justradios

[Retired]

Hi,

I too like to support local suppliers wherever possible and for any member living near enough I can highly recommend a visit to N R Bardwell of Sheffield.

The staff make customers feel welcome and I always buy something from the counter display as it is like waving sweets in front of a child. This is an old fashioned kind of shop and usually very busy when I visit.

http://www.bardwells.co.uk/

I also find Gerry Horrox of Crowthorne Tubes to be very helpful.

http://www.crowthornetubes.com/

Kind regards, Col.

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by AlanBeckett

Strictly speaking that's not true. That's the story that the Accountants always put forward to justify not processing small orders. Alan

I beg to differ, ignore that small detail and 18 months later an accountant will be informing you your business is not viable.If you have ever run a business in these days you have to watch every cost, costs come out of revenue not turnover.

Mike

[murphyv310]

Hi.
I agree with Mike here, having run a business and doing some spare part sales the small orders often were done at a loss, I eventually gave up selling spares about a year before I closed down.

I personally wouldn't dream of ordering from Justradio's unless I had an order of over £80, probably because I have done it and fully understand the problem with small orders.

[AlanBeckett]

I'm sorry gentlemen but I don't think you understood my Post. We were discussing Justradios, a Company whose business is selling components, not just a 'few on the side'. So, for such a Company there will be a cost associated with processing Orders. Assuming that the 'Order Department', for want of a better description, is not fully loaded, nor is it so slack that they should get rid of some people, then the cost of processing one more Order is the Marginal Cost. That may simply be the cost of a sheet of paper to print it out on, although it's usually a bit more. There's no magic about it, that's how it is.
I didn't say that you should neglect to collect the money, nor that you should neglect more lucrative activity in favour of these small orders.
I used to work with a number of Salesmen. One in particular would always tell you the story of his £1m Order, and indeed he was quite successful. However, these Orders were few and far between. Another of the Saleman would quietly tell you that he got several £10k Orders every week, a couple of £100k Orders ever Month and a every now and again a £500k Order. Guess which one the Company preferred?
So, I would suggest that the best bet is indeed to keep a close eye on Costa and Invoices, but don't neglect the small Orders - Cash is King!
Alan

[murphyv310]

Alan.
I didn't for a number of years neglect the small orders, but eventually had to do a minimum price, a number of customers would complain as I had a £7.50 minimum charge plus P&P. Even telling them that my store was 16 miles away from the workshop did no good, so they lost the service I did.

[AlanBeckett]

Trevor,
I think that you were entirely correct to do so, and I don't see any need to justify your decision to anyone. It is indeed quite easy to sell at a loss, particularly when chasing turnover without keeping a close eye on costs. As my favourite old Salesman used to say 'Any BF can sell a £1 item for 95p. The secret is to get £1.05 for it'.
Sort of Micawber in reverse
Alan

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by AlanBeckett

I'm sorry gentlemen but I don't think you understood my Post. .......So, I would suggest that the best bet is indeed to keep a close eye on Costa and Invoices, but don't neglect the small Orders - Cash is King!
Alan

I understand your post, nobody in their right mind would neglect the small orders a business has to neglect orders that make a loss. The original post was moaning about minimum order acceptance and £10 is about as low as you can get was my comment.

In real terms if you lose 50 p on a VERY small order you do not want thousands of these orders as you will lose a lot of money. The inference was that you accept these small orders as somehow they engender more business for you.

With your example of your Sales engineers I am pretty sure you would not be pleased if he brought in a 10K order that made you a £100 loss.

Who knows how much business Just Radio does , I am sure he is very successfull but I do not like to see Companies criticised unfairly for their terms of business. Just Radio know what they are doing and if they think it not good business to accept orders below a set amount I for one respect that and I might add do not think less of them for doing so.

Mike

[Skywave]

Ignoring for the moment the single individual, such as a member of this Forum, placing an order of about £5.00, if a company of a reasonable size and reputation places a small order - say £8.00 for example, surely it will be in the interests of the supplying company to gladly fulfil that order, on the basis that the next order from that firm might just be a very sizeable one?

In other words, not all transactions will make a profit; sometimes, speculation is necessary.

Al. [Skywave]

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by Skywave

if a company of a reasonable size and reputation places a small order - say £8.00 for example, surely it will be in the interests of the supplying company to gladly fulfil that order, on the basis that the next order from that firm might just be a very sizeable one?

In other words, not all transactions will make a profit; sometimes, speculation is necessary.

Al. [Skywave]

In this instance a reasonable size Company would not quibble about a minimum order , it will be costing them money to place the order in the first place.

[oldticktock]

Maybe i'm way off the mark here but we have to remember these people are in Canada and probably in the main serve their local and neighbouring base fine.

Before we were all globalised and expected so much for so little, I seriously doubt anyone would have considered purchasing 1 or 2 components from so far. For 1 or 2 components I would have thought uk based purchasing would make more sense.

I for one find them superb and super helpful ordering is easy as is sorting out the air postage costs and above all value for money, they have even refunded when I overpaid on postage. Restoring TV's takes quite a few components so I like to ensure I always have enough to hand and replenish when used, my orders are generally in the $50 - $70 area, so I guess that makes a difference.

I personally like to have a workshop stocked as best I can rather than running on vapours so to speak. Equally I understand others do not but holding a little more stock than close to nothing must make sense logically and financially to both supplier and customer, after all we want these people to be around don't we.

