Hey Fellers and Montroy.

[HulkSmash]

Wow what a crazy thread this has become, thought I would chime in on the 3M profitability and he is working off of 12-15% profit margins on a good day. Oracal he makes a little bit more about 15-20% mayyyyybe, he makes his money from thousands of companies buying at low profit margins and upselling all the little knick knacks that go along with the wrap industry. I was one of the biggest 3M distributors if not the biggest on the west coast when Sone Systems was around (now its Lexjet) 3M would run dealer promotions on combo packs of controltac and lam and we would buy hundreds of them and the sales reps would break them apart and sell individually just to make another 5-7%. Frank has done a great job in the wrap industry and if you think he is making 30% profit I would say no way, with all his overhead he is probably closer to 10-12% when its all said and done.

Sorry Josh, you're way off on this. I have a few friends who buy alot of wrap kits from 3M direct, and they pay 30% less then the average shop. And they don't buy near as much fellers, obviously. Obviously if you throw overhead things go down, but we're talking about raw profit on 1 item before that. Frank has indeed done a good job marketing his company. He has some good people surrounding him (Karl, Staci) They realized the mistake, and owned up to it.

The only thing I wish fellers would do different is train their call center reps. If you call and ask advice on items, or what would work for certain things... they are completely clueless on all levels. They don't have the a single clue what would work with what, and stuff of that nature.

My grimco and Denco reps are top notch. I have a question, they always have an answer or will get one to me within an hr. Just service that can't go unnoticed.

 

[BigfishDM]

Sorry Josh, you're way off on this. I have a few friends who buy alot of wrap kits from 3M direct, and they pay 30% less then the average shop. And they don't buy near as much fellers, obviously. Obviously if you throw overhead things go down, but we're talking about raw profit on 1 item before that. Frank has indeed done a good job marketing his company. He has some good people surrounding him (Karl, Staci) They realized the mistake, and owned up to it.

The only thing I wish fellers would do different is train their call center reps. If you call and ask advice on items, or what would work for certain things... they are completely clueless on all levels. They don't have the a single clue what would work with what, and stuff of that nature.

My grimco and Denco reps are top notch. I have a question, they always have an answer or will get one to me within an hr. Just service that can't go unnoticed.

Lol I know you know your industry very well but you don't know the material side like I do. I sell to the largest or at least one of the top 5 wrap producers in your industry and yes they do get special pricing going direct to 3M but I promise there is no 3M dealer making 30% not Fellers not Grimco not anyone.

What sets me apart from all the other reps is that I can answer just about any question you have about materials RIGHT NOW and you can literally call me 24/7 365 morning, noon, or night and I am more then happy to help you even if your not buying my products.

 

[HulkSmash]

Lol I know you know your industry very well but you don't know the material side like I do. I sell to the largest or at least one of the top 5 wrap producers in your industry and yes they do get special pricing going direct to 3M but I promise there is no 3M dealer making 30% not Fellers not Grimco not anyone.

What sets me apart from all the other reps is that I can answer just about any question you have about materials RIGHT NOW and you can literally call me 24/7 365 morning, noon, or night and I am more then happy to help you even if your not buying my products.

um, 3M allows you to sell direct? What company are you with?

 

[BigfishDM]

um, 3M allows you to sell direct? What company are you with?

No but there was a time I could, I deal a huge portion of my perf products into the wrap world and the biggest contract in our industry is one I personally negotiated with 3M years ago so I have a few inside hook ups when it comes to stuff like that. I am with Bigfish Digital Media Brokers (I represent multiple companies)

 

[chester215]

What sets me apart from all the other reps is that I can answer just about any question you have about materials RIGHT NOW and you can literally call me 24/7 365 morning, noon, or night and I am more then happy to help you even if your not buying my products.

I apologize if this sounds snarky but since you are self promoting here...

Twice in the past year I have requested things from you that never materialized.
1. A quote for a L26500 printer the week we were ready to buy one.- Got it through Grimco, Very happy with them.
2. A sample of material that you advertised in a post that was available. My info was taken, then nothing.

Maybe we are too small an operation to warrant any attention (we are actually bigger than we look).
It doesn't really matter to me why, it's just that I have not seen that level of service.

 

[HulkSmash]

No but there was a time I could, I deal a huge portion of my perf products into the wrap world and the biggest contract in our industry is one I personally negotiated with 3M years ago so I have a few inside hook ups when it comes to stuff like that. I am with Bigfish Digital Media Brokers (I represent multiple companies)

So you're a re seller of a re seller?

 

[BigfishDM]

Hang tight, let me renew my MM and will respond. Chester Im sorry the ball was dropped with you Im not sure what exactly happened there but I sincerely apologize!

 

[HDvinyl]

Did you win big this year in Fantasy Football??

