Date:         Thu, 12 Dec 2002 14:06:05 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Hey! Bus Depot / Bus Boys
In-Reply-To:  <20021211.220740.1460.12.wilden1@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> I haven't seen any of the traditional Bus Depot or Bus Boys seasonal
> discounts being offered.
> Rocky Mountain sent me a 20% card for everything in their current
> catalog.
> Are we going to have and seasonal discounts from you guys???



I do plan to run at least one list discount sale on the list this winter, if
we have a particularly slow week, but not necessarily before Christmas.  The
reason I did it this time last year is that it happened to coincide with an
unusually slow week.  Right now our focus has been on getting orders out the
door faster, and our present orders-to-employees ratio is such that most
in-stock ground orders are shipping in about one day.  Yes, one day.  I am
tired of hearing people complain that "Bus Depot has great prices but
they're slow to ship," so I'm hesitant to do anything that could result in a
backlog of orders and increase our shipping lead time.

Of course, I need not point out (but will anyway :-) that even my everyday
prices (especially combined with the standard 5% listmember discount that I
have always offered on most orders over $50) are far lower than most of my
competitors', every day.  Plus, my quality is often higher, as I frequently
import OEM brands myself rather than shipping easily-available aftermarket
ones.  Even if you take 20% off of some other vendors' prices, on average
you will still pay more than you would have from me, and often get lesser
quality.

Put another way, any retailer with such a huge profit margin that they can
afford to lob 20% off of their prices across the board for a month at a
time, is merely telling you that they were overcharging you by at least 20%
during the other 11 months.  If I lobbed 20% off all my prices, I'd be
selling many items below cost!

That said, I just returned from Germany yesterday after purchasing a large
shipment of original Volkswagen Vanagon and Westfalia interior stuff, which
will reach me in about a month.  This is the nicest find of N.O.S. Vanagon
goodies EVER to hit U.S. shores. In keeping with my policy of passing any
wholesale savings directly on to my customers, I'll be passing these along
at less than half of the original prices (rather than hoarding them, and
doling them out slowly at top dollar, as some retailers have done when they
got a hold of rare and desirable parts).  This is a really exciting find;
believe me when I tell you that it will trump any  "discount sale" that I
could possibly offer.   Details to follow when the delivery date gets a bit
closer. Stay tuned.

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

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