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Are you noticing vendors going direct?

Tom Dalton

Tom Dalton

New Member
We've hand two sign supply vendors go "direct to consumer" with online web-stores or etail channel sales (ebay/etc). It is good that road signs have become a small percentage of our business. Are you experiencing the same thing?
 
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visual800

visual800

Active Member
oh yes Ive noticed. What use to be a protected entity is now open to all. I dont like it but I guess it is the way it is
 
ams

ams

New Member
Same here, almost every single Digital Reader Board manufacturer gives you the same price they charge and they target schools, shopping centers and churches. It's a really tough market to get into. Like ebsco, I quoted a customer for one of their EMC's and they bidded lower and took the job. When confronted about it, they said they don't intend to bid against me, but that they sell to the public as well.

I know many reasons is because they are tired of dealing with sign companies. So many of you guys out there are horrible to work with. Tons of hassles, issues, inexperienced, file problems, etc. I've heard horrible stories from manufacturers. So unless we change, they won't.
 
Solventinkjet

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
If you are talking about a vinyl/printer dealer, I agree, they shouldn't be competing with their customers. It's unethical because as a dealer you get wholesale pricing so you automatically have a price advantage. If that's the case, you need a new dealer.

If it's a wholesale trade printer, it's just the natural progression. With the ease of access to quality web site tools, it is getting easier and easier to cut out the middle man and just sell direct. Even some of my manufacturers have started selling direct around our backs direct to you guys. It seems there's not much you can do about it other than adapt.
 
T

TimToad

Active Member
The term "wholesale" has been watered down in many industry sectors for decades. Part of it is the embracing of "vertical integration" by industries trying to capture as many revenue streams as possible. I'm not sure of any widespread "difficulty" we signmakers present to shift an entire industry, but if AMS believes it, it must be true.
 
Jean Shimp

Jean Shimp

New Member
ams said:
I know many reasons is because they are tired of dealing with sign companies. So many of you guys out there are horrible to work with. Tons of hassles, issues, inexperienced, file problems, etc. I've heard horrible stories from manufacturers. So unless we change, they won't.
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Think sign companies are bad, just wait until they deal with home owners associations or church purchasing committees. :D
 
ams

ams

New Member
Billct2 said:
So for the high end stuff like digital reader boards how do the manufacturers selling direct deal with warranty issues?
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My guess is depending on the company, they may have their own techs to fly out to them or hire installers to take care of it.
 
2B

2B

Active Member
ams said:
My guess is depending on the company, they may have their own techs to fly out to them or hire installers to take care of it.
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This, and already seeing it happen.
  • End User buys directly from vendor/manufacturer
  • while the sign is being made, the manufacturer sends an RFP to the local sign companies for installation
  • If there is a service claim, again the manufacturer sends RFP
    • Usually, this is done by the manufacturer sending a box of the most common parts to fail and the local company plays the "swap-it" game until fixed.
 
E

equippaint

Active Member
The large sign suppliers that produce signage in house bother me much more than a wholesaler selling direct. You can easily avoid using a wholesale company but it's much harder to avoid a distributor considering how much they have been buying up the smaller supply houses.
 
Johnny Best

Johnny Best

Active Member
This was discussed long ago with Gemini and Fellers selling to the general public. Don't think it had anything to do about sign people being horrible. It's just businesses trying to make more money.
VistaPrint are pushing selling banners and signs along with 4Over, Stouse and others all the time.
Like someone already said, "it's the way it is".
 
Johnny Best

Johnny Best

Active Member
Au contraire, I buy parts for my AC all the time, either Amazon or a local dealer in parts. Last week bought a round capacitor for $13. To call someone up and install that part is about $200. You just have to know what you need to replace. Everything is for sale!
 
J

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
Well, this is a little out of my normal category of response, but we (Denco Sales) for one do not deal with end users. If someone finds us and wants to buy from us, we generally refer them to 3 of our sign shop customers in their area. We've had a sign shop send a customer to us for ZIP letters once because they didn't want to deal with it. In this case we didn't want to send their customers to another sign shop, but we sold at list price (which I think is 40% above a sign shop's price) to the end user with the referring sign shop's permission. I we asked the sign shop to please not do that again.

I probably overhear our customer service team refer end users to sign shops at least once a week. When you have a choice, support the vendors that support you.

Joe
 
B

BUCKY

New Member
Texas_Signmaker said:
It is the way it is. Only industry that I know of off hand that won't sell to the general public is HVAC.
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It is coming. You can buy a Goodman house furnace direct. Hanging heaters don't really count but you can buy those anywhere and everyone runs there
own gas line and venting which is usually not done correctly.
 
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