why buy from local dealer?

[mammoth]

Again, thank you all for the replies. And when I said $100 in my original post, I was just using that as an example. The actual difference is $40 which is 10% more. And I was concerned that the mowers sold at each store differed somehow. I know some manufacturers produce special models specifically for big box stores. I Will most likely purchase from the dealer. I do like to support small business, but being on a budget sometimes makes it hard to justify the price difference. Especially when the items are exactly the same.

 

[d_sharier]

bertsmobile1
Re: why buy from local dealer?

The difference is, "no worries mate I will hang on 1/2 hour till you pick up your repair" and "we close at 5pm sharp"
The difference is " no worries just drop it off & we will look at it " and "we are really buisy and won't be able to even book it in for another 2 weeks"
The local dealer will service his loyal bread & butter customers first because he valuse them & they value him.
Warrany jobs on external jobs go way way way down on the priority list, just slightly higher than repairs of machines they did not sell.
It is the difference between being charged like a friend and being charged by the book for every nut bolt washer & clip.
It is the difference between a shop that actually cares about you & your machine and an attendant who dosn't give a toss & will avoid doing anything to help you in any way should you have any problems.
t is the difference between some one who will happily fuel & oil up the mower then walk you through how to get the best out of your mower and some one who will angle for the extra 1% commission by making you take the home delivery option.
And finally the dealer will dispose of all of the packaging and know if anything is missing. The big box shop will assume you are an idot & lost it or a liar & are wrangling for another free of charge.

Well said. It seems we live in a society that is trained to step over a dollar to pick up a quarter. The economy is tough right now and the American dollar isn't worth what it used to be (me stating that as nicely as I can) If we focus only on the bottom dollar price at checkout, we only feed these problems. Buying from these giant corporations instead of supporting local business adds too it. Local guys have a tough time price matching with big box stores because we don't have the same buying power. We buy 1 mower for every 100 to Home Depot or Lowes ( rough guess, depends on the shop) Which means a slightly higher price and much lower profit margin. That's why you see Home Depot selling their leftovers at auction for less than pennies on the dollar. The guy down your street has to work twice as hard to overcome the price difference and earn your business.

Most of us are in the business because, even through the chaos, we love it. Let's be real, there aren't many "rich & famous" mower mechanics. We enjoy it. In order for us to become dealers we have to commit to buying enough product that could bankrupt us if not sold and manged properly. We have to follow all of the certification guidelines to keep our license current and learn about up and coming changes to the engines we service. As a dealer we have to provide warranty service even if we don't sell the equipment. Come by a mower here and try to take it to HD when it breaks. LOL. The big box stores can overcome all the education and warranty hurdles by simply buying a billion mowers.

My 2 cents is: If you are in the market for a higher end mower (like Honda, some Toro's, etc.etc.), I would definitely buy from a local dealer. It may cost a bit more up front in cash, but will save much more than that in the long run.

Customer: Buys the mower from me at a fair price. Expects nothing but honest work at a fair price. Intends to educate himself/herself on the proper care, maintenance, and use of their equipment. Believes in preventative maintenance. Brings their equipment back to me for service and repair work.

Consumer: Only concerned about price. Doesn't care about maintenance. Expects equipment to work without fail 100% of the time while giving no effort to take care of it. Badmouths the manufacturer and the seller when it falls apart. Calls in crying fit because the grass needs mowed right now! Doesn't matter that I only think about this mower when my grass is 10 inches tall. I need it today!!!! Price- As cheap as possible, and with a lifetime warranty please!!!

End of rant.

 

[mammoth]

Well I purchased my mower today. And you guys persuaded me to go with the dealer. Thanks for the help, and sorry if I angered anyone. That wasn't my intention.

 

[zmister11]

Well I purchased my mower today. And you guys persuaded me to go with the dealer. Thanks for the help, and sorry if I angered anyone. That wasn't my intention.<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachments/mower-equipment-buying-pricing/25682-why-buy-local-dealer-20150411_105054-jpg"/>

Nice mower. Have you tried it out yet?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Well I purchased my mower today. And you guys persuaded me to go with the dealer. Thanks for the help, and sorry if I angered anyone. That wasn't my intention.View attachment 25682

It is tough for the small guys out here.
I do not do whole goods, just repairs but my parts prices go like this
$ 50,000 /pa purchased 40% discount
$ 30,000 /pa purchased 25% discount
$ 15,000/ pa purchased 15% discount
$ 10,000/ pa purchased 5% discount

Under that & you pay full price so it becomes very hard not to just replace every thing.
The discounts on complete machines is almost the same if you add another "0" to the $ purchased.

And this is where we get the s*****.
The big box shops pay 1/2 ( or less ) the stock price the independant retailes do yet the sell for 10% to 20% less and shout it from the roof tops pretending to be doing you a "big "service
So if you think about it you are really being ripped off big time by the big box stores even if they sell you a mower for a few dollars less.

Add to that they only keep models that sell in big numbers fast so if you need an odd type, style or sized mower they won't keep it and of course they bludge on the corner dealer by not doing the expensive bit, running a workshop or allowing customers to test drive a mower.

Most big box stores grew out of honest emporiums that kept a wide range of products run by family companies & provided a serice to the community.
Down here a lot of them brought in products that were not available & had their own repair shops.

Then the corperates moved in and now most are run by the faceless billionaires and have become parracites on the country ripping off their own employees, their suppliers , their customers & their country.
It is the big box stores that bring in the container loads of Chineese garbage that at best 1/2 does the job & at worst kill people , but they do not care just so long as they can make a 200% to 1000% mark up and the directors can buy another block of apartments in Florida every year, ski in France & drink $ 5,000 bottles of champagne like coke.

 

[1striper1]

The difference is, "no worries mate I will hang on 1/2 hour till you pick up your repair" and "we close at 5pm sharp"
The difference is " no worries just drop it off & we will look at it " and "we are really buisy and won't be able to even book it in for another 2 weeks"
The local dealer will service his loyal bread & butter customers first because he valuse them & they value him.
Warrany jobs on external jobs go way way way down on the priority list, just slightly higher than repairs of machines they did not sell.
It is the difference between being charged like a friend and being charged by the book for every nut bolt washer & clip.
It is the difference between a shop that actually cares about you & your machine and an attendant who dosn't give a toss & will avoid doing anything to help you in any way should you have any problems.
t is the difference between some one who will happily fuel & oil up the mower then walk you through how to get the best out of your mower and some one who will angle for the extra 1% commission by making you take the home delivery option.
And finally the dealer will dispose of all of the packaging and know if anything is missing. The big box shop will assume you are an idot & lost it or a liar & are wrangling for another free of charge.

THIS is a valuable and worthy post Bert. Good solid info! May I plagiarize it in the future?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Gees I am flattered and going a funny shade of embarrassed red.
Anything posted on a public forum is by law open source it should be in the fine print that none of us ever read.
Thus you are welcome to use it where ever you like however it would be courtsious if where you do it gets a link or mention that it came from here which allows future reades to come to this site and get the full context of the comment. Don't care if I get any mention or not but the full thread should be accessible.

A valuable thing to do is to always go back & check the providence of anything that gets quoted.
It is amazing how many times quote has its meaning reversed by being used out of context.

 

[shurguywutt]

Great mower, I have the same one and it works great. I too work for a small company dealing with X-Ray equipment and service... We are constantly dealing with the "customer vs. consumer" dilemma plaguing our nation today. Everything is being commoditized and it is negatively effecting our economy.

Good job buying from your local dealer and supporting small business. Definitely worth $40 extra!