Kubota Prices 25-40 HP

[DK35vince]

100 to 300 thousand an acre????? Give me a break....

Actually thats not hard to believe.
I have seen prime commercial acrage go for that much around our area.

 

[Spencer C]

Sorry for the long post, but some of the "all dealers are greedy if the price isn't the lowest in the country" discussions are somewhat misguided relative to the realities of doing business in different regions. You simply can't expect to have an outstanding dealer with a great facility, huge parts inventory and first class service shop that's convenient to a high cost metropolitan area, but have the bargain basement cost structure of a small town rural dealer. The math doesn't work

And You too will lose customers to Barlows.Barlows sells more cause they charge less, And they charge less cause they sell more. Get on the truck or tractor or get run over by it..
100 to 300 thousand an acre????? Give me a break....

I'm not sure where the hostility is coming from. Did I say something offensive? I wasn't trying to. I'm just trying to give some insight into the differences between rural and metropolitan dealers. I've got a pretty good handle on it, since I'm in both everyday. With over 600 Kubota sales in 2011, we're not getting run over by anything.

A plot of land across the highway from our local Deere dealer recently closed for over 400k/acre. In fact, the old Deere dealership building is currently being leased for 25k/month. Yikes!

 

[tractchores]

Actually thats not hard to believe.
I have seen prime commercial acrage go for that much around our area.

Plenty of places with land that expensive, i own a couple lots where .25 acres goes for 200 - 300k. Land value and the local labor market are definately big factors in the cost side of the equation.

 

[JJZ 109]

And You too will lose customers to Barlows.Barlows sells more cause they charge less, And they charge less cause they sell more. Get on the truck or tractor or get run over by it..
100 to 300 thousand an acre????? Give me a break....

Really? This is the response the guy gets for trying to provide a little honest insight?
Do you now or have you ever owned a business? Spencer's variables make sense to me. I don't get the hostility from a Barlow's cheerleader any more than Spencer does. Totally uncalled for.

 

[murphy1244]

Really? This is the response the guy gets for trying to provide a little honest insight?
Do you now or have you ever owned a business? Spencer's variables make sense to me. I don't get the hostility from a Barlow's cheerleader any more than Spencer does. Totally uncalled for.

Sorry, That truck thing was Humor. You must not be Irish. The pricing of tractors is ridiculus. The two by me were only 17 miles apart. And yes I do own my own business have for 22 years..If you look at my Aftar, I did not even buy a kuboater.

 

[cannonfodder999]

If needed, I would transport it to a local dealer for repair. I didn't purchase my Yukon locally either, due to finding a better price at a dealership over a hundred miles away. But if it needs repair, I am sure the local GMC dealer will provide me with great service.

I guess that's why things are going so good for the USA. All that community building support from guys like you.

 

[crazyal]

The gross profit a dealer makes on these deals often has little to do with if the dealer is greedy or not. I own two Kubota dealerships in vastly different markets, and benchmark my expenses against other dealers once a year in our "20 group." Most dealers net VERY LOW single digit margins (5% net is considered exceptional), despite having different markups.

Just as an example with my business, I've got one store in a very small town of 9,500 people and the other store is in a large metro area. Cost of living is very low in our small town dealership and the employees make 10-15% less than the other store, thus lowering the overhead. Good commercial real estate near one store is $20k/acre, and 70 miles away at the larger store it's 100k-300k/acre. Needing a minimum of 12,000 sq/ft for an equipment dealership, you're looking at 1.5-2 million alone for the building/land, vs. 500k or so for the same setup in the rural town.

At the end of the year, I make approximately the same net profit (on a percentage basis) from each store, which is in the LOW single digits. However, the markup on new tractors is different at both stores to compensate for the different overhead structures, even though my ending net profit percentage is the same. You simply cannot charge the same markup in a high cost of living/ high salary market as you can in a cheaper area. A dealer in a major metropolitan area will have to cover MUCH higher business expenses with his margin than a dealership in a small rural town. I know this because I own both.

To make things more complicated, some states place much higher tax burdens on the small business person than other states. Two dealers in different states, making identical incomes, may have to charge different prices simply due to those tax reasons alone. A dealer in MA may be required to provide healthcare for all employees, but the small town dealer in a neighboring state does not.

Those regional differences are beyond control of the business owner, who cannot control tax regulations, healthcare requirements, property taxes, insurance regulations etc. All of those "extras," tacked on to the small business owner by the local/state/federal government, are paid by margin on new equipment, even though the dealers take home pay may be the same or less than a cheaper dealer in a neighboring state that doesn't impose such burdens on small businesses.

Sorry for the long post, but some of the "all dealers are greedy if the price isn't the lowest in the country" discussions are somewhat misguided relative to the realities of doing business in different regions. You simply can't expect to have an outstanding dealer with a great facility, huge parts inventory and first class service shop that's convenient to a high cost metropolitan area, but have the bargain basement cost structure of a small town rural dealer. The math doesn't work.

I have no doubt that you're being honest and that may be the way it works for you I haven't found that prices reflect location or taxes. Of the three Kubota dealers near me the cheapest one was the one who's location has the highest costs (both taxes and property value). Now I haven't gone to every dealer in New England but I haven't found any that sell at the discounts that people have reported getting in southern states.

I'm not trying to say my views are fair, maybe what gets reported is an exception more than the general rule. Maybe it just costs a lot less to operate a dealership down south, land, heating costs, taxes, payroll, etc. I don't know. But if that was the case then should new cars be cheaper down south too?

Again, I'm not trying to call you out or be disrespectful. I'm not even sure if you have the answers, after all how would you know what business model another owner would use. I'm just the type of person who likes answers and if I find them reasonable then I no problem (in this case paying more). It's just nice to hear things from a dealer's perspective.

 

[Elcid76]

I bought my L3240 HST from my local dealer (within 5 miles). One of the primary reasons was that I wanted the tractor and I wanted to have a local contact to support me when necessary. The investment was the beginning of a support relationship, and I have been very satisfied with all of my dealings with them (except that Femco cover -reference other post...). But, even in the Femco fiasco, I know that we will reach an agreement about the resolution. We used to have a hardware store in town that you could find anything at, or talk to someone that could offer advice. Now we have a "big-box" store. I make furniture, I buy my plywood from the local lumber yard or my local hardwood supply (within 10 miles). I can get stuff cheaper from those chain lumber yards, but have you ever looked at the quality of the wood. You get what you pay for. Preservation of small business owners, and the vitality of small communities is being undermined by cheaper prices.

 

[nspec]

You guys should really look at the dates of the posts. You're fighting over a post from 2009!

 

[cannonfodder999]

You guys should really look at the dates of the posts. You're fighting over a post from 2009!

Yeah But it's so much fun!!!