Tools/Hardware/DIY Company Seeking Feedback/Suggestions on Possible OzBargains

Lexpresstoolsandcons… on 12/05/2010 - 13:11
Last edited 02/06/2010 - 01:29 by 1 other user

What tools/equipment/hardware/DIY bargains would the OzBargain community like? That is the question we are asking ourselves. We are a regional based company stocking a comprehensive range of quality brand name tools and equipment for trade, industry and DIY who offer country service at city prices. We are looking to use our national purchasing power to provide deals specifically to the OzBargain community.

To this end, and before posting our first bargain, we are seeking feedback as to the type of products that the community thinks would be suitable and in demand.

Our website is very simple, a one page address page with a couple of links and at this stage no online ordering. We are not sure whether it is better to create and link to a specific OzBargain page on our website or whether simply uploading a PDF is preferable.

So far we have come up with the following criteria (apart from great price) that the bargains we post will seek to offer:

• Quality Brand Names
• Full Tax Invoices
• Full Australian Warranty
• No Credit Card Surcharge
• Delivery by Courier at Cost.

What products would the OzBargain community suggest? We have access to everything from $1 gloves to $10,000 generators and more. We appreciate any and all feedback be it positive or negative and hope by posting here first we can begin on the right foot with the OzBargain community.

Also any suggestions in terms of ordering, payment, shipping or anything else we should watch out for would be much appreciated.

PS: We do not have Rep status yet as the requirements state that we need to post a deal first however we wanted to listen to the community first to avoid possible mistakes on our part.

• 

  spal on 12/05/2010 - 21:17

  +1

  Hi

  I am in the market looking for a line trimmer and a hedge trimmer.

  With line trimmer, thinking in terms of Makita, Hasquavarna or similar.

  Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

  Thanks.

  • 

    expresstoolsandcons… on 13/05/2010 - 07:48

    Thanks for your reply spal.

    We do a lot of business with Makita. Feel free to have a look on the Makita Website and post back links to items that would suit your needs.

• 

  andy19363 on 12/05/2010 - 22:26

  +1

  paypal would be good….

  So far we have come up with the following criteria (apart from great price)

  of course….it has to be better than 'great price', it has to be the best…….or you will be torn limb from limb on here….so spend a lot of time researching prices, (here and overseas merchants) before you post a deal

  • 

    expresstoolsandcons… on 13/05/2010 - 08:05

    Thank you for your reply andy 19363.

    paypal would be good……

    Does this still apply if we currently have no online ordering facilities? If we were to make online ordering possible we would certainly look at this. Why is Paypal so popular? Is it a matter of not having to enter your credit card into another website/payment processor that may or may not be well known?

    of course….it has to be better than ‘great price’, it has to be the best…….or you will be torn limb from limb on here…

    Understood. We are aiming for the best price in Australia for a start.

    In regards to overseas sellers we have people come in on a regular basis trying to make warranty claims with items purchased from online auctions and/or overseas. We then have to check with the manufacturer and are then forced to refuse warranty service as the goods are not covered due to where they were purchased. Suppose this leads to asking what a fully supported warranty from the manufacturer (and in our case a full workshop/repair service) is worth to a potential buyer?

    Given the above, would you think this means we should focus more on items where warranty is important? For what items or from what price point does warranty become an important factor in your purchasing decision for instance?

    • 

      andy19363 on 13/05/2010 - 10:51

      +1

      I think with paypal it does seem to make life a little easier…but irrelevant without online ordering…

      I think the ozbargain crowd are a difficult, volatile and fickle market….you are really playing with fire…. pitchfork wielding angry mobs are easily roused. This is also largely an 'impulse buy' market, the products offered would have to be chosen carefully.

      Personally….I'm not sure warranty would be the first thing people would look at…..That would involve some research….and if people aren't specifically interested in the product, they aren't likely to go much further than the price…..If that price is highlighted as beaten somewhere else, then that will be what gets negged, and many who couldn't care less about the product will neg as part of the mob. There is little in the way of business loyalty here. Product loyalty, yes….but not business loyalty

      'Advertising' is also viewed very dimly here and easily attracts negatives, so what you post will need to be very clearly different to that.

      my 2c :)

      • 

        saine on 13/05/2010 - 12:03

        +1

        I have to disagree - the Logictech shop shows that there is some store-loyalty. But you were correct to say that price is paramount. If it's available elsewhere cheaper, it's not a bargain.

        • 

          expresstoolsandcons… on 13/05/2010 - 12:16

          @saine: Thank you saine, good point.

          The trouble that we as a company run into is trying to compete purely on price with sellers that do not provide warranty or backup support. A bargain can soon turn expensive for the buyer if there is some trouble with an item and there is no warranty to fall back on. How to incorporate this value into a deal on OzBargain is an entirely different matter however.

          Don't get me wrong, we are fully aware that we have to (and fully intend to) compete on price, how to incorporate this into our business realities is another matter.

