garaget

Good Posts J Ritt,

This type of business selling by resellers is very disgraceful but in this age of where the dollar talks more than a moral practice of business, what can you really do, but to take it to court and have to spend more money to get satisfaction. But at the end you just end up spending more on legal fees when the small company you are suing just closes its doors and starts up as another company.

This type of parallel selling and trading has happened to a lot of overseas dealers as well. Wholesale and distribution channels not correctly controlling where the products go or even resellers selling to areas and at prices where they should not be selling, but this is what the internet does. Skip the middle man skip the overseas distributor with the markup.

Fighting this is like RIAA fighting mp3. Just what I think.

g35thanh

Jritt-


you seem like a hater man. if another company wants to sell parts cheaper to us consumers, then let them be. Dont be mad cuz they are taking your business away....

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

g35thanh,
While that was an eloquent and heartfelt response, I think you need to go back to page 1 and sloooooooowly reread the entire post. When you're done, read it again in case you missed anything important.

I think I can safely say that everyone in this forum is now 'dumberer' having read your response. You receive no points for your efforts, and may God have mercy on your soul. And finally, don't hate the playa, hate da game.

ps I'm putting the wheels from your G35 in your sig up for sale today in the classifieds section. Do you have a website where I can download a bigger version of that pic for my ad? Also, can you please send me the exact offsets? People always want to know those when buying wheels. Finally, if you have a ballpark starting price that you think I can get for them, by all means let me know. I'll probably sell them for a lot cheaper than that though, because I need the money fast, but I'd appreciate at least a little guidance! Thanks.

*the views expressed herein are solely those of the poster, and are in no way affiliated with his place of employment, his place of worship, or his place in line at McDonalds.*

...and now to a message from our sponsors...

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

Haaaaaa.....Now THAT was funny (and well deserved, might I add). Some people just don't get it..... Sheesh!!

moog

iTrader: (14)

I have to commend J Ritt, there are so many people spewing off stupid comments and you're keeping your cool. This has turned into a stupid thread...everyone is going off on a tangent. It seems like a lot of people have anger built up and found the need to vent in this thread about their thoughts on product prices.

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

I'll second that commendation. Consumerism and business practice are very often counter-intuitive to one another. JRitt has done a great job of trying to explain the latter, and to many people it just doesn't make sense. Their responses (especially the childish ones) demonstrate this.

Road Warrior

iTrader: (16)

i agree that j ritt has kept his cool ....everyone is entitled to their own opinion and has the right to speak it ....and lets face it, price is probably the biggest factor in a consumer's decision to buy a product .....so i can see where some people are coming from

G35_AutoX

JRitt,

Add me to the list of those who actually get it. When I'm ready to purchase the StopTech kit for my car, it will be directly from you. It's really sad that there are so many people here that really don't understand and are just out to save a buck.

It's this same mentallity that these bozos that steal software and music use when they try and convince themselves that they're not "really" stealing.

Like it's been said many times before, you get what you pay for. Cheap bastards end up getting bent over when it's all said and done.

Keep up the good work.

Road Warrior

iTrader: (16)

well congratulations mr "i get it"....i agree you get what you pay for...but why pay more when you can pay less no, i am not one to steal software or have that mentallity. its the consumers understanding that he is buying from an unauthorized dealer for less and will not get the same benefits of buying from an authorized dealer....some are willing to take that risk and save a few bucks....

al503

iTrader: (4)

There is only 1 Stoptech so they get paid regardless of where the consumer buys the product. It's just like getting TaylorMade woods from Costco. Just because you can get a driver at costco, which MSRP's at $500 for $300, it doesn't mean that TaylorMade makes any less $$$. It just means the retailer/reseller makes less.

I actually respect Stoptech even more for their position on this. Given the above, a company with less integrity would only care about 1 thing and that's moving as many units as possible in every imagineable way. Who cares about what it's being sold at as long as they the company gets their wholesale price?

Stoptech is taking a perhaps less profitable route but they seem to recognize that it's not always about the bottom line, which is a lesson many other companies should try to adopt IMHO.

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

What? Re-read that statement and tell me it makes any sense. If you get what you pay for, then when you pay less, you get less!!! That's the whole point, Mr. "I apparently still DON'T get it".

The people who knowingly buy at low-ball prices with the full understanding that they are not getting the "whole package" (support, etc.) are going to be the first ones to come to a public forum such as this when there is a problem and start flaming away at what a piece of crap the product is, and how the company sucks and won't support them, etc. etc. Now nobody wants to buy the product because they didn't get the whole story, and the manufacturer ultimately suffers. Because the cheap-@$$ tried to save a few bucks and is too arrogant to include the fact that they opted out of the cost of support in their public rant, they are directly impacting the manufacturers bottom line, ESPECIALLY in a niche market like the aftermarket parts business.

