Hi
I have been thinking about supplying reels and line with my rods. I've had some customers ask about reels and some just wanting a reel. I would like to know where you all buy your reels. I would like to get most all brands at one place, wholesale. Spinning,casting and fly reels

Thanks
Mike
Mikes Custom Fly Rods

Angler's Workshop has a nice selection of fly reels and SOME are available at wholesale (if you qualify). Becoming a dealer for spinning and casting reels can be a bit more difficult ... at least for the better brands (Daiwa, Shimano, etc.). You will need a brick and mortar location AND minimum annual sales to qualify.

I buy mine froma nearby dealer who is a pretty good friend. If I have a customer who wants a package deal, I just go to him and buy it. I feel like I should own the store by now with what I spend there but they treat me right and I've yet to pay full retail on anything. If a customer asks for a reccoemndation , I send them his way as well.
The biggest thing is being knowledgable enough about different brands to make an educated choice, which is where a local tackle shop will be your best friend.

The margins on reels these days is not very high. Places like Bass Pro and Cabelas are selling at near wholesale anyway. You are not going to save much with any sort of wholesale account. This is why so many mom and pop fishing tackle stores have folded in recent years. Hard to compete with the big box stores that sell to the public at near wholesale anyway.

Thanks for the input.

MIKE YOU GOT MAIL...I LEFT INFO ON WHOLE SALE

Bill@midwestrodandreel.com
www.midwestrodandreel.com

It is not that the big box stores are selling at even close to wholesale. The reel companies, at least the major ones, place MSRP pricing on most reels which is meant to protect the big box stores. Selling or advertising at lower than MSRP will get your dealership privelages revoked. Small shops could sell very close to wholesale and still make a few bucks, but that makes it tough on the big stores, so MSRP comes into play. I know that I will catch hang from a few on this but it is the honest truth. The big box stores price right at or just above MSRP, so no reason to shop a small store anymore, resulting in them going under (The Walmart principle). It is true, that a cheap spinning reel (<$40), will only have a few dollars margin, but the expensive ones (>$100), there is plenty of margin to play in. I just checked-My wholesale price on an Okuma Convector 45D Linecounter is $54, MSRP is $84.99, Cabelas price is $84.99. As a retailer, you have to get creative to get around the "MSRP" or big box store safety net. In store coupons, or Instand redeemable coupons, is one way to sell lower than MSRP and be legal. Discounting your rod for the difference is also a good way to sell the reel below MSRP and meet your agreements. It is all about protecting wall street and the big business groups. My suggestion is to apply for wholesale privelages, read and understand the MSRP rules, and get creative to make yourself competitive and still make a couple bucks. Fire away wall street! Tell us how price fixing levels the playing field between a mega million, plush 200,000 square feet mega retailer and a mom and pop tackle store.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2009 09:51AM by Tony Childs.

Fair Trade Pricing (not price fixing) benefits the small mom and pop shops because they need a decent margin in order to survive. The large retailers can get by on very slim margins because they deal in volume sales. This is precisely why small fly shops did so well over the past 20 years while so many general tackle stores fell by the wayside.

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MAP contracts (minimum advertised price) protect the brand ... not the retailer, small or large. Nothing erodes an industry faster than haphazard pricing. Whether it is through couponing, @#$%& sales or having an unclear line between retail and wholesale.

There is PLENTY of margin in fishing reels. There are requirements in place to protect the industry ... it is just that simple. That protection covers the manufacturer, their reps, my distributor, their reps, my business AND the big box store down the street. MAP pricing isn't "price fixing". There is absolutely no collusion between different manufacturers, distributors, dealers or anyone else for that matter.

Jim -

I don't think that you can't put fly shops in the same category as "Fishing Retail". Fly fishing is a very highly specialized niche in fishing. Gander Mountain will never sell much fly equipment, because the 17 year old kid behind the counter doesn't have a clue about anything on the shelf, can't help the fishermen make a single choice, and doesn't know the difference between a brown and a brookie. Purchasing a spinning, casting or trolling reel is very cut and dry for most fishermen. The internet and 7/24 sportfishing shows on cable and satellite have already made up the minds of many potential customers. They simply price shop and go where they can see the most stuff on the shelf.

