Buy from vendors or the makers?

[FreakShow]

I see alot of vendors on here sell the same parts. I also see the parts makers selling thier parts.

Who do you buy from? Where do you get a better deal from?

If you buy from a vendor, Do you use 1 vendor as a one stop shop? Or do you use one for wheels, one for susp, one for seats, etc?

I have a pretty good shoping list and want to make my money go as far as I can.

Thanks for your input.

[killer67]

Depends on what you are trying to buy - shop around for he best deal on each item. Some shops have better deals on certain items than others. What are you looking to buy specifically?

[DynoDon]

Having been in the parts business for over 35 years now, at every level from retail to manufacturing, I have learned a few things. I think as a general rule if you can develop a good relationship with a retail operation, you are way ahead of the game. The GOOD retailer will earn your business and appreciate it well, going the extra mile to satisfy your needs. While you may not get the absolute lowest price on every single product, you will get something much more important ~ customer service. The better operations will go out of their way to get parts for you, answer your technical questions and help you when you got the wrong item.
Too many people get directitis where they think they have to try and buy direct from the manufacturers. In the long run, they waste a lot of time and don't have the same level of satisfaction or the personal relationship that only a local shop, or even good out of area firm that will ship can offer. They also will generally have an unbiased opinion of products and are more willing to tell you what brands of parts will (or won't) work together.

[jjordan]

Very well said Don, Manufacturers (unless they are spending promotional dollars) usually have less latitude in pricing. A retail operation will cut his mark-up to 1) gain your business, 2) keep your business and goodwill, in the hopes that you will buy more and tell your friends.

[JustinB]

In general, a vendor with offer discounts off MSRP to earn your business. A good vendor will also offer the customer service and support on a personal level to keep you as a customer. Return customers and good word of mouth is what keeps us all in business.

[FreakShow]

Depends on what you are trying to buy - shop around for he best deal on each item. Some shops have better deals on certain items than others. What are you looking to buy specifically?

Well I need 2 sets of wheels(rushforths,forgeline,etc), TKO600,Good set of seats,some BIGGG brakes, a killer front susp, killer rear susp, a set of springs and shocks for my other car, Vintage A/C, and some killer gauges and insert.

I know I will not have the budget for all this at once, But with the cars I've looked at so far I will have a pretty good bit left out on my insurance money and project savings. I figure I will buy as much as I can at 1 time and might get a package deal.

[FreakShow]

Having been in the parts business for over 35 years now, at every level from retail to manufacturing, I have learned a few things. I think as a general rule if you can develop a good relationship with a retail operation, you are way ahead of the game. The GOOD retailer will earn your business and appreciate it well, going the extra mile to satisfy your needs. While you may not get the absolute lowest price on every single product, you will get something much more important ~ customer service. The better operations will go out of their way to get parts for you, answer your technical questions and help you when you got the wrong item.
Too many people get directitis where they think they have to try and buy direct from the manufacturers. In the long run, they waste a lot of time and don't have the same level of satisfaction or the personal relationship that only a local shop, or even good out of area firm that will ship can offer. They also will generally have an unbiased opinion of products and are more willing to tell you what brands of parts will (or won't) work together.

Thank you Don for your reply. Thats is a very good point. I wish I had a local place here, There are just circle track and drag shops around here. I'm pretty sure everything I need will be mail order.

[ProdigyCustoms]

One thing you can get with some vendors is hands on personal, un bias opinions from personal experience. Call a manufacturer, they are going to tell you all their stuff is the best. Call a dealer that sells a part, whatever they sell is the best because they sell it. Call someone that uses the stuff and only sells what they use based on personal experience.............priceless. There is no substitute for experience in this matter.



Also, you will generally save some $$$$$ buying from a dealer then direct from the manufacturer. Discounts will vary from dealer to dealer. A few percentage points is never the best way to decide who you buy from.



Our pitch is easy. No one in the industry has as much experience installing as many different products as we do. Having a high volume Pro touring shop that does everything from entry level system installs to high end star cars, allows us to find out what we love and what we hate. And it is pretty much assured if we do not sell it, we probably choose not too. nothing quite compares to being able to say.....We used that on this car, or that car, or we are doing one right now and like it so much we became a distributor, or we used that and will never do it again!

[Finch]

Frank at Prodigy can meet all your needs and has been around for a while so full of great advice.

There are some vendors on here who become sponsors just to get at your money and there are vendors like Prodigy and Driverz inc who truly care about the hobby and the people and they go above and beyond to support both.

[newmexicosaint]

Frank at Prodigy can meet all your needs and has been around for a while so full of great advice.