The cheap consumer may be willing to take that risk, but the manufacturer sure isn't when their livelihood is really what's at stake. That's what the reseller agreement is all about.

g35thanh

^^very well put. Every member on this board has a right to their own opinion. Price isn't the only factor, but it is the biggest factor.

most of you guys probably buy parts from these "so called dealers"

they buy from actual distributors in bulk and resell for must less than the distributors. whats wrong with that?Its saving us money....

Most of the stereo equipment that yall probably buy are from these type of dealers.

Road Warrior

iTrader: (16)

last i checked you are still getting the same product at a lower price minus the support....thats the risk....its not my job to regulate a company selling my product and violating any agreements while in the process

as a consumer i am going to try and get the best deal possible....now if that includes not getting support and understanding that when i buy it so be it....thats my decision to do so.

i am greatful that j ritt has made me aware that if i buy from an unauthorized dealer than i will not get support....and if i decide to do so and suffer the consequences you won't see me complaining about it.... because i do get it...rw...peace out

officially, officially....now beat to death...how dead do you want it to be...that is the question

Tex Willer

Sorry for my quick post JRITT.

Well, it's not as simple as some of you people put it.

Money may not be an issue, still it's not a reason on throwing money out the window. THe authorized reseller of stoptech products in my area is a FORD dealership. I do not understand how a ford dealership is more qualified on installing and selling me STOPTECH brakes on my car than a racing shop who is not AUTHORIZED but has fair knowledge both of my car and stoptech products. And yes, this is an issue I consider very much, and after the initial post, its an issue even more. What are the requisites to be a STOPTECH reseller/distributor? WIch BTW, if they are screwing you one way, who tells me they won't screw me the otherway?

The problem is not the unauthorized resellers or the savy consumer, but STOPTECH. It's up to them to control the chain of distribution. Bitching about copyright infrigement and unfair practices on a MSG boards to me is rediculous. I don't see other companies bitching about these issues on MSGboards, and I'm sure lots of them have the same problems. I can buy the "protecting our customers" thing to a certain point... you are protecting your interests(wich is perfecly fine if done the right way).

I'm not really mad at stoptech, just saying what I think. I'll be needing a BBK soon for tracking purposes, thank god it's not right now though. Price is not the only issue, if it were the only issue I wouldn't even consider stoptech.

Again, I understand JRITT concerns, but from my modest(and limited) point of view, this thread turns me off as I don't get where the problem is if not STOPTECH(granted their product is more than excellent).

g35thanh

making a thread on a 350z forum to complain is pretty unprofessional imo.

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

Interesting how people interpret things. I never assumed the OP to be a complaint, but more a warning to try and protect unknowing customers from buying a product and then discovering later that they have no recourse in the event of a problem. Some background info on why that could be the case was inevitable or the post wouldn't have made any sense. JRitt was even very repetitive in his statement that this thread was not directed as a slam against HopUp, but a warning about the purchase of their product.

Oh well....The dead horse is starting to decay, I say we stop beating it.

Daewoo

Well, I don't know!

I have read all of the post and see both points. Jritt didn't attack Hopup in any way. So he gets much props for that and his professionalism in dealing with many of the responses on this thread.

I think the problem comes in his later post when he gets too deep into examples. I am not sure if this was the best approach on this board.

warning all of us about the lack of warranty was first rate. Trying to justify setting ur prices is another thing. At no point did u ever explain y (logic) stoptech requires their vendors to only list MSRP. The closest u came was the lame story about the long time store owner. This holds no water these days. Home depot, lowes, target, advanced auto, etc. did more harm to mom and pop stores than any other animal.

Please explain this phylosophy to the board members. try and justify this.

The only reason to do this is to keep prices high! If people look at prices on the net and see that stoptech prices r consistantly high they may believe that demand is keeping the price high and conclude that if people r willing to pay this much and prices don't drop over time that tha product MUST be worth it.

The reason u get so upset when a company like hopup advertises such a low price is that they may hurt ur sales or cause folks to not buy from seller A who list at MSRP and buy from seller B who list at a discount. over time seller A will have to lower is price to meet the market. this type of pressure over time will lead to stoptech reducing their price.

This is the only logical reason for having such a clause!

Trying to justify that to a bunch of guys that love ur product but don't want to get dicked on overpricing is the hard part and may be y u r getting so much hell over this.

give it a try and justify this for me.

This was not meant to flame. Just an honest request.

PoWeRtRiP

guys stoptech is not the only company to do this.

greddy

hks

volk

veilside

etc

all the big names will not honor warranty outside of their authorized retailers. this is nothing new.

g35thanh

duhhh. some of you guys act like we've been in caves or something. everyone knows that most of the stuff you buy on the internet doesnt have warranty, but ppl dont care. price matters to them more.

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

Hey Daewoo,
Shouldn't your avatar say "Went wide body"?

I met you at the Evolution meet briefly. That kit rocked the house man!

(Sorry for the quick hi-jack here)

Kelly