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hi to all - long time lurker now getting around to forking out the money for a new ZTR/YT/GT. Won't get in to that mental battle .... yet! Curious about the online sites I have seen i.e. mowersdirect/powerequimentdirect, Wisesales (Illinois I believe). Obvious savings of tax, obvious loss of dealer on purchase. Anyone have any experience with them at all? Buyer beware or a good deal? Do they ship direct from manufacturer without a runthrough or set up? Any comments apppreciated!

Oops. Just realized Wise is an advertiser on this site.....hopefully I will get real feedback!

firstbase said:

hi to all - long time lurker now getting around to forking out the money for a new ZTR/YT/GT. Won't get in to that mental battle .... yet! Curious about the online sites I have seen i.e. mowersdirect/powerequimentdirect, Wisesales (Illinois I believe). Obvious savings of tax, obvious loss of dealer on purchase. Anyone have any experience with them at all? Buyer beware or a good deal? Do they ship direct from manufacturer without a runthrough or set up? Any comments apppreciated!

Oops. Just realized Wise is an advertiser on this site.....hopefully I will get real feedback!

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When I read mower reviews on MowersDirect and they comment about the shipping process all I ever hear is good things; they also say it's quick. The only negative I hear is it is difficult to get the mower out of the crate it comes in, which could be a good thing! But the lack of dealer support is a negative.

Thanks for the comments. I am never quite sure how much faith to put in to the online reviews on a dealer/manufacturers website as it would seem they could exercise control over them. The delivery would seem to be a roll of the dice on which driver you get. Lift gate delivery will get it to the ground but it would be huge to get it moved to the garage or at least near it. I would think that a sawzall, hammer and a good drill with bits could get it out. I guess my concern is whether it was setup propery and then warranty problems. Not too worried about a lawn/yard tractor as I am more familiar with them but I am also looking at ZTR's which I have never owned. I guess warranty problems could be handled by a local dealer but there is nothing like taking something broken back to the guy who swore up and down it would never break! Nothing is free right? I guess the trade off for no taxes is all these things....

firstbase said:

Thanks for the comments. I am never quite sure how much faith to put in to the online reviews on a dealer/manufacturers website as it would seem they could exercise control over them. The delivery would seem to be a roll of the dice on which driver you get. Lift gate delivery will get it to the ground but it would be huge to get it moved to the garage or at least near it. I would think that a sawzall, hammer and a good drill with bits could get it out. I guess my concern is whether it was setup properly and then warranty problems. Not too worried about a lawn/yard tractor as I am more familiar with them but I am also looking at ZTR's which I have never owned. I guess warranty problems could be handled by a local dealer but there is nothing like taking something broken back to the guy who swore up and down it would never break! Nothing is free right? I guess the trade off for no taxes is all these things....

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Buying a mower online is risky. Personally I've seen that type of thing cost people more money in the long run than if they purchased from a local dealer. Buying online to avoid taxes is a gamble and you really don't know what your buying, they can be advertising one and you can end up with something different and trying to get warranty work done isn't a good deal either. Buy from your local dealer and support the the small business owner, you'll be better off all the way around.

Generally will spend more money supporting the local folks, hate going to HD or Lowes, etc. Just the amount of money saved upfront caused me to question the thinking. I think subconsciously I want to here bad stories on this subject so I can rest my mind and do the sane thing for my wallet. I would be interested to here what the supporting vendor Wise Sales has to say. Seems like a quality vendor would be well versed in answering these types of concerns. Wonder if they read what we type? Thanks for the input Ric.

A couple of things related in a roundabout way...I was surprised this week when an amazon vendor collected WA sales tax. I do not think the fed legislation pending has cut in so it must be voluntary. I used to buy tires online, but recently stopped. With a local shop (America Tire) matching price (prety much), it's a price wash once you figure in mounting , balance and freight against local tax adder. Just a thought. Freight can kill these days'

firstbase said:

hi to all - long time lurker now getting around to forking out the money for a new ZTR/YT/GT. Won't get in to that mental battle .... yet! Curious about the online sites I have seen i.e. mowersdirect/powerequimentdirect, Wisesales (Illinois I believe). Obvious savings of tax, obvious loss of dealer on purchase. Anyone have any experience with them at all? Buyer beware or a good deal? Do they ship direct from manufacturer without a runthrough or set up? Any comments apppreciated!