 

[BigfishDM]

So you're a re seller of a re seller?

Ok cool now I can get busy in here, I am an importer for distributors and also sell through the distributors.

 

[HulkSmash]

Ok cool now I can get busy in here, I am an importer for distributors and also sell through the distributors.

got it.

 

[Xplizt]

I'm glad Feller's caved, but yeah.

They didn't exactly "cave"... they just went back to how they originally ran business.

In case no one realizes it yet....... Feller's has already removed all of it. I don't know about the company Montroy, in fact, I never heard of them.

I was talking to my rep [Fellers] this afternoon and he said, they thought they'd be speeding things up this way. You still had to show/prove you were a legitimate shop and all the other stuff, so unless I'm missing something.... this was never open to the public to buy. However, the public COULD see pricing on everything.

So again....

THEY HAVE REMOVED ALL PRICING AND NO ONE OTHER THAN SHOPS MAY BUY FROM THEM.

You sound surprisingly familiar... Brain Fellers under cover??

To set the record straight... you are ABSOLUTELY WRONG ......... OoOwe!... big red type IS fun!

FELLERS DOES STILL SELL TO THE PUBLIC.

All they did was remove the open pricing. The message from "Frank" never once said that they do not or will not sell to the public, all it said was that they will "require you to become a FELLERS customer first"... it doesn't say anything about who or what a "FELLERS Customer" is.

So we tested the system

Step 1 - Click "Sign up for a new fellers account"
Step 2 - Follow directions; note that "Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.".... "COMPANY NAME" is NOT a required field.
Step 2 - Enter personal information
Step 3 - From the "required field" named "what is your business/occupation", select ANY item. We selected "AUTO DESIGN/CUSTOMIZER"
Step 4 - Click submit
Step 5 - In 24 hours we had full access to all fellers pricing and purchasing.

This means that your customers AND employees can purchase directly from your source at YOUR pricing. There was no business verification and no business requirements.

 

[bikecomedy]

This has been one of the strangest threads. Anyone else verify direct sales by setting up an account? It is kinda strange that the only choices you have on the Fellers site for "what is your business/occupation?" are answers that would make you qualify for an account as a business type account not a consumer. There is no answer like, I am a consumer, client, end user, hobby etc. I suppose school/nonprofit and art/design are kinda close.



Well at least Santa Claus is real. I don't know what I would do if someone lied about that.

 

[FatCat]

They didn't exactly "cave"... they just went back to how they originally ran business.



You sound surprisingly familiar... Brain Fellers under cover??

To set the record straight... you are ABSOLUTELY WRONG ......... OoOwe!... big red type IS fun!

FELLERS DOES STILL SELL TO THE PUBLIC.

All they did was remove the open pricing. The message from "Frank" never once said that they do not or will not sell to the public, all it said was that they will "require you to become a FELLERS customer first"... it doesn't say anything about who or what a "FELLERS Customer" is.

So we tested the system

Step 1 - Click "Sign up for a new fellers account"
Step 2 - Follow directions; note that "Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.".... "COMPANY NAME" is NOT a required field.
Step 2 - Enter personal information
Step 3 - From the "required field" named "what is your business/occupation", select ANY item. We selected "AUTO DESIGN/CUSTOMIZER"
Step 4 - Click submit
Step 5 - In 24 hours we had full access to all fellers pricing and purchasing.

This means that your customers AND employees can purchase directly from your source at YOUR pricing. There was no business verification and no business requirements.

You are absolutely right, and my own rep verified this when I called her about this. Fellers will sell to ANYONE regardless of whether or not they are a sign shop, printer, plumber, race car driver or burger flipper at McDonalds. This is a fact I never really understood till this thread and has opened my eyes that Fellers is certainly not acting in any sign maker's best interests - though I'm certain that the level of success that Fellers has achieved is in no small part due directly to sign makers.

Oh, they will give you a discount on materials from their catalog prices, (if you prove yourself and that you buy enough stuff on a regular basis) but I've never seen anything significant like you would expect on a wholesale vs. retail scenario. In fact, most of the discounts I receive are about 5-10%, sometimes up to 20% (rarely) off of book prices, and it really depends on what type of material you are buying. So yeah, certainly not anything so significant that I feel special about.

 

[Dovette]

Excuse me?

You are the biggest douchebag pompous egomaniacal schnook on the forum...this and others. I think you should stick to your dirty little jobs and shut TFU.

You know, I don't post on here a lot, so a lot of you here don't know me very well...
But when I read this, first thing that came to my mind was "How dare you?"

In my honest (long-time lurker) opinion, Gino is one of the most knowledgeable on this forum. He's got every right to be an egomaniac if he's correct with the information that he offers.
And I highly doubt the man does "dirty little jobs", as you describe it. Someone with the knowledge that Gino (and many others on this forum) has DOES NOT carelessly do jobs, young man. Please do not confuse everyone's quality with your own. Thanks.

