Dealer Support

[knoxracing]

I want to politely bring a new topic to this group, dealer support. I read ALOT about racers searching the web for parts at a discount price or a better than USLC price. I TRULY understand the dollar is tight and stretching it is important. We dealers have invested ALOT of money to inventory a fairly complete parts dept. that include all of the USLC Legend Car components, and in my case I go beyond that and try to research and provide some parts that I feel are a better fit or might provide you with a better bang for your dollar. Many components I purchase and sell at a discounted price, this is done by buying in quanity, this is good for the racer but it does require an investment.  Being an authorized USLC dealer requires me to stock alot of parts that arent sold everyday except for the day you racers HAVE to have it, then I had better have it. There are days at the track I sell 2 bumpers, or slow weeks we sell nothing, it makes it hard to keep an inventory. I am not begging anyone to buy from me, what I am saying is there are authorized USLC dealers that support racers and have invetsed in an inventory and unless we are supported we will not remain in business.  A fender cost  you $84.00, try stocking 100 of them, there are four different rears and basically six different fronts.  It would be much easier to stock a handful of  various components and someday may come to that, everything will be sold through USLC because the dealers werent supported and you will order it  and wait. Lastly i would like to hear what would make the dealers better, how can they be improved? I plan on passing all this on to USLC. thanks!

[justfreaky]

LegendsRacer.com is working on a section for all our dealer members to advertise. This section will be for members who are Manufacturers or Dealers  for Legends, Thunder Roadsters and/or Bandolero cars, parts, safety equipment, decals and paint, or services only. No Private Party advertising will be accepted in this section.
Advertising in this section will be provided free of charge to our business members. This section is intended as a place to post Monthly Specials, Close Out Sales, Services, Etc...

I know many here on the site try to support fellow members. Hope to have this section up and running very soon!

Steve

[IraceLegends77]

I always try and support the people who support us. I hear what Dennis is saying and do use a dealer a lot. I also use Jim (VMS) and others on this site and having a dealer area would be great. The only thing is when I can buy a item let say for $13.14 vs. $49.00 that is a no brainier. I race on a soldier's budget and try and make every penny count. I do understand that the dealer make a big investment and there effort doesn't go unappreciated. I don't have a dealer that is with in a couple hours drive so internet parts is where I have to shop. I'm looking forward to this new area.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[chadvarner85]

I agree with you Dennis. I always try to support my local dealer unless I think the quality that USLC supplies is junk.  Then I  will look else where for parts. Unlike my dealer only CArries USLC parts.

[knoxracing]

I totally agree, sometimes the dollar just needs to be stretched and the stuff does not grow on trees.  I appreciate anyone that races and I respect the fact that the dollars are fewer and farther between these days, sometimes you just have to go where the dollar goes furthest.

[racerrad8]

Dennis,

I am my USLCI dealers biggest customer. With that said my dealer also supports me in buying items he doesn't have to get from USLCI from me. He buys these items from me, and other outside vendors, so he now can have a larger profit margin to help him stay in business and make a living. I have, just like me dealer, a lot of money invested in product to support the racer at the track, it is not just the USLCI dealer that is vesting in this series.

I buy all of my USLCI manufactured & proprietary based parts from him as there are no other options other than buying directly from USLCI. With that said, I can buy from my dealer which is two days shipping away or from the USLCI Vegas which is also two days away. The price is the same on the part & shipping, but I choose to support me dealer because he is at the track supporting the racer, not USLCI.

But why would I or any dealer  buy radius tubes, hiem joints, bearing & seals, engine gaskets, carb parts, clutch parts, etc. from them when they have the opportunity to have a larger profit margin on parts. You said it yourself, we buy in quantity and get better pricing, does USLCI offer you and quantity pricing?

There is an aftermarket for those parts and the aftermarket is going to be cheaper than USLCI. Who do you think USLCI buys from, the aftermarket and they they mark the item up for their internally controlled profit margin. You, the dealer, then get to buy the parts from them and I am fully aware that your profit margin varies from part to part.

