Thread: Sales slow for machinery dealers…or self sabotage??

If he has regular customers I am sure that after there 1st visit after 2.30 that they would of either ring to find out the opening hours or would of at least driven there again.

If he really wanted to get better than new price for his items he may consider Grays.

How much do you actually spend there, seems strange you wont drive there on speck but if he gives you a price you will then drive to have a look, not sure what the difference is , and then decide if you want it or not.

I have no business but someone like the one I have mentioned would make me say something you cant say here.

How much do you actually spend there, seems strange you wont drive there on speck but if he gives you a price you will then drive to have a look, not sure what the difference is , and then decide if you want it or not.

Well I wouldn't drive over an hour to find out I can't afford the machine or he doesn't have the other items I asked for. If he gives a price I can afford then it is worth making the trip having a look.

We are talking used machines which you can't necessarily just google for specs and comparable prices. I might think it's worth $5 he might think he can get $5,000,000. If that's the case why waste time & petrol??


I don't spend much money there, I have only been there once before and bought a box of hacksaw blades. I'm only looking for home use, so don't need more than a few machines and one of each. Not a factory full of multiples. I expect most of the secondhand dealers don't fit out large orders anyway.

It's endemic. I was recently in the market for a Festool saw. Festool have fixed pricing- $999 no haggling. So I figured I might as well spend my money locally and went to my local Total Tools dealer. I had heard rumours Festool were offering a bonus Systainer with purchases after 1 Aug. Before purchasing I wanted confirmation of this. It was a Saturday. The salesman said he would ring the supplier on Monday and ring me back. He never did. So I bought the saw from one of the online retailers. I don't know what the profit on that saw is, but it had to be worth the price of a couple of phone calls.

It's pretty well the same for all Oz businesses now, I recently sent off for some info on a caravan I was interested in, The business shot back only some of the info I was after but on a different model!

I was on my way to buy an air nailer from an established retailer and drove past a Sydney Tools that had opened since I was last in the street (in Canberra), so I stopped there. I've never used nail gun before but had done the online research and knew the model etc. The guy who served me knew even less than me but was was polite enough. I grabbed the gun and then asked him which nails would fit. He was clueless so I looked on the shelf a saw what appeared to be the correct nails. At the checkout, I asked whether they were the right nails, not one of the three or so guys standing around said boo and my guy was expressionless. I took the nails home and sure enough they were the wrong ones. Another trip and it was sorted out. I'd also noticed that the air fitting was some weird type and luckily I'd had a spare correct one at home. I mentioned this a one of the dudes said 'Yeah those Hitachi fittings fit nothing' ... would have been good to know that when I bought the gun. I will not be going there again. Absolute BS sales service. I was going to buy it online for the same price delivered, maybe I should have and saved the aggravation and time.

Originally Posted by jack620

I don't know what the profit on that saw is, but it had to be worth the price of a couple of phone calls.

White goods are land in Australia fully paid with taxes/duty etc for circa 30-35% of the RRP.

Brown goods (small appliances) are typically landed 20-40% of the RRP.

I am not sure what the markup is on electrical tools, but it is significant.

It is just progress in action..

Fifteen years ago who would have thought it would be so easy to buy direct from China?

Originally Posted by cava

White goods are land in Australia fully paid with taxes/duty etc for circa 30-35% of the RRP.

Brown goods (small appliances) are typically landed 20-40% of the RRP.

I am not sure what the markup is on electrical tools, but it is significant.

Not according to our local Mitre 10 store, I'm told there's not much in it at all.
Kryn

I do the approvals for a whole range of products into Australia for many companies, and they have all told me the same pricing.

My story: 8 months ago I was looking for a small Cylindrical Grinder. I found two that suited my needs. One was $8,800, and the other was $6,000. I watched a similar model grinder (albeit in a very dirty state) sell for $329 at Grays. I decided to offer 3k & 4k respectively for the grinder(s) as a starting point - willing to move upwards to a point. The price was above what they were worth (to me) and indeed what I could get one for at auction. I wanted one at that point in time so threw out the offers. I received no response from either dealer. I followed up and nothing but silence.

I see today they are both still listed today at the same price.

12 months ago I found a Deckel box table at a dealer. They wanted 3k for it - which is over the top again. They would not budge on price at all. They also still have it listed and I suspect it will be there until their estate sale.

How do these places survive? They seem to have such high prices and be unwilling to even engage in a negotiation on price.

Having worked in a few hardware stores, I can assure you there is not a huge margin in power tools.

Originally Posted by variant22

My story: 8 months ago I was looking for a small Cylindrical Grinder. I found two that suited my needs. One was $8,800, and the other was $6,000. I watched a similar model grinder (albeit in a very dirty state) sell for $329 at Grays. I decided to offer 3k & 4k respectively for the grinder(s) as a starting point - willing to move upwards to a point. The price was above what they were worth (to me) and indeed what I could get one for at auction. I wanted one at that point in time so threw out the offers. I received no response from either dealer. I followed up and nothing but silence.

I see today they are both still listed today at the same price.

12 months ago I found a Deckel box table at a dealer. They wanted 3k for it - which is over the top again. They would not budge on price at all. They also still have it listed and I suspect it will be there until their estate sale.

How do these places survive? They seem to have such high prices and be unwilling to even engage in a negotiation on price.

And, funnily enough, I knocked back a Tos cylindrical in really excellent condition, internal grinding spindle as well as external, all hydraulic feeds, ex-TAFE machine. $900. Price was fine - private sale - but freight costs killed it. Well, that and finding a space to put the machine when I got it home.

I also enquired about a smaller Tos cylindrical grinder that a dealer had. A man I know at Hare & Forbes had forwarded me the email about it so no doubt about the contact details.

Dead silence. No reply at all. I think a lot of them run their businesses as a hobby because they're appallingly bad at running a business.

I did pick up a small cylindrical grinder on the way home anyway which, while nowhere near as robust a machine as the TOS, is a better size for my current space and fitted in the back of my 4WD flat tray. Details to follow at some point, probably, once I clean off 30+ years of storage dust, rat droppings etc etc.

PDW

I was in yet another machinery dealer's today. They had several shapers listed on their website & some other sites, from a small hand crank up to huge industrial machine maybe a 25" so I wanted to investigate them.

They said yeah we have about a dozen of them what size? Funninly enough they had none. There was a flat spot on the grass outside where one had been. I spotted a few other old flatbelt drills, grinder, and a power hacksaw. I pointed these out to the sales manager, His comment was you have good eyesight I didn't know we still had those, I haven't seen them for years. Well the fact that they had at least an inch of dust that was solidifying would confirm it. The prices at this place were twice another dealer 8min by gps away has on his gear. I pointed out I had bought my identical power hacksaw delivered for less than a quarter of what they were asking. to this the response was were a used retailer not ebay! Yes but ebay is your direct competition for sales.

Originally Posted by PDW

I think a lot of them run their businesses as a hobby because they're appallingly bad at running a business.

I agree. I think a lot of people get into these sorts of businesses because they have "issues" that prevent them working in 9-5 jobs. Those issues also make them hopeless at dealing with people and running a business. I've come across some real doozies running used machinery businesses in my time. The two constants are that they have poor people skills and are completely disorganised.