Poll: price vs. availability

Creative Engineering · Apr 18, 2010

Several years ago, when I started making parts for motorized bikes you guys were adamant that price was the number 1 concern. I rarely got any complaints about turn-around times.

I'm now getting a lot of complaints that it takes too long to make the parts.

There is a simple fix...I increase the prices...you get your parts fast!

Please participate in this poll and let me know what's important to you. I will go with the majority.

All comments are welcome and will help to drive any decisions I make regarding an overhaul of how I do business.

Thank you

Jim

chainmaker · Apr 18, 2010

I can sympathize with You in My business I have to tread the line between , service and price...Basically it sucks..people can say many things but in My expierence It is practically impossible to make everyone happy while butting those two against each other becuase they are so intertwined to with other.
Cheers

Fabian · Apr 18, 2010

I want parts that no one is prepared to manufacture, so i guess "i don't mind waiting"

Venice Motor Bikes · Apr 18, 2010

This is my 2 cents... Jims parts are priced VERY LOW! They're so low that other people have said they won't bother trying to make these parts because they can't compete with Jims prices!

I personally wouldn't mind paying a few extra $$$ to get the parts fast if it made a difference between my finishing a customers bike this week, or having it sit in my garage waiting for a part for a month.

I like that I can now go to Pirate Cycles to get Jims parts fast, but every time I've gone there for something, they were out of stock on what I needed!

Jims parts are great, well priced & totally worth the wait, But I'd really be willing to pay a little more to get them faster so I can get paid too!

DonBrouhaha · Apr 18, 2010

I voted price. But I will respectfully give a suggestion. Communication helps smooth most transaction processes. I don't mean smoozing or hand holding, but a stock email that sez "we got yr order and hope to ship in x or xx weeks"

When a problem should arise (sooner or later they do) another "hey there is a delay" email would inform your customer. I don't care if I'm the recipient of a bulk mailed email if the vendor is keeping me in the loop.

I run a bookstore and teaching customer service is one of my main jobs. Customers can be wonderful and they can be horrible. Keeping that balanced is the real job.

I look forward to my mount when it arrives. I should have my rear hub back this week and will measure and order my sprocket adapter then.

Thanks for listening

:ride:

GeneFiorot · Apr 18, 2010

I believe that Jim should do what he does best and that is to produce great and unique parts and design improvements. I think you should leave the supply chain to Pirate for what all that entails. You don't need a correspondence system for standardized parts Pirate sells let Pirate deal with that. You do however need continue to address your Custom Work yourself. If you need to raise prices to speed up production then do it. You know that I have always felt that your prices were too low in the first place. Here's hoping for a killer season!
Gene

crobo · Apr 18, 2010

jim just offer "rush processing" costs more but you get the part faster. personally with me time=money because i only have one bike that is my main means of transportation. but im also a poor college student so a cheap part is nice. basically you cant win. The quality of your work seems to be up to par so just keep that the same and im sure people will be coming back.

mapbike · Apr 18, 2010

Well, Jim I voted "I want my parts fast...I don't mind paying extra." and the reason is the same as others have said, Time = Money, I have not ordered anything from you yet, and one of the reasons is becuase it seems that you are so backed up with so many orders, I will be calling you Wednesday this week to order a Hub adapter and Sprocket, I hope there isn't a huge wait but if there is I'll just wait, It's hard to say how much of a price increase would get the desired effect, without overall sales falling more than you may want but you do offer your parts at a very low cost and to increase this cost by 10-15% or maybe even 20% may help you get caught up by causing some people to have to hold off for a few weeks to save their pennies beore ordering. Just my 2 cents..... Good luck and God Bless! Shan

rockhopper · Apr 18, 2010

Hi Jim. The answer is both.

Such is the line all business owners must walk.

foureasy · Apr 18, 2010

you cant have both

rockhopper · Apr 19, 2010

foureasy said:
you cant have both

It's a balancing act. And don't say you can't have both. Someone shortly (relatively speaking) will be along to prove you wrong.

Business will always be about competition. The cream will always rise to the top.

Creative Engineering · Apr 19, 2010

rockhopper said:
It's a balancing act. And don't say you can't have both. Someone shortly (relatively speaking) will be along to prove you wrong.

Business will always be about competition. The cream will always rise to the top.

foureasy is right! You can't have both. I can assure you that no one will be along shortly to prove anything.

I know it's hard to grasp the idea that I am the only one capable of offering these parts at these prices. The truth is that anyone with a shop could do the same thing. Running the equipment at cost, (zero profit), is not something most shop owners will even consider.

It's a simple matter of economy in volume. My prices are based on production runs of 50 pieces. Unfortunately it can take as much as a month to get 50 orders together...and this is the reason for the wait.

Jim

rockhopper · Apr 19, 2010

Creative Engineering said:
foureasy is right! You can't have both. I can assure you that no one will be along shortly to prove anything.

I know it's hard to grasp the idea that I am the only one capable of offering these parts at these prices. The truth is that anyone with a shop could do the same thing. Running the equipment at cost, (zero profit), is not something most shop owners will even consider.

It's a simple matter of economy in volume. My prices are based on production runs of 50 pieces. Unfortunately it can take as much as a month to get 50 orders together...and this is the reason for the wait.

Jim

No. You can't assure me that.

And I understand your business concerns. I'm a small business accountant.

Make the decisions that work for your situation.

cvlt1

Creative Engineering · Apr 19, 2010

rockhopper said:
No. You can't assure me that.

And I understand your business concerns. I'm a small business accountant.

Make the decisions that work for your situation.

I certainly hope that you are not advising a machine shop to start making MB parts. When the smoke clears they will be VERY unhappy with the advice.

Jim

rockhopper · Apr 19, 2010

Creative Engineering said:
I certainly hope that you are not advising a machine shop to start making MB parts. When the smoke clears they will be VERY unhappy with the advice.

Jim

It's a great big world. You are not the only one capable of anything.

Someone will always be along shortly with something later and greater. That's just how business works. It's nothing personal. It's just the way it is.

Creative Engineering · Apr 19, 2010

rockhopper said:
It's a great big world. You are not the only one capable of anything.

Someone will always be along shortly with something later and greater. That's just how business works. It's nothing personal. It's just the way it is.

Step up to the plate junior...there is nothing I love more than a bit of competition.

Jim

bairdco · Apr 19, 2010

if i wait even longer can i have free parts?

what a lot of people don't seem to get, is that you're a small shop, making quality parts no one else has, unlike dozens of factories in china flooding the market with cheap crap. need a new wheel? there's 10 online "bike stores" that can ship today. just point and click, paypal it, and it's at your front door a few days later.

i used to get custom parts made for my autocross car that were relatively cheap, yet took a while to get, and i was satisfied with that, as long as i knew i was getting them, and not having pieces on their shelves waiting for the welder's hangover to wear off.

i also remember the days when i needed a part i had to scour catalogs, junkyards, make numerous phone calls, and was unable to rely on the comfort and warmth of my computer monitor and actually drive around all over town to ten different shops looking for something as simple as a jet for a weber carb...

to sum it up, an increase in price with a decrease in time sounds like a great idea to me, but i'm sure a lot of people will b!tch about it, because they still think it's a "cheap and simple" hobby.

i get so many people wanting a bike from me, but when they find out how much i'd charge (which is a heck of a lot less than what it's worth) they always bring up how cheap a bike on craig'slist is, or that their buddy built a bike for 300 bucks... and the thing is, there's a reason they're so cheap. it's because they're junk.

i vote for whatever works for you, jim.

rockhopper · Apr 19, 2010

Creative Engineering said:
Step up to the plate junior...there is nothing I love more than a bit of competition.

Jim

Dude:

I'm not Jr. I'm a small business accountant. I deal with numbers.

I'm not going to argue with you about motorbike performance.

I'm here to discuss reality.

Creative Engineering · Apr 19, 2010

Thanks Baird...

Jim

Creative Engineering · Apr 19, 2010

rockhopper said:
Dude:

I'm not Jr. I'm a small business accountant. I deal with numbers.

I'm not going to argue with you about motorbike performance.

I'm here to discuss reality.

Sorry for the "Junior" insult.

I just get so tired of people thinking that I make a profit off of these parts...I don't.

No one else will compete price-wise because there is no profit to be gained in beating my prices on custom parts.

Jim

Poll: price vs. availability

What's important to you...price? availability?

Price is my #1 concern...I don't mind waiting.

I want my parts fast...I don't mind paying extra.

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