RE: Would I be offending....
 

Thanks JG.

In a way this is one of those 'rock and a hard place' type of situations. I hate to sound like a cheapskate, but if he is selling a product for $125 and I know I can get it with a little snoopin' (which I actually kinda like doing anyway) for 90 bucks, I have a seroius problem with that. I would have NO problem if there was only a 10 or 15 dollar difference, but 35??? And that is just one accessory...you start adding up three or four things at that price and that is a serious chunk of change.

I suppose as a customer I just expect the salesperson/owner/etc. to feel ME out, that is his job. If he sense hesitancy in a certain product, ask me why! Then he'd find out how much better of a deal I found and potentially match it.

I don't know....I just hate this type of crap any time it comes up with friends or places you frequent, it always seems to be a lose-lose situation.

Chad

RE: Would I be offending....
 

If he's giving you the bow for a deal, "real good price" then expecting him to put new stuff on your bow that you bought elsewhere doesn't seem right to me. Unless you're going to pay him to put the stuff on. Just my opinion.

RE: Would I be offending....
 

One other thing, have you considered how much a good pro shop will save you by setting you up right in the first place and in terms of making things right, over the course of a relationship? Also what is the value that one places on knowing it was done right, having that kind of confidence in the relationship? What price is ascribed to that?

I understand money don't come easy, but man, we spill more than that.

RE: Would I be offending....
 

I already said I was just going to go ahead and buy everything there, I was just continuing with my initial thoughts of how difficult it is to make such a decision.

Do any of you just walk into a store and buy something that is six or seven hundred dollars without so much as checking elsewhere? You may, if you have that kind of money, but I don't, so I do as much research as I can to find the best deal possible. And frankly, I find people who do that to be quite naive, that is if money is in fact an issue. I just see this as very black and white. Regardless of where a fella buys his bow, his accessories, etc., the shop owner has an obligation to do the same quality work on your bow as he would with a bow sold in his shop. Will he throw in a little freebie here and there if you buy it there....maybe he will, but I highly doubt those two and three dollar freebie's would add up to the amount of savings a buyer could find with some snoopin' around.

I guess I'm just venting as I am still not happy about being told (no, not you guys, someone with a lot more power...MY WIFE!) that I am getting everything down at the shop.

Again, thanks guys.

Chad



"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

--Albert Einstein

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[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Would I be offending....
 

Oregonhunter,

Don't feel like you need to buy from this guy if you don't want to. This your your hard earned money to spend as you please and if the owner of the shop has a problem with it take your business elsewhere, permanently. A good shop owner will never make hold it against you for saving a buck by going somewhere else.

You should be able to trust him whethor or not you have spent $10.00 or $1000.00 at his shop. I can't see a reputable shop ever doing less than their best for you just because you can't afford to support his business. As you said it's not your duty to help the shop owner buy his kid a new 4wheeler. It's your duty to buy your own kid a 4wheeler and yourself one for that matter! (I love those things.)

Besides your already giving him your business by buying a bow from him to begin with. Which I have to add is better than buying from a catalog. You want a guy who is going to be able to handle the warranty stuff if the need may arise. Plus, expert help in getting it set up is allways good. These are things you should expect whethor
you buy your accessories from him or not. If he will not install the accessories you bought for your bow from another place and help you set it up with those accessories start looking for a shop that will.


Just my opinion,

Kirk

P.S.

Don't you live in Eugene? Have you gone to Hook and Arrow? I never bought anything there and the owner and his employees bent over backwards to help me out with a bow I bought somewhere else. No charge. Afterwards, I bought some arrows from him because I decided to switch to carbons (because he had a good deal on some goldtips and his genuine concern for me was not motivated by how he could make a living off of me). I would check them out no matter who you buy from.

I'm not badmouthing proshops. I'm just saying if it comes down to you either being able to enjoy archery by buying what you want at a price you can afford or not being able to play at all because you can't afford the high prices at the proshop... Well you're not doing anyone a favor especially yourself. How can you expect to buy your next bow from the guy if you don't save a few bucks in the mean time?



Edited by - notavegetarian on 11/18/2002 00:00:45

RE: Would I be offending....
 

Some good points there, notavegetarian.

One thing I would like to mention is from Siskyou's post. (not picking on you :) Just using your example)
"Here's a true life $ situation: 88K gross, less cost of goods: 45K gross prof., less operating expenses: 19K/year. Minus 36% icome tax (fed income, 16% social security, state income), 12K/year for the family. Not a heck of a lot of money, huh?"

Ok, I see your point, but see if you can see this one. Take that $45,000 figure and change it to let's say you make $30,000 gross income at your job. Minus Fed state and local taxes, lights, gas, water, phone, ins., car/truck expenses, yada yada yada. Not a lot left there either, I promise you that.

