What I have to deal with on a regular basis
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Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Baltimore
What I have to deal with on a regular basis
It's a rant thread 
I got an email from someone who asked:
"I have a 1995 honda accord coupe. The chassis code is CD7 but is almost identicle to the CD6 (4 door 5th gen chassis) I am looking for CUSCO suspension components. Here is a list of what I want. Please get back to me with a break down in pricing for each part and a shipping quote"
After going through the numbers, I gave him my prices, and this is his reply:
"your cost
$179+179+125 = $483
+ 26 shipping = $509
their cost
117+117+58 = $292
+ ? shipping = ?
Being a bit greedy arn't we? And those prices are retail, you get the stuff at jobber prices. I know shipping from Japan is expensive, but its not 220 bucks. And I have to wait 3 weeks for you to get it and then wait for you to ship it to me?
Sounds to me like you just pulled those prices out of your ass. "hmm lets see, I can get the lower arm bar for $40, so.... I'll charge him.....lets say.....$125......."
Thats not cool at all. Lower your profit margin if you want to make any money on this deal.
Get back to me regardless, I'm curious to see what you have to say. "
My reply:
"you wanted a "shipped" deal so all I can do is estimate since I have ZERO idea how much the items weigh, so I went conservative as any business owners would. If you want to, check out this site:
http://www.post.yusei.go.jp/p_guide_2001/p07.htm#ems
I estimated each at 3500grams (3.5 kilo) to 4000grams for the lower arm bar, take a look at the total, divide that by 125, go to UPS.com and enter our Zip code (90064) and your zip code, check the residential address box, enter 21 pounds (another estimate) and you'll get your domestic shipping quote. Now before I go into this further, you should call up your bank and find out what the consumer exchange rate is. The exchange rate offered online you see at Yahoo!? That's for banks doing multi-million dollar transactions bud, and we ain't got that kind of money. And it costs us $33 from Bank of America each time we wire money to Japan - are you willing to foot that? Now, we use 125 as a standard for safety margin purposes since it's a nice safe haven, and -4 to 4 yen difference would be 6.4%, an acceptable range of risk given the current market condition...
We usually send our bulk via freight companies, not EMS, so people usually end up waiting 3-4 weeks or so since that's our turnaround. Freight charges varies but are usually 2% to 7% less than EMS. If you have ever used an international freight forwarder, you'd know how much air freight, import taxes, customs clearance dues, bonds, and various other little fees cost. If you don't, please call up your local freight forwarder and ask. I suggest large companies we use such as BAX Global, Fritz, or Expeditor.
I did pull the weight out of my ass and for that I apologize (strut tower bars weigh anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds per package, btw), now if you want to be rude, that's fine. I'm not in the business to lose money, and quite honestly I think everyone who buys import parts should at least try to run their import company at least once to actually understand the cost of it before accusing the shop owners of cheating and lying..."
End of rant.
I got an email from someone who asked:
"I have a 1995 honda accord coupe. The chassis code is CD7 but is almost identicle to the CD6 (4 door 5th gen chassis) I am looking for CUSCO suspension components. Here is a list of what I want. Please get back to me with a break down in pricing for each part and a shipping quote"
After going through the numbers, I gave him my prices, and this is his reply:
"your cost
$179+179+125 = $483
+ 26 shipping = $509
their cost
117+117+58 = $292
+ ? shipping = ?
Being a bit greedy arn't we? And those prices are retail, you get the stuff at jobber prices. I know shipping from Japan is expensive, but its not 220 bucks. And I have to wait 3 weeks for you to get it and then wait for you to ship it to me?
Sounds to me like you just pulled those prices out of your ass. "hmm lets see, I can get the lower arm bar for $40, so.... I'll charge him.....lets say.....$125......."
Thats not cool at all. Lower your profit margin if you want to make any money on this deal.
Get back to me regardless, I'm curious to see what you have to say. "
My reply:
"you wanted a "shipped" deal so all I can do is estimate since I have ZERO idea how much the items weigh, so I went conservative as any business owners would. If you want to, check out this site:
http://www.post.yusei.go.jp/p_guide_2001/p07.htm#ems
I estimated each at 3500grams (3.5 kilo) to 4000grams for the lower arm bar, take a look at the total, divide that by 125, go to UPS.com and enter our Zip code (90064) and your zip code, check the residential address box, enter 21 pounds (another estimate) and you'll get your domestic shipping quote. Now before I go into this further, you should call up your bank and find out what the consumer exchange rate is. The exchange rate offered online you see at Yahoo!? That's for banks doing multi-million dollar transactions bud, and we ain't got that kind of money. And it costs us $33 from Bank of America each time we wire money to Japan - are you willing to foot that? Now, we use 125 as a standard for safety margin purposes since it's a nice safe haven, and -4 to 4 yen difference would be 6.4%, an acceptable range of risk given the current market condition...
We usually send our bulk via freight companies, not EMS, so people usually end up waiting 3-4 weeks or so since that's our turnaround. Freight charges varies but are usually 2% to 7% less than EMS. If you have ever used an international freight forwarder, you'd know how much air freight, import taxes, customs clearance dues, bonds, and various other little fees cost. If you don't, please call up your local freight forwarder and ask. I suggest large companies we use such as BAX Global, Fritz, or Expeditor.
I did pull the weight out of my ass and for that I apologize (strut tower bars weigh anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds per package, btw), now if you want to be rude, that's fine. I'm not in the business to lose money, and quite honestly I think everyone who buys import parts should at least try to run their import company at least once to actually understand the cost of it before accusing the shop owners of cheating and lying..."
End of rant.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,079
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From: Irvine
Originally posted by MarkS2K
Man, it sure sucks to have to deal with some of your customers. Some customers are just not worth having.
Now go out and take a drive in this nice weather that we're having.
Man, it sure sucks to have to deal with some of your customers. Some customers are just not worth having.
Now go out and take a drive in this nice weather that we're having.
It sucks we have ignorant schmucks like that who don't appreciate what other people do without at least knowing how the business runs.
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Registered User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,441
Likes: 0
From: Honolulu
Mingster, don't worry about it. It's all a part of doing retail. Everyone wants the cheapest price, but not many consider the "value" of the service provided either. You give great support on your products, and that's an added bonus. Just blow it off, be professional (like you did), and go for a drive! 
