Author Topic: Price Increase's Starting !!!!!!!!!!!! (Read 35462 times)

pnj1967 · « **on:** December 23, 2007, 09:52:30 PM »

https://www.buddiesproshop.com/product/5130/Columbia_300_Momentum_Bowling_Ball.htm

Effective December 28th at Noon EST. the price of Ebonite International equipment will increase. The New Price for the Momentum will be $155.50, up from the 139.95 price !!!!

"I" think (these price increases) will be another sure way to see another small decline in the amount of people that will be bowling .

Ebonite has taken the position that "they" are/will tell Distributors what they will be able to sell balls for ( at the lowest price that Ebonite dictates to them) !! If they dont (the Distributors) Ebonite will not sell to them.

This is not only Ebonite balls but all others ( Track & Hammer) under their corporate umbrella !!!!

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Enjoy the people on the ballreview.com forum. Like to help when I can.

Users and Companies, I wont deal with, read my profile.

Edited on 12/24/2007 9:13 AM

mpwebber · « **Reply #301 on:** December 31, 2007, 12:02:14 PM »

Joe,

My comment was not meant as an attack at you. I was trying to answer a question you had posed.

It is true that pro shops would never get a chance to drill the first ball if they charged what their services were really worth. There is a lot of work, skill and knowledge tied up in getting that first ball right. In fact, the average pro shop probably does not spend the time doing it right and it is difficult for the customer to know which shops do.

There are few customers that come into my pro shop and ask for the same layout over and over. If I had a customer that drilled even 4 balls a year and always wanted the same thing, I would make an arrangement to drill the ball cheaper.

If you look at our Pro Shop Labor Rates you can see what we charge to just drill 3 holes. But rarely is that all we need to do.

I hope that helps you to see it from the pro shop perspective. And I do understand where you are coming from.
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Michael
McCorveys Pro Shop
Track Regional Staff

1MechEng · « **Reply #302 on:** December 31, 2007, 12:12:22 PM »

CAL -
It's good to have a distributors point of view in the discussion! Thanks for chiming in with your knowledge and viewpoint.

I'd like to address a couple of points in your post:

quote:
4. Small distributors selling to internet retailers at their cost because they cannot reach the minimum buy in required by the manufacturer.
5. Small distributors in a market that cannot support a distributorship or they are in a market that has too many distributors.
6. Large distributors selling to online retailers at barely 5% over cost.

On the surface, it looks like the current distributor system is flawed. But is it? Businesses that adapt will survive. The smaller distributors in items #4 and #5 above have clearly adapted to the current system in order to get the necessary prices, order qtys., and sales volumes they need to stay in business. Would you rather have these smaller distributors (and possibly the internet retailers) go out of business? This will effectively eliminate a number of distributors, and the lack of competition or loss of a local source could potentially negatively affect the price/delivery/service for the local pro shops in the small market you describe in #5.

As for the large distributors selling at a minimum profit to the online distributors in item #6 ... ask yourself: why they would do that? Are they afraid of losing a piece of the (ever increasing) internet pie? Is it a way for them to reach the next qty./price plateau? Maybe they can sell the same number of balls to one source instead of having to take the time and effort to pressure local pro shops into increasing their sales.

Addressing point #2:

quote:
2. The manufacturers dumping closeouts to internet retailers.

Let's theorize why the manufacturers would dump directly to the internet retailers instead of to the local pro shops. Is it because the internet shops are more effective at getting rid of merchandise quickly? Is it because of the single point of contact again, rather than dealing with distributors and pro shops individually? It would seem that the manufacturers have seen the benefits of the power of the internet.

The question is ... why do you as a distributor have the sole responsibility to support the pro shop? For that matter, why does the manufacturer? We should be asking "What are the pro shops doing to adapt and survive?"
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Dan
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Engineering * Bowling = a fun and practical application of rotational kinematics.

Author Topic: Price Increase's Starting !!!!!!!!!!!! (Read 35462 times)

pnj1967

Price Increase's Starting !!!!!!!!!!!!

mpwebber

Re: Price Increase's Starting !!!!!!!!!!!!

1MechEng

Re: Price Increase's Starting !!!!!!!!!!!!