Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 23:24:12 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Subject: Re: Bus Boys: Great. The other, questionable
In-Reply-To: <4.1.19991117205035.009df860@mail.mindspring.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> He wanted to nail me for restocking charges on an $80 mudflap.
> Okay fine, I had it awhile. But then I called up there to finalize a
> new deal and he raised the price $20 on a set of mudflaps that
> were earlier advertised less on this list. $99.95 instead of $79.95.
> I went to my local dealer and believe it or not, bought an OEM
> mudflap for almost half of what I paid Bus Depot.
> You could say that pretty much chapped me. I was shocked.
> Where were the 70% savings, etc?
Unfortunately (or sometimes fortunately), prices fluxuate. Those South
African mudflaps were $79 as part of the list deal when I bought them in
quantity. That shipment quickly sold out, and when I had to re-order in a
somewhat smaller quantity the cost went up. I'm not making any more money at
$99 than I was before at $79; I'm just paying more. In fact, I only have 5
sets left, and then there won't be any at any price for about 2 months while
I wait for more supply.
Regarding the dealer mudflaps (and my prices on dealer parts in general):
On those items that I must get from VW, I charge about 10-17% off of the
dealer's retail, about the same as Camelback etc. do. (This applies to
items where VW is the only source, which is not too common; most parts I can
find sources for other than VW, at much heftier discounts, up to 60%, often
for parts that still bear the VW logo.) If your dealer charged you less
than I do, there are only two possibilities that I can think of. One is
that the dealer price on the part recently went down (which would mean my
price would go down as well); the other is that the dealer simply made a
mistake and charged you too little. There is no scenario where I would
charge more than the dealer retail on a part, unless a price had recently
gone down and I simply had not been made aware of it yet. Bear in mind that
my dealer cost books don't get updated as often as the dealer's does, since
I'm not direct with VW, so a price could change at the dealer before I was
aware of it. However, since VW dealer prices tend to go up rather than
down, this often works in your favor, and results in my inadvertantly
selling a part at a loss until I find out about the new price.
I encourage you to compare my prices to other vendors'. Really, please do
shop around. I think that on average, you will find that you save more money
buying from The Bus Depot than anybody else.
The 10% restocking fee I charge on returned parts is lower than most of my
competitors, many of whom charge 15-20 percent. I frequently waive the
restocking fee anyway if someone is exchanging a part, but often on
dealer-only parts I do stick to it. The reason is that unlike parts I order
from other distributors, parts I order from VW cannot be returned to them.
So even though I give you a refund, I cannot obtain a refund on the part
myself and have to keep it in inventory until someone else orders it.
It's worth noting that I also agreed to take back the mudflap a couple of
months after purchase, as I recall, despite the fact that my return policy
is 10 days. So I think I was more than fair. I overlooked the long delay
before the return, and only stuck to the posted 10% restocking fee because
this particular item could not be returned to my supplier.
So it seems to me that your only gripe is that prices changed during the
period between when you made the original purchase, and asked to make an
exchange. This is true. Unfortunately sometimes prices do go up. Other
times they go down. I maintain the same profit margin regardless, so if
prices fluxuate it is a result of the wholesale cost, not my own whims.
I would hardly call this "questionable" behaviour on my part. In fact, I
think I was more than fair in offering to waive the 10 day limit on returns.
I'm glad it worked out for you anyway, given that you got a good deal on a
dealer mudflap instead.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
http://www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
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