Oops. Just realized Wise is an advertiser on this site.....hopefully I will get real feedback!

Click to expand...

I just did this, as much as I didn't want to, because the local guys didn't even want to try. Saved me ~$900 doing it, but tolerance was needed.
In the end, to me, it was worth it.
Do note though, I make my living shipping, receiving, sales and supply. I made sure I had an out at any step, in case something started to become fishy.
The Company I dealt with was Mowers4less.com. From the time I completed the financing package, it took them 8 business to ship from one of their 3 locations, not drop shipped from factory, for whatever reason. Since they paid the freight tab, I was at their mercy for who they used. It took 5 business days to get here, where it would have taken 2 with my preferred carrier.
If you choose to go this route, pm me, and I can give some pointers of what I experienced.

motoman said:

A couple of things related in a roundabout way...I was surprised this week when an amazon vendor collected WA sales tax. I do not think the fed legislation pending has cut in so it must be voluntary. I used to buy tires online, but recently stopped. With a local shop (America Tire) matching price (prety much), it's a price wash once you figure in mounting , balance and freight against local tax adder. Just a thought. Freight can kill these days'

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Currently it's a state thing, and if the shipping location was located within WA. EBay vendors do it that way too, for within state sales.

Rat Racer, Sounds like you had it wired. Good. The amazon vendor was in Long Island NY. Ebay has not yet charged me WA sales tx. I do not mind paying sales tax as the infrastructure is crumbling hereabouts. Bridges down and rusty , etc. motoman

Thanks for the comments and Ratracer I will definitely pm if I do decide. Your savings of $900 was pretty significant. My purchase will be $5000+- so we are talking $300 or so in FL tax plus whatever discount there is on the mower (not that I seem to be able to decide which one of those either). Also, something I didn't think about is that my local dealer(s) can work some finance magic and get several other pieces of equipment thrown into the 0% for 24-36-48 months deal most manufacturers have going on.

Here are a couple of things to think about before you make a purchase like this online.

1. Do you have some way to unload this from the trailer when it comes. You will need a forklift to get it off.
2. Do you realize that many units do not come assembled. Some of the bigger units don't have the tires on the rims.
3. Do you have the tools, equipment and knowledge to assemble if needed.
4. If parts are missing, broken or wrong, who are you going to contact.
5. Who are you going to go to for warranty service if it should need some work done.
6. Do you think you are going to get the same service from the local dealer as you would have if you were to purchase from him.

Final question, will you really save any money in the long run, as this is not a two year disposable item.

What you save today may cost you more tomorrow.

Thanks Rivets....can handle 1-3 but 4-5-6 are the issues that are the big gamble and the crux of the problem!

motoman said:

Rat Racer, Sounds like you had it wired. Good. The amazon vendor was in Long Island NY. Ebay has not yet charged me WA sales tx. I do not mind paying sales tax as the infrastructure is crumbling hereabouts. Bridges down and rusty , etc. motoman

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Yeah, I hear you on the infrastructure thing. Seems a certain leader "was" going to make fixing infrastructure a job generating catalyst.

There it is. NY collects sales tax for all net sales that originate from it, regardless where it ships.

firstbase said:

Thanks for the comments and Ratracer I will definitely pm if I do decide. Your savings of $900 was pretty significant. My purchase will be $5000+- so we are talking $300 or so in FL tax plus whatever discount there is on the mower (not that I seem to be able to decide which one of those either). Also, something I didn't think about is that my local dealer(s) can work some finance magic and get several other pieces of equipment thrown into the 0% for 24-36-48 months deal most manufacturers have going on.

