Who would you reccomend that has good service?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2009 12:11AM by Al Sanders.

Al,

I buy from many folks, but Mud Hole would be a good place to start. Go to their site and they have all of the info that you need to get going.

Steve

Steve Bro
(BroCo Custom Rods)

Mudhole sells whole sale? Couldn't find info on their site



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2009 12:12AM by Al Sanders.

Anglers Workshop also has a wholesale division.

Mud hole has a link to click on for Whole Sale, You give them your Tax Id and you are in it to win it.

Steve

Steve Bro
(BroCo Custom Rods)

If you contact St.Croix, they will give you a list of their Wholesalers, otherwise you could E-mail me and I could pass that list along.

Steve Bro
(BroCo Custom Rods)

Most of the sponsors have a wholesle section

Good Wraps Bob

Al I'm not sure what part of the Country you're from but that could make a difference in the shipping you pay. Not big deal but it all adds up. When I started Bob at Custom Tackle Supply walked me through the process of building rods over the phone. Believe me he worked overtime!!! It's been 12 years and I have no complaints to date.

I also moved to Washington for a 2 year period and found Anglers Workshop, Jon's group does a great job as well. I've ordered a couple of times from Mud Hole and have no complaints there either. I guess pick someone and work with them but you should have other options just in case some thing is out of stock. These guys understand that and strive to give you great service. I look forward to meeting others in the Sponsor list also.

"Wholesale" accounts are teh biggest scam in this industry. THe majority of people purchasing "wholesale" are not buying in wholesale quantities, and many don't even have a rod building business. Every single supplier has wholesale pricing, but unfortunately none of them have any set minimums, all you need is a bus license/tax ID for propane sales, and you can order at the reduced pricign from many of them. THe concept behind wholesale pricing is volume sales with little interaction between company/customer service and consumer. THe profit margins are so slim, and a TRUE person in business shouldn't be calling up looking for a handheld walk through their order asking questions such as which color thread looks good with fuschia, they should be ordering 10 of this, 20 of that and let teh suppplier spend the time handling non professionals which are paying a bit more, and they can warrant spending 20 minutes on teh phone going through an order.

Can you go to the mall or a shoe store and buy one pair of tennis shoes at Advertised Wholsale Factory Direct Pricing - Sure

Joe's Diner or Harry's Pharmacy can file the proper papers and get the $ 71.60

Old Joe or Little Harry really thinks he has cut a big deal -

Maybe Maybe Not

One Blank Price Example*

Retail - $ 91.60

Wholesale - $ 71.40

OEM Level 1 - $ 36.80

Factory Direct Lots of 50 Each Model $ 29.80

Factory Direct Lots of 100 Each Model $ 19.70

Lots of 1,000 blanks each model and cash payment please send up a smoke signal I will pay for the call!

How many blanks do you want to buy?

* Not an exact example of any blank or any vendor's pricing structure - just approximations of real world blank pricing.

Once of of the suppliers take the non-fishing rod license, they all HAD TO. Either that or lose the sales to the other guy who is taking Barnum & Bailey Cotton CAndy Salesman licenses. Honestly, even with that type of a license, tehre should be a minimum order to achieve wholesale pricing.

Billy - I think its a bit of a catch 22. If I'm ordering enough to warrant large quantities, why wouldn't I bypass the distributor and go to manufacturers directly? I believe all/most of them have pricing tiers dependent on quantity you buy. And there is your minimums, pricing tiers, etc. It's up to you as a builder to determine if you could meet those minimums. Some of them are not as out of reach as you would think for someone selling a modest volume of rods in a year.

One concept of a distributor is to take 100 of an item and only sell 50 to one person, or 10 to another. It's at their discretion to establish their own minimums for wholesale, or discounted pricing. That's going to be based on their personal business model.

I see your point, and heard it before, but the distributors themselves are making the decision as to whether or not they want to spend 20 minutes with a "wholesale" customer. Remember a lot of these distributors are their own and only salesperson and spending that 20 minutes gives the opportunity for upsales which can pay back many times over with new products, repeat business, etc.

Most other industries with wholesale accounts - you deal directly with a sales professional who is spending that 20 minutes with a WHOLESALE customer. That's his/her job to go out and sell product and negotiate prices - they just don't happen to do the books and package the orders too.

Some of our sponsors actually HAVE implemented minimums and requirements other than "just having a business license" ie - no joe's plumbing. One problem with minimums at a distributor level is if they don't have a full product line, the builder has to decide if they should restrict themself to only that offering to meet those yearly quotas.

