Dealer What do you think is a fair profit for dealers.

[DK35vince]

Well good luck Keith.
I can tell by your posts throughout TBN that you have been doing your homework on many differant brands/makes/models/features. So you should do well.

 

[rtimgray]

You're asking the wrong question to the wrong people - I've been reading posts pretty regularly on this site, and from what I've deduced, almost everyone here gets their tractors at the greatest possible deal, almost to the point of putting dealers out of business. It seems as though everybody, myself included, got their tractor cheaper than any other make, model or machine, got tons of free stuff from the dealer (practically having multiple dealers fistfight over the prospect of getting business), along with free delivery and pickup for free repairs for the lifetime of the machine. Additionally, lots of folks get their JD/NH/Kub tractors, fully optioned with everything available, for less than the price of a used, grey market chinese donkey, use them like a demon for two years and sell them for far more than they initially invested, probably because they cut the dealer so bad to start and are such an astute reseller on the other end.

In all seriousness, I'm not sure there is a good answer to the question of what a fair profit is. I would guess 10 to 15 percent on a $15,000 tractor wouldn't be to bad. Good luck.

 

[rpeter]

Since I am one of those ignorant newbies I would like to throw in my 2 cents. If I come in and I am not comparing Apples to Apples it is your job as the dealer to “educate” me. I am looking to buy my first tractor this spring. Every dealer I walk into is going to have to explain to me why I should buy from him. If you earn the sale then I will pay your price. Seems to me that your major concern should be educating me about your Kioti tractors. If you have the best equipment and have done a good job of educating me about it then you will not have a problem with price.

 

[glsweet]

You're asking the wrong question to the wrong people - I've been reading posts pretty regularly on this site, and from what I've deduced, almost everyone here gets their tractors at the greatest possible deal, almost to the point of putting dealers out of business. It seems as though everybody, myself included, got their tractor cheaper than any other make, model or machine, got tons of free stuff from the dealer (practically having multiple dealers fistfight over the prospect of getting business), along with free delivery and pickup for free repairs for the lifetime of the machine.

You hit the nail on the head! Thanks!!!

 

[getut]

Wow... I should hit the Kioti threads more often. I just posted on a similar issue in the New Holland forum.

I think volume with low price is the way to go and the way the world is headed. Paying big bucks for name brands is a holdover from days gone by. Being brand loyal doesn't do ANYONE any good and only hurts things in the long run. This will be a harsh statement, but I feel that people who pay more for name brand when quality is equal, do so for one reason... Vanity. To be able to say, look at what I have.

I am quite possible the worlds least loyal buyer in any product category. I do my homework, for weeks or even months ahead of a purchase. I come to some sort of a homebrew calculation for a quality/price ratio and I buy based on that. Brand usually doesn't enter the equation for me. Did I get a good deal this time around for a given product. Usually I can say yes. Do I buy the same brand next time around? Only if the reviews are showing extremely high quality and a great price. For my homebrew calculation, more often than not, a name brand counts AGAINST an item due to the premium in price.

Now to internet pricing. Any tactic to artificially inflate or hold up prices needs to be viciously struck down. Any company selling something in the US that does this deserves to have business go to China. Compete with your product quality and price. Not with your name brand recognition. More people are starting to realize this and this realization takes them somewhere other than a fat cat American company. Power-trac is an example of a great American company. Good prices, gritty competition, great product. It just didn't fit my needs or I would have gotten one (I have access to borrow quite a bit of standard 3ph implements).

This is a long post and I'm sorry. I like to see American companies do well because the ARE well. I DON'T like seeing American companies do well because they are being protected, either by tariffs, or by protecting themselves through fat cat practices, or by sitting on a name that has traditionally done well but for no other reason than brand recognition is still ruling the roost.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Any company selling something in the US that does this deserves to have business go to China. Compete with your product quality and price. Not with your name brand recognition. )</font>
getut, I agree with so much of what you wrote here. There are many brands of all kinds out there running high on a reuputation that is no longer deserved. An expample here in Jacksonville, to me, is the Mayo Clinic. Maybe in Rochester they are the wonderful, talented, gifted healers we've all heard about, but here at their clinic they seem to be running nothing more than a geriatric money mill. I won't go into detail, but they don't deserve the great rep they got from the original Rochester, MN operation, yet you'll still hear so many people say, "Oh, the Mayo Clinic, it's the best."
Car companies, tractor companies, you name it, there are still those who'll fork out tons of extra bucks to pay for a name that may no longer deliver what they did 30 or 40 and more years ago.
A wise buyer can find great quality at great prices simply by doing the leg work. As you say, the others just want the "prestige" name, and maybe they can afford it. But it doesn't mean they got the best product. Thank you for your thoughful post. John

 

[getut]

Yes, I've been tossing this exact same issue around with the guys in the NH forum. Those of you who read pretty much all the posts have probably seen it already.

Let me say, that I post stuff like this not make anyone mad, but because I like the heated, heady discussion on this type of stuff. Obviously I feel very strongly on very many marketing related issues, that involve many companies in many different areas, from tractors to the big media corporations, computers and electronics. I could debate that type of stuff all day and not get bored /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I'm almost at the activist level when it comes to consumer protection and fair use rights, so I tend to get worked up about anything that skirts those issues. Even tractor companies using tactics to keep prices inflated in certain areas of the company.

I enjoy discussing those types of things... and yes, when it comes to my "specialty" area of interest (computers, electronics, and fair use), I enjoy informing people of what is going on out there. It is interesting and sometimes maddening. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

P.S. I've been kicked out of Circuit Cities and Best Buys by interrupting a salesman to inform the buyers of the downsides of HDTV that are not told to them by the salesmen or to debunk something they said regarding a computer they were trying to sell. heheheh I didn't go there for that purpose, but for some reason couldn't control myself when I was there to drool on stuff that I wanted for myself.

 

[virgil]

The only thing I got to say is;
Its tough out there, real competitive.

 

[LBrown59]

That said, the biggest problem, as has been pointed out already here, is that the typical consumer does not compare apples to apples.
bluechip
==============
They can't do it with homes so it don't surprise me they can't do it with tractors either.

 

[Alan L.]

I think whatever the lowest deal the dealer is willing to make will give him a "fair" profit. If it did not, they either wouldn't make that deal, or would soon be out of business. Nobody is holding a gun to a dealer's head to accept an offer, and nobody is holding a gun to a potential buyer's head to buy from that dealer.