Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 20:11:47 -0700
Reply-To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Moderator Re: Bus Depot query
In-Reply-To: <6D61CFE25A0C437B81684406109AAF5C@jimsystem>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Jim Arnott <jrasite@eoni.com> wrote:
> To save Ron from having to dig it out, here are his comments to TheSamba
> crowd regarding the Vanagon List Discount:
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=233032
>
> Scroll down. It's at the bottom of the thread.
>
> Jim
Thanks for posting that Jim. I hope Ron does not mind me reposting his
comments so it is easier for everybody else to read.
BenT
Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:56 am
<http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/posting.php?mode=quote&p=2239161&sid=5a74a2c4c13dfee1bc7ba66628245feb>
------------------------------
Back when I was just a Bus owner with a "real job," I was an early member
of the first Vanagon list (which covered all VW vans, and later split into 4
lists: Vanagon, Type2, VintageBus, and EV_Update). It was on that list that
I announced my decision to turn my hobby into my business, and all of my
early customers were list members (some of whom are still active on the
lists today). They were avid supporters of my new enterprise, and I largely
owe my success today to their early (and ongoing) loyalty and support. In
appreciation for this, I have always offered a discount to members of those
lists.
The Samba? It didn't exist yet. Clearly there are many avid Bus and Vanagon
hobbyists here who are a real asset to our community, and I do want to
support you. Your active participation on this forum saves Buses; it helps
others maintain them and keeps them out of the scrapyard. (Unfortunately,
there are also a minority here who seem to take pleasure in blasting
vendors; I've suffered more attacks on the Samba - some deserved, some not -
than I ever have on all the mail lists combined. There, people tend to email
me privately if they have a minor order problem or gripe rather than
broadcasting it.)
I don't have a problem with extending the Type2 List discount to active
Samba contributors. The problem is that the Samba pages are read by many
people who aren't actually contributors; it's a bit different since it's an
open website rather than a subscription-only email list. To post a discount
code here would be to make it available to everyone who googles it, which
frankly I can't afford to do (and that would dilute its original purpose).
I gave it some thought, and came up with this tentative solution. If you are
an active Samba contributor (which I'll define, for now, as having a minimum
of 12 posts, at least one of which was within the last 30 days), and are
about to place a Bus Depot order, pm me for the code. I will confirm your
status before replying with the code, and will honor the discount for one
week. If you use the code within that week, you may continue to use it as
long as you remain an active Samba contributor (at least one post within the
last 30 days).
I'll have to see how this goes. If I am deluged with more requests than I
can handle (or if people abuse it, like posting nonsense just to qualify for
the code), I may have to retract the offer or tighten the criteria. So
please don't pm me if you're not about to use the code for an order, or this
could ruin it for everybody.
The discount is not huge, because I work at well-below-industry-average
profit margins to begin with. But at 5% it will offset most of your shipping
cost (so in effect you will get roughly free economy shipping). The discount
applies only to orders over $50, with some exclusions (most notably Sale
items, made-to-order or special-order items, engines/rebuilt
heads/transaxles, tires/wheels, gift certificates, already-placed orders,
and orders to which another discount has been applied). We also offer a
publicized discount (code PROJ1200) for 10% off orders over $1200 with the
same exclusions. The codes go in the "referral code" field on checkout, and
are referenced in your order confirmation. If you phone your order in,
simply specify the code number.
Feel free to pass this information on to users in other Samba forums. This
thread happens to be in the Bay Window forum, but my offer is open to Samba
contributors in all forums.
_________________
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com
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