Whats your opinion on spending money for a catalog that we should receive free

[starkypdx]

This exact conversation came up in my garage last night. Just got some fender flares in from Wild Horses yesterday (They look great by the way and arrived quickly.) What?..No catalog with the $400 purchase. We double checked the box... notta. Note I did not ask for a new catalog, I just thought they'd send one. Not a heart breaker but I have to admit having a catalog in the garage is a good thing. I have an 3 year old WH book and a fresh Toms strategically located in the garage. If I need something I open the books and write down the vendor and part number on the white board.

starky.

 

[Oldtimer]

Having owned my EB from when Ford still had EB's on the showroom floor I can tell you there was a period of time (the dark ages) when Ford did not have parts and there were NO aftermarket products.
To this day I will happily pay for a catalog, if it only convinces the vendor that there are customers that appreciate the fact that they are here to support our addiction; it is worth the 5 bucks for shipping & handling.

 

[Evian]

One company that comes to mind is Wild Horses 4x4. I have spent over $500 in parts and I still haven't seen a catalog included in anything. That is why I keep going to Tom's Bronco Parts. I don't know about you guys but I hate to go online. I spent a lot of my time at work looking at a computer all day long. When I get home the last thing I want to do is go on it to search for parts. Trust me there are other companies that do the same thing. It apparently doesn't matter how much money you spend with them they won't throw it in for free.

I keep hearing it cost them money to make the catalog. That is true but it makes them more money in the long run example: I keep buying from Tom's Bronco Parts because his catalog is sitting one inch from my keyboard.

WE MUST REMEMBER THAT these vendors gets these parts at under 50% of what we pay retail. They boost the price over 50% to cover their costs. Why not include the price of the catalog in with their overhead? More visibility leads to more profit. IF they want to increase their profit margin sell Jeep parts along side the Bronco parts. Hence they are serving two markets: The cool crowd (Bronco owners) and the other guys...
I happen to be on both sides...Obviously

 

[bmc69]

One company that comes to mind is Wild Horses 4x4. I have spent over $500 in parts and I still haven't seen a catalog included in anything.

That's strange..I probably receive at least two of WH's catalogs free each year...?:? That said, I don't recall receiving one in a parts order...

 

[HavaBronco]

Both Wild Horses and Jeff's Bronco Graveyard through catalogs in with orders I placed, cuz I asked em to when I called in the order. I wish I had requested one from Toms when I ordered my parts but forgot. I dont mind paying for a catalog if I'm just requesting it, but I appreciate it when they send me one with my parts order for free. I love catalogs though, I grew up in a mining town and catalogs were how we did alot of our shopping when I was a kid.
Chuck

 

[DrunkenUPSDrivr]

I have hit almost every website looking for parts. I have placed orders from almost everyone and one thing that I keep coming across is that these vendor want money for their catalogs. Here I am spending money and they can't even include one with my purchase. They want an additional $5-$10 for their catalog. I have spent over $1800 in parts so far and I know I am not the only one out there restoring one. You would think it would make good business sense to include a catalog with a purchase to further more sales but I guess common sense is sadly lacking with these vendors. What your opinion?

I'm new here and I would normally be happy just to read a post like this...but since you asked for an opinion, I am feeling a sense of responsibility (or irresponsibility) to answer.

Now this is a 100% proven "common sense" technique that I am offering TODAY ONLY at the low low price of $19.99 , wait scratch that :-X, I must be OUT OF MY MIND but I am offering this FREE of CHARGE ...
move in close to your monitor, cause you don't want to miss this...repeat after me:

"Do you think you could throw in a catalog?"


I know, I know!!! It's mind blowing, and defies all "common sense", but believe me Friend when I tell you that IT WORKS!

So in short (or long) my opinion is if you use this technique, you will have "common sense", and if you don't you will have no "common"...oops...I mean no catalog.

 

[ja.stoner63]

And I thought I was the only one with these crazy thoughts.

I too am surprised when a company does not send a free copy.

I have even contacted Wild Horse suggesting they do this.

But still nothing.

So I order only from companies that offered me a free copy.

Makes it simple. ;D

JA

 

[DrunkenUPSDrivr]

And I thought I was the only one with these crazy thoughts.

I too am surprised when a company does not send a free copy.

I have even contacted Wild Horse suggesting they do this.

But still nothing.

So I order only from companies that offered me a free copy.

Makes it simple. ;D

JA

Wild Horses threw in a catalog when I asked, come to think of it they sent me a free catalog and free Bronco Driver when I didn't ask. Who did you contact? Ask for Mark, he always takes good care of me. I've yet to have a vendor tell me no to a free catalog.

 

[airbur]

If you purchase something from a company, they should include a catalog. If you want only the catalog, you should pay for it (max $5.00). With WH, I bought something ($300) and still had to pay for the catalog.

 

[ja.stoner63]

Wild Horses threw in a catalog when I asked, come to think of it they sent me a free catalog and free Bronco Driver when I didn't ask. Who did you contact? Ask for Mark, he always takes good care of me. I've yet to have a vendor tell me no to a free catalog.

I did ask for a catalog when I made my large order but did not get one with my order. I then thought it was missed so I even emailed them for one...still none sent and no reply back. %)

If the other vendors can't help with my future Bronco part needs I will as for Mark. thank you for the name drop.

Tom's, Jeff's & James Duff have been awesome...;D
Fast service, great tech support, & a free Catalog!!!

