If you go outside the dealerships, there is a precipitous drop in what things cost. I thought this was odd at first. I've even had a salesperson tell me what I wanted to buy was insanely priced. I don't understand what the dealerships are doing. They price things in insane ways for anything tractor related, like it is different than anything else. Its really the same materials, like a car. But for some reason they want to charge 3 or 4 times as much as one could find elsewhere. What is it in these dealerships, that think they can survive in a world that is now internet based and I can find things all over the US, at the same quality, for far less than what my local dealership is providing?
What is the nature of that dealership? Do they just think we are all, wealthy, small plot, idiots with too much money? I always go to the dealership first. And I am always disappointed by the numbers they give me. Then I find locals, not associated with the dealers, that will do the same work for less. Money back in to the local economy.
I think that the nature of dealerships is that they appeal to, and typically serve in majority, a specific demographic of customers: the people you're calling "wealthy small-plot idiots with too much money." I'm not a farmer and I don't use my tractor for farming; I'm a small business owner and I use my tractor as an offroad forklift (among other things). But I don't think that my position is unique and I'm sure that most farmers could relate to the same or similar position I'm about to explain.
I could shop around for better prices on parts, and for expensive parts I usually do, but for bolts, belts, fluids, etc., anything under a few hundred bucks, I utilize the dealership for most of that, because shopping isn't free. My billable hourly rate is $125, and that money pays for everything business-related: keeping the lights on, keeping the truck running, buying consumables for the business, paying my helpers, and among countless other things, buying parts for the tractor. That might sound like a lot of money to some people but I might work 60-80 hours in a week, and less than half of those hours are billable. Of those billable hours, the majority goes right back into the business to pay my helpers, etc. When you figure how many hours I work and how much money I actually get to take home, before taxes I make <$30/hr. I do everything I can to keep my billable:non-billable hours ratio as high as possible, because the higher that ratio is, the more I actually take home per hour.
Spending time driving around town looking for a better deal on a $350 hydraulic cylinder is not an efficient use of my time. Even browsing the internet for one is a fools errand for me. I would need to measure or consult the tech manual for specs; bore size, stroke, rod-end type, pin diameter, system pressure, etc. and then check several websites, sift through their products, and find one that's a match. Let's say I do a really good and fast job of that, and I find a suitable replacement in just under an hour. 55 minutes of searching cost me $115 and I find that cylinder for $230 with free shipping. I only save $5. Then I have to wait for it to be shipped, tractor sitting broken for days, causing me to have to pay my guys to move heavy stuff like ancient Egyptians, which takes extra time and money, and in the end I lose. It makes much more sense for me to pay a guy $8/hr to drive to the dealership with a broken cylinder and come back with a new one that I know will work, and have it fixed the same day. Believe it or not, I actually save money that way.
Same goes for service and dealer repairs sometimes. If the job exceeds my helper's skills to complete, and the dealer's hourly rate is less than mine, why would I waste my time? In some cases I may actually lose a bit of money taking my tractor to the dealer for service, but if to have done the work in-house would have caused me late delivery on a customer's project, well that's lost money down the road in decreased business from that customer or losing that customer entirely.
Sometimes it's not even about money. I'm incredibly busy and I have a family which requires my time as well. If fixing the tractor is going to take a whole sunday off-the-clock, I would not be overly reluctant to drop it off at the dealer on a friday and not think about it again until monday, even knowing that it's not monetarily justifiable. I'm essentially paying to spend time with my family. That's just how it works sometimes.
If you're a retiree or a hobbyist or for any other number of reasons your time isn't worth money, then by all means spend it looking for better deals. More power to you, and I know you'll succeed, because dealers
never have the best price on
anything. But for everyone else, the dealership represents a quick, sure-fire solution for any problem, at a premium, which in the long run is probably cheaper.
P.S. This post cost me about $60 to type. You're welcome.
Engaging conversations online is one of my vices and it's hard to reconcile the time I waste on the internet, so I don't try. If I didn't get on here and stimulate my mind, I would lose it. So it's time well spent IMO. Plus it's sunday, so hush.
