Cheri Smith
08-11-2011, 11:47 PM
I found this interesting.
The very idea of a website publishing proprietary cost information for the entire world to see is repugnant. The developers of SeeDealerCost.com should be shackled and dragged into court where IRS trained thugs extract every vestige of profit from their little geeky hides. I would hope every RV manufacturing company would have teams of lawyers ready to attack this company the very nanosecond they published dealer cost information. Manufacturers that don't have that kind of legal power at their disposal could call Heartland RV because I know for fact they have a team of lawyers with very little to do.
To a consumer, "dealer cost" is whatever the dealership pays the manufacturer to acquire the unit. They think it covers only wood, glue, composite material, glass, carpet, a toilet, sinks, beds, furniture, lights, some electronic equipment and maybe a few bucks to pay someone to put it all together. In reality, the manufacturer's profit is also built into dealer cost, which makes it invisible to consumers. Consequently, consumers apparently have no problem with RV manufacturers making money off the sale of RVs -- just dealers.
If consumers were to look the price of an RV sitting on a dealer lot and compare it to whatever was found on a website like SeeDealerCost.com, they would grasp their chests and hyperventilate in righteous indignation over the idea that a small business owner dared to charge anything more than $100 over cost. I remember listening to a car buyer tell a salesperson once, "Hey, I don't mind you making $200 or even $300 over invoice. That's a good wage for a good day's work."
Assuming the dealership earned just $300 over invoice for every RV sold, and that it sold just one unit a day, six days a week, the business would generate a whopping $93,600 per year in profit. Let's pretend the dealership was a real corporate whore and sold five units a day seven days a week. After a whole year, the dealership would have earned $547,500. Now that's big business! Or is it?
Out of that the dealership must pay for:
Salaries for each employee (more on that later)
Vacation days for each employee
Sick days for each employee
Employer's share of socialist security
Health insurance for each employ and his family
Unemployment insurance
Workers compensation insurance
Disability insurance
Life insurance
Property insurance
Liability insurance
Dental insurance for each employee and his family
401-K matching contributions or other retirement programs for employees
A desk for each employee
Fixtures and displays
Office supplies
Toilet paper, soap and paper towels
Telephone service
The rest of this you can read What is actual "dealer cost?" > RV Daily Report | (http://rvdailyreport.com/Opinion/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/18047/What-is-actual-dealer-cost.aspx)
The very idea of a website publishing proprietary cost information for the entire world to see is repugnant. The developers of SeeDealerCost.com should be shackled and dragged into court where IRS trained thugs extract every vestige of profit from their little geeky hides. I would hope every RV manufacturing company would have teams of lawyers ready to attack this company the very nanosecond they published dealer cost information. Manufacturers that don't have that kind of legal power at their disposal could call Heartland RV because I know for fact they have a team of lawyers with very little to do.
To a consumer, "dealer cost" is whatever the dealership pays the manufacturer to acquire the unit. They think it covers only wood, glue, composite material, glass, carpet, a toilet, sinks, beds, furniture, lights, some electronic equipment and maybe a few bucks to pay someone to put it all together. In reality, the manufacturer's profit is also built into dealer cost, which makes it invisible to consumers. Consequently, consumers apparently have no problem with RV manufacturers making money off the sale of RVs -- just dealers.
If consumers were to look the price of an RV sitting on a dealer lot and compare it to whatever was found on a website like SeeDealerCost.com, they would grasp their chests and hyperventilate in righteous indignation over the idea that a small business owner dared to charge anything more than $100 over cost. I remember listening to a car buyer tell a salesperson once, "Hey, I don't mind you making $200 or even $300 over invoice. That's a good wage for a good day's work."
Assuming the dealership earned just $300 over invoice for every RV sold, and that it sold just one unit a day, six days a week, the business would generate a whopping $93,600 per year in profit. Let's pretend the dealership was a real corporate whore and sold five units a day seven days a week. After a whole year, the dealership would have earned $547,500. Now that's big business! Or is it?
Out of that the dealership must pay for:
Salaries for each employee (more on that later)
Vacation days for each employee
Sick days for each employee
Employer's share of socialist security
Health insurance for each employ and his family
Unemployment insurance
Workers compensation insurance
Disability insurance
Life insurance
Property insurance
Liability insurance
Dental insurance for each employee and his family
401-K matching contributions or other retirement programs for employees
A desk for each employee
Fixtures and displays
Office supplies
Toilet paper, soap and paper towels
Telephone service
The rest of this you can read What is actual "dealer cost?" > RV Daily Report | (http://rvdailyreport.com/Opinion/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/18047/What-is-actual-dealer-cost.aspx)