Every 1-2 months we receive a limited supply (as in half to 1/3rd of our normal order). We take said order and do the following with it:
1. Sell a percentage of them at DISCOUNTED prices in our STOREFRONT.
2. Sell a percentage of them to Dealers (wholesale).
3. Sell a percentage of them to BACKORDERED Customers.
4. Sell a percentage of them on online auctions.
This way EVERYONE gets a chance to get something.
The number one question people ask me is; "why don't I sell them on my website." The reason is simple. If we turned them on our website, my local customers, dealer and backordered customers would lose out. On top of this,
our shopping cart does NOT have active inventory control! This means that I could go to lunch and be oversold on a product by 500 (when I only have 10 in stock). Then I would have to tell 490 people that they are not going to get their order. This never goes well.
For the record, the people in my store buying gear think I am awesome. The dealers that buy from me think I am awesome. The people on my back order list think I am awesome. The people that find a product that they are desperately searching on an auction site think I am awesome.
People that are not on our back order list, not local to us and refuse to bid on items think we suck. They act childish, send us hate mail and try to screw our business. Funny how the majority of the people are thrilled with us, but the few (that had poor planning and waited to long to buy) complain.
Lastly, all auctions are listed at the manufacturers set price. What people bid them up to is 100% on them. There is nothing unethical about this in anyway and is what a "free market/supply and demand" is all about (the market will dictate what something is worth). We are fans of the capitalistic system (FYI).
Most of the people that complain the loudest don't even have a back order with us! Funny how that works.
C4
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