Date:         Tue, 9 Jan 2001 13:24:03 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <busdepot@EMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <busdepot@EMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: True cost of AMC heads for 1.9L and 2.1L: bare for $240 to
              $216!
In-Reply-To:  <51.5d2fa75.278c13be@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> 1.9 Water Cooled Vanagon '83-85 (Bare)  240.00 232.00 216.00
> (Same as above) Complete with valves & springs  280.00 272.00 252.00
> 2.1 Water Cooled Vanagon '86-91(Bare)  240.00 232.00 216.00
> (Same as above) Complete with valves & springs  280.00 272.00 252.00

> Complete heads in sets of 10 with a 50% markup is only $378.

> Is there a shop on the list that will sell them for less markup?
> Maybe they can sell to a group purchase if there is enough interest.
> If they do you could get TWO heads for a little more than one head.



Heck, I work at way under a 50% markup every day.  If there were enough
group interest I'd offer them at half that markup.  This would be $350 each
range for complete heads (maybe less depending on quantity) or $300 range
for bare.  But that really isn't much less than I charge anyway.

You see, you have forgotten to include freight, which is quite significant.
It would be in two directions - once from the importer to me, then again
from me to you.  Heads are heavy; you could easily be looking at a good
$40-plus per head in freight.  The importer does not drop-ship (nor do they
sell to small retailers or repair shops; they only service high volume
accounts such as the wholesalers who sell _to_ the repair shops).

When you consider the freight cost, you see that my everyday price ($379.95
for a complete 2.1L head, including one direction of the freight; that is,
you only pay the freight from me to you on top of that price) is very close
to the above 25%-markup price anyway, without the need for a list purchase.
(In fact, it's within $10.00 or so.)  However, it is true that another $20
or so per head could be shaved off if there were a volume purchase.
Particularly if a lot of people were interested in bare heads, which I
usually don't carry (but can get).  So if you are seriously interested,
p-mail me, and if there's enough demand to result in a lower price we can
certainly do it.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215) 234-VWVW