I think I might have gotten someone at the store in trouble, but that's OK.

Got my new irons at last. Cobra S2. They were listed at $599.99, but with a big tag above the display showing them at $299.99. They kinda freaked out when I showed it to them, but I worked retail long enough to know that the price is the lowest shown.


Saved a good chunk with the purchase, so I've still got about $130 left in gift cards for something else... maybe a new bag (Sun Mountain Speed Cart bag to go with my cart)... or a new wedge (TM xFT 56*)... or a new fairway wood... or a new hybrid.

That's awesome!!! Have you had a chance to go out and hit them yet? I was thinking of picking up a set of those before I settled for my Nike Machspeeds.

mr.macedawg wrote:

That's awesome!!! Have you had a chance to go out and hit them yet? I was thinking of picking up a set of those before I settled for my Nike Machspeeds.

Not yet... life keeps getting in the way. Demo'd them, 6-iron off the mats at the shop, but haven't hit 'em all, or gotten them out on the course yet.

Tuesday is my next golf day.

Interesting...I just finished a business law class, and one of the units specified that the retailer has the right to pretty much change prices at will until the transaction is actually completed at the cash register.

It sounds to me like you just know how to haggle a deal:)

Bryan K wrote:

Interesting...I just finished a business law class, and one of the units specified that the retailer has the right to pretty much change prices at will until the transaction is actually completed at the cash register.

That may be true from a legal standpoint, but from a customer service standpoint... not so much. Keeping customers happy and coming back to spend more money is job 1 in retail.

mjaber wrote:

Bryan K wrote: Interesting...I just finished a business law class, and one of the units specified that the retailer has the right to pretty much change prices at will until the transaction is actually completed at the cash register. That may be true from a legal standpoint, but from a customer service standpoint... not so much. Keeping customers happy and coming back to spend more money is job 1 in retail.

IF you know how to haggle a deal:)

I guarantee that 95% of all potential customers would not have gotten the price you did.

Bryan K wrote:

mjaber wrote: Bryan K wrote: Interesting...I just finished a business law class, and one of the units specified that the retailer has the right to pretty much change prices at will until the transaction is actually completed at the cash register. That may be true from a legal standpoint, but from a customer service standpoint... not so much. Keeping customers happy and coming back to spend more money is job 1 in retail. IF you know how to haggle a deal:) I guarantee that 95% of all potential customers would not have gotten the price you did.

I didn't do any haggling at all. I didn't have to. I was looking at the S2s and another that were right next to each other when the employee came up to me. I asked about them and his response was "If that's the price on the tag, then that's the price you're paying."

I'm not saying it happens all the time that way, but it should. That was how I always looked at it when I was selling. A sale is a sale, even if it's the wrong price. There is no guarantee that they'll buy it at the higher price, but if you use the mis-priced item to your advantage and let them know that the price goes away the second they walk away, they will probably take it.

You and I are in agreement...that's the way it should be. But if you figure that retailers, in general, only make a 3% to 5% profit margin on their sales, you will end up with a lot of businesses who won't abide by that policy. I know I've encountered a few in my time.

Bryan K wrote:

But if you figure that retailers, in general, only make a 3% to 5% profit margin on their sales

On the big ticket items (computers, TVs, etc) that's true. On the smaller items, and accessories, not even close.

Overall, if your sales staff is doing their job, you should be looking at around a 10%-20% profit margin. Selling the batteries for the remote and cables to hook it up; Tees, balls, shoes, bag, etc to go with the new irons (which the guy did not even attempt with me)... it's all about the add-ons. The big items bring them in, it's the employees job, whether salary, hourly, or commission (or some combination), to make sure you leave with everything you need to make the big ticket item work the way it's supposed to.

I'm talking overall.

At the end of the year, when a retailer figures all of its revenue and all of its expenses for the year, the total profit margin is going to end up in the 3% to 5% range. Of course, there are exceptions (Apple comes to mind), but that's the general rule of thumb. I won't do business with a retailer who records a higher profit margin, but that doesn't mean that I won't buy their stock.

Bryan K wrote:

Of course, there are exceptions (Apple comes to mind), but that's the general rule of thumb. I won't do business with a retailer who records a higher profit margin, but that doesn't mean that I won't buy their stock.

Radio Shack used to be another one. Not anymore, since they got away from their core business of batteries, connnectors and everything else you need to make the thing you bought somewhere else work. I spent 5 years there, and I was amazed when someone came in and told me they just bought this huge TV, but they couldn't hook it up because they didn't have the right cables. My store would make as much on the guy as the store that sold him the TV, because the margins on the cables, batteries, and other things he never knew he needed were so high.

mjaber wrote:

Bryan K wrote: Of course, there are exceptions (Apple comes to mind), but that's the general rule of thumb. I won't do business with a retailer who records a higher profit margin, but that doesn't mean that I won't buy their stock. Radio Shack used to be another one. Not anymore, since they got away from their core business of batteries, connnectors and everything else you need to make the thing you bought somewhere else work. I spent 5 years there, and I was amazed when someone came in and told me they just bought this huge TV, but they couldn't hook it up because they didn't have the right cables. My store would make as much on the guy as the store that sold him the TV, because the margins on the cables, batteries, and other things he never knew he needed were so high.

lol...not to mention the fact that Radio Shack sold crappy cables. In my industry, the term "Radio Shack cable" denotes a cable that needs to be replaced because it is so crappy:)

[quote="Bryan K"]

mjaber wrote:

lol...not to mention the fact that Radio Shack sold crappy cables. In my industry, the term "Radio Shack cable" denotes a cable that needs to be replaced because it is so crappy:)

Depends on the cable. The stuff that used to be hanging on the wall in bags was crap. The stuff with the "gold" connectors in the bubble packs wasn't bad.

My favorite add-on was the 50-ft RG-6 coax with 2 F to RCA adapters so the powered subwoofer could be put across the room from the Dolby-Pro Logic receiver.

mjaber wrote:

Depends on the cable. The stuff that used to be hanging on the wall in bags was crap. The stuff with the "gold" connectors in the bubble packs wasn't bad.

Yup. Those are the ones. One of my favorite myths of all time, in fact. Those pre-fabricated gold-plated connectors are complete crap (even the ones that Monster makes...or perhaps I should say especially the ones that Monster makes). You don't get any better connection with gold plated connectors. Plus, the fact that the gold is plated over the connecter causes the rest of the connector and whatever it is connected to to oxidize more quickly. Unless you're going to run pure, solid gold throughout your entire system (whatever you are trying to wire), stick with copper. Or find out what the connections inside of whatever you are trying to connect are made out of, and go with that. But stay away from gold because you're not going to be able to match anything to it.

Quote:

My favorite add-on was the 50-ft RG-6 coax with 2 F to RCA adapters so the powered subwoofer could be put across the room from the Dolby-Pro Logic receiver.

Which is all well and good until people start trying to hook their cable TV with them and you end up having to disconnect their service because their signal is leaking out like crazy.

I always make my own cables. Since I work for a W/C distribution company, it's pretty easy to get my hands on the stuff I need to do what I need to do. Keeps me from having a bunch of extra length to coil up somewhere, too.

Network cables, coax, analog audio. Only thing I haven't attempted yet are the different digital connectors.