The only thing a small shop has to offer is knowlege and service, sadly not on the top of most consumers list. Once price has been set, fixed, or whatever political word you like, the little guy doesn't have a chance. The manufacturer gets their "wholesale" price on every reel they sell to distributers, nothing more nothing less. End price has zero effect on their balance sheet, only the total number of reels produced and sold. Once the distributers sell to retailers and make a buck or two, and the retailers sell to the customer for whatever they can get above MSRP, the manufacturer still only got whatever their original price was to the distributer. All that should matter to the manufacturer is how many units they can sell, the more the better. I also don't buy that the big box stores work on smaller margins due to volume. They have huge, astronomical overhead costs to cover. That is why they want as much space between dealer cost and msrp. I know what I am up against here, so I'll just bow out having said my peace. This is exactly what is going wrong with this country-keeping the rich-richer! Believe what you want.

No, once the price has been set, the small shop can suddenly outperform the big box stores by a wide margin.

The big box and mail order giants sell on one thing and one thing only - price. If you have the option of mail ordering a reel for $100 from a big box store, or visiting your local tackle shop and buying the same reel for that same $100, you're more likely to get it from your local tackle shop.

It's been the small mom and pop shops that solicited the manufacturers for Fair Trade and MAP pricing. They wanted it after seeing what it did for all the small fly fishing shops. Bass Pro and Cabelas do not like Fair Trade or MAP pricing one bit. It removes their only real sales advantage - lower prices.

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Michigan is surrounded on all but one side with fishable water, no mom and pop stores left, flyfishing shops either- theory isn't working apparently. I like debate, but this is one case where I think we have to agree to disagree, smile and be happy.

Tony -

The reason that Mom and Pop stores are dying off ... failure to adapt AND failure to offer value. It has very little to do with pricing, quite the opposite IMO. I have watched far too many small shop owners sit on their laurels and continue to operate without adapting to the current trends.

A minimum of 5% of retail sales from big box operations goes back into marketing - marketing for TODAY'S consumer. Most smaller operations invest less than 1% into the same expense categories AND what they do tend to spend on marketing, is usually formatted for an audience that existed 10 years ago. Anything less than cutting edge technology will leave you eating dust in today's world.

One of the other problem areas for small shops - they simply don't invest the time and resources to keep up with the trade. It isn't hard to beat the box stores in the knowledge game, but you have to at least try. Many small shops simply don't offer more value than the big box store. So what would the attraction be for a consumer?

In addition, the big box stores invest in CPAs, MBAs, psychologists, graphics designers, etc. Although a small operation wouldn't need to necessarily compete quite at that level - they still have to be able to dribble the ball. A steady diet of business magazines, sales training books, marketing books and other materials would be a fabulous start with minimal investment ... no college required.

Basically, it boils down to one simple statement ... This isn't 1968 and wishing isn't going to make it so.

TONY:

I agree 100% with your first posting...that's the way it's in Alaska too. But, a few mom and pop fly shops have been able to hold on here. Because? Just as you said brother; the 17 year old computer geek behind the counter has not a clue between a WF-9-F and a DT-9-F or how to set a up a correct fly line with the "good" connections it needs.

Paul

Jim says it all. The big stores have hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars of captital to spend on marketing, stocking, advertising, plush fully stocked stores. No amount of knowlege or service can get past that kind of machine. I would put my shops knowlege, service, and product against any local big retailer, but I don't have $10K to spend on television advertising each month, or sales to support a 5-10K per month lease on a city brick and mortar location. So, I just stay happy with my steady return clients and their referrals. The business climate is what it is, a big boy game. I am not naieve to think that manufacturers don't realize that and maximize their sales, catering to the giants. I am also not saying that I can't compete, or survive, just will never have the means to grow substantially. The custom rod business and tackle/rigging to a lesser extent will always cater to the serious sportfishermen which makes up a very small part of the fishing business. The largest chunk of the pie is the weekend warrior that is happy with Walmart/Cabelas rods and their professional (sarcastic) pro staff. Pricing is what makes that possible for Walmart. If they couldn't compete on price, the rest of this discussion comes into play with the weekend warriors as well.

To the original question, get yourself set up wholesale on reels. Do your homework on MSRP rules, and do what you can to make sales along with your rods. It does make you extra cash, although it will never make you rich or allow you to buy a bigger boat LOL.

There are very few Fair Trade or MAP priced products in the general fishing tackle market. If there were, mom and pop shops would still be around. The only reason fly fishing shops took off was the advent of Fair Trade pricing in the 1990s. Much of that pricing has been discontinued and thus fly fishing shops, some anyway, have fallen on hard times.

The big box stores can sell for a couple dollars over cost and when allowed are more than happy to do so. The small mom and pop shops can't do that.

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Your exactly right. All tackle, and fishing related items have MSRP pricing established. Only the reels and a few other high end things area actually policed effectively.

MSRP is only "Suggested" pricing - Manufacturer Suggested Retail Pricing.

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Man did I ever stir the pot.
Mike

No harm done at all.

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