Maybe I see this differently because I did not benefit from the golden days of the hobbyist, when walking into your local radio shop getting a brown paper bag with the 1 or 2 items you needed was the norm, simple and traders were happy to do so.

[MichaelR]

Exactly, my sentiments entirely "old tictock". We should support anybody willing to offer a good service to source , stock and supply.Without them the hobby would suffer.

Mike

[murphyv310]

Indeed I agree with Mike & Chris. Even now I rarely run out of the common parts and am well stocked up. In my shed there are over 10,000 components, and I have access to many more.
All my stuff is logged on the database and once the level drops to a critical level (set by myself) it flags up, at that point I will only reorder if the part low in stock is a high usage part, if not it's added to a list for pending orders, thus I can order once I have a reasonably big order.

[Retired]

Hi,

a similar thread to this one ran a while ago and can be found here:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=47024

It's easy for large companies to forget their humble beginnings and turn their back on the little man (or woman).

I would very much enjoy The New Year sales if the sale covered items such as timber; board materials and electronic components but then I can always dream.

Kind regards, Col.

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by Retired

Hi,


It's easy for large companies to forget their humble beginnings and turn their back on the little man (or woman).


Kind regards, Col.

Col, I understand your sentiment but these larger Companies are not turning their back on the little man. They are running serious organisations employing people , to them it is not a hobby but a need to stay in business and make money. If they could offer a profitable service to fit our needs I am sure they would do so.

Now I would complain if they set out to offer a service that was no good but they do not make such claims.

Mike

[Retired]

Hi Mike,

I very much appreciate any company however large or small needs to make profit to remain in business.

What a difference though between RS and Farnell in their respective approaches to the little man. I've only ever tried to buy components by visiting the RS site once in Leeds; I don't even know if the sign is still on the wall declaring no account go away or something on those lines; I've never been back and don't intend to.

It's quite a while since I wanted components but now I drive past RS to visit Farnell where I've always been made most welcome.

I dislike knocking any company but are not RS and Farnell of similar size and if so why does one treat the little man very well whilst the other ignores him?

I also visit our local Screwfix who are only too happy to sell me a single item of low value making me feel welcome.

Before retirement I worked for a multi national company and I always went out of my way to help any customer in any way I could; perhaps when all our large companies have disappeared abroad as many already have then the ones remaining might once again value any order large or small.

This reminds me of many years ago when my friend Vince used to be a car salesman and was new to the job. One day a little old lady wandered onto site dressed very shoddily and all the salesmen were ignoring her.Vince however struck up a conversation with her resulting in the sale of 12 vans to the company she owned.

No one likes to be ignored and should I ever be in a position to place a huge electronic component order which would I choose; RS or Farnell?

Kind regards, Col.

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by MichaelR

In this instance a reasonable size Company would not quibble about a minimum order , it will be costing them money to place the order in the first place.

I'm very sorry, Mike, and perhaps I've had a little to much Christmas cheer, , etc., but I fail to see how that agrees or contradicts my original Post.

I'd be greatly obliged if you would elucidate; thanks.

Al.

[MichaelR]

With Farnell there is a charge for what they offer which is what the thread has been about. I too use Farnell , I do so because their product line is massive , delivery options first class , staff easy to deal with and knowledgeable. If you are not visiting them , I believe their minimum order value is £20.

The thread started about minimum order values when mailorder.I have only aimed my comments about defending this practice.

I personally use Farnell as my number one supplier for business, only a few weeks ago we had a vital needed component order placed over the web @1800 hours on a friday evening . Desperate for development work to continue over the weekend we asked for Saturday delivery and paid a premium of £15 on a £20 order. This particular weekend is when the snow had hit us and I was preparing myself for asking for some money back on Monday. UPS sent a driver up from Tamworth ( without us asking or chasing) and we received the item at midday Saturday..... I was flabbergasted but delighted.

Now that is Service you do not forget, did it cost Farnell ... No .. it probably cost UPS but the amount of business Farnell probably do with them, it was worth their while to engender more future business and go the extra mile.

Mike

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by Skywave

I'm very sorry, Mike, and perhaps I've had a little to much Christmas cheer, , etc., but I fail to see how that agrees or contradicts my original Post.

I'd be greatly obliged if you would elucidate; thanks.

Al.

A reasonable size company would not baulk at minimum order values , they will either place the order or not. They employ staff to place orders and procure , minimumorder values are accepted in business. A business would understand.

A hobbyist would be far more sensitive to paying £5 more etc.

I keep repeating myself and that all I am trying to state is that minimum order values are there for a valid commercial reason.The view point that removing them and attract small value orders from hobbyists somehow is good business practice I do not believe.

If your business is aimed at hobbyists then it may be what you have to do , it still will not be viable so unless you can absorb it in some way and remain profitable that is your problem.

Mike

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by MichaelR

In this instance a reasonable size Company would not quibble about a minimum order , it will be costing them money to place the order in the first place.

Thank you for your reply (immediately above this one), Mike, but I think we are at cross-purposes on this.

My comment was referring to the supplier being prepared to accept - or not - a comparatively small order from a company of a reasonable size and reputation. However, your comment appears to relate to the cost to that ordering company in placing that order, not to the economics of the supplying company. That was not the point I was trying to make: perhaps I didn't make myself perfectly clear on that.

Al.

[MichaelR]

Ok Al

Mike