Price Hikes just keep coming...

[SUKI]

Well as the title says the price hikes on parts just keep coming. I update most of my price files Nov 1 and now they are out date again. Plus many of the distributor has change shipping fees yet again and minimum free levels. ON top of that some of my distributors are demanding a minimum annual purchase level now.

One vendor salesman was shown the door last year and I terminated the contract. As we all know what comes in for repairs changes year to year. Some year it might mostly Briggs engines, another year it might be Kohler engines. Last for me it was Kawasaki engines.

Just plain drives me crazy in having to rework the new prices files every month now. I lose half a day just trying to keep my system up to date. And top that I started using the bar codes to enter the parts. Not distributors have them listed correctly. Right now I have a problem with the RBI Kohler price file as they are using the part number as the bar code info but Gardner file has the correct bar codes that are the packages. Another problem I ran into with RBI is that Kohler price file is short over 30,000 part numbers. That is nearly half the file. Plus there was 724 new part numbers added via the Gardner file.

[hanz63]

I half way looked at the latest updates. I suppose I should look again! Who are talking annual minimums and what kind of $$ are they talking? The aftermarket guys? I pick and choose from them so badly that I might lose one....

[SUKI]

Don't feel bad as I too procure from who ever has the best deal on the parts I needing at the time.

Rotary is one but are easily met. Theirs is $500 per year. It was A&I that started wanting $2K per year and they this in the middle of June and it had to at the level at the end September. I had just got start back to buying from them after I had to put them on suspension for failing to replying to emails and when they finally did the rep started off by lying through his teeth. I just hung and suspended the purchases in June '21 for six months. Of course I had started replacing their products with Stens items at that time and had work my way back to buying from A%I as I depleted the inventory. But they preferred to sent threatening emails so I beat them to it by closing the account. Besides a lot the products that I was still buying from them were Rotary parts so I am now getting a better overall price.

Another company that gave me the boot was PD (Power Distributors) just because my Briggs parts needs dropped off the chart, besides at the time A&I was giving an extra 10% discount of the parts. Plus RBI has better pricing on the Oregon parts than PD. All PD had to do was to match A&I and RBI prices.

And all these companies are raise their free levels too.

Now it irritating that RBI which to not shipping B/O items when they get them in until my next order.

I just got in this year first from Rotary. It was 251+ dollars and it included the Tecomec blade balancer I have been looking at for the last 6 months. It was only $69.06 Already discover a lot the new blades I have in stock are out of balance. Pretty touchy balance wise.

[SUKI]

And now that I along with AVB started using bar code scanning I am also finding the prices are screwy when it comes the bar codes numbers. I just did the TTI prices file and Gardner had dropped all the leading zeros making 13 digit bar codes just 12 digit. And RBI's Kohler file had instead of the package bar codes, the PNs in their place.

I got to raise some sand Monday after I tell off my electric company for acting like the mafia just because I accidentally forgot this month's payment. The electric company sent a late notice that arrived at the cutoff date so I got to rush around Monday morning to keep from having electricity shut off.

[hanz63]

You'll like your new balancer. I should really sit down and see what new products everybody has too. A Stens rep emailed a strangely worded blanket " we want more orders" kind trying to will me to do a spring order. I gave them an opportunity for a real nice order last year and they didn't want it. PD is about the only one I do anymore.

[KE4AVB]

Stens moved me to a higher discount level last year and I still spent $2868 with them. Nearly double the previous year.

[SUKI]

Today I several surprises. Vendors and OEMs are no longer keeping the price files up to date.

I lucked out on a Stens All Balls U-joint pricing. I was researching a new item so I would had not known until it was too late otherwise. The Stens prices was updated last in October. If I had quoted the list from my system and then order the two u-joints I would had only made $0.20 on both of them. Well I kinda chalk that up to a recent price hike but my sales rep just sent me the latest file and it was still the Oct 2023 prices.

Then I ran into a problem with the price files from Gardner where the UPC bar codes were missing the leading zeros. Of course this makes my bar code scanner useless. While on the phone with Jarad Bolten, my Gardners rep, I was informed not to depend on the price files being up to date as the manufactures are not keeping them up to date.

Now I got to do 10x the work to just quote a part as I got look up the current prices online, manually update my system, and then quote the customer. And I thought things were getting better no worst. WELL I was wrong as usual.

I also was OEMs are deleting a lot the skus so those of us that have NOS parts no longer find the original prices.

[KE4AVB]

Otherwords they are becoming too darn lazy for their own good...Reminds of my dealings with the Idiot Ran Service.

[KE4AVB]

Well I got to vent a little.

I am getting so tire of this back ordering and then back ordering again and again. It getting to where equipment is becoming unrepairable to due lack of available parts.

I just got in overnight yet another one of my orders (Honda ATV parts) where it was ordered 12/2 with items back ordered until 2/13 with the items back ordered yet again until 4/13. That means it will take nearly half a year just to repair a machine that will have other failures due just sitting around awaiting parts. And then I get another cancellation of an order for Briggs and Toro parts. All items are now listed either NLA or on long term order.

This is getting ridiculous as I got as I got multiple pieces of equipment of the yard awaiting parts. Yes I know I am slow to get things during the winter months due to the cold but not having parts weren't one of them until now. I had a whole week of nice weather that I could gotten over half the equipment repaired if I only had the parts. I am just about to the point of refusing to take in new work because of the parts problems. Can't even get simple seals now.

On top that the price hikes just keep coming too. Base shipping is now nearly $20 on most orders. I had to start passing that along to the customers as the difference between the parts cost and retail are so slim now it isn't funny anymore.