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Forum Index: DISCUSSION: Dock Talk:
Opinions wanted 		Team McLube

 
 


Directbuymarine
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Jan 27, 2011, 2:52 PM

Post #1 of 11 (2720 views)
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Dear boaters,

My team is starting a new business that provides boating accessories at deep discounts from the current outlets available to the boaters. I would like your feedback on our business model (both good and bad) and any advice you may want to offer. We are prerevenue, this is not a sales pitch of any kind and we have nothing to sell yet. We would simply like to hear what boaters have to say about our idea.

Our web site is http://www.directbuymarine.com





Okeebc
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Jan 28, 2011, 6:44 AM

Post #2 of 11 (2645 views)
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This could be the best thing to ever happen to sailing. One of the main draw backs of boat ownership is the cost and if that burden can be eased by shopping at a particular vendor, that vendor will become very popular.

As long as quality does not become an issue, I think this venture will be well received.


Directbuymarine
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Jan 28, 2011, 7:12 AM

Post #3 of 11 (2627 views)
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Okeedc,

Thank you for your comment.

Dave


PaulK
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Jan 29, 2011, 6:54 AM

Post #4 of 11 (2573 views)
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If the goods aren't branded, how do we determine the level of quality we're getting? A no-name anchor or shackle that might look like a CQR or Wichard casting could both be made from white metal, for all we know. If there's no retail packaging, how are the goods protected in shipping? Forklifts can run over Hobie masts. They aren't so straight afterwards.


Directbuymarine
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Jan 29, 2011, 7:32 AM

Post #5 of 11 (2572 views)
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Paul, all the products will be unconditional guarantied for your complete satisfaction and fully described. Every one of our products will carry the same warrantee of its branded version with our company honoring those with either replacement or refund as determined by the customer. We will be providing a complete comparison to our branded competitors products and posted on our site.

All our products will be delivered to our customer with a return delivery label at our expense.

As for packaging, little can protect from a fork lift run over, but our product will be packaged at our facility to ensure against damage and will be fully insured on each shipment to our customers.

Thank you for your comment and please keep them coming. It helps us to meet our customers expectations.

Dave Peterson


Stefan
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Feb 2, 2011, 12:57 PM

Post #6 of 11 (2500 views)
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Dave,

I get your point and yes - it might sound good at first but when putting it in practical use I end up with the same quality argument as Paul K wrote in #4 post. There are good quality parts available on the market and there are less good. Sometimes the lower quality stuff is as expensive as the good stuff but is never the other way around.


If you know your brand you have the possibility to get what you pay for and make your choice what you value the most. The prize or the knowledge that this part will most likely not let you down.
The way you put it on your website you only pay extra for the brand and the box if you buy blocks from Ronstan or Harken but you do actually get a better product than many cheaper brands as well. And the same deal goes for most products, not just blocks.


The products were many customers mostly look to the prize and do not care much about brands are already the cheapest on the market and found in outlet-stores and low-price chains. No big savings...


Nothing personal but I would not be your customer regardless of displayed comparisons and claims that you are selling equal equipment to well known brands. Even if I might be wrong about this I value the knowledge of knowing what I get more than risking to have a cheap copy with less good quality just to save some bucks.

//Stefan





Directbuymarine
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Feb 2, 2011, 5:10 PM

Post #7 of 11 (2488 views)
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Stefan,

Thank you for your comment and I understand your point and I support your decision not to be a customer. However, I disagree with your thought that one can never find a good quality product for less money that its cheaper counterpart. I have made a career out of just this and it is acomplished by removing all nonvalue added steps between the consumer and the factory process which makes the product. I have found and removed 4 major mark up layers that add no value that consumers are paying for and as a result, I have gained an increase in quality assurance. A direct result of this is the primer bulb we have listed on our site. Our EPA certified primer bulb is the very best on the market and is the least priced of any business out there. Once we are up and running with all our products the price for this bulb will drop to 12.99. Currently the best priced bulb out on the market is on iboats.com for just over $17.00 yet they cannot deliver it as they don't have stock as of last week. We have a full material analysis with operating specifications and has the least fuel permiation in the industry. Ours is less expensive and higher quality that any other bulb on the market. We are doing the same thing for all the products we carry.

Thank you again for your comment.

Dave Peterson


Stefan
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Feb 3, 2011, 4:15 AM

Post #8 of 11 (2471 views)
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Dave,

I did not really say that there are no products that you can sell and that they automatically have less quality. Let me do a small correction to my previous post.

There are lots of stuff that I buy from manufacturers I do not know anything about and where the brand is no what so ever guarantees for me that I buy the quality I hope to get. On these items it would not make any difference if I buy it with- or without brand and box. What I wrote in my previous post was that the same items usually are found in low-price stores already so even if something is “half price” it will not represent bug bucks in the end. It will more be a matter of convenience where I find it easiest to buy or if I value to have the ability to look at it before buy or not .

The parts that do make my boating expensive are parts where quality matters and I do not wish to take a chance. But I get the impression that your focus will not be on this type of items and not quality-fetish guys like myself on similar parts (?).

//Stefan


Directbuymarine
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Feb 3, 2011, 4:54 AM

Post #9 of 11 (2465 views)
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Stefan,

Thank you for your correction post. Yes, the products we will start out with are the basic boaters' needs. We do have plans to expand into a variety of boating accessories. The thing that attracted me to this venture was that there are sooooooooo many layers in the supply model that do not add any value to the consumer. As we gain traction, this expansion will happen. I would love to hear from boaters about those items that have a large financial impact on their boating pleasure to help us identify them and come up with solutions to lower the cost without impacting the quality.

Thank you again.

Dave


Stefan
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Feb 3, 2011, 5:13 AM

Post #10 of 11 (2458 views)
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In Reply To
I would love to hear from boaters about those items that have a large financial impact on their boating pleasure to help us identify them and come up with solutions to lower the cost without impacting the quality.
This is kind of tricky as those products in many cases are built in-house by the brand and/or the fabricator have a contract to build it on licence regardless if there is a pattern protection or not.

The manufactures do not wish to dump the market and kill their own retailers so I find it hard to believe that they wish to sell the same stuff without box somewhere ells...

//Stefan





Directbuymarine
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Feb 3, 2011, 5:22 AM

Post #11 of 11 (2455 views)
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I understand, that is a party killer. It is also something for us to explore in the future. Our purpose of doing what we are doing is to provide savings for boaters while having a positive impact on our environment. We will provide value to our customers and we will not carry something that does not support our value and environmental commitment.

Thanks Stefan and happy sailing.

Dave


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