stihl's online sales policy

[morten]

Thats a bit of a short sighted statement.

 

If it werent for the internet policy, anyone could sell the saws which means you'd have a stack of ebay sellers selling from their garages with next to no overheads unlike the official stihl dealers who have to cover these costs in their mark up.

 

As Les said, the dealers would soon get tired of this and parts/servicing etc would then become an issue. So whilst it might seem great in the short term getting your saws cheaper than the dealer, in the long run i believe it would be bad for everyone. I think Stihl are doing the right thing personally

 

What exactly do you mean is shortsighted?

 

I am not advocating the online selling of Stihl products. I have made no such statement.

 

I agree with you, that unless the margin for the dealers are maintained, they will go out of business, and so will their service, knowledge and local spares-availability. What I am complaining about is that Stihl is not using that as an argument for maintaining the no-online policy. And the reson is, that they would not be allowed to by regulatory bodies around the world. Question is how long they will be able to enforce their policy.

 

Only time will tell.

[Timbermcpherson]

Its stihl keeping prices as high as possible worldwide.

 

Its stihl keeping prices as high as possible worldwide

 

Its stihl keeping prices as high as possible worldwide

 

Im in NZ. I can get on a plane, fly for 9 hours, have 2 meals, hit the drinks trolley and a bunch of movies. Land in LA. Go to a shop and buy 4 ms201T's. Fly back home and still have saved money on buying them from the shop 15 minutes from where I live. And I get to get drunk.

 

Before the restriction of huskys, guys in sweden who worked at a husky plant could not, even with staff discount, get a 346xp hot off the line cheaper than they could from Baileys including shipping.

The dealers arent making the money, Stihl is.

 

Its stihl keeping prices as high as possible worldwide.

 

Any other excuse is just convenient propaganda.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Timbermcpherson

[Andy Collins]

If its to protect the local dealerships, then the local dealerships should carry a comprehensiverange of parts and spares as part of their commitment. The number of times I have been to local "approved" dealers to order parts, they have to order them in, it takes 2 weeks for that part to come, or I order online from out of area dealers and I have the part on my doorstep tomorrow. Its the old laws of supply and demand though, if they cant supply, there are plenty of other manufacturers who make pro saws who will supply. If you dont like Stihls policy, buy an alternative. We are the customers, without our money and support they are affected directly. You do have a choice.

[Timbermcpherson]

If its to protect the local dealerships, then the local dealerships should carry a comprehensiverange of parts and spares as part of their commitment. The number of times I have been to local "approved" dealers to order parts, they have to order them in, it takes 2 weeks for that part to come, or I order online from out of area dealers and I have the part on my doorstep tomorrow. Its the old laws of supply and demand though, if they cant supply, there are plenty of other manufacturers who make pro saws who will supply. If you dont like Stihls policy, buy an alternative. We are the customers, without our money and support they are affected directly. You do have a choice.

 

Online pro saws? Apart from makita/dolmar, I dont think we do have any choice. They are trying to use regional retail protections in an international online world. They are willing to use global sourcing of cheap labor and materials but dont want us to do the same in sourcing there products?

Screw em.

Get a source in the US and use it.

 

Stihl cant afford to loose its dealers, as they are needed to keep their distribution of parts open as well as the bulk of regional retail sales. No dealers, less sales and corperate stihl starts hurting

If the dealers are hurting because people are sourcing cheaper elsewhere then stihl will have to help increase sales by lowering prices to the dealers, and therefore, to us.

Keeping buying from your local dealer, and the only thing that will change is that prices will stay high.

[morten]

Online pro saws? Apart from makita/dolmar, I dont think we do have any choice. They are trying to use regional retail protections in an international online world. They are willing to use global sourcing of cheap labor and materials but dont want us to do the same in sourcing there products?

Screw em.

Get a source in the US and use it.

 

Stihl cant afford to loose its dealers, as they are needed to keep their distribution of parts open as well as the bulk of regional retail sales. No dealers, less sales and corperate stihl starts hurting

If the dealers are hurting because people are sourcing cheaper elsewhere then stihl will have to help increase sales by lowering prices to the dealers, and therefore, to us.

Keeping buying from your local dealer, and the only thing that will change is that prices will stay high.

 

+1 for that.

 

What Stihl could consider, would be to offer lower rates to those resellers that commit to having showroom facilities, professional advice, stock common spares and provide servicing, but allow online sales.

That way, the professional resellers would be able to compete with the online providers, and might end up selling more.

[agg221]

My principal annoyance is that the local dealers (to me) -don't- provide any service or support. I get comments like "it's old, buy a new one" or "we don't know why it broke, buy a new one". As above, if I order parts from them it takes over a week as they're not really interested, compared with genuine parts from somewhere like Garden Hire Spares which usually arrive within three days and sometimes next day. I also get surly treatment and am seen as an irritation as I'm not there to buy a new saw. One of the dealers is also responsible for failing to install the crank seal properly when replacing the crankshaft on my 066, resulting in another wrecked pot and piston (unprovable, but true). Another dealer clearly isn't used to working on saws of the type I use - I took the 044 in for a tach tune once only to be told "wow, that's really big, we've never seen one that big in here before" which hardly inspires confidence in taking them the 066 or 076.

 

None of the above leaves me any the wiser or better off from having visited the dealer - the only thing they seem to want is to sell me a new saw. If that's the only service they're offering then mail order at lower cost would seem to have no down sides for the customer.

 

Also bear in mind that secondhand saws of any make or model can be had on ebay. OK, so it's very much buyer beware, but there is nothing to stop a novice buying an 088 (or an 090G with no chain brake!) without any PPE, instruction or anything.

 

As such, I can only conclude that it's profit driven, and we'd be better off with the decent saw technicians going independent rather than dealer based, which would also cut their overhead (and hence cost). Looks like the best protest vote would be if we all buy secondhand saws and pay Spudulike to fix them!

 

Alec

[Shane]

Whatever the pros and cons of dealers-only selling Stihl, if your local dealer has a poor supply of spares why not try a slightly less local one. There is quite a network of them.

I must say my local dealer just about always has whatever I want so I (along with many other West Sussex bods just keep going back to him.

I guess site rules prevent me from mentioning which one it is in Walburton.

[agg221]

Whatever the pros and cons of dealers-only selling Stihl, if your local dealer has a poor supply of spares why not try a slightly less local one.

 

I've tried three different ones within a 25mile radius of me. The two I know to have a good reputation 'locally' to me are Jonesie's and one in Ipswich - either of these are a 3hr round trip!

 

Alec

[SEOGuy]

I read this thread with interest. I cannot see how this can truly be a good thing? Stopping all online dealerships from selling online must be hammering Stihls profits not to mention the little guys profits. People are reluctant to do click and collect and therefore forced to go local. Which sucks.

[easy-lift guy]

Does any one know if Stihl force this in the US? The US is the worlds biggest market and funnily enough the only Stihl website to have online manuals available.

 

Mortens version sounds about right, having worked for a German company for 29 years it all sounds a bit famillier - the company forcing their practices on the public but then having to bend the rules in the US as they wont take any rap:001_rolleyes:

 

In our company all of Europe has to purchase products from our German HQ but the yanks do their own thing!

 

The policy you speak of does not exist here Stateside. Not sure how long this policy will last for you guys. I really do not believe this policy could have any legs here.

easy-lift guy