BUYING A KUBOTA

[JLB]

GENTLEMAN I NEED INFORMATION ON HOW TO GET A GOOD DEAL ON
A KUBOTA. I HAVE ONLY ONE ACRE, AND JUST STARTED CLEARING,
NEED BELLY MOWER,BACK HOE, LOADER,BACK BLADE.B2400?HST
WHAT MARKUP IS THERE IN A TRACTOR?USED OR NEW?

 

[W5FL]

The B20 is a nice package, but will not accept a belly mower. Do a search on the B20 and B2400 on both this board and the archive. Check out the website advertised on here and several others that are included in recent posts. Seems like some dealers sell at about cost plus 10% and cost is shown on the page of the dealer spec sheet. Look around a little and maybe someone can help answer your questions. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

WHAT TYPE OF SALES MANAGER ARE YOU! PLEASE INFORM US ALL OF YOUR PROFIT MARGINS. SO WE CAN DETERMINE IF WE ARE PAYING TO MUCH FOR THE GOODS YOU SELL. I AM SURE YOUR FIRST RESPONCE IS F--- IE THATS NO ONE BUSSINESS. THE DEALER HAS TO PAY THE POWER BILL , PHONE ,AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER THINGS SO YES WE ONLY SELL TRACTOR AT A PROFIT. A FEW EXCEPTIONS SC.

 

[gordon]

I have a question for the dealer---Have you ever heard of a twenty group? Just curious
Welcome to the year 2000
Its a dealers choice at what markup he or she wants on an item and its the customers right to be well informed about any products selling price.
So I guess what I'm getting at is---IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT GET THE HECK OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!!!!!
There is plenty of marketshare out there for everyone.
Gordon

 

[Bird]

I know there are lots of different viewpoints on this topic, but in my very small business, I'll be glad to show anyone exactly what my costs are when I tell them what it'll cost them. And then they can decide for themselves whether they want to do business with me or someone else.

I've played the "horse trading" game many times with both dealers and individuals in years past, but I just don't care to waste my time doing that anymore. I understand about a dealer's overhead, and expect him to make a profit or not sell to me. So, whether it's a car, pickup, or tractor, I simply call or visit 3 or 4 dealers, tell them exactly what I want and ask what's the best deal they can give me, and I don't tell one what the others' prices were (I may, on occasion, tell one that someone else has simply offered a better deal), and I buy from the one that offers the best deal (and in some circumstances, the best "deal" may not be the lowest price).

Bird

 

[richh]

As some one who has had a small business for over 20 yr. I can tell you that it just isn,t all its cracked up to be. But it is the owners duty to MAKE MONEY on every thing he sells. Other wise he won't be there went you ned him, and there for does everyone a great diservice. We sell spa's and have had other dealers come and go so now the customers call us for service, and we help them but we didn't sell that brand, don,t stock parts, haven't serviced that one before, ect. ect. Who pays for the extra trips to the house and the learing curve, the customer!!!! So in the long run you realy want the guy to make $$$$$ so he will be their when you need him, but I like you want a fair deal. When I started looking for a new tractor I shoped all over, found this site and others, stoped at dealers show rooms when I travled around and got a feel for the market so I knew what a fair price was. And then I bought it from my local dealer [60 miles away] for what I thought was a fair price. I have a good idea what he made and it mite sound like a lot but I have a very good understanding of what it cost to be in a real business, ie. store front employees work comp ect ect. And every year our beloved govt. makes it harder and more costly to be in business.+ when your tractor brakes you like to have a trained person work on it, don't you???? Well enought just had to get in my 2 cents worth, I think you get my point. Oh I could have bougth my tractor for less and saved maybe $700.00 to $1000.00 if I have traveled out of town farther. Luck for me the dealer seams to be a good guy so far. He's letting me trade in my new GST for a HST afer I'VE had it for 10 days and been useing it. He did try and sell me a HST but IM a little bull headed./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I know Mark you told me so!
Rich

 

[stvman]

Mark,Gordon,Bird; Dittos to your comments, any dealer who puts his/her cards on the table tells me they are serious about doing business, Any dealer who doesn't is obviously embarrased of the ridiculous profit they are making!!! The more up front you are the less reservations a customer has.

I have to sell equipment every day if my price is not fair my competition will gladly take the customer, and I deserve to loose them, but if I show them my cost, my product is high quality,will fill their needs and I make a reasonable argument for my markup I never have to worry about my customer bad mouthing me because I screwed them....../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[stvman]

richh; I read your post after I submitted mine and I find it unfortunate that you and I have to drive around to diffrent dealers to get a good price .And still you only have an idea of what your dealers profit is. I would guess (assuming your mind was made up on which tractor you wanted) the first trip to that dealer if the dealer said " My cost on this tractor is 10,000 dollars completely assembled an ready for work, I feel 800 dollars is a fair profit to make, so the tractor is yours for 10,800 " you might have been inclined to sign on the dotted line right then ( I shure would have ) if not you could at least settled on what you both agreed was a fair profit..

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Do you completely trust in your dealer to tell you their EXACT cost on the tractor? You say "He showed me what it cost in the book", but there are always kickbacks, insentives, ect. Again everyone who has posted here is not saying they want to make a 10-20-50 % profit on their trade, just that they look for a fair price. And if its a consumers right to know the cost a dealer pays why doesn't the manufacturer provide this information to the public? Or maybe the Government. Cars might be a good place to start.
I dont know of ANY industry that posts their cost figures to the consumer. K-mart?

 

[gordon]

Ditto to all above as well the best way to do business is be 100% honest this applies both ways dealer and customer.
The dealer today showed me his cost lists for the items I was asking about but as for the tractor price he still is toooo high and he knows it. He also knows I will more than likely buy from him he has given me great service over the years and when they have screwed up they have made up for it in other ways. He will come down in the price of the tractor and I know that.
I respect them for being honest about what is going on with my tractor even though I always don't like the answer. As far as profit goes I don't have a problem paying alittle more to keep my money local, but to be gouged--no way. Any dealer that doesn't make a fair profit won't be a dealer for long.
Gordon

 

[gordon]

The kickbacks and incentives I don't have a problem with that is the dealers and the salesman gravy so to speak. That is also on the backside what I'm concerned with is the front side and I also on big ticket items get prices from at least FOUR to SIX dealers and go from there. But that is me, people call me very tight with my money and I darn sure have to be because I don't have very much of it!!! There are also people that walk in off the street and say I want that one and will pay whatever the dealer says.

Oh yea you also forgot to metion another way the dealer makes money is with financing and extended warranty as well but then again that is how a business works---you just don't sell a tractor you sell alot of other things as well.
Gordon

 

[MChalkley]

As I said in my earlier post, there are dumb consumers just as there are dumb dealers. There are consumers (some of them have posted messages on this forum) who feel that a "deal" is when the dealer makes a profit of $50 or 1%, whichever is less, but only an idiot would lose sleep over whether he made a sale to someone with that mentality. Those customers will learn the hard way that it's painful in the long run to try to rob others of their just due, just as dealers who try to rob others of too much of their hard-earned cash will. Self-inflicted justice isn't always swift, but it's usually unforgettably brutal.

I think what I was trying to say when I said my dealer tells me his cost is that he treats me like a friend that he happens to do business with, not as walking wallet he thinks it would be smart to be friendly with. He tells me his cost because he feels it's a good business practice that will help keep me as a customer and a friend. You've got to respect someone who treats you with that much respect. 'Nuff said.

Rich, when are you getting that HST L4610?

Mark

 

[W5FL]

Global competition is good for most of us. Those of us that lost good jobs because of out-sourcing most of the jobs in electronics to very low wage third world countries could be pretty bitter about it, but the reality is that most of us got a lot better at doing business and automated most of the assembly. Turns out it is just as cheap to run a machine in the US as it is in China and the jobs came back - in a different form, but they came back.