Now you have a little change saved up for some new accessories that you have been wanting. Only thing is if you buy from your local shop you can't afford what you want.

If you DON'T buy local, then you run the risk of being made out to be some kind of heel from a lot of people for not supporting the "little guy".

I thought I was the little guy??????????

Can you see where a lot of us are coming from?

RE: Would I be offending....
 

I totally understand all of you points of view, but I tend to side with Doc and Notav. I will be buying all of my goodies at this local shop, but I am not all that happy about it. There are three bow shops in our city, and it is THEIR job to win over my business, not my job to ensure they have one. If they need to cut profit margins to get my business, then so be it, and it would be more than likely they would make up that business by having me as a life-long customer. I live in a city of 200,000 (including the sister city), so it's not like I feel some sort of obligation to keep some local Joe afloat so we have a shop to go to.

I suppose I am a little miffed about the logic of feeding his family. I have a family too, and oddly enough they enjoy eating as well.

I am only buying everything there because the boss in my house told me that was what I was doing, but from here on out, I do as I always do, find the best deal I can. If the shop owner ever had a problem with me buying some of my things elsewhere, he should probably consider pushing the rock he lives under off of him. Dang near every hunter I know tries to find the best deals they can, as this sport is not exactly a cheap one to be involved in. I would guess (without a bow purchase) every one of us probably spends close to a grand a year just on crap, not including tags, gas, etc..

I will say again, I undertand your point of view on buying everything from the local guy, but I just don't agree with it.

Chad

*notav....I honestly have only been in there once a few years ago. I don't know if he was going through some hard times at the time or what, but his shelves were EMPTY. Maybe I'll stop in there one of these days to see how his shop has come along. Customer service does mean a lot to me if the prices are compriable. Thanks.

RE: Would I be offending....
 

Well in my opinion I would definatly want to support my local shops and I do. I don't buy mail order. I don't travel from town to town to save three bucks either. I know many that will though...Around here I've seen people drive 30-40 miles one way to save? $5.00...

If you can save a few bucks without traveling to far then I see nothing wrong with that... I wouldn't take the accessories back to the other shop to have them installed though...

Stating the fact that you "don't want to support his family" in my opinion is wrong and he does need to make money to survive as do you...

Whether it's him or the dealer down the road they're in business to make money just as you are at your job...And if one shop is selling for less it's probably becasue they buy larger volumes getting better discounts and yet they're still making the same amout of profit as the guy charging a little more...

To ask or feel a shop should lower their prices just for you is no different than your boss asking you to take a pay cut so he can feed his family better...

The post about "As you said it's not your duty to help the shop owner buy his kid a new 4wheeler. It's your duty to buy your own kid a 4wheeler and yourself one for that matter! (I love those things.)"

So it's O.K to support an ATV dealer so he can feed his family and not an Archery dealer?...Do you realize how much ATV's are marked up versus archery gear? Not sure I understand that...

We all need to support our local shops...You'll need them sometime down the road and if they're not there then what?...You'll have to go buy your own fletching jigs, arrow cut off saw, bow press and so on...Everthing would have to be mail order and let's say you have to try do some of the tech work and don't know how?...Now what?

We all now businesses are in business to make money plain and simple...It's no different than us working a full time job, would we like a pay cut?...

My dealer really doesn't care if people buy it down the road at Wal Mart because charges the customers to put on accessories that aren't bought there...Free if you purchase them there though...The way I see it they pretty much end up paying the same then as if they would have bought it from him in the first place...




Edited by - BowTech_Shooter on 11/18/2002 10:44:14

RE: Would I be offending....
 

Hmmm, there seems to be a major flaw in your logic in that I WANT TO RIDE THE QUAD, not pay for somebody elses. If you read through the other posts, which I assume you didn't, I wasn't talking about 5 bucks, I was talking about $100 or more. And regardless of where I was getting these accessories, guess who gets to tune up the ol' bow, throw on new strings, etc., etc.....that's right, the local bowshop.

So let me get this straight. Wherever you bought your vehicle, you continue to go back to that local dealer where you purchased it for every single thing that needs worked on, is that correct? Even though you know you are paying several hundred more than the fella down the road, you continue to go to him to make sure you are acting in good faith? I would find that very hard to believe.

Obviously you and I are two different people with two different sized pocketbooks. I like to find the best deal possible unless the difference is very minor when living in a fairly large community such as this one. And if in fact our pocketbooks are similar in size, then I have some swampland I'd like to show ya.

Just my two cents.

Chad

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

--Albert Einstein