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My purchase was $5K+ also. Local stocking dealers didn't even want to play off from MSRP for outright cash either, saving them at least $100 in finance origination fees. They would waive setup and local delivery charges, but I could get all that done anyways being in the AG industry. My mower was received extremely well crated and completely assembled. I only had to dismantle the crate, turn the roll bar mounting around, charge battery and top off one tranny reservoir. Some creative forklift work (small straight truck delivered) to get it off, and 2 hours of my time was well worth what they were going to charge me, on top of the tax deal.

firstbase said:

hi to all - long time lurker now getting around to forking out the money for a new ZTR/YT/GT. Won't get in to that mental battle .... yet! Curious about the online sites I have seen i.e. mowersdirect/powerequimentdirect, Wisesales (Illinois I believe). Obvious savings of tax, obvious loss of dealer on purchase. Anyone have any experience with them at all? Buyer beware or a good deal? Do they ship direct from manufacturer without a runthrough or set up? Any comments apppreciated!

Oops. Just realized Wise is an advertiser on this site.....hopefully I will get real feedback!

Click to expand...

Hi,
I can't speak for everyone, but I did recently purchase my Toro MX5060 online. It won't arrive until Wednesday, so I'll add more info at that time.

I went with MowerSource.com. Their online ratings/reviews were great. It was shipped the same day from MN via FedEx Freight (a top notch carrier). Shipping was free including lift gate service. I was able to save at least $550. It only took three days to arrive. I arranged for it to be delivered later due to the holiday and work commitments. The truckers will do whatever is reasonable to accomodate you. I think their shipping language states that they will deliver to "your garage or the nearest dry location". I plan on checking the packaging for any damage and noting it on the paperwork in case a claim needs to be made. I also paid with a charge card so that I would have some leverage in case things go bad. I order a lot of things online and I have never had any problems (knock on wood).

The major reasons I purchased online were:
1. To save some significant money.
2. I like assembling things.
3. I always do my own servicing so dealer service isn't a priority for me.
4. This is strictly to be used at my residence only. If I was a commercial user, I would have definitely gone to a dealer.
5. If I do need warantee work, I am willing to put up with being put at the bottom of the list. I have backup mowers, and mowing (unlike snow blowing), can be put off for a few weeks.

I guess I've been a little long winded, but buying online won't work for everyone, but it works for me.

Thanks,
Bruce

That looks like a good deal Bruce. Well appointed machine. I look forward to your delivery and set up experience. Fed-Ex freight, formally American Freightways, do provide good service. I don't use them due to price.

Rivets said:

1. Do you have some way to unload this from the trailer when it comes. You will need a forklift to get it off.

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I know MowersDirect offers a liftgate service to get it off the truck but that is an extra $50. :confused2:

RatRacer said:

That looks like a good deal Bruce. Well appointed machine. I look forward to your delivery and set up experience. Fed-Ex freight, formally American Freightways, do provide good service. I don't use them due to price.

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RatRacer,
It was a good deal for me, but it may not work for everyone.

I was surprised that MowerSource.com used FedEx Freight as they are by no means a low cost provider. I almost forgot about American Freightways. I worked as an analyst for Watkins Motor Lines when they got bought out by FedEx. Watkins and AF were a lot alike. They were both family owned companies that were great to work for. When we got bought out, there were a group of us fom all over the US that traveled the country converting Watkins to the FedEx operating system. We would go out to a terminal for 15 days straight, working from 14-18 hours per day. We got called back from our last conversion a day early and told to be at work at 8:00 the next day. By 8:15 they took our laptops, phones, and company cars and drove us home. It was very humiliating, but such is corporate life today. They will be delivering my mower tomorrow. The people there are great, and I still keep in contact with quite a few of them.

Sorry to bend your ear. I will post an update when I get the mower in.

Thanks,
Bruce

Brucebotti said:

RatRacer,
Sorry to bend your ear. I will post an update when I get the mower in.

Thanks,
Bruce

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That's cool. Keeps it real to the fact we are more than just screen names. I didn't realize Watkins was bought too. I used them when working in Philly. The family owned company deal is why I use R&L.