        • 

          andy19363 on 13/05/2010 - 12:32

          +2

          @saine:

          the Logictech shop shows that there is some store-loyalty

          just by the skin of it's teeth I reckon……you look at the last pages of recent deals where people were talking paypal disputes, late shipping, etc.
          However…..I'm pretty sure, if a competitor pops up with better deals than logitechshop, then logitechshop will be forgotten…..

      • 

        expresstoolsandcons… on 13/05/2010 - 12:04

        Plenty of food for thought there andy, thank you.

        This is also largely an ‘impulse buy’ market, the products offered would have to be chosen carefully.

        So one option would be to find a product at a price point that can be classed as 'impulse buy' while still stating the added benefit of full Australian Warranty and our personal backup and workshop/repair service. We will be doubly careful about product selection and also discuss the matter with our suppliers.

        Personally…I’m not sure warranty would be the first thing people would look at… aren’t likely to go much further than the price…

        Am hearing here that unless the price is right there may be little perceived value in added benefits such as full Australian Warranty etc. Are we on the right track here?

        If that price is highlighted as beaten somewhere else, then that will be what gets negged

        … which is fair enough.

        ‘Advertising’ is also viewed very dimly here and easily attracts negatives

        Understood. That is the reason why we did not put a link to our website in this forum thread.

• 

  iffer on 14/05/2010 - 09:45

  +2

  Bah - second try (lost a big entry by mis-clicking bah)

  ok my opinion only…
  Offer things that are slightly weird, but desirable for "some day" projects.
  By this I mean things like:
  Unusual small tools eg keyhole saws, security screwdrivers, cutters, crimpers, magnifying headsets, biscuit cutters, joint template tools, weird clamps, hot glue guns, etc
  you could have themed sales - eg a stained glass window theme would have specials on bags of glass bits, rolls of leading, solder/flux and high power soldering iron. Give away free instruction guides and link/sell comprehensive books on the topic. Maybe a kit of all of the above for people just starting out. Perhaps you could have your own youtube channel and show off using some of the tools/crafting (if you are shy, you could link to other peoples videos :D ).
  You could do similar themes for most crafting/DIY topics…

  Dremmel anything
  Weird router bits, but not routers.
  Bags of consumables - either by tool or by theme

  I'd suggest not selling big stuff - if I want a leaf blower, I'm much more likely to wander into bunnings and kick tires for a while. An exception might be for no-brainer brands at exceptional prices (eg, I might consider a Dewalt on sale, but not a cheap price for a generic brand)
  Also consumables should be stuff that people can buy ahead rather than for a specific project unless its part of a theme sale (eg hot melt glue sticks but not enamel paints).
  Maybe plan ahead and try to organise kits/themes so people who are interested in an general area build up a collection of tools over time rather than the same bits over and over. eg, each of the DIY themes are related but different and eventually people end up with a good range of tools for anything they want to do later. This also stops you having to carry a huge range since you only stock stuff for the current themes.

  photos - you are going to need good pictures, maybe closeups so people can see textures, etc. Back to the stained glass example, you ocan use the usual sort of stock pics for the soldering iron, but people will want to oggle the glass very closely! You might even want to get one of the automatic 3d scanner rigs so you can easily throw 3d views on the sale page (being able to examine the goods is very reassuring :)

  good luck with the venture!
  Jen

  • 

    expresstoolsandcons… on 15/05/2010 - 08:07

    Thank you for your great basket of ideas Jen. Talk about things to consider for us ;-)

    Unusual small tools eg keyhole saws

    We carry a lot of items like this. We're only concerned that the cost of delivery might become prohibitive for small items, however that is something we will have to work through.

    you could have themed sales

    So when posting a deal we could focus more on the use case and then make up a kit of tools and consumables and deliver them as a basket of goods as it were.

    each of the DIY themes are related but different and eventually people end up with a good range of tools for anything they want to do later.

    This will certainly take some planning so as to minimise any overlap.

    Bags of consumables - either by tool or by theme

    Could you give some examples? We stock a wide variety of consumables for all sorts of trade and industry and we believe our prices in that regard are very competitive already.

    An exception might be for no-brainer brands at exceptional prices (eg, I might consider a Dewalt on sale, but not a cheap price for a generic brand)

    We sell only quality no-brainer brands so that is our focus already. Whatever we sell comes with full warranties etc. as well. Then it only becomes a matter of selecting products where we believe we have the best price as andy mentioned above.

    photos - you are going to need good pictures, maybe closeups so people can see textures, etc.

    We thought of linking the deal to either a 1. pdf or 2. simple webpage on our server while including a link to the manufacturer product page so people can get further info.

