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earthtech

Wholesale price?

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Just wondering what my local shop pays for St. Croix legend elite freshwater? I am looking at the 9 foot 6 weight which they have priced round $470. I have always been curious about this.

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Most retail stores generally take a 40 to 50% mark up on things. If the rod is priced at 470, then their cost could be $280 to 290. Even on "discounted" or "special" markdowns, many larger shops like the big box stores, get the same markup on the so called "sale" price.

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50% is good, we get 40% on most things, but when you take shipping into account then it starts to drop fast.

 

I was looking into some Nikon binos for the store the other day and scrapped that after seeing the margin was less than 10%. Buying for a store can be fun but really nerve racking as well. We have to unload stuff pretty much at cost way too often.

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i'm willing to bet the higher retail price we are paying has a lot to do with any manufacturers "unlimited stupidity warranty" they offer

 

(ive used it once in 30+ years of fly fishing)

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I being a small shop only get around 25 to 30% off retail for items. wonder why we charge more, add shipping and stocking and paper work, it adds up with a low profit. so keep buying from box stores who get 40-60% off and make a bigger profit...and keep putting your local shop out of business...

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I being a small shop only get around 25 to 30% off retail for items. wonder why we charge more, add shipping and stocking and paper work, it adds up with a low profit. so keep buying from box stores who get 40-60% off and make a bigger profit...and keep putting your local shop out of business...

 

 

I prefer going to a fly shop b/c I like to see what I'm buying. Before I spend $5 on shipping I prefer to spend on gas and turnpike tolls.

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"keystone" markups don't generally happen for items like fly rods in the smaller fly shop. I think they usually get about 30% on the higher priced fly rods. To get higher discounts, they would have to place a pretty large order which most smaller shops can't expect to sell.

 

Their markup on lesser value items is usually higher.

 

As has been said, their overhead and the capital to carry a large inventory is quite high especially when they have to pay shipping.

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I being a small shop only get around 25 to 30% off retail for items. wonder why we charge more, add shipping and stocking and paper work, it adds up with a low profit. so keep buying from box stores who get 40-60% off and make a bigger profit...and keep putting your local shop out of business...

 

Sandflyx, I agree with you in principle, but I'm driven to mail order or--now that a Cabelas has opened up near me--a big box store more often than not for a couple of simple reasons. Before the Cabelas came, the nearest proper fly shop to me was a 45-minute drive away. For quite a while I made the drive anyway, having no other local options, besides wanting to support local shops. The other problem was that the fly shops were poorly stocked and managed and rarely had what I needed. (I buy a lot more fly tying stuff than fishing tackle, to be fair). I tried asking them to order the stuff I needed, but that resulted in delays of several weeks, and sometimes never getting the items at all. I know this isn't the case for everyone, I'm just saying there are reasons other than simply wanting the best price that push people into bigger retailers.

 

Whenever I'm fishing out of town, if there is a fly shop near where I'm fishing, I always stop in and make at least a small purchase, even if I don't really need anything. And I have been known to go well out of my way to make larger purchases (my Peak vise, for example) at fly shops.

 

I don't mean to divert the thread started by the OP, but I felt this was relevant enough to tack on.

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I being a small shop only get around 25 to 30% off retail for items. wonder why we charge more, add shipping and stocking and paper work, it adds up with a low profit. so keep buying from box stores who get 40-60% off and make a bigger profit...and keep putting your local shop out of business...

 

Sandflyx, I agree with you in principle, but I'm driven to mail order or--now that a Cabelas has opened up near me--a big box store more often than not for a couple of simple reasons. Before the Cabelas came, the nearest proper fly shop to me was a 45-minute drive away. For quite a while I made the drive anyway, having no other local options, besides wanting to support local shops. The other problem was that the fly shops were poorly stocked and managed and rarely had what I needed. (I buy a lot more fly tying stuff than fishing tackle, to be fair). I tried asking them to order the stuff I needed, but that resulted in delays of several weeks, and sometimes never getting the items at all. I know this isn't the case for everyone, I'm just saying there are reasons other than simply wanting the best price that push people into bigger retailers.

 

Whenever I'm fishing out of town, if there is a fly shop near where I'm fishing, I always stop in and make at least a small purchase, even if I don't really need anything. And I have been known to go well out of my way to make larger purchases (my Peak vise, for example) at fly shops.

 

I don't mean to divert the thread started by the OP, but I felt this was relevant enough to tack on.

 

+1 Bryon!!!

 

I frequent one fly shop in particular. I purchased a rod, waders, boots and some miscellaneous cool stuff there for a couple of reasons.

 

1. They took the time to show me what I needed and did not need....no high pressure sales whatsoever.

2. They realized I had never done ANYTHING when it came to fly fishing and they took a TON of time discussing things with me (I put a price on customer service and it was well worth me sending my business to them because of the time they spent with me).