 

[ProWraps]

If you go back to the first page of this thread, I posted that Fellers is a "supplier" not a "wholesaler". This was verified by a regional manager to us (the person that oversees all the areas sales reps).

I cleared this up 8 pages ago.

This is why even though they took the pricing down, we still gave our business to Grimco.

I cant spend money with my competition.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

This will be my first time on this crazy thread.
1. I am comforted a little to know you have to log in to see prices again.
2. Putting forth arguments about something or showing why you think another's argument is wrong is great.
3. To start slinging derogatives at someone who disagrees with you is a completely different game and belongs on the grade school playground.
4. I was never "worried" Fellers sold to Joe Schmoe. They might sell a couple squeegees and a few yards of pre-pigmented vinyl to him but what would Joe Schmoe do with a roll of 180C?

PS. Player, your comments are the most juvenile I've seen in a long time. Not that being called an alcoholic helped any I'm sure.

 

[Gino]

They didn't exactly "cave"... they just went back to how they originally ran business.



You sound surprisingly familiar... Brain Fellers under cover??

To set the record straight... you are ABSOLUTELY WRONG ......... OoOwe!... big red type IS fun!

FELLERS DOES STILL SELL TO THE PUBLIC.

All they did was remove the open pricing. The message from "Frank" never once said that they do not or will not sell to the public, all it said was that they will "require you to become a FELLERS customer first"... it doesn't say anything about who or what a "FELLERS Customer" is.

So we tested the system

Step 1 - Click "Sign up for a new fellers account"
Step 2 - Follow directions; note that "Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.".... "COMPANY NAME" is NOT a required field.
Step 2 - Enter personal information
Step 3 - From the "required field" named "what is your business/occupation", select ANY item. We selected "AUTO DESIGN/CUSTOMIZER"
Step 4 - Click submit
Step 5 - In 24 hours we had full access to all fellers pricing and purchasing.

This means that your customers AND employees can purchase directly from your source at YOUR pricing. There was no business verification and no business requirements.

Okay go-to-guy.................

It seems if one lies or misrepresents oneself, one can buy, but that isn't something they... or anyone else could ever control. Fred here, can tell ya that much. How many people a day lie about getting into this place ??

Oh.... and surprisingly enough, I'm not some under-cover agent, X.
​

 

[bikecomedy]

This is settled then.

Thanks Colorado for the heads up.

 

[Xplizt]

Okay go-to-guy.................

It seems if one lies or misrepresents oneself, one can buy, but that isn't something they... or anyone else could ever control. Fred here, can tell ya that much. How many people a day lie about getting into this place ??

Oh.... and surprisingly enough, I'm not some under-cover agent, X.
​

go-to guy??.....
:/

It's not a lie and it's not a misrepresentation. The system simply asks from a drop down what your business or occupation is.
The most vague and/or irrelevant options are,
•Art/Design
•Installer
•Auto Customizer

Besides the fact that a installer of anything or auto customizer of anything can select a REAL business or occupation from the menu... without lying... NONE of them require any sort of verification what so ever.

but that isn't something they... or anyone else could ever control.

Is that so? Verifying that you are selling to a legitimate business is not controllable? How could you say that when most other distributors already do this?

Sure.. someone could draft up BS papers on having a sign or wrap business... but at least that takes some REAL scandal. Fellers simply asks you to select something from a wide range of categories, then you automatically have access to everything. Try calling instead of setting up an account... they don't even care who you are or what industry you are in.

My INSTALLERS are in the "wraps" occupation as they are in the "installer" occupation... so they don't need to lie in order to buy direct at WHOLESALE prices from MY SHOPS supplier. And our flooring customer is an "installer" as well.

The stereo shop down the street is a "auto customizer" and an "installer".

My graphic designer is in the "Art/Design" occupation.

The guy that tries to sell me YP ads and likes to fix up his ride is in the "advertizing" occupation as is the girl who does my yelp account.

I'll tell you what though. None of these guys above would be able to get prices or materials from Grimco or Denco without REALLY trying to beat the system and forging documents.

But of course... you may be right. There is nothing anyone can do to stop people from selecting any random button from that drop down menu. Dang! If only there was a better way.

 

[Bugley1]

Fellers

I have dealt with Fellers only once and what a nightmare wrong material and they argued with me over the phone about it till they realized i was right and replaced the roll. I only use Montroy because they sell vinyl by the yard for many colors but most of my Business is at Grimco. There is a large national Printing company that is local here i used for business cards as well i have stopped using. They started selling to the public about $5-$10 more than resale and then started doing the same with banners and stickers.