    • 

      iffer on 15/05/2010 - 20:43

      +1

      Humm I was working on the basis that you would do just-in-time purchasing, stock rather than just picking an inventory item to promote.
      My thought was that you could hold a very small core stock, and then purchase in bulk lots of the item you were going to promote (only). Hence the idea of the themed sales.. only stock what you have on special.
      Re consumables - again less important if you are holding ongoing stock - but I was thinking if you say had a stained glass theme, you would buy in quanity of glass bits and leading. Maybe plan on holding some stock for people making repeat purchases. but you can go out of stock on the instruction guides and soldering irons. Then later (say) you have a theme on wood carving. Bigger items are power carving tools, consumables are the replacement blades. Go out of stock on the tool, but keep blades available for a while. Cabinet making - big items (bisket cutters, power joint makers, etc) consumables biskets, doweling, staples, glue, etc.
      I don't suggest making/selling only "kits" - you are trying to make/find a clientelle that are into making stuff - and that means maybe a kit to start, but building confidence to craft with bits and the tools in the box - which leads them to wanting to "stock" the box even when they dont have time or a particular project in mind.
      For example you might do a joinery sale - and while they don't want to get into it now, they might want to buy the big tools while they are on sale and get the consumables later when they actually have a project in mind. And it will go the other way - people with the tools see you are having (another) sale on something they do - so they pre-order consumables they know they will use eventually.

      As I said - if you are going to hold all stock all the time, then most of this won't matter much - but then you are going to be competing with all the other large and small hardware stores/chains - on a pretty equal footing. Much harder market!

      I'd definately go the website - they are not hard to set up, and give you a lot more exposure - and also more opportunity to see who is coming to look, what they are looking at, etc (all that stuff the marketing types get all excited about :) )

      Jen

      • 

        expresstoolsandcons… on 16/05/2010 - 07:33

        Thank you for your continued input Jen.

        rather than just picking an inventory item to promote.

        We will be working closely with our suppliers, we won't just take a look around the shop or warehouse ;-) When we said we wanted to tailor these deals specifically for OzBargain that is what we indeed meant, with all the intricacies and expectations of the community. This makes all the feedback we are receiving here so valuable to us. It gives us somewhere to start from.

        only stock what you have on special.

        We are looking at utilising current supplier specials for our OzBargain deals.

        if you are going to hold all stock all the time

        We stock an extensive range of consumables all the time anyway so that could work in our favour. Full backup/support, both in terms of consumables and workshop/repairs/warranties, is very important to us as a company.

        I’d definately go the website

        Understood. Our web skills aren't great but to put together a single simple webpage for a particular deal should be possible. We would then have a link to our main page with other supplier specials. From what we've read it is generally frowned upon just to link to the main website so we will try to avoid that.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 15/05/2010 - 21:49

  +2

  Some other ideas

  1. Pass on deals you might get from a supplier closing out stock.
  2. Use OzBargain to advise people of your own closeout deals, - you might have a list of these, while individual items might only be say 3 which doesn't normally qualify for promotion here, 3 of one item 4 of another etc would be seen as a deal, if total closeouts were greater than 10 and the quantity limits were clearly explained (not saying you might not get some negative votes, but it would be kosher on the site.
  3. Recognise that this is a bargain site and that the members here have keen sense of value, more so that the average consumer
  4. Look at some deal with a courier company or Aust post for shipping. Fastway seems relatively cheap on East Coast
  5. And you do need to have some web based cart software
  • 

    expresstoolsandcons… on 16/05/2010 - 07:52

    Thank you ozpete for you reply.

    Pass on deals you might get from a supplier closing out stock.

    We were thinking that supplier specials may frequently be the catalyst for the deals we post.

    Use OzBargain to advise people of your own closeout deals

    Had not considered posting a deal of this nature ie. 5 of 1 item, 10 of the other item etc. in terms of closeout deals. It would also mean that the deal may be more relevant to a wider part of the OzBargain community. Great suggestion, that will certainly give us something to consider.

    Recognise that this is a bargain site and that the members here have keen sense of value, more so that the average consumer

    We realise that OzBargain is indeed a bargain site and not an advertising billboard hence our cautious approach.

    Look at some deal with a courier company or Aust post for shipping. Fastway seems relatively cheap on East Coast

    We have well established relationships in this regard with a number of companies.

    And you do need to have some web based cart software

    This will be the hardest part to implement for us. Suspect it would depend on what sort of response we get initially via phone/fax to see if we can justify the investment. Do you think this is a bit of a chicken and egg argument?

    Don't get me wrong, we would like to implement a cart ie not a full online shop as such, just a cart where people could purchase the given OzBargain deal and maybe a couple of other items. It is important to us that customers could just go through a simple direct process without having to register eg. like Bookdepository.co.uk for instance.

    If you have any suggestions as to what cart software and/or payment processor or for that matter web company to implement this could be used, we would appreciate any suggestions.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 16/05/2010 - 08:39

      +1

      As for online sales, yes start slowly and only for some sales items etc, having owned a very small hardware store a long time ago, I understand the cataloging issue.

      Not sure on the software side as I havent any current experience. Just google freeware shoppingcart and you may find free or low cost options. I think that would be a far better way to go than have phone/fax as the labor costs would far exceed any of the cheaper/free packages. And people could buy 24/7. Just look at the people on line at 3am in the morning here

      Good luck

      • 

        expresstoolsandcons… on 16/05/2010 - 09:20

        Thanks ozpete, you make good points.

        If we implemented some type of shopping cart that would also negate the need for making a bargain specific web page, we would just link to the cart item directly. That way a non-tech staff member could be taught to update these listings as well. Will have to investigate further, thank you.