There are some vendors on here who become sponsors just to get at your money and there are vendors like Prodigy and Driverz inc who truly care about the hobby and the people and they go above and beyond to support both.

Frank, you are right!! You have been great to me when it comes to advice and parts selection...not to mention a great price (in order of importance)

Well put Brian. Years ago, I had a sign made of a quote from a man who operated business in the late 19th century (1890's) to the early 20th century. Here is a pic of the sign I had made of the quote which is now hanging in my brothers glass shop in Oklahoma.

[newmexicosaint]

Freakshow,

I absolutely know how you feel about making your dollars stretch. I am in the same boat. It is likely you will be able to get most of what you need from the vendors here and they typically offer great prices to the products you need. The customer service and professional advise (if you need it) is worth paying more for but generally they give it for free because of their passion for this industry and most are genuinely good people...

[vintageracer]

You (the end use customer) are a one time buyer to a manufacturer and therefore are treated as such with generally higher pricing and lesser service. A good reseller is an over and over repeat customer to a manufacturer. Who do you think gets more attention from a manufacturer???

You want to become an important customer to the seller just like the "reseller" is an important customer to the manufacture in the above situation. The only way for the end user to really become important to a seller (manufacturer or reseller) is to develop a relationship and BUY PARTS/SERVICE. A reseller has relationships with lots of manufacturers. Chances are good that you will need parts from more than one manufacturer so it is in the end user's best interest to find a GOOD RESELLER who handles the manufacturers you wish to purchase and work with one person at that reseller many times for all your needs! That's how you, the end user, become important to the reseller who really does want to make you happy and is really interested in solving your problems.

Now all you have to do is find a GOOD RESELLER to work with that you are comfortable with in making your purchases and most importantly trust their judgement and recommendations when it comes to parts, service and labor. And just remember that PROFIT is not a bad thing. The reseller needs to make a profit to sustain their business. Just like the company that you work for or own needs to make a profit to sustain that business. It's not always just about the cheapest price. If the cheapest price is your goal for EVERYTHING don't waste a GOOD resellers time. Just search the internet yourself for the one whore in the bunch who will give away the house. Just expect the same treatment in return when you have a problem with the item you purchased from the whore!!!!

[Bad94]

Driverz and Frank are super easy to deal with. I have and buy from both.

[FreakShow]

You (the end use customer) are a one time buyer to a manufacturer and therefore are treated as such with generally higher pricing and lesser service. A good reseller is an over and over repeat customer to a manufacturer. Who do you think gets more attention from a manufacturer???

You want to become an important customer to the seller just like the "reseller" is an important customer to the manufacture in the above situation. The only way for the end user to really become important to a seller (manufacturer or reseller) is to develop a relationship and BUY PARTS/SERVICE. A reseller has relationships with lots of manufacturers. Chances are good that you will need parts from more than one manufacturer so it is in the end user's best interest to find a GOOD RESELLER who handles the manufacturers you wish to purchase and work with one person at that reseller many times for all your needs! That's how you, the end user, become important to the reseller who really does want to make you happy and is really interested in solving your problems.

Now all you have to do is find a GOOD RESELLER to work with that you are comfortable with in making your purchases and most importantly trust their judgement and recommendations when it comes to parts, service and labor. And just remember that PROFIT is not a bad thing. The reseller needs to make a profit to sustain their business. Just like the company that you work for or own needs to make a profit to sustain that business. It's not always just about the cheapest price. If the cheapest price is your goal for EVERYTHING don't waste a GOOD resellers time. Just search the internet yourself for the one whore in the bunch who will give away the house. Just expect the same treatment in return when you have a problem with the item you purchased from the whore!!!!

Mike,

I really don't like the way your reply made me sound! I'm not stupid. I know people have to make a profit. I do not have a problem with that. I am new to pro touring and this site. When I wrote this thread I didn't know who were the good retailers and who bought parts off the manufactures site for the same price that John Q public can and then add their 20% or whatever mark up. I am sorry I wasn't born into money or have a big fancy job making 100,000 plus a year. It took me a year and a half to save up the 6,000 I had before my car was wrecked and I got insurance money. I've seen some of the cars on here. Some guys have more in thier cars than I have in my house. My budget for buying and building a car to them is what they spend on paint.

You can call me low class , white thrash, or whatever you want to, But Mister, I will tell you one thing! I bust my rear for everything I got and I'm damn proud of it!

I want you to go to the top of the page and look at the right column of ads and scroll down. Do you see how many there is? Both retailers and manufacturers. Knowing just what you read in magazines, Would you know who to spend your money with? Just because a company can afford to buy an ad in a magazine doesn't mean they are worth a crap.


Again I am very sorry if me having to make every dollar count has offended you!


