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[RedFXR2]

My orginal thought was to provide a service to the members of this site and I am still thinking along those lines. I know it probably sounds hokey, but I am not going into this looking to support myself off it.

Doesn't sound hokey at all, sounds like a blast.  Wish I had the time.

I'm just throwing out the things I've seen from others that indicate that these things tend to morph into something that the owners didn't necessarily have in mind.  That could be a good thing or bad, but it seems to happen.

I'd certaily see what you had available.  Of course, you'd have to carry old, FXR stuff and thst's not exactly a high demand line of goods.

[Keats]

A wise old man gave me 2 important pieces of advice that I originally thought was strange.
but I think really works.

1. when going into business, go into a business that you know nothing about. this seems counter intuitive to everything people believe in, but his point is that
if you know nothing of the business you will ask many more questions of why things are the way they are. You will listen more and you will not bring any preconceived notions to the operation.
you will learn a lot more!

2. Do not enter a business that you like.......work will stay work and you will not ruin any hobbies. you stay focused and you will be more efficient...

Strange as they seem, they do work........ 

[RedFXR2]

1. when going into business, go into a business that you know nothing about.

2. Do not enter a business that you like

I would tend to agree with this up to a point.  I have a friend who lives and breathes bicycles.  He's ridden his (pedal) bicycle all over the country and abroad for decades, now.  Back in the early 1980's, he got his MBA while working part-time in a Schwinn shop.  His B-school classmates thought he was crazy when they were getting corporate jobs and he kept working in the bike shop--learning the business.  About a year later, he opened his own shop and now has three stores in the metro Atlanta area.  The last time I talked to him, he had hired store managers to run the places and went in sometimes to keep tabs on things and went to industry shows (the fun stuff) but spent most of his time doing whatever he wanted--not overdosing on bicycles.

Anyway, I like the advice about asking objective questions and not letting one's own passion cloud any judgement.  On the other hand, if youi're ot looking to feed, clothe and house yourself off the business, you can afford to not make all the best decisions.

[BIGDOG]

One of the disadvantages the Internet sales people have [and Brian this could be one for you ] is warranty. When a customer buys something on the web and has an issue the seller is expected to pay freight back from the customer. When a web buyer brings a tool to my store and wants a fix I send him back to his web pals to take care of him. I have sold tools for around 17 years and no one ever takes responsibility for screwing something up it is always a product warranty . For a web dealer a lot of merchandise comes back that was abused and the seller eats it. Especially when talking chrome and such , how do you tell your customer he scratched the chrome and it was fine when it left the store. You have sold cheep ,paid freight 2 ways , your screwed. As for a retail store so many people want there parts now they don't want to wait. It took a lot of years but my tool store has over $ 500,000 in tool inventory so we special order very little. My inventory would out do Home Depot and Lowe's combined in just the tool area . I would have to do the same with bike parts. It again would take several years but could be done , and that is where I think I could make it. Stocking special products that normal stores don't. I'm getting off track of what Brian is wanting to do, Sorry Brian . My suggestion is don't sell your self cheap because there is a large cost to doing business and you want to be around for the long haul.

[BLM777]

Interesting idea and thread, Brian.  I guess somebody's got to do it so I'll muddy the water a bit.  I really don't think your venture is about how much "discount" it takes to earn the business.  In my experience, it's all about personal service, expertise and the integrity of customer service.  As all of us know, when it comes to motorcycles it's obviously not about the money as much as it is the "one off", novelty, just because I want it syndrome.  Unfortunately, many people starting down that road don't have a clue of what works or what they want the final outcome to be.  With your background and apparent love for putting all the pieces together, advice and well thought out model specific "packages" are far more important than saving a couple of bucks to independently put together an albatross.  With the additional ability for you to put together actual "one off" paint sets there's a real opportunity to market to a specific, niche customer base.

In addition to supplying the aftermarket products, I would start with several package concepts at increasing price points for specific popular models.  The final product cost and "I gotta have it" concept then becomes more of determining factor than attempting to compete with the wholesale houses that never ship on time and have no real customer "consultants" that assure that the idea is going to work.

I think you've got a winner while having a lot of fun if you're willing to put the personal touch with lots of phone and email time into the process.  Doing exactly what you say will guarantee the fun and profit.

[SPIDERMAN]

I will soon be posting on the vendor thread, but felt I could close out this one by letting everyone know that the Principals of Uptown Cycle and I sat down today and worked out some guidelines for my role in promoting their business on this site (and elsewhere) As I had noted in a prior post, there isn't a one size fits all discount I can quote. I will be offering whatever you need at a fair price. I know I will work hard to ensure that you order the right part in the first place and that you get exactly what you ordered and that it fits. Having said that, my modus operendi will be for those of you in need of parts to contact me via PM , the vendor section or my private e-mail address which I will post in the members section. After discussing what your need is, and ensuring that we've got it right, I will offer a price delivered. You can take it or leave it. As Twolane mentioned, some members may not pay exactly the same amount for the same part. As I stated, that will be due to shipping costs. All price quotes will include shipping. Beyond that, Uptown Cycle is a full service shop offering machine shop services (head porting and polishing, valve clearancing etc. ) Custom seat work and of course Tony's award winning custom paint. All of these services will be available through me and I will work with you to ensure that you get that trick seat or paint job you've had in your mind is brought to reality. This is a total package one stop shopping venture. You dream it, we can make it happen. If you want an engine built, we can either put together a complete package containing every item you need for a local tech to assemble or if you so desire you can ship us you motor and we'll build it for you. A-Z, we're offering it all.

I look forward to working with any of you who may wish to give this venture a shot

B B

[HogBreath]

Personally, I don't care what the discount is. Percentage discount of what? List price? Who's list price? I'd venture to guess every vendor has a different discount structure. I deal with several vendors who use a list price structure. Some give 30% off of list to a dealer. Some give 40%. some give 55%. I think they all do that just to try and confuse everyone. I would rather just know what my cost is.

If I get good service and a vendor does what he is supposed to do, I don't care whether he has the absolute cheapest price. I would expect him to be competitive.