for the lowbuck builds wallets.. hahahahahaha

[LowBuckX]

That's ******* Awesome!!!!!! Price fixing? HA!!!!

Actually MSD is making the price so Wallmart...I mean Scummit can't undercut all the little guys like me. We can't make a living when Scummit sells for $2 more than we pay for it. Awesome. It's about time MSD stepped up and won't let Walmart...I mean Summit push them around. I salute MSD.

It's funny if Scummit may be telling the customers they are dropping manufacturers for not allowing them to "give" the products away. The story I've heard is the other way around.

If you were MSD or Barry Grant you would feel the same way. Don't think for a minute that Scummit is watching out for the performance industry. They are actually hurting the industry. If they continue the way they are going unchecked by manufacturers, they'll kill all the smaller performance stores. Imagine life with only Jegs and Summit selling performance parts. The whole aftermarket industry and enthusiasts will get smaller because current shops will lose interest in supporting performance aftermarket.

I completely support Barry Grant and MSD. I hope other manufacturers follow suit.

my $.02
Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

Thats funny they are called Scummit around here too.

I think what the manufacturers are doing is a bit wrong too. All they have to do is step up and not give huge Volume discounts. They should say Everyone pays the same. If you dont like it we can start an internet store and sell em our selves.

I know it is unrealistic but it is what it is. Id rather buy from the small local guy but summit is my only local guy.

PS some one said something about Barry grant. The issue with Barry grant was a Quality issue. The demon carbs where great at the begining but they where getting returned at a very high rate. They where told to fix their quality problems and BG told em to stick it.

Summit did independat testing and found that the defect/returned carb passages where clogged with machining dust/chips.

[harshman]

I see the issue on both sides here.

Yes the big guys sell parts cheep and there will always be somebody that will. Jegs and Summit are on top now but there will always be somebody. While MSD wont budge, there are other brands that are of equal quality than MSD and are competitively price - capitalism. Simply stated, MSD is not the end all to ignition products.

I have learned that the little guy has one thing better than the big guy – service. If you want the price shopper, have at it for about three purchases and they are gone. If you guys go after the customers that want the right part and you are willing to stand behind that part all the while giving advice and being there for the customer, you will have a customer for years of purchases.

The little guy have a lot to offer us the consumers. I would recommend promoting the services you offer and let the others put their own foot in their mouth – they need no help.

[Steve68]

I really try to support the little guy as much as I can,!!!!!!!!!

[EFI69Cam]

Summit literaly buys railroad cars full of MSD products at a time. The little guy cannot.
Why should I pay sales tax on hundreds of dollars worth of parts?

[Rick Dorion]

A very good friend of mine closed his speed shop last year because he couldn't compete with the catalogs. Was in business 30+ years. Sad but true.

[ProdigyCustoms]

The MAP pricing that MSD is trying to enforce is all cheerlead by SuperChips, which has always been on a price control terror. MSD is going so far as to record the serial numbers of their products and track the sales. In other words, if I buy one through my wholesale house, and if I sell it below MAP (Minimum Advertised Price), MSD is going to put heat on my supplier to cut me off or risk losing their MSD distribution. I have to wonder how much it will cost MSD, which will end up in the cost of the product, to do all the policing?

Summit is a power house. They probably do not get any better pricing then any other company capable of earning MWD pricing, However their are many purchase incentives any supplier, that is capable of buying MWD can take advantage of like free shipping on orders of a large specified amount, volume discounts on multiple like kind items, etc. And Summit and Jegs take advantage of all those deals.

Summit telling MSD to pack sand, or vise versa, will hurt MSD. Summit has thousands of other lines, losing MSD will not make the rent checks bounce. Jegs will end up in the same boat or keep playing their see price in cart program. This is the first time a company has so aggressively pursued this MAP pricing. It will be interesting to see what happens. It is a delicate situation that borders on breaking Anti Trust laws.

[camcojb]

I totally understand wanting to support the little guy. I was the little guy in the 80's, owning my own speed shop for several years. I remember a wholesale speed warehouse I worked for had a meeting with us about going mail order. This was before Summit/Jegs existed. In the end he wanted to support his local dealer base and decided not to do it. A few years later Summit/Jegs popped up and took a big chunk of his business. He closed the business a few years later.

I think MSD has hurt themselves with this move. I see no way they'll maintain the same level of sales. They have just opened the door for competing companies to steal a portion of their business, perhaps a large portion. It's admirable to support your dealers, but financially I think it will turn out to be a big mistake.