I know personally I ran into the minimum issue with a distributor a few months ago and that entity has lost all my business because I didn't want to tie myself to the minimum they required. Did I think I couldn't meet that minimum? No I know I could meet it. But why restrict myself and have one more worry about the operational side? Getting his discount could cost me more in the long run because since he didn't offer everything I needed, I would end up having short orders to another distributor (side effect of not being able to get everything in one place) and incurring additional shipping. Not being tied to a distributor minimum lets me make better decisions to benefit my clients and my bottom line profit. Why did they lose all my business? Because there was no other reduced pricing option if not meeting a required minimum.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2009 11:04AM by Alex Dziengielewski.

Guy's I just have to jump in here. My thought is this we at fishstick do impose a yearly minimum that our wholesale customers need to purchase in order to stay wholesale, That minimum however is far less then if you tried to purchase from any supplier directly say Fuji, Batson, American tackle etc. and you get the added advantage of being able to by wholesale from all of those suppliers and more without having to meet there minimum requirements. We feel that is the advantage with shopping with us. Because some of the above mentioned suppliers require a pretty hefty investment to even get there pricing. While some still buy direct they don't get any better pricing then if they bought wholesale from us and can take advantage of all of the other products that we offer as well. Our product line is Fuji, Batson, American Tackle, CTS, Lamiglas, Flexcoat, RodDancer, Gudebrod, FishHawk, Madeira and we will soon be adding more. Thank you to those who buy from us and we look forward to working with those of you who haven't shopped with us yet.
Scott and Karen

Without going too deeply into any of this (this could go on for pages) I would just like to toss in the fact that the rod building blank and component business is probably more competitive and less profitable than at any time in rod building history. The current business practices, set in large part by the major manufacturers and distributors of the products, has opened the door for things that have put this entire industry on shaky ground.

Hardly a week goes by when I don't get a call or email from a rod builder who has decided to "get into the component business." They see it as a something that must be extremely profitable and requires very little investment. Most of those who have taken the plunge found out quickly that it's not the road to easy street that they thought it was. Many, if not most, go by the wayside in short order, but the sales and discounts they offered while they were trying to gain some market share greatly undermined the long time "brick and mortar" dealers. And don't think a good many custom rod builders haven't been left holding the bag when some of these guys have closed shop.

I guess I've gotten off the original point, other than to perhaps point out that the industry needs better business practices. Years ago when the rod building industry was much stronger, not even a proper business license would necessarily get you a wholesale price. Many companies required that you place a certain opening order and that you do a certain amount of business with them during that calendar year in order to maintain that price level. Although it may sound unreasonable to some nowadays, the industry was much stronger then than it is now.

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My .02 cents. As a new guy I've looked around for the best prices for comparable product. I can walk in to my local shop and beat the prices from a south east company. The mail order guys almost expect you to fill out a wholesale certificate. They have no minimums however. I don't know what their wholesale pricing would be. I spoke with another well known importer of blanks just this morning and their policy is a $1500.00 initial order and $3000.00 per year. I think that that is the way it should be. My feeling is that if everyone becomes ABC Rod Building , then we are going to crush our local retail guys. Next will be having to go directly to the manufacturer or the importer which will in time turn them into the retailers that we all just put out of business.
JMHO,

John

Man how quick a simple question can turn so negitive. Just stick to the man's SIMPLE question.

Who would you reccomend that has good service?

Recomend the guys that have done you right and let the individual worry about legal/Tax issues, Uncle Sam will deal with them.

Keep it Positive. Great post from one vendor "Kudos"

I've already posted the guys that helped me get started and do me right day after day. Every rod I buy is sold I appreciate the guys that don't require a minimum order. In fact they get my business for the entire year.

Gabe,

You're correct. Thanks for bringing the topic back on line.

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I would hope that vendors require more than a tax ID number. If you're selling rods that you've manufactured you must have a Federal EIN. Vendors should ask about that IMHO.

As a little guy with a day job, it's very tough to stock lots of inventory. I have a very small, but legitimate rodbuilding business with some happy, repeat customers. I only have about 40 blanks in the shop right now. I just received orders from 3 people for a total of 6 rods. None are blanks I have in stock, and I called six vendors and only one of them might have any CB70MH in stock (waiting on an email). I think large minimums would put many of us out of business. Who wins then? Not the vendor, not the customers, and not us as small builders.

To answer the original question - just look to the sponsors on the left. ALL have been great to work with.

Chuck

I wanted to respond to Robert but his posts were gone??

If you are referring to "robert smith" at "[email protected], that turned out to be an alias. That person was not who he claimed to be. Per the rules, he is permanently banned.

I do the best I can to keep trouble makers and dishonest persons off this forum. Because I try to give folks the benefit of the doubt, however, it's impossible to catch the riffraff 100% of the time. A few will always slip in use and attempt to use the forum for ulterior motives. I'm afraid that's the nature of the beast for public forums of any kind, including those aimed at custom rod builders. But as I said, I do what I can to keep them out and they are in the vast minority here.


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