Date:         Wed, 15 Jan 1997 18:51:46
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         EXPRES@gnn.com (Ron Salmon)
Subject:      Re: Profiting on VWs, etc \ caution: long (and final) rant

>"If Mr Salmon has anything he'd care to add to this let's hear it." 

>"he sold me a Bentley manual for $67.50 and that is a hell of a savings  
>over the usual price. I look forward to working with him in the future."
 
>"I'd like to say enough of the pontificating about how good Ron's book 
>deal is... Ron makes the money, not someone else, if you think this is 
>good so be it. IMHO Ron does use this list to make likely a fair piece of 
>money in car buying and selling, it is his perogative. I don't care for 
>the fact that some deals he might get from the list could have gone to 
>others more needy, but I have done the same thing...Personally I'd like no 
>commercial ads of any nature on the list (oh yes Ron you are commercial)"
 
>"Just wanted to let everyone know that I have had numerous transactions
>with Mr. Salmon and have been extremely pleased with his honesty..." 


Jeez, I don't know of anyone else on this list who ever went through this 
kind of scrutiny.  Frankly, I don't get it. On a quick check I found a 
number of "for sale" posts to the list over the last couple of months by 
full-blown retail commercial entities. Compared to them, I'm small 
potatoes.  I'm flattered to receive all this attention, but confused... 

With regard to my personal situation, since it seems to matter so greatly 
to certain list members, let me state it clearly and for the last time (not 
that I really understand why it's such an issue). Other than the below vw 
parts subject (which is new), it's nothing that I haven't openly said all 
along. From this point forward, if you would like to comment on the 
morality of my (gasp!) making money on Volkswagens, I think it would be 
better to e-mail me directly rather than via the list.  

I am NOT a car dealer, although I do like buying and fixing up Westies. I 
have a penchant for rust-free West Coast late 70's Westfalias, and will go 
to great lengths to find and transport one.  Sometimes I make money on a 
bus, sometimes I don't. And if I spend a lot of time making a bus nice, and 
then sell it, what's wrong with hoping to make a small profit on it?  The 
time and effort I spent is worth something.  By the way, most of the VW's 
I've restored were NOT first advertised on the list; most were sitting in 
people's backyards, off the road due to some major mechanical failure, 
until I bought them, flatbedded them here, and brought them back to life.  
(As far as Vanagons go, I've actually only sold three Vanagons ever. I ran 
across them while looking for busses, and they were good deals, so I jumped 
on them.)  

Does this make me a car dealer?  Not according to the State of Pa. (who 
says that with the number I sell, etc. I don't qualify as one, but rather 
as a hobbyist), and I frankly don't want to be one.  I know of someone who 
started out like me, but is now a full-fledged dealer.  Now they have to 
sell X number of VW's a month to get by. All of the sudden, bondo, painting 
over rust, and other quick fixes are neccessary evils, because they need to 
turn over busses.  I don't want that kind of pressure. If I find a nice Bus 
that I can fix up and sell, I do.  If I don't, I've got no pressure to buy 
and sell a bus that I wouldn't want to drive myself.  I like it that way.  

Do I make money on Bentley manuals?  Of course.  About $5 to $8 apiece on 
average, which is less than anyone else makes. (I'm not greedy, but I'm 
also not a non-profit institution.)  I also accept personal checks from 
listmembers, which nobody else does, ship C.O.D. without a deposit, and 
have even sent out items before receiving payment on a few occasions when a 
list member was in dire need. (By the way, I've still never been burned by 
a listmember!)  So if you like that, buy one.  If not, don't. I'm just 
a small businessperson offering what I think is a fair deal, nothing more.

I am also not a VW auto parts retailer (although I do sell some used parts 
out of my house and at VW swapmeets). However, I have been thinking about 
changing that situation. Recently I've hooked some people up with good 
deals on non-Bentley VW items, and the more I look into it, the more I'm 
amazed at the markup many of the VW retailers work at! 30-60% is the norm!! 
I used to be a buyer and upper-level manager for a chain of retail stores, 
and I know that with proper cost control you can survive on a 15-20% 
markup. There's no excuse for the markup some of these places are taking! 
And even at those prices, poor customer service seems commonplace. So I may 
expand from Bentleys to other VW stuff if I can work things out, and make 
this a full-time thing. It's a big step for me (giving up security in  
exchange for a gamble which, if it failed, could cost me and my wife most 
of our savings). But it's my dream to be doing my "hobby" full-time, and 
sometimes you have to either take a chance, or spend your life wishing you 
had.  So I'll let you know if/when this happens.  Then you can chastise me 
some more for making money on Volkswagens.  :)

Just to throw in my four cents here regarding commercialism on the list, 
since it was again brought up in reference to me:  I see both sides of the 
issue.  I, too, would hate to see the list become a "spam" medium, but I
don't think that will happen; it hasn't happened after three years, and I 
doubt Gerry would allow it. On the other hand, if it hadn't been for the 
many good deals posted to the list over the years (by both private and 
commercial parties), many people would have paid much more for parts they 
needed, or wouldn't have found the van they now drive.  Kyle Wade/Volks- 
Motorsports' current deal on Syncro air filters at 75% off is a great 
example.  Forbidding such an offer to be posted would have deprived many 
listmembers of a terrific deal, just to spare the uninterested members the 
trouble of hitting the "delete" button.  Furthermore, this exemplifies the 
buying-power potential of the list. Next time a deal like this comes up, 
I'm sure Kyle (or any other commercial member) will snap it up and offer it 
to the list, having seen that there is a market for it. A combined group of 
500 people in such a small niche market as Vanagons are nothing to sneeze 
at. They can impact price, quality, and availability.  But without this 
*direct* 2-way relationship between the list and suppliers, that clout 
would not exist.

Anyway, I apologize for the long message.  It just seems that this stuff 
comes up again and again. I've always been a productive member of the V@L 
community (and certainly not one who contributes only when he has something 
to sell).  While I don't think I should have to defend myself (or the 
larger commercial contributors to the list, for that matter), it is my hope 
that by addressing the issue head-on, I can put it to bed once and for all, 
and we can go back to talking about VW's. Feel free to e-mail me directly 
with any comments. 

-Ron Salmon