What do you want out of vendors?

[smurf]

A unhappy customer is ten times more likely to complain than a happy customer to praise you!

[longhairedboy]

This is why i welcome complaints. It’s how i generate happy customers. lol

[guyguy]

@evoheyax

I think so wheres around 20% markup is fine.

I think 20% profit makes sense and is pretty healthy (to benchmark, Apple’s gross profit margin is ~40%) however, 20% markup isn’t really viable since it’s not nearly enough for outlays involved in taking a product to market.

Retail has a lot of outlays that are not directly related to the product cost. Take a Nike shoe for instance; the actual cost to manufacture a 100$ shoe is probably around 10-20$ (so…way more than 20% markup). They charge that much to pay for distribution, marketing (big athlete contracts are expensive), R&D, profit, shelf space, capital costs, expansion, warranties, and so on. Margins are even more critical for small businesses because they’re much more reliant on their cash flow and don’t have access to credit/capital that larger corporations do.

@longhairedboy

There’s a lot of politics below the surface…We have a chance here to help each other grow. We should be doing exactly that.

To add to LHB’s point, my take on DIYrs and the underlying politics is that their biggest threat is not each other, instead it’s the evolves and boostedboards of the world. These larger companies have no problem gleaning what they want from the community while contributing nothing - they’re the White Walkers.

[longhairedboy]

once upon a time i based my prices on mostly just cost of parts. You’re right, It doesn’t work. lol

[onloop]

@Karmannghiagirl

you jump in on the defensive and start insulting us and talking to us like we are idiots.

So you are basically saying you don’t want me to comment on topics in my own forum…

How is this an open community?

And again how is it possible that you feel like I am insulting you? Am I not allowed to write things?

Answer this question @Karmannghiagirl Have you actually purchased any products from any of the vendors? Have you had a bad experience?

[ra.rend]

I want products

[Karmannghiagirl]

Again, you take my words that say one thing, and then turn them around and say that they mean something else.

@onloop

So you are basically saying you don’t want me to comment on topics in my own forum…

I never said you shouldn’t post, I was saying don’t talk to us like we are idiots (this post of yours is a perfect example of that actually).

@onloop

How is this an open community?

How IS this an open community when posts are renamed and then locked by the person that the post is talking about?

@onloop

And again how is it possible that you feel like I am insulting you? Am I not allowed to write things?

I feel insulted when you talk to me like i am an idiot. AND NO ONE IS TELLING YOU NOT TO WRITE THINGS!! Stop playing the victim here. Just don’t be a dick and talk to us like the adults we are, not the idiot children you apparently think we are.

@onloop

Answer this question @Karmannghiagirl Have you actually purchased any products from any of the vendors? Have you had a bad experience?

I have bought from @chaka, @torqueboards, @barajabali, and @Michaelinvegas. Even though the last two are not running a business and were just selling some used parts, they were all professional and very easy to buy from. I got accurate information from all of them, and shipping times were exactly as advertised.

I have intentionally not bought from you because of how you act on the forum, and stories I have read of other people’s experiences with enertion.

[racidon]

@onloop

this will be an interesting thread…

I think I can tell you what people want, its simple…

lower prices, faster delivery, free delivery, longer warranties, no import duties, lower prices, better service, never out of stock of anything, products that never fail, premium service, lower prices, immediate answers to all questions, free stuff, unlimited product support & lower prices.

Faster Delivery? Not for me, reliable delivery, even if it cost me more. Sadly I won’t be purchasing your new remote (which I think would be great) for this reason. Longer Warranties? Not for me again, reliable products. No one wants to have to deal with this process. I’d happily pay extra (ask Chakka now as that’s where I’m now purchasing VESCs from). Better Service? Yes I agree. But not in the way you might think. I think you could do with a better e-Commerce system. They aren’t that hard to develop and there are plenty of premade systems. The best solution is one that integrates into your stocktaking system / account systems that keep track of your current stock, current orders and current back orders. This means you can keep customers up to date with expected shipping times with something better than any time AFTER X day. Again with the right knowledge this isn’t hard to do. Immediate Answers? Well I get why you put that there as an expectation, but again, a better CMS will save you a lot of questions coming in. There’s no reason why you coldn’t have your support guys update a FAQ as they get questions coming in. When people fill out the contact form it searches the FAQ for possible answers and even the forum itself. Suggest they look at these possible answers before attempting to email you.

[Blacksheep]