I still support the little guy where I can, in most everything I buy. I always source local people rather than scouring the net. I bought my last MSD distributor from Tony and the gang at Speed Merchant even though I could get it cheaper at Summit. With all that said, I still think the only person to be hurt with this move is MSD.

Jody

[protour_chevelle]

I think its complete garbage to tell you the truth. Most of you guys are supporting our brutal economy with what you are saying. Supporting the small guys can only be taken so far. You cannot gouge a friggin customer just to make larger profit margins with a product that sells thousands upon thousands in quantity.

How much has our salaries gone up over the last 15 years compared to inflation rates? Give me a bloody break. I'll use my buddies wholesale account to its fullest if it means I can save some money. The world isn't free so screw that. I'll look for every nook and cranny to save me money. I bet I sound bitter but inflation rates are killing the economy.

/rant off

[rocketrod]

This really makes no sense for MSD to enforce basically what will be seen as price fixing by most. If MSD wants to make more $$$ charge the distributors more $$$, but does it really makes sense for them to dictate the minimum price? Not really, MSD doesn't make anymore $$$ if a distributor (Summit/Jegs) wants to sell an item for cost, or even a loss, to get customers in the door. It happens all time the...and this just seems like a bad move on MSD's part.

[CraigMBA]

I'm self employed, and one of those so called "little guys".

Summit is MSD's customer, and occasionally you need to fire a customer becasue they take away more from your business than they bring. The biggest lie in business is "the customer is always right". Garbage. The customer/vendor relationship is just that, a relationship. No one party is ever right 100% of the time in any relationship.

Congrats to MSD for taking thier marketing efforts back in house as opposed to letting Summit dictate them for them. It certainly isn't an easy decision to blow off 20-30% of your volume, but sometimes it's the only sane thing you can do.

If anyone is offended by MSD's actions, I suggest you vote with your wallet and don't use their products.

[go-fish]

I am not going to go with Mallory or anyone else. I like MSD and, sometimes, I like getting the best deal out there too. That is why I bought a box, distributer, and a Blaster II from Summit last night. I had them on my list for my upcoming engine build anyway.
In my case, I don't feel bad or anything about not going to a "little guy". I have no "little guy" in my area, besides, I am deployed right now. There is a "little guy" I guess, but it's a ricer shop. He could probably order it for me but I try to avoid the place. I wasn't planning on buying for another few months but this situation accelerated my purchase.
Before you start to think I am a terrible person for buying at "Scummit" please take into consideration that some people don't have local speedshops. When I was a kid my neighbor had one of the last full service stations in town and I would get gas there. He told me I should get gas at a cheaper place because he made his money off of oil changes and such and I needed the savings more than he needed MY money. He served mainly old folks but I wanted to support him, I enjoyed the fact that he was holding out and providing something that used to be the norm, great customer service. He recently recently shut his pumps down and squeeks by since a jiffy lube came in not too far away.
You can bet if I had a "little guy" near me, and he wasn't a Dik, I would most definately support them.

[Yelcamino]

It seems like this thread is morphing from the original post... but I must say, I used to buy my speed parts from a little guy shop but stopped for a couple reasons. First, when I inquired about a set of headers that the little guy didn't stock, I was told there'd be a restocking fee if I returned them because they're a special order item. Basically, if I special ordered something and it didn't fit right (speed parts, remember?) or I wasn't satisfied with the quality, it was going to cost me money to return it. The other big reason I stopped shopping the little guy was because 9 times out of 10, the part(s) I wanted weren't in stock and had to be ordered. Hmm, not only do I have to wait for the part to be ordered, when it arrives I also have to pay a higher price along with sales tax. That makes no sense to me when I can go online and place my order and get what I want a lot faster and for less money. I feel for the little guy shop, but I'm not rich and I have to stretch my money as far as possible.

[speedster]

... In the end he wanted to support his local dealer base and decided not to do it. A few years later Summit/Jegs popped up and took a big chunk of his business...Jody

You guys may hate it, but MSD vs Summit, that's free enterprise. Side with whomever you think is right, but if Summit didn't take the initial risks to become a mail order "powerhouse", someone else eventually would have. MSD may be getting greedy or are being pressured by Summit, who knows. In the end, the result will be determined by supply and demand.

[shmoov69]

I don't know the whole situation, but I do know that the Wal-Mart effect has killed alot of businesses. I try to support the little guys because they are essentially me. Barely getting by doing what they dream about. Most are not "getting rich" by gouging people, but just can't buy and sell at the same rate as the superstores. If the people are a$$es, now then it goes to the superstore. Or if it is just too big of a price difference also. But $5, $10 or $20 bucks, support your neighbor to me! It will benifit you in the long run by friendships IMO.