 

[DirtDonk]

I'd bet that they no longer throw them in with every order, just so they don't mistakenly send someone duplicate catalogs for free, when they could be going to someone who's never received one, but asked for it.
Like our DrunkenUPSDriver said, they even send them out with Bronco Driver magazines when they first print a new one and they will often send them out with orders. So I don't think they have a general policy of never sending out freebies. Just not always maybe, and are just limiting that to including one with an order "upon request only" these days.

Maybe you got dissed Evian, or just overlooked. Or maybe they're temporarily out, or maybe you didn't ask, but I'd say to still give them a chance and don't let not getting a free catalog stop you from buying just for that reason. Especially if they're the only game in town with something you want/need.
Not that I'm trying to get you to stop buying from Tom's of course. I like 'em all. I've gotten to know most of the western region (and ex-western region) Bronco vendors like Tom's, WH, BCB and Duff's. Good folks all.
Give 'em another chance perhaps?
Ask for another one and see if they still have any to send.
In fact, if they won't/can't send you one for some reason, let me know and I'll mail you mine. They usually give me several copies because they know I hand them out to other local Bronco enthusiasts that can't come by the shop.
Happy to send you my copy and just get another one when I stop back in the next time. No problem at all.

Paul

 

[69 Fl. Bronc]

Just got a $150 order fron JBG. no cataloge. Kind of dissapointed.

 

[Matlock]

WE MUST REMEMBER THAT these vendors gets these parts at under 50% of what we pay retail. They boost the price over 50% to cover their costs. Why not include the price of the catalog in with their overhead? More visibility leads to more profit. IF they want to increase their profit margin sell Jeep parts along side the Bronco parts. Hence they are serving two markets: The cool crowd (Bronco owners) and the other guys...
I happen to be on both sides...Obviously

Not even close to a 50% margin, more like 10%-20% max. Where did
you dream up 50% ? Do you think Bronco houses carry millions in
inventory in hopes of your $300 order? I sell offroad parts everyday,
and the margin averages @ 12%, for example I make about $26 on
a tire that cost me $440. It retails for $466, therefore I use $1760
of business capital to gross NOT net $104. Don't belive me, check
the internet, there is others undercutting my price...hard to belive?

 

[t.lay]

Seems a little penny-wise, pound-foolish to me. Catalogs are what drives orders unless they're moving to all-interweb catalogs - then at least offer a pdf/downloadable version

 

[ja.stoner63]

Now that is true Customer service. Also this site is watched very close by vendors to make sure their core buyers are pleased with their products and services.

Today I received a call from Jim @ Wild Horses.

He agreed that since I asked for a catalog when I ordered I should have had one sent to me. Jim said he would rush one out to me asap.

Great job.

He also suggest that in the future if you don't ask for one then he won't send one since the customer might have just received a new catalog and this will help keep the cost down. So next time you place an order ask for a free catalog if you need one.

Thanks for the call Jim...

JA

 

[Skiddy]

Paper catalogs really don't serve much purpose anymore - except for when you're on the can.

that's why they have laptops only problem is if you look over and there is no paper you can't just rip out a page

 

[sprdv1]

I have ordered from each vendor on this site and with each order I received a catalog tucked in with the parts.

Same here..! LMC sends em out a lot

 

[chuck]

A view from the other side. We have been working on our 2ed catalog for too long and it has/will cost too much to produce and too much to ship. I will ship them with orders to save the postage like the other vender's do. I learned from the first cat. that a lot of people are catalog collectors and will never order anything ever. When we started charging for postage that problem went away. If I order 5000 copies the cost is around $6, 15000 $5 and 20000 around $3, that is ruff numbers from 05 so my guess is that is low today. Anyway the dilemma is getting the catalog to people that might want to buy, or at least compare. So do you have them shipped with BD for around $1 each at around 40000 of which 10000 are tossed and never go to a maybe buyer? Or you can go to your own mailing list of around 8000 and send everyone a copy for around $3 each. My numbers may be off as I have not had a new catalog on 5 years, soon I hope. When you look at the above you can see that in comparison it is cheap to put one in a shipment for free. The coverage is not as great but you get the catalog to more people that really want one, at least by my way of thinking. Also about making 50%, if you really believe that I have a EB business to sale you.

 

[bptommy]

toms always sends a catalog, wild horses sends one if you ask (for free) when you order stuff in my experience.

I just signed into the web site at lmc and they send me one every 6 months. with a diffrent colored bronco on the front.;D

JBG I had to pay for , hmmm Ive never ordered anything from there coincidence

I love catalogs, always seems like stuff is easier to find...%)

 

[Sbolt19]

Also about making 50%, if you really believe that I have a EB business to sale you.

HAHA...atta boy Chuck. Catalogs are expensive to print & ship. They dig into the bottom line of every vendor out there and quite honestly, I think they aren't really that informative. You get a picture to look at while yer sittin' on the crapper. Most of the vendor websites have more info on their websites than they would ever put in print because it's cheaper and easier to manage. If you get a new product or the price of a product changes, you gotta change the catalog....more expense. Just going off of Chuck's numbers, if he buys 5000 catalogs & ships them, he is shelling out about $35k. How quickly is he going to recoup that money? Yeah, a little can be written off as advertising, but seriously, I am guessing that he would have to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of about 1000 sets of coil springs to break even. I would honestly be surprised if our vendors make anything more than 20-25% profit on anything they sell.