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so there is $44 he gets, then he has to minus wages, time, insurances rent etc etc etcQuote:
Originally Posted by SLOWBOAT
a sale for the sake of a sale ain't always worth the effort
sounds like you don't get it...
and we know successive australian governments don't get it
these guys have to operate with in certain rules
most of which you don't
but one day it is all going to come back and bite everyone unfortunately.
sooner rather than later, i suspect.
G'day sheerluck
Yeah! the +40% is not to bad, but the + 200% grits a bit ;)
It's starting in the building industry, Asian labour. Teams of plastered, tilers, and painters. They arrive here, form companies and under cut labour by significant amounts. They often have to rectify their work several times but doesn't seem to bother them. I assume many live in the one house, not like the typical white nuclear family we all are.Quote:
Originally Posted by incisor
The builder I work for has built up his business over a couple decades doing high quality, high service work and charges for it. But it's getting harder because even the wealthy want more and more and struggle to pay for it all, so Asian labour is the answer.
It will be real fun when it hits the mines.
i shop overseas when i get a chance and its mainly for hobbies or for things that i can wait for.......
in relation to cars its dfficult for us to get by without both running therefore i have no option but to pop down to the local shop and pay the labelled price. i guess i am paying for convienance, i can hardly be ****ed off at the business, after all its their business i'm the customer. when competition dies off its only going to get tougher getting things on the day or next day
My 'fun' car is a 65 Mustang, so I buy most parts direct from the states as few places will stock them here. I do however visit the local Chepa Auto Spares shop for all generic bits and pieces. Generally they will have any gasket or seal I need in stock, and at one stage I took my tailshaft in and they measures it up and supplied me with the correct uni's that I needed. They are always cheaper than the other generic parts places as well so I'm quite happy to support them due to good prices and great service. At least there are a few businesses that get it.
make too many low margin sales (and it doesnt take many) and your out the door because you cant pay your over headsQuote:
Originally Posted by sheerluck
as callous as it sounds, people who buy on price only, rarely show loyalty and rarely continue to support those that have supported them.
in days gone by people had a more realistic perception of what was a good deal. now it is all about the lowest price possible with no consideration for what it takes to run a business in australia or keeping other australians employed.
there are still quite a few that will pay for service and also understand the principles of loyalty etc but as each year passes the number drops.
who the **** is going to pay for all these people that cant get paying work because all the manufacturing jobs have gone to one hung lows factory in the middle of a polluted slum in china? or mahatma coats child labour driven enterprise in the back alleys of calcutta?
or because all the retail jobs have now gone because everyone is buying off the net and no one employs sales people to sell the stuff on a shop floor or employs storeman to load and unload goods etc etc etc?
you are flat out getting a job picking strawberries round here cause 10 mini bus loads of vietnamese 457 workers lob out of their bush camp every morning at the crack of dawn to do the job.
we going to let all these now unemployed australians all starve to death?
more square miles of hopeless suburbs like the western suburbs of sydney where half the population gets by selling the other half drugs?
great australian dream gone in a puff of self obsessed greed.
before howard converted middle class australians into little capitalists there was a notion that things were done for the common good... now we have the american dream where the top 10% manipulate the bottom 90% and the multi nationals and their pricing policies
and i cant see for the life of me how the hell it is going to get turned around before the crash that is supposed to get here about 2031 when they predict capitalism will collapse.
very very sad...
i much preferred being 30 and not worrying about this sort of **** instead of getting old and worrying about my grand kids...
:D:(
As mentioned before, it all boils down to customer service...
I willingly pay the inflated Australian prices if you at the very least have a smiling friendly person to deal with. My local franchised 4x4 supplier is one of those people. The guy runs his business and treats his customer like you would friends.
He introduces himself by first name, enquirers about yours and if you mind if he calls you by your first name. That to me is the first $300 sold!
He always rounds prices down (not talking massive discounts) and always calls back with updates on back orders. These are the small things that makes customer return...
I have spent quite a bit of money with him as he will install internet purchased items without blinking or moaning that you should have bought it from him. I know what labour cost and I don't begrudge him his rate for doing the work.
His approach to business has created a massive customer base and his business is flourishing as a result. I'll keep supporting him and even pay the prices he's forced to charge because of rent, deliveries, salaries and all the other issues quoted as reasons for poor service by others.
Cheers,
Lou
The final straw for me was seeing a plasma cutter on the net for $300 delivered (from china) and thinking that it was cheap enough to give a try.
I went to the local welding shop and asked if he has a machine with the same specs.
Same machine. Different colour. $1200 + GST.
I might have paid double but not more than four times!
and wont be approved for the power hereQuote:
Originally Posted by rfurzer
the ones carried in the shops have to be approved..
and that doesnt come cheap...
I'm not disagreeing with you Inc, as I'm not talking solely about shifting items at a knock down price so that margins become so tight you end up a busy fool, and then out of business.Quote:
Originally Posted by incisor
I'm talking about those occasional customer that is attempting to show loyalty by giving a particular retailer the opportunity to retain their business by matching the price of a competitor. If they were solely price driven they would have gone to the competitor straight away.
If the answer to the price question is "Nah mate, that's the price, like it or lump it" chances are loyalty has been lost or severely dented.
Taking that sale (again, still assuming that it is a positive margin) and getting some cash in the till is surely going to pay more overhead than no sale and your cash tied up in the stock on the shelf?