Good day to you Sir and Merry Chirstmas.

[newmexicosaint]

Mike,

I really don't like the way your reply made me sound! I'm not stupid. I know people have to make a profit. I do not have a problem with that. I am new to pro touring and this site. When I wrote this thread I didn't know who were the good retailers and who bought parts off the manufactures site for the same price that John Q public can and then add their 20% or whatever mark up. I am sorry I wasn't born into money or have a big fancy job making 100,000 plus a year. It took me a year and a half to save up the 6,000 I had before my car was wrecked and I got insurance money. I've seen some of the cars on here. Some guys have more in thier cars than I have in my house. My budget for buying and building a car to them is what they spend on paint.

You can call me low class , white thrash, or whatever you want to, But Mister, I will tell you one thing! I bust my rear for everything I got and I'm damn proud of it!

I want you to go to the top of the page and look at the right column of ads and scroll down. Do you see how many there is? Both retailers and manufacturers. Knowing just what you read in magazines, Would you know who to spend your money with? Just because a company can afford to buy an ad in a magazine doesn't mean they are worth a crap.


Again I am very sorry if me having to make every dollar count has offended you!


Good day to you Sir and Merry Chirstmas.

Man, chill out a bit brother. I don't think Mike was trying to offend you. I believe mike was just trying to give you a breakdown of how the manufacturers operate. There are people who don't understand the mechanics of business. By your reaction I would be led to believe you already knew how the big business' operate. The majority of all the folks on this website/forum are good people and mean well. I would suggest getting to know them better and consider what you read (or write) MAY be posted with genuine intentions.

There are plenty of us who fight and scrape to have anything just like you and just like you we are very proud of what we DO have. Merry Christmas.

[vintageracer]

You can call me low class , white thrash, or whatever you want to, But Mister, I will tell you one thing! I bust my rear for everything I got and I'm damn proud of it!


Good day to you Sir and Merry Chirstmas.

White Trash? Low Class?

How in the hell did you get the idea that I am calling you low class or white trash when you asked a question and I answered it with what I thought was a well thought out answer to your question????

I had no clue if you were a vendor or a end user and really do not care as my response would still be the same. Since you have said you were a vendor I would "think" you would have agreed with my response since the end result is to promote business such as yours and suggest that "end users" buy their parts from somone such as yourself rather than directly from the manufacturer.

What does starting your business with $6K and having to work for everything have to do at all with my response to your question?

All I can say is Merry Christmas and do not expect an order from me anytime soon!!!

[XLexusTech]

So suppose you were in the market for a big chunk of PT parts... for example.. full suspension brakes wheels, drivetrain, Rims tires.... just the top of the list.....basically pretty big order.... in the 5 digits....

And suppose you had Cash and were looking for a volume discount and a development of a good vendor customer relationship.... is it better to find one vendor and buy everything at once? Or better to let them "earn your business" giving discounts along the way? For me I was thinking of a one time purchase but the above advice make me think I may be shooting myself in the foot doing so,,?

[FreakShow]

White Trash? Low Class?

How in the hell did you get the idea that I am calling you low class or white trash when you asked a question and I answered it with what I thought was a well thought out answer to your question????

I had no clue if you were a vendor or a end user and really do not care as my response would still be the same. Since you have said you were a vendor I would "think" you would have agreed with my response since the end result is to promote business such as yours and suggest that "end users" buy their parts from somone such as yourself rather than directly from the manufacturer.

What does starting your business with $6K and having to work for everything have to do at all with my response to your question?

All I can say is Merry Christmas and do not expect an order from me anytime soon!!!

I am not a Vendor. I had a 75 Camaro that I have been working on since I was 18 (1997) On Nov 19,2010 I was rearended. I got insurance money for the car and money for pain and suffering. So add that to the 6000 I had saved over the last year and a half. That is my bduget. I want to buy a car to replace the one that was totaled and get as many goodies I can with what is left.

[killer67]

Well I need 2 sets of wheels(rushforths,forgeline,etc), TKO600,Good set of seats,some BIGGG brakes, a killer front susp, killer rear susp, a set of springs and shocks for my other car, Vintage A/C, and some killer gauges and insert.

I know I will not have the budget for all this at once, But with the cars I've looked at so far I will have a pretty good bit left out on my insurance money and project savings. I figure I will buy as much as I can at 1 time and might get a package deal.

Call Jon at Driverz for this - he will give you a heck of a deal!

[elitecustombody]

Freak,relax and spend time just checking out the boards,you can get a pretty good idea on what works and what kind of service vendors offer.

I still can't figure out why you got offended by what Mike have posted,IMHO he was spot on