Most liked posts in thread: Vendor issues….CCC….What REALLY goes on? (kinda long-maybe boring)

He has basically been picking fights over there for a couple of weeks now. Honestly, he is not that much different than the rest of the riff raff over there these days.....

I'm totally over it.

 

LOL... and what is that??/ Share... share....!! I bet it is just vendor bashing..yes?? tell us!!

Thumper

 

Ironically wasn't it just him responding to a bunch of MA members bashing him relentlessly?

I still will never understand the vendor bashing thing. If you don't like a company, stay out of their threads. Seems pretty simple.

 

^ In general I agree with you. But when you go and post a thread like this one MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - Are home based NAM Vendors of less value to NAM members? you are asking for whatever happens.

 

I'm not saying he handled it well by any means.

Though, that thread did have a valuable statement at first. It seems like a discussion/reaction to the mud that people were slinging at him in other threads trying to discredit him. It went downhill incredibly fast and he didn't handle it well...but the initial sentiment was legit.

 

It would also be simple for a vendor to just answer a question without plugging his wares at every opportunity. I understand vendors are in business for one reason, but that particular one could not finish a sentence without plugging something. That's just how I saw it and my visits to the sewing site in the past year have been few and far between.

 

That's cool. I just personally think that even if you don't like how often someone advertises or how one goes about pushing their products you just ignore them rather than sling insults. Just a personal preference I guess. I think it's pretty clear that I don't personally advertise or self-promote much, but vendors have to right to advertise how they please within the guidelines I guess.

It's not like I actively attack Geico because I hate their caveman commercials:lol:rrr:

 

Eh, I do like the gecko.

 

keep in mind that some of us dislike him for other reasons. he wasn't even a vendor when he came after me over PM, defending his 'friend'. You know...the 'friend' who you sent your panels too for custom finishing who screwed you (if I recall that correctly...I could be wrong)? That guy.

 

Wow after reading all this i'm so happy to have a guy like Steve at Custom Mini Shop as my mechanic and parts supplier :yesnod:

 

I think he got banned because his flashing banner in his sig line was causing too many seizures, and IB got tired of paying the doctor bills...

Surpised to see him banned, but a couple of things were somewhat over the top. That thread IMHO was more of an attention getting ploy than anything else; he should have just added to the end of the "are home based vendors" question that it was rhetorical. He had to know no good was coming out of that, but that it would put him up front and center,kind of like the dialogue in Pirates of the Caribbean:

Norrington: You are without a doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.

Jack Sparrow: Ah, but you have heard of me.

Sometimes I think some vendors throw trash out there just to stay in the communities public consciousness.

Dustin did set up a very nice tune party, so props for that. On the other hand, he can be a bit over the top on pushing items on folks, sometimes going into some grey areas when it comes to promoting what a particular part may or may not do. But he's not the only one doing that, there are more than a few vendors over there just as guilty.

Anyway, I'm at the point were I try to find good, solid vendors who stay above the fray and out of the pissing contests, and there are few of those out there thankfully...

 

There had to more to it than his banner, they could just turn it off.

He started many threads with the intention of drawing attention to himself, then when he did not like what he was hearing, he either reported the posts, or his stand-by reaction,


Mark

 

Nah, I was just kidding about the banner. Although I did hear it was responsible for an earthquake in south america...

 

His banner gave me intestinal distress. He may be gone from the sewing site, but his banner lingers on there. :yikes: BURP!

 

was he banned? really? :lol: How do you know? It doesn't show on his profile (at least when I checked last night).

 

He posted a thread in Vendor Announcements saying so. Here: MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - AutoXCooper.com says GOOD BYE NAM

 

what's funny is that he went on a bender at least twice to get me banned. :lol: he ended up getting strikes for that....he flipped his ****

 

Ye, it's called karma.

 

Back to the original topic...

From the MINI enthusiast / consumer point of view - I choose different sources, with different levels of value-add and corresponding markup, depending on how much value-add I need. I, like most, have a generally limited amount to spend on all things MINI. So my total spend is more or less fixed.

Some of this spend is gonna be consumed by consumables - tires, brake pads & rotors & fluid, detailing supplies, methanol... you get the picture. I buy a lot of this stuff. I source these products from the lowest cost source I can find with reliable delivery and a legitimate channel to the manufacturer.

I do a lot of my own work - anything I can confidently do myself, I do.

That leaves MORE money left over for mods, tire installation, alignments, more complex service or things I haven't done before. And I then seek the best, most informed, highest-value-add source for those things. I often pay my MINI mechanic (Dan Zipkin - Grassroots) for an extra hour or two because I know he puts more into it sometimes than he charges for. I don't haggle with my tire / alignment guy (Mark Cooper - Performance Chassis) over his rates, even though I know folks across town will do it cheaper. When I need advice on parts, I call someone like Chad or Way, get their advice, and give them the business.

This seems to get me a good result and good overall value - and also supports those guys who add value both to the local MINI and track club scene, and to the national MINI community.

And I've stopped trying to get people banned on NAM. Not as much fun as it used to be.

 

This happens in all of the Car or Performance parts industry. Its not just the mini parts.
Since Summit and Jegs opened there doors and started selling mail order parts how many shops have closed in your area that can no longer compete with there prices?? Here in Detroit for example Ramcharges a very large well known parts company was around for 30 years. They closed there doors and went under 2 years ago. Why ?? They could not compete on prices! I worked there for a year and was surprised to see them ordering a lot of stuff from Buckeye sales (AKA Jegs!) when I asked about it they said they could buy the stuff cheaper from them than threw the vendor directly! I made some phone calls and found out the vendor wanted $20 more for an intake then Bucky Jegs did! Now why would you do that?? They have to be making less $ On every item sold to Jegs right? SO why not pass that on to the small guy?? And allow them to compete with the bigger parts companys?? The whole thing made little to no sense to me at all. ut: The vendors didnt seem to care at all. It mostly has to do with the volume of items your purchasing and selling in one order. The more you order the lower the price on each item or your total discount. Now jegs and summit have the space and funding to purchase HUGE amounts of items at the same time and stock pile them till they sell. The small guy can not afford this nor has the room in his shop to stock the parts. SO they get screwed! Its all over the place in the auto resale business. The only shops around our area that are left (Mini and other wise) are and have always sold at a higher price and have also matched prices but charged out the butt to install the items. Hence making enough to cover the over head and make a few $$. Sad to say but the world is very internet sales oriented now and if they can find something for less after being in your shop they will purchase it then return with the part to have you install it :rolleyes5: I have seen this 100 times or more in my buddies shop. Its a joke but he always bites his tongue and says ok this is what it will cost to install drop your car off and well get it done for you. He always marks the install up but he did lose the profit of the item so I dont disagree with it.

I really think vendors need to look at the pricing and discount structures a bit more and make some changes. Will it happen ?? Not likely in this life time :nonod: