Where should my loyalties lie?

[robertjuric]

Im curious why new "shops" even bother with big sells to begin with.

If I was just starting out, Id start out as a field only, and only sell the small things that are necessities(hoses, air fittings, other misc. stuff), until I grew enough to compete with the online stores for bigger items.

[Koosh]

My local store owner (Anthony Navarro at Action Pursuit, you guys know him as the maker of the Highlander Viking) just posted this on his own forum at www.actionpursuitpaintball.com ... Sounds pretty reasonable to me (except when he rags on his competition in the area)

We get alot of kids coming in the store with the " give me for free" attitude and I am sure every other store does too. Here are the reasons why you should by from a local shop.

1.) Local service. when that guns goes down and you bought it from me, you will have a working gun asap and be ready to go...no charge for labor. you buy it else where and your options are 1.) send it to the company...you pay shipping 18-20 bucks each way 2.) take it to a shop and pay 30.00/hr. i just love it when people buy guns from stores that sell toothpaste and camping gear ( jax) and get JACKED because the guy doesnt know a spyder bolt from a spring kit. then the kid wants US to fix what they JACKed up. I cannot even keep track of all the problems I fix when people buy stuff there.....example they sold a guy a intimidator and also sold him an aftermarket barrel for it....only problem was the barrels were spyder threaded. We have sold hundreds of guns, find someone we sold a gun to and ask them how fast we get problems solved....

2.) Chance to win some serious prizes. Everyone who buys a new gun from us gets put on a list.. If you come to one of our big events you get a 2nd raffle ticket for FREE for LIFE. If you have been to a big event then you know how many thousands of dollars in stuff we give away ...intimidators, vikings, nitro systems, A-5's etc........

3.) Lifetime free labor on upgrades.... If you buy a gun from us and later on you want to upgrade it....as long as you buy the parts from us the labor is FREE for LIFE.....and we will make sure it works right the first time.....again....we are tired of fixing the problems of other shops....putting flatline barrels on wrong will make them shoot bad, not leak testing air lines for clients is poor work.....


4.) For the amount of work we put into making sure our clients are pleased with their purchase, why would I work for free which is what you asking me to do. If a gun cost me say 20.00, why would I sell it for 20.00 when it also cost me 5.00 to have it shipped to me, the store rent, pay checks for employees, utilites, etc,etc. Use your head. If your dad loses his job to a company in China because the labor there is free ( pretty much slave labor), or you cant get a summer job because the LOCAL store closed because of a Wal-Mart, then your kind only have yourself to blame for buying of the internet or buying from a place that is ruining the local economy.

I usually dont waste my time with stupid questions like this but people need to know why we charge what we charge AND what you get.

i dont see tons of people lining up to loan me 1.2 million dollars to open our 55,000 square foot indoor field that is gonna open soon?????? I work my *** off to grow the sport in this area and I am positive that 80% of the local players appreciate it. I also am aware that 20% of players want to have nothing to do with local fields and stores. I also am aware that there are players that will try to get "a deal" from there local shops and fields until they pretty much bankrupt them..... I know of at least 2 fields that will not exsist by this time next year because of that mentality from players. Do you people honestly think that we make a ton of money when we sell cases for $74.00 ????? Do you stop and think about the field rent I pay, the employee pay checks ( 4 employees) the cost of the paint and air, the truck upkeep, the rental gun and mask upkeep, the huge amount of insurance we pay per year, the store rent, etc, etc, etc. If you think we do, then I am sorry but you are insane! Do any of you think that we made money off our 5 big events this year? We gave out $32,000.00 in prizes.....Think about it for a while and the answer is that we lost money on 4 of the 5 events, but we continued because I made a promise in the beginning of the year and we kept it. I know people were watching to see if I would cut prizes but we did not and guess what......The players responded by telling everyone and the events grew, and grew and grew.

I dont wanna say anymore. I have to drop off kids and meet with builders so hate me if you want... I really dont care.... I am going to work to take care of OUR CUSTOMERS...customers who care about what and who they buy from !

Anthony
Action Pursuit

[xXHavokXx]

At the store i work at we try to compete with internet pricing to an extent and people ask us why we are more and i always tell them because we will work on your gun if anything goes wrong with it and they wont. So some kid bought his speed from a shop online for 2 bucks less than we were selling them for and broke it. He comes in asking me to fix so it so i do and charge him labor and hes like i heard you fix angels for free!....im like only if you bought it from us.

sorry if its hard to understand im drunk

[rtslave]

This all sounds great, if you have shop like some of these mentioned, but I'd be willing to bet they are few and far between.

[Load SM5]

Granted it's not your responsibility to keep this guy in business for him but if he is your only option for a conenient store and probably field then I'd go with him. I like to help out my local field and see it as a bit of an investment. Especially if your money goes towards helping him set up a field.

Think about it like this, the few dollars you'd save buy going online would get sucked up pretty fast in the extra gas it would take you to drive the extra miles once your local store/field goes under.

[Branchvillian]

I'm going to take a stab at this and say that if your closest shop is an hour away, the closet field is probably about an hour away too. If you don't want to be taking long drives to go play every weekend, give this guy a little support, get him up and running, and hopefully get yourself a local field.

[xXHavokXx]

man we must be spoiled 'round these parts, there is a paintball store every 20-30 miles and twice as many fields. cant see having the nearest store an hour away.

[bryceeden]

I would say support the local stores. A good store will work to grow the sport in your area, which is something the internet just can't do.

[Carnage]

Yes yes local is the way to go. I only go online if my local store cannot get the stuff I want.

[Load SM5]

Originally posted by xXHavokXx
man we must be spoiled 'round these parts, there is a paintball store every 20-30 miles and twice as many fields. cant see having the nearest store an hour away.

Yes, you are....now hush.

[Fixion]

I love my local shop (Adrenaline Sports in Portland). They have given me good deals in the past, and their mag tech/owner of the store is a very cool guy. Sure there may be a bit of a price difference, but the local shop is a lot more conveniant than the internet.

[Miltonyz]

1.) Local service. when that guns goes down and you bought it from me, you will have a working gun asap and be ready to go...no charge for labor.

when I had my mag I did all my own maintnence. My viking is a little more complicated but it is possible to fix problems by yourself.

Chance to win some serious prizes.

Maybe he should give out a few less prizes and cut the price a little?

3.) Lifetime free labor on upgrades

If I need something I install it myself.

.) For the amount of work we put into making sure our clients are pleased with their purchase, why would I work for free which is what you asking me to do.

We are not asking him to work for free. If he can not provide his product at a competeive cost without losing his money it's not our problem, it's the business owners.

then your kind only have yourself to blame for buying of the internet or buying from a place that is ruining the local economy.

Kind of an agressive qoute. Places going out of business are never the consumers fault. If the business can not compete on a price level they must make it up on a service level. If they can do neither then they don't deserve to be open.

Do you people honestly think that we make a ton of money when we sell cases for $74.00 ?????

My local field sells cases for 50-55. Now he might have to charge more because of his 1.2 million dollar building. He has to relize that for many people the extra amenities are not worth the extra cost.

[xXHavokXx]

74 for what? the closest thing we have is ultra evil for 70. hellfire is the next highest at 60