Purchase experience with Barlow Equipment

[varmint]

Some time ago, I purchased a used L3130 from Messicks, and they delivered it to me here in Maryland without any hassles or comments. I had stopped by their Penn. dealership to look at it and made a deposit. I would imagine new equipment would sell much the same if you actually showed up at their dealership, negotiated and made a deposit. I may be wrong, but it might be worth checking out. Most of us don't mind paying a fair price for good equipment, but over-paying leaves a long-lasting bad taste in the mouth.

 

[PILOON]

I was in an industry that also had restrictions on how and where you could sell.
Also we had to install (like no DIY) for guarantees to be valid.
I did sell lots of 'used demos' and also prewired the electronics so as to be foolproof.

A supplier insisted on factory test equipment and training for some products but when a competitor came with a big order they waived the training and test gear, well the s--t hit the fan! that cost them dearly!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Steve Barlow told me he couldn't/wouldn't sell in/to Canadians due to Kubota restrictions which I guess are allowed/enforced by Canadian Gvmnt. I guess Canadian Gvmnt allows this.
In the US there is a different attitude of/toward restraint of trade and forms of monopoly and hints of price fixing. To me, restricting a franchised dealer of any product from selling the product to anyone walking in the door or calling is really pushing the line of illegal. I understand buying a franchise restricting the number of business locations/brick and mortor stores in a certain area but I do not understand restricting business from customers that contact a business about buying a product. Services in much of the US is restricted by liscensing laws (Plumbers/electricians/HVAC) which hides under the guise of protecting the public from unqualified vendors which raises the prices of housing in those areas. Maybe good, maybe bad.
I value my right to purchase a product from whomever I want and wherever I want and would fight for that right. I would even obtain a local address, if required, to purchase a product from a (local) dealer if necessary while writing constant letters of protest to the offending company trying to restrain my purchasing power and would be very verbal about it on all media and maybe even change companies. I've bought over 20 new Kubotas from Barlows in the past 13 years and have lots and lots of hats to prove it, one given me by the engineers from Japan that interviewed/querswtioned me a few years ago at Barlows. They told me the hat was only available in Japan. :cool2:
I like Kubotas and I like Steve Barlow after getting to know him over the past 13 years. I trust Steve Barlow and that says a lot.:thumbsup:

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Things change so what one did yesterday they may not do today or the other way around. This looks like a question that should be directed to Messicks on their on line or on the phone. If they do, you'd surely want to know about delivery, yes/no/cost.

We can sell anywhere our trucks will deliver a machine. What we can't do it post pricing publicly.

 

[crazyal]

Lots of brands, not just tractors, limit what prices can be listed. Some brands even limit what price an item can be sold for. I think Honda power equipment is that way. No matter who I contacted the price for my Honda string trimmer was exactly the same.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I sometimes see "package" (tractor, different brand attachments, trailer) deals/pricing. I guess this skirts the not posting price of the tractor issue. I've also seen the fixed pricing items have extras added by some sellers but the item price is the same as all sellers advertise. Creative marketing while following the letter of the franchise agreement. Course there are also the BSers that say they can't sell an item below MSRP when many (most) other dealers/sellers are doing so. Kubota dealers who all pay the same price for the new tractor can sell for any price they want but it affects their profit margin. I say do what works for them and keeps their doors open. To high or to low can close their doors which is often times determined by the living costs/wages in their area as well as competition.

 

[sixdogs]

...

I've bought over 20 new Kubotas from Barlows in the past 13 years and have lots and lots of hats to prove it, one given me by the engineers from Japan that interviewed/querswtioned me a few years ago at Barlows. They told me the hat was only available in Japan. :cool2:

...

Any idea how I get one of those Japanese hats?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Any idea how I get one of those Japanese hats?

I guess if you sent or brought me enough money you could have one.:laughing::laughing::laughing::drink: Other than that I wouldn't know.:confused3:

 

[sixdogs]

I guess if you sent or brought me enough money you could have one.:laughing::laughing::laughing::drink: Other than that I wouldn't know.:confused3:

I used to have a pure white hat from an international sales conference someone gave me but I re-gifted it to an aspiring dealer. Hat didn't help and he failed anyway. It takes a special person to be a Kubota dealer.

It would be nice if Barlow would post the price of it's used tractors on it's website. It just doesn't work to call, and the hassle that phone tag entails, just to find out the price. Sometimes it takes days to connect. No pics onsite either. Maybe they have to do it this way but I can't see why so I just stopped looking.

Well, if you do see that hat, or a similar or unique one, let me know.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I used to have a pure white hat from an international sales conference someone gave me but I re-gifted it to an aspiring dealer. Hat didn't help and he failed anyway. It takes a special person to be a Kubota dealer.

It would be nice if Barlow would post the price of it's used tractors on it's website. It just doesn't work to call, and the hassle that phone tag entails, just to find out the price. Sometimes it takes days to connect. No pics onsite either. Maybe they have to do it this way but I can't see why so I just stopped looking.

Well, if you do see that hat, or a similar or unique one, let me know.

OK on the hat.
I think I used to see prices on used equipment but haven't looked in a long time. First, all used equipment is owned by Steve Barlow and not Kubota who owns all the new ones so he can post prices if he wants on the used. I suspect he doesn't post on used in order to be able to talk to real interested buyers that have enough patience to stick to making a deal. Also he can adjust the price determined on where the machine is going while understanding his current list of scheduled delivery locations while not discussing delivery cost but adding/loweriing it (price) if several pieces are going near/on the way to a specific location. I was in Real Estate for many years and we did ads to get people to call and satisfy the owner that we were working on selling their property, not necessarily to sell that one specific individual piece of property. When we could talk with people we were able to determine their real needs/interests and knew what we had that we could sell to realize the most profit for our individual (agent listing/selling commissions and in house listings) pockets. He, Steve owns them all so sure he has some logical reason to not list prices. I hate that when people don't give a price on real estate or on line sell pages but I'll call if I "Really" want the item. I list prices if I have something for sale on line because I don't want the tire kickers to call me but I'm not doing it for a living and I don't usually have 28 similiar items for sale.