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Guess what the mark up was on my BDS lift...LOL

I

ike

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I bought a new 4'' lift for my 76 Blazer.After asking questions here and shopping around local and online,I went with a local shop and ordered a BDS 4'' all spring lift kit.
I recieved four leafsprings with bushings and U bolts, a steering arm drop,four shocks,and a OE BDS steering stabilizer shock... $1118.13 out the door.
This is the good part. I picked the kit uo the next day.When I arrived home I saw the shop forgot to remove the packing slip from BDS which includes all the billing info , real prices, what the shop pays for the parts.
Let me add that I did shop around and I was OK with the price of the kit when I ordered it.I also understand that the shop buys volume ,has to pay insurance, needs to make money and feed there kids ect....
I would have paid about $100 less for a Tough Country kit after shipping and found several off name kits at local shops for less..Im happy with what I have ,and would do it again.
Guess what the mark up was ? LOL I was and am suprised ..A few people take a shot then I'll post the real invoice price LOL
 
About the retail price.....I wonder.....

I also wonder .....what you think about the retail price I paid....Should I have shopped around some more....Like I said I did do some looking and thought It was about right...I didn't care about $100 or so but now....Makes me wonder...
 
Figuring that you paid about $70 in tax or so you maybe a little high but not to much i dont think. Skyjacker would have been around $800 for the same parts.
 
yeah but bds is much better than skyjacker. im guessing 750
 
Invoice prices

Front Spring $80.24 .4 ea =$160.49
Front Box Kit...must be the bushings and u bolts $36.12 .6ea =$ 36.13
Rear Springs $111.33 ea =$222.66
Rear Box Kit $31.70 ea =$ 31.70
Steering arm $48.28 .8 ea =$ 48.29
Shock kit $24.27 ea =$48.54
Shock kit $24.27 ea =$48.54
HD Stablizer Cyl $26.28 =$26.28

Thats the break down Total $622.63
and they charged me $1118.13
$$ 495.50 Mark Up seems a little much
Says somthing about a boot under HD Steering Stablizer ..should I have recieved a boot with that shock???? None of the shocks have boots....??
 
Manufactors that sell direct to the public

Any good off-road Manufactures that sell direct to the public?
BDS wanted anout the same coin for there springs as I paid for my BDS...Manufactor with retail prices.....or there springs are better and cost more to make then BDS ???
 
unfortanitly in the retail game the mark up is about 100% or so. and in the big game of 4x4 retail shops it is hard to stay alive with all the adds and online stuff. i do agree for a full kit that the mark up was a bit steep. i work retail auto and sometimes i feel for the customers.
 
More on ORD

I ordered there frame weld in kit and Steering brace...Good people to deal with on the phone...Just recieved ..., the stuff looks great..and no tax.
 
I just got my BDS front springs about a month ago. The receipt listed them for about 160 each and he sold them to me for 140 each. Being the cheap-a$$ that I am, I asked for a discount since i had to drive 100 miles round trip to get them. He got all pissy and said that he doesn't give discounts blah, blah. All he would have had to say is that he already knocked a few bucks off the springs and I would have been camping happily. Who would guess that the only BDS dealer in the entire dallas/fort worth area was 50 miles away. So, Did they charge you a lot? Yup, but at least you got some of the nicest springs out there!
 
they made a little over 40%, which is very reasonable for a retail shop (ie: not mail order) i know of alot of retail places that sell for 40% and more, hardly ever less than 40%.
im not one bit surprised on how much they sold it to you for.

also BDS is a price protected product, no one can advertise and most likely sell anything with a BDS logo on it for less than what BDS says the lowest price is.
 
Sort of kind of high, 55% markup by my calculations.

But you have to remember that BDS has to make some money, then the reseller has to make some money, plus the shipping cost on that stuff isn't exactly small.
 
they made a little over 40%, which is very reasonable ....?

Thats the break down invoice price Total $622.63
and they charged me $1118.13
$$ 495.50 Mark Up seems a little much........
about doubles the price of a product they did nothing more then order.In fact I contacted BDS to find this retailer and had the part numbers for the order, I think it is a little much for a product they had nothing to do with producing or promoting.....kinda a burn on on BDS .... how much $$ did BDS make ? Another $495.50 ? That would mean they made the whole kit for $127.13...thats , four springs , w/bushings Ubolts , four shocks , stabilizer.and steering arm.....$127.13.....Thats pretty good...with warrenty...and the shocks at least are made in USA....all for $127.13....but thats not right ...The manufactor only makes what the shop mark up is?? BDS does produce and promote ....They must make the kit for $20 ....


Makes me wonder about the quaility?
But then again , the retail shop , "they made a little over 40%, which is very reasonable " :confused:
 
The price I listed is the total invoice

The invoice prices I listed is the total BDS charged the shop with shipping included....The retailer made more coin for the sell by far then BDS.....read the begining thread I understand Everyone needs to make a living , Its a burn on BDS and just makes me wonder when other kits I looked at were all about the same coin....Even on the net.
 
maybe I missed it but you didn't include shipping in there anywhere. figure $15 for handling possibly and probably around $150 to ship all that being so heavy. don't know if it qualifies for oversize or not.
 
ike said:
Thats the break down invoice price Total $622.63
and they charged me $1118.13
$$ 495.50 Mark Up seems a little much........
about doubles the price of a product they did nothing more then order.In fact I contacted BDS to find this retailer and had the part numbers for the order, I think it is a little much for a product they had nothing to do with producing or promoting.....kinda a burn on on BDS .... how much $$ did BDS make ? Another $495.50 ? That would mean they made the whole kit for $127.13...thats , four springs , w/bushings Ubolts , four shocks , stabilizer.and steering arm.....$127.13.....Thats pretty good...with warrenty...and the shocks at least are made in USA....all for $127.13....but thats not right ...The manufactor only makes what the shop mark up is?? BDS does produce and promote ....They must make the kit for $20 ....


Makes me wonder about the quaility?
But then again , the retail shop , "they made a little over 40%, which is very reasonable " :confused:
Click to expand...


There's a lot more to it than you are thinking..............OVERHEAD............

Okay, first it's common knowledge that BDS has a stringent dealer program. You have to have a shop and that shop costs money. Then you have to have employees manning that shop, and that costs money. That's the simple way of looking at it.

But then again if a shop charged you 55% markup on something you bought and I'm sure they probably are selling a lot of that product, then maybe that's tells you something..............

I have my own little side business, and I deal in the same thing. I have nowhere near the overhead a shop does, but when I go through pricing items on the website, sometimes I cringe at the final price and my markup is nowhere near what you paid. You also have to remember that these folks are living off of this. I'm not. My thing is to make money to support my hobby. I don't plan on doing it fulltime because I already have a job that keeps me entertained as is.
 
You also have to figure overhead for the returning customer that a local shop takes care of when a problem comes up.
 
Unfortunately it's the way of the world. I have my own motorcycle business and I often make up a customers bill, look at it and think "I can't charge him that much!"
A friend of mine that I worked with for years is a ruthless business man. Where as I cut my mark up to the bone he charges the full whack...and people still go to him...so who's the fool? Me with a '91 and '78 K5 or him with a F150 '02, Bentley coupe, C5 'vette '78 C10 on 44's and a house in 3 countries?
If suppliers like BDS etc didn't support their dealers and sold direct to the public you'd have no dealers to go to when you needed something in a hurry on a Saturday afternoon and mail giants Summit etc would get very rich!
There is no easy way out. As Bubba says, he cringes when he looks at what he NEEDS to charge. I think most people would cringe if they knew what dealers had to pay in insurance (road risk, employer liability, public liability, service liability, tools, equiptment, buildings, fixtures and fitting, loss of trading) business rates, premises rent, wages etc etc.
I'm not having a moan really, but I do get tired of people coming in here, buying a bit for their harley for £500 ($900) and then moaning that 'they could have got it America for$500' . OK pal, you fly out and get it or pay for shipping (often as much as the parts cost...or more!) then pay import duty and tax!
Sorry, rant over. I reckon you payed a fairly normal 'big shop' mark up. If you'd been real nice to Bubba and polished his cruiser you may have got it a bit cheaper but at the end of the day business is business.
Enjoy your springs! :D
 
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