stihl's online sales policy

[treequip]

HI TREE before you start naming people like you have in other posts on this you need to get it right mate as it make you look :thumbdown:mate dealers can give what %%%%% they like so ring stihl uk ask for the top man he will tell thanks jon

 

Why don't you tell us why they did it?

 

What secrets did the top man impart on you?

 

If they didn't do it to protect the dealer network why did they do it????

[Steve Bullman]

Just ignore him Jon

[Eddy_t]

Not sure where you're getting your information from but in pretty sure you're way out

 

 

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Local dealer actually, they pretty much give me free run of the shop when I need parts, including the stihl ordering website, which I'm apparently not supposed to see, which details parts, the stihl selling price and retailer price, which, given the fact that they're cheaper than L&S, and they still mark up 15% of the stihl price for parts, whilst dropping 20% on machinery and still take a fair cut

 

 

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[Ian Leach]

It doesn't matter what the retail mark the price up as, the fact is every dealer gets the same discount be it buying one machine or 10. You can't blame the internet dealers for buying ten and making less profit but selling more as they sell cheaper than the people who just buy 2 or 3.

 

Also how have some people got the assumption that dealers have higher overheads than internet sellers is beyond me, all the ones I know have shops/warehouses.

 

You could always flip it the other way around and say dealers are greedy in what profit they want and therefore don't discount as much. They haven't got the vision to move with the times. The list can be endless.

 

Like I said on my previous post it's no ones fault, Stihl have decided this and only they know why. Until a rep comes on here and answers questions then nobody really knows what's going on and then assumes.

 

Well there's my two pence worth, I've said enough. Personally I think the thread has gone from the online policy to blaming the internet dealers.

 

Anyway I'm out of this thread now, night people

[Eddy_t]

It doesn't matter what the retail mark the price up as, the fact is every dealer gets the same discount be it buying one machine or 10. You can't blame the internet dealers for buying ten and making less profit but selling more as they sell cheaper than the people who just buy 2 or 3.

 

Also how have some people got the assumption that dealers have higher overheads than internet sellers is beyond me, all the ones I know have shops/warehouses.

 

You could always flip it the other way around and say dealers are greedy in what profit they want and therefore don't discount as much. They haven't got the vision to move with the times. The list can be endless.

 

Like I said on my previous post it's no ones fault, Stihl have decided this and only they know why. Until a rep comes on here and answers questions then nobody really knows what's going on and then assumes.

 

Well there's my two pence worth, I've said enough. Personally I think the thread has gone from the online policy to blaming the internet dealers.

 

Anyway I'm out of this thread now, night people

 

I agree 100%, I just find it frustrating that stihl has adopted this policy but then makes certain parts unavailable in certain countries, it seems counter productive to restrict the market of their equipment and then restrict the parts support further

 

 

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[2stroke-ady]

Yes the dealers get the items for about 50-60% of the rrp, with parts they then mark it up with a further price

 

 

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I can't comment on Stihl but the Husky dealer terms (discount etc.) are very complicated! It depends on how much you spend and what quantity you buy of certain items and also how you buy, if that makes sense.

 

The best discounts I know of are for consumables, bars, chains, oil, files, clothing etc.

 

We get nothing like 50-60% of spares or saws!!!!

[Steve Bullman]

I can't comment on Stihl but the Husky dealer terms (discount etc.) are very complicated! It depends on how much you spend and what quantity you buy of certain items and also how you buy, if that makes sense.

 

The best discounts I know of are for consumables, bars, chains, oil, files, clothing etc.

 

We get nothing like 50-60% of spares or saws!!!!

 

No one does, despite eddys claims

 

 

 

 

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[Marko]

For us it really isn't about savings on RRP.

 

On the bulk of items the 'on cost' for us is the 20 mile round trip to order a part and the 20 mile round trip to collect the part when it is eventually available for collection. All having to be done in working time. This is why we used online channels for parts in the first place - any savings over the dealer price were a bonus but not the driver.

 

RRP across the board would be fine with us if dealers could offer mail order (the totally level playing field would mean customer service would be the only differentiator - how can that be bad) OR a central Stihl mail order service selling at RRP and allow dealers to undercut if they want.

 

Interestingly, our "dealer" claims to have not benefited at all by the change. He has not seen any change in big ticket sales but he now has a massively increased admin burden to process bits and bobs that cost pence.

 

The other thing to note is that since the model was implemented, not a single original Stihl part has crossed our threshold. Pattern parts, ebay and using up our own stock have kept our few remaining Stihl machines going up to now.

[Mark_Skyland]

It doesn't matter what the retail mark the price up as,the fact is every dealer gets the same discount be it buying one machine or 10. You can't blame the internet dealers for buying ten and making less profit but selling more as they sell cheaper than the people who just buy 2 or 3.

 

Also how have some people got the assumption that dealers have higher overheads than internet sellers is beyond me, all the ones I know have shops/warehouses.

 

You could always flip it the other way around and say dealers are greedy in what profit they want and therefore don't discount as much. They haven't got the vision to move with the times. The list can be endless.

 

Like I said on my previous post it's no ones fault, Stihl have decided this and only they know why. Until a rep comes on here and answers questions then nobody really knows what's going on and then assumes.

 

Well there's my two pence worth, I've said enough. Personally I think the thread has gone from the online policy to blaming the internet dealers.

 

Anyway I'm out of this thread now, night people

 

 

I hope you don't mind me highlighting this bit Ian but I'm just going to try and clarify a few things.

 

Although you are correct in saying the discount is the same wether we buy 1 or 10 machines the amount of discount is not the same for every dealer. Not all main dealers are on the same discount level.

 

Also not every dealer is a main dealer, a lot are subdealers (like us) who purchase through main dealers.

 

So, if your local dealer is a stub dealer and he isn't getting the best of rates from his supplier then there is not much chance he can price match the lowest out there.

 

If I sold saws at prices I have seen I would end up with £10 on a £500 saw and that's with us getting a very good discount from our suppliers! If I took the discount offered to us from the first supplier we contracted there would be £0 left. The margins are just so tight.

 

Btw this isn't a whinge at all, this is the business we are in, it's just maybe with bearingthe above in mind when asking to price match.

[aspenarb]

For us it really isn't about savings on RRP.

 

On the bulk of items the 'on cost' for us is the 20 mile round trip to order a part and the 20 mile round trip to collect the part when it is eventually available for collection. All having to be done in working time. This is why we used online channels for parts in the first place - any savings over the dealer price were a bonus but not the driver.

 

RRP across the board would be fine with us if dealers could offer mail order (the totally level playing field would mean customer service would be the only differentiator - how can that be bad) OR a central Stihl mail order service selling at RRP and allow dealers to undercut if they want.

 

Interestingly, our "dealer" claims to have not benefited at all by the change. He has not seen any change in big ticket sales but he now has a massively increased admin burden to process bits and bobs that cost pence.

 

The other thing to note is that since the model was implemented, not a single original Stihl part has crossed our threshold. Pattern parts, ebay and using up our own stock have kept our few remaining Stihl machines going up to now.

 

 

A bit related to this post but not the thread. I have saved a fortune on running about for bits by getting the full blown spares/workshop manual CD off the internet. It gives you a workshop manual for all the Husky/Stihl products including the leaf blowers which also includes all the part numbers. It costs about £20, so now I just phone through the part numbers and the CORRECT bits duly turn up. Before this over the years I must have amassed at least 1k in wrongly ordered parts which was a combination of dealer error and my blokes asking for the wrong parts. From this i have printed off and laminated the relevant pages for workshop use.

 

Bob