The world of big ticket items is also changing very rapidly. The car salesman is far different that the car salesman 30 years ago. The same is true of Tractor sales companies, too.

My dad was Service Manager for a large auto dealer, and I know exactly the difference between invoice, cost, incentives, and rebates to dealers based on total sales volume. You can buy most cars at or below "Invoice" price today. The Internet has shrunk the world and is continuing to do so. Home Depot's are outlawed by some cities because they have someone on the council that has been sworn to protect the local hardware store. These subsities are temporary as people will spend their money where they get value for it. Most consumers are far better educated than they were 30 years ago. Seldom does anyone have the brand loyality that used to exist and say they are going to buy a GE Iron, becaue their mother had one and she bought it from Al's appliance so she will too.

By the way, the reason you can't buy a GE Iron today is because the Chairman of GE, Jack Welsch, gave an order that they had to be first and second in each product line or get out of it. That order was wrongly interpreted and now most GE appliances are B&D. That order continues to be given by CEO's and companies continue to merger and sell unprofitable lines and divisions. There would not be a Kubota Tractor available today unless it represented good value to the consumer.

The subject line of much of this discussion is how much value does a dealer add to the price of a tractor once it is off loaded from the ship? If the dealer does not add sufficient value to the consumer, then he will go out of business the same as most appliance repair firms and electronics assembly jobs have done.

I am very fortunate in that my dealer adds a lot of value to me and prices it reasonable. He is very competent, open about what he does, and I am sure he will be there when many others are gone. He says the Internet companies are good for his business because they have to run a more efficient business and sell more tractors to keep their prices in line. They also have a great parts and service department which seems to do more make ready than service thanks to the reliability of tractors these days.

 

[_RaT_]

Lucky you Rich. When I saw that you were getting the 4610 I thought cool. When I saw that it was a GST I kinda wondered why. Again, not that there is anything wrong with GST, its nicer then anything the other brands make in geared tractors, but when you know about HST and its attributes, its very hard to resist. Kubotas HST is less expensive then its GST. Now you need to ask Mark about what to do with the clutch pedal on the HST. Rat...

 

[MChalkley]

Rat - The clutch on an HST has a very important, even vital, role: You use it when you're engaging or disengaging the PTO...

Oh yeah, sometimes it's useful when you're engaging or disengaging 4wd, or changing speed ranges. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Mark

 

[richh]

The HST should be here in a week or so, hes having trouble getting a loader. I also ordered a 64" Long 4in1 bucket with the ele. valve, sure hope they have the bugs worked out. And the tires and wheels are on the way to, so we mite just wait till it all gets here and trade them out. He gave me $800.00 for the R4 tires only, rear and front tires and wheels, not to bad. I was having second thoughts about the tires, almost but then it rained, mud R4, no way. But after using them for a while now, if I didn't run in the mud so ofen I think they would be a good compermise, they great on the grass, sand and gravle pit.
I have tryed to stop the PTO when I push in the clutch on the GST but it keeps right on a going, any ideas??
Mark any thing on your wheels? IM guessing that I will see mind soon after you get yours.
Rich

 

[MChalkley]

Rich - The PTO will continue to turn when there's no implement attached, or until an attached implement stops rotating from inertia, of course, but it shouldn't start an implement turning when the clutch is disengaged.

I haven't seen the new wheels yet. If they don't show next week, I'm going to make a phone call and find out what the status is.

Mark

 

[JimBinMI]

Wen,

Looks like you're the only one that tried to help on this post, everyone else went off topic after "Dealer" responded!

Boy, I'm glad that I never get off topic! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Sorry JLB, I can't help you much, I own a NH.
JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[MChalkley]

Rich - My wheels arrived today! They look right, except that there's no stem guards on them. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Oh, well, I can fix that myself.

Have you got any news to report regarding wheels, tires, or tractors?

Mark