Steve

lawn mower fanatic said:

I know MowersDirect offers a liftgate service to get it off the truck but that is an extra $50. :confused2:

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MowerSource.com offered liftgate service free of charge.
Bruce

RatRacer said:

That's cool. Keeps it real to the fact we are more than just screen names. I didn't realize Watkins was bought too. I used them when working in Philly. The family owned company deal is why I use R&L.

Steve

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Steve,
I have heard good things about R&L. Family business' s tend to be more "friendly". It's funny how the employee manual at Watkins was about 35 pages. The FedEx one was as thick as a phone book. FedEx spends multi-millions every year to keep the company non-union. At Watkins, the founder of the company had one statement in the Manager's Manual. It said "Treat the employees so well, that they won't want a union". It doesn't get much simpler than that!
Bruce

I just wanted to update everyone on my recent Toro MX5060 online purchase. I went with MowerSource.com out of MN. I was able to take advantage of the Toro $150 instant rebate, free shipping including lift gate service, and even an online $20 coupon (every little bit helps). They shipped it via FedEx Freight, the same day I ordered it. I ordered it on a Wednesday and received it yesterday. It was delayed a few days due to the holiday, and me pushing it off a day. If I had ordered it Tuesday, I would have received it on Friday. That's pretty amazing to go from MN to CT in that amount of time!

When it arrived, the outer carton was flopping around and was basically unattached. I asked the driver to make a note of that on his paperwork, but he went one better. After he put it in my garage, we took off the outer carton and he went over it with a fine tooth comb. There was not a single scratch or hint of damage of any kind. The hardes part was getting it off the pallets. There was a 5x8 foot pallet that the mower was on. This was then stacked on a 40x48 inch shipping pallet. After a few hours with an engine hoist, floor jack, hammer, pry bar, and a sawzall, I was all set.

To make a long story short, I would give MowerSource.com and FedEx Freight 5-star ratings, and wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again.

Thanks,
Bruce

Brucebotti said:

I just wanted to update everyone on my recent Toro MX5060 online purchase. I went with MowerSource.com out of MN. I was able to take advantage of the Toro $150 instant rebate, free shipping including lift gate service, and even an online $20 coupon (every little bit helps). They shipped it via FedEx Freight, the same day I ordered it. I ordered it on a Wednesday and received it yesterday. It was delayed a few days due to the holiday, and me pushing it off a day. If I had ordered it Tuesday, I would have received it on Friday. That's pretty amazing to go from MN to CT in that amount of time!

When it arrived, the outer carton was flopping around and was basically unattached. I asked the driver to make a note of that on his paperwork, but he went one better. After he put it in my garage, we took off the outer carton and he went over it with a fine tooth comb. There was not a single scratch or hint of damage of any kind. The hardes part was getting it off the pallets. There was a 5x8 foot pallet that the mower was on. This was then stacked on a 40x48 inch shipping pallet. After a few hours with an engine hoist, floor jack, hammer, pry bar, and a sawzall, I was all set.

To make a long story short, I would give MowerSource.com and FedEx Freight 5-star ratings, and wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again.

Thanks,
Bruce

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Good to know Bruce, and congrats on getting your new ride home. I bet use anticipation is killer, waiting for the weekend to arrive.:wink:

RatRacer said:

Good to know Bruce, and congrats on getting your new ride home. I bet use anticipation is killer, waiting for the weekend to arrive.:wink:

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RatRacer,
I used it a little tonight to try and get used to the ZTR after driving lawn / garden tractors all my life. It may take a while to teach this old dog any new tricks. :laughing:
Bruce

Brucebotti said:

RatRacer,
I used it a little tonight to try and get used to the ZTR after driving lawn / garden tractors all my life. It may take a while to teach this old dog any new tricks. :laughing:
Bruce

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Dude!
It's just like Battle Zone, 'cept no turret, scud missiles or pyramids to maneuver around. :confused2: