And don't forget the little extras like the TRF Summer Party, the TRF free
tech line, Moss Motors Britfest and Fallfest, and support of the British
Motor Heritage. Producing those impossible to find no-longer-in-stock parts
also costs $$$.
As for me, I'll keep supporting the Big 3 as long as they keep supporting
our hobby. Yes, I can probably find some of the parts elsewhere for less
money. I choose to keep the suppliers healthy.
Peter
'68 TR250
on 6/11/04 9:01 AM, Robert M. Lang at lang@isis.mit.edu wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Jun 2004, Jim Davis wrote:
>
> [stuff deleted]
>
>> I'm beginning to realize the Big 3's markup is at least 100% on many
>> parts.
>
> It's not just "the big three". You have just learned your first lesson in
> running a business 101. Congrats, you get a solid A. Now for a small point
> about that... put a random number of things in your garage that cost you
> $6.50 each and then provide a climate for them so the parts don't rust and
> them leave them there for 20 years. Add in a staff of folks who man
> the phones in good times and bad for that 20 years. Once you do the math,
> you realize that the markup is actually justified.
>
> There's good reason why _most_ businesses fail within a year or two: they
> get the balance between profitability and costs wrong.
>
> The number I hear tossed around (regarding car parts vendors) is something
> like 50 plus 30 plus 10. Pretty darn close to 100% markup. If you don't
> follow that model, then you are out of business real soon unless you have
> a lot of volume AND you got you profit margin right.
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