Then to top it all off, USLCI sells parts to anyone, anywhere in the county. How is that dealer support? When USLCI sells to every racer they then make all of the profit and take the minimal profit you could have earned out of your hands. What does it matter to the racers, the price is the same from you or the mother company USLCI and the only difference is the cost of shipping, so where is the incentive to buy from a dealer?

I have been around long enough to see 7-8 dealers in my area come & go, I was part of, I believe one, of the first 10 dealerships which opened in 1994. I worked for that dealer as he struggled to make it work in the infancy of the company & series. He lasted for about 4 years and had to close the doors severely in debt. The reason most dealer go out of business is they cannot afford to keep inventory on the shelf because the profit margin is not there to support that cost. Then when they get a call and they don't have the item, USLCI has it and they sell it to the racer taking all of the profit from the "local" dealer.

The problem starts at the top Dennis and that is where the problem needs to be addressed. There needs to be an established profit margin that will allow the dealer to make enough money to stay in business without the variance in profit margin.

From there USLCI should establish a set percentage surcharge, say 10 or 20%, when items are purchased directly from them and not the "local" dealer. This additional fee should then be applied to the dealer that is closet to the customer who bought the parts. This will do two things, #1) Promote the purchase of USLCI parts from the local dealer network because the price is cheaper than direct for USLCI and #2) compensate the local dealer who lost the sale because USLCI sold directly to the customer.

Will this ever happen...I doubt it, USLCI is a portion of a publicly held company (NYSE: TRK) that requires profit for the stock holders.

I do believe this series is still the best bang for the buck, but it is people like me that offer the racer more bang for their buck. When they take it all away and everything must be purchased from USLCI and then they have options above the standard equipment how is that the premise of "INEXpensive" racing. It's not it is a business and to stay in business it must make money, how they make money is by eliminating any opportunity for anyone outside of the company to contribute.

But hey, we are going to have a new INEX brake system that USLCI can make money on now and on the horizon is the new INEX radio system too.

And Dennis, they will sell the kits to your customer without ever batting on eye while eliminating your profit...

Randy - RPM

[knoxracing]

Randy this is not my first day, first year or first decade in the Legend car world. This is USLC's game and you either play it or find a new game.  There are those of us that have  comitted and invested with the company that started all of this to keep this going, without us and our customers it is dead, USLC knows that. Without customer support its game over, how long do you think this would last without dealers? If the dealers disappear do not kid yourself, it will die. All those selling other components can not thoroughly keep racers supplied with what it takes to race weekly and USLC distributing from two location will never work. There is no money in promoting so that will not support anyone enough to keep them interested. Bottom line without USLC dealers most of the other component suppliers will also eventually go away as racers would be concentrated in the markets closest to USLC locations, most component guys are buying USLC components from dealers like me so they can offer those parts to there customers.  Do I totally agree with USLC and there retail practices, no I do not. Again its there game and you either play or dont play, or you ride the coat tails and supply customers THEY have created with your wears as a component supplier.

[sparkyboyd]

I am all about supporting local business and businesses that support our sport, I do not have a legends dealer I think even in this state Wa . We do have a track that sells some parts. So I am forced to go to the net.  I try to buy all my stuff From uslc, I will gladly buy from anyone who is supporting our sport. That being said as soon as I can find a website that is easy to navigate, works, and doesnt have a flat $50 fee for shipping it will get about 100 percent of my business .  This is almost 2013 and I still have to pick up the phone to order parts.

[chris mckinney]

I also give my business to my local dealer. This problem is nothing new in business in todays world. I own a hobby shop and the largest distributor in the US is also my largest competitor, the distributor has a sub company which happens to be the largest on-line retailer in the US.  They like USLC are double dipping as they buy at less than wholesale acting as a distributor and then sell at full retail making profit margins which are higher than a typical dealer. It is a loose - loose scenario. I have been selling at above retail levels for years! not on products that have a high turnover rate but  obscure items which tend to sit for a while. I cant see any reason why dealers cant do the same thing. This may not work for bumpers, but would certainly work for fenders. I cant see why a dealer cant mark them up $20 and still be cheaper than an individual paying shipping on them There is probably a balance between ticking off customers and making a profit, but it is possible.  Last I checked my dealer doesn't make much money on the legend end of his business and maybe there is a dealer out there driving a Ferrari, but I doubt he made his money being a USLC dealer. Just my perspective.

[VMS Motorsports]

I am all about supporting local business and businesses that support our sport, I do not have a legends dealer I think even in this state Wa . We do have a track that sells some parts. So I am forced to go to the net.  I try to buy all my stuff From uslc, I will gladly buy from anyone who is supporting our sport. That being said as soon as I can find a website that is easy to navigate, works, and doesnt have a flat $50 fee for shipping it will get about 100 percent of my business .  This is almost 2013 and I still have to pick up the phone to order parts.

www.vmsmotorsports.com

[dcpainting]

I have been racing since 07 mostly my son and occasionally me my dealer told me I don't spend enuff and not part of super top secret setup  so why not give everybody the same care and consideration no matter what u spend and I mean I spend  around  ten thousand plus a year and try hard to support dealer but its hard a lot of stuff he sells are aftermarket because he also own a parts store so master cylinders and any other he sells still at 600 prices now last thing here we have been racing at one track solely for 3 years and other tracks would like to have us but he tells us we need to be part of his luck we shouldn't split up  the car punt but we can't grow bigger unless more people and more tracks need variety

[justfreaky]

This has been an ongoing problem with USLC (old 600 Racing) dealers. In the past 5+ years, I have not seen them back their dealers, or the dealer territories on any consitant basis. I see USLC dealers advertising on eBay, Racingjunk and several other sites. I try to give my business to members here on the site. I've dealt with several of them.... ALL very nice people. And they go out of their way to try to help. They also do their best to promote the sport. Those are the people that are going to get my business.

Steve

[TTRracing]

I would like to support our local dealer,but I would also like our  dealer to support our local track and racing series

[VMS Motorsports]

For those of you that don't know, I'm one of the "coat tail" riding people referred to earlier in this thread.

I would support my local dealer if I had one, VMS Motorsports wouldn't exist if we had one!
Thats the reason I started VMS Motorsports back in 2008, we have no dealer in Wisconsin, haven't for over 10 years, and USLC will not give me or anyone else a dealership here because they say we are being served by an out of state dealer 4 hours away.

I have  $60,000+/- in inventory at any given time.
I write a check to our local series every year, and also have a 3 year contract sponsoring our track.
I got an email just yesterday from a USLC dealer requesting to become a dealer of MY parts.

Per a conversation with USLC this past summer, I would be in the top 5 of their dealers in sales, and I don't even have the advantage of the INEX stamped parts, a list that keeps on growing. I buy their parts at retail and stock them as a service to my customers since I got black-listed by USLC because of the dealers complaining that I was stealing their business.

Hell, I've been told of dealers taking VMS Motorsports stickers off of customers cars, and of dealers threatening to not sell drivers parts if they find out they bought something from me.  

I'm not stealing anyones business. If I have a product that people want to buy, they buy it. If I don't have it, and I can't get it, they go elsewhere.  I will often refer people to dealers, or to other "coat tail" riders like Randy if I can't or don't have the ability to service them.

I must be doing something right, as this has become a full time job for me.

As it was said by someone  earlier in a response to Randy, "you either play or dont play"...well, I'm here to play.
GAME ON  

[Legends57x]

I am one of many customers who purchase parts from Jim at VMS.  I very much appreciate all he does to support both our local track and customers such as myself.  As Jim said, us racers here in Wisconsin do not have a local dealer and either have to deal with the USLC dealer in Iowa or Minnesota.  Both these dealers being quite far away costs us customers more in shipping parts we need.  In addition,  both are well versed in dirt racing which is fine, however the Iowa dealer has little to offer as far as help with asphalt set up for those of us who race the tar(not sure how much asphalt expertise the Minnesota dealer has).  Jim has provided me with fast shipping and excellent service with all my orders in addition to a factory backing program he has just started to help us racers out.   So until USLC provides our state with a full blown dealer, racers like me will continue to purchase parts from both 'coat tail' dealers and some USLC dealers depending on our needs.  Sorry, but with the economy the way it is these days, many of us need to keep close tabs on our spending. 

Thanks Jim for all  you do!