 

[Stanton]

I stopped buying from Montroy years and years ago.

6x8 acrylic was delivered pre-scratched.

Talked to my rep... he said "buy masked sheets if you don't want scratches"

I can't type what I told him.

 

[grafixemporium]

This is 100% NOT TRUE. Long story short, Fellers "new" website was accidentally launched to early without asking for customer info first. This is issue is being addressed ASAP, and the website will be SHUT DOWN (from what I've heard) ;-) until the issue is resolved. Do me a favor, call Grimco, tell them your a contractor, or something similar, and you'd like to buy 10 Finished Signs (Stop Signs, Speed Limit Signs, Handicap, etc.) and guess what? They WILL sell to ANYBODY as long as you "talk the lingo". Fellers DOES NOT SELL TO THE PUBLIC, and Fellers is IS a WHOLESALE SUPPLIER, not just a "supplier". If you Fellers Sales Rep is telling you anything differently, than he is misinforming you. Fellers is TWICE the size of Grimco, we have 72 (about to be 73 next month) warehouses fully stocked, they have 36 warehouses. Grimco is being destroyed by all of their competitors for one simple reason: they eliminated 90% of their OUTSIDE sales reps. They have turned into a "boiler room" and apparently want to be like a SignWarehouse. Fellers deals with EVERY major manufacturer out there, and Fellers will match or beat ANY of it's competitors pricing, all you have to do is ASK YOUR OUTSIDE SALES REP. For those that do not know, for every warehouse Fellers has, there is a dedicated OUTSIDE sales rep traveling on the road, making visits, etc. What happened with the website is and was 100% accidental, and is being dealt with. I think it's pretty funny that Grimco has nothing better to do than put a new banner up on their website announcing "WE ONLY SALE WHOLESALE". LOL I have news for you folks, I personally used to work for Grimco back in 2006, and they do NOT do visit to make sure they are dealing with a "sign company". If you have a Tax ID, and if you can talk the lingo, and act like you know what you are talking about.........THEY WILL SELL TO YOU TOO. Fellers does the best they can to "filter" the calls, but when you are the largest vinyl distributor in the WORLD, let alone the COUNTRY, a few people might slip thru the ropes and get an account open, but there IS a "screening process" before Fellers will give someone an account. Ok, there it is, I know this is against forum rules, but the TRUTH needs to be told, and most of Fellers competitors are being DESTROYED by Fellers. Why? They are BIGGEST distributor in the country which means: MORE BUYING POWER!!! Don't walk away from a great company based on an accidental launch of the website, it is being shutdown, and Grimco is DESPERATE to do whatever they can to "try" and hurt Frank's image. Frank Fellers is the best employer I have ever worked for, and genially cares about this industry, and his customers. For those in the South Florida area, you already know who I am, and I will continue to SCREEN all new customers, and I most certainly do NOT sell to just anybody. If they don't meet the qualifications of either A A Wrap Shop or B A Sign Company, I will refer them to one of my customers. DONT BUY INTO THE LIES, WE DONT SELL TO THE PUBLIC, WE DON'T SELL TO THE PUBLIC, WE ARE A WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTOR, WE ARE A WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTOR!!

Wow. I'm coming to this party a year late. Apologies for bumping this old thread or opening old wounds, but I really feel compelled to respond to this outrageous, unprovoked attack on Grimco.

I have been in business for 7 years. I spend a significant amount of money with Grimco annually. While I am not their biggest client in the Houston market, I can honestly say they have treated me as if I was their biggest client from day one. I know all of the sales reps at Grimco Houston and they know me. We talk business, family, hobbies, etc. I'm Facebook friends with Grimco reps who have gone on to do other things. When I call Grimco, they know who is on the other end of the line and they typically know what I need. On more than one occasion over the years, I have found myself in a jam and had to pick up materials after 5pm. They have no problem waiting. In fact, on one occasion, a manager met me at the warehouse on a Saturday.

Loyalty goes a long way... and you sir, Brian Fellers, have not been loyal to the industry with a post like this. You should be embarrassed and ashamed that you feel it's necessary to call our your competition in that manner. Sad.

I have never been a customer of Fellers and I will never be one. You know why? Because about every 3 to 6 months, a new Fellers rep walks into my shop, introduces him/herself and expects me to just give them all of my business. I tell every single one of them the same thing. Sorry, you're gonna have to earn my business. Sadly, they are never around long enough to do that. Your employee turnover is horrendous. Your sales reps go out into the field with no experience and no product knowledge. Oh, and your prices suck.

Anyone who feels like they are getting a better deal at Fellers, please shop around. I'm confident any one of the competitors... especially Grimco... will meet or beat their prices.

On another note, has there ever been any discussion on here or thoughts on creating a purchasing coop to go straight to manufacturers?