3. If my local shop wasn't in business then I would be at a loss...granted I can learn things on the 'net but actually touching and trying things at the shop is invaluable for me.

 

As far as wholesale things go....heck I would love to purchase things at a discount or at "cost" but I can't do so.

 

I have also found that there are tremendous folks out there that even frequent the site here! They have shops as well and once I figure out the things I need I will most definitely be purchasing from them. Kind of spreading out the funds so that all of the businesses can stay in business.

 

Bryon I also agree with purchasing from fly shops when out of town.....it helps keep them in business and they do a great job of giving tips and tricks to fish their local waters that I haven't fished before. When I was fishing some tournaments for bass back 20 years ago, I made it a point of going to the local shops to get good information and made damn sure I spent some money there......

 

:)

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The local shops in the U.K. are slowly closing as people buy from the internet more and more. Not sure that this is a good thing. Margins don't alter much what changes is the costs added onto the item. Costs of marketing, carriage and premises. Support your local shop I say.

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it's all about customer service. I don't know what the issue is but it seems as if I get treated "poorly" in fly shops much more often than I do in any other kind of specialty shop. This weekend, I went to a guitar shop to possibly trade in one low-end guitar on another... From the time I walked in to the time I left, the staff were extremely helpful, attentive, knowledgeable, and worked to find me something which suited me---- and I am seriously talking about the lower end of their price range. It didn't seem to matter if I was looking for $2000 or $200 or $20.... ALMOST never get that in a fly shop.

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I will always try to support a local shop when I visit other areas. Most shops will be helpfull because they have to to be able to stay in business. If you are not getting the help you need tell the owner in a polite but direct way.

 

WS vs Retail is a hard one for people to understand because they don't see the others costs, as stated above, to put something on a shelf to sell. The Flyfishings industry is the smallest segment of all fishing related segments.

 

Here is an example of just one problem I run into when selling hooks. I purchase directly form a major hook company at wholesale and get a 5% discount and free shipping to me on orders over $500. That sounds great to me at first. So my cost should be almost 45% off retail so I should almost be able to doubble my money. That is sounding even better now. Lest say I get a pack of hooks for $2.50 and for easy math lets say I sell them for $5.00 so I can doubble my money. Home run for me and looks good on paper. After a few months I only sold 3 of the 5 packs. I have basically broke even at this point. Most retail shops have to turn over inventory every two months to stay in business. So now I run a sale on them to just get my money out and start the process over. When all is said and done I might have made $5.00 to $8.00 on $25 retail of hooks. not good.

 

Now Here is the big kick in the balls to shop owners we face every day. That same pack of hooks I go WS from the manufacture directly for $2.50 I see that the Big Box Store is selling them for $2.45 not on sale...... That is why shops can't compleat on price but have to compleat on the extra value a good shop provides.

 

Just my two cents.....

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The local shops in the U.K. are slowly closing as people buy from the internet more and more. Not sure that this is a good thing. Margins don't alter much what changes is the costs added onto the item. Costs of marketing, carriage and premises. Support your local shop I say.

Ive noticed some local shops now are no more expensive than the internet now. But shop rent is bound to be more expensive than an online shop from your shed. You do worry how long they can compete.

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it's all about customer service. I don't know what the issue is but it seems as if I get treated "poorly" in fly shops much more often than I do in any other kind of specialty shop. This weekend, I went to a guitar shop to possibly trade in one low-end guitar on another... From the time I walked in to the time I left, the staff were extremely helpful, attentive, knowledgeable, and worked to find me something which suited me---- and I am seriously talking about the lower end of their price range. It didn't seem to matter if I was looking for $2000 or $200 or $20.... ALMOST never get that in a fly shop.

I couldnt agree more with J on this topic - at most fly shops if you go in there looking for fly tying materials you usually get treated like a cheap skate however if you want to look at the latest tod made by Sage or GLoomis then your the man of the hour. I think all fly shops should have another line of business within the shop instead of solely depending on fly fishing sales. I.E. - the fly shop i used to go to in Austin was a hunting/fly fishing shop so when 1 side of the store wasnt doing well the other side of the store supported it. They always did a fly tying night once a week and provided beer and snacks - while it sounds like they could go broke doing that it actually worked in their favor because any decent person wouldnt just show up and drink for free every week and get a free fly to take home as well- they provided everyone with a recipe sheet and people bought materials to make either the fly they were about to tie or the fly they tied the week before. I bought at least $10 worth of materials from them every week, any fly shop owners looking at this should take note of their marketing plan - when i first started going to this there would be about 10 people there on average and they alternated freshwater patterns and saltwater patterns throughout the month before i moved from Austin it was standing room only there with familys attending - buying kids vices etc... The name of this shop was Sportsmans Finest

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