Why do they charge so much?

Timbuck

Timbuck

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I'm replacing the drivebelt on my bandsaw..It's the ribbed type...A quick look in my engineering reference book tells me it's a PJ section type belt (the type with a load of small V ribs) it's length is denoted by the number in mm's....mine is a PJ 610 ..The bandsaw is made by SIP so I looked up their spares catalogue..And I got a shock to find the belt listed as "SIP61475 J belt" Price £35.63 thats $57 USD:(...anyway I searched up a local Engineering suppliers and got the same item there for £4.95....If I wasn't an engineering kind of guy I proberbly would have purchased it from SIP, and got well and truely ripped off :D
 
Spare parts markups are always crazy. You are lucky that SIP did not have the foresight to design a special type of belt that could not be found on the open market.
 
With prices being so competitive, peripherals are always where manufacturers try to make a greater profit. Just look at the price of printers and then the ink! Machinery spares are just the same, but as you have found, can often be sourced more cheaply elsewhere. :)
 
That's why I'm always afraid to pull the trigger on anything without wasting time($$) researching it.
 
To be fair Ken, your time spent measuring the old belt and researching the subject, then finding a local supplier, comparing prices etc... is worth something.

At commercial prices, your time as a highly regarded engineer with some considerable experience is worth rather a lot. Factor in the risk that a less experienced person might order the wrong-sized generic belt and you can see how it might be worth paying the extra £10's just for the certainty of getting the right part with minimum delay.

I don't have a problem with the OEM charging a premium in return for taking the time and effort out of the equation.
 
Except they only have to do the research once then sell a shed load of belts. They shouldn't be charging the full overhead on each belt.
 
Another source would be a motor factors, there are belts for cars that have 4 or 6 ribs, and various sizes, you may get one that way. The extra ribs can be cut off with a stanley knife.
Take your old belt in, they can get the size from that.
I use Gates belts for the supercharger on my car, although I have to cut one rib off as I cannot get the belt run true, and it will 'shed' the unwanted rib if I don't do it beforehand.
Gate belts are coded as follows:
4PK1280

4PK 4 rib
6PK 6 rib
1280 is the length of the belt.

I pay about £13 for a belt.
H
 
As a industrial distributor, I literally have hundreds of thousands of O-rings and fittings sitting on my shelves waiting for someone to come in and buy them. I find it humorous that people argue with me over our $5 minimum charge. It costs me that much to simply walk in the warehouse. The high prices are so that you can find something that isn't normally easily accessible in stock so you don't have to have down time waiting for something to come in. That capability is something many companies value more than anything else.

I do find it funny that when people bring up the topic of an instrument being too expensive then everyone goes through the roof and chastises that person then cries about how their barely making a living. Maybe the distributor should do the same.
 
thistle3585 said:
As a industrial distributor, I literally have hundreds of thousands of O-rings and fittings sitting on my shelves waiting for someone to come in and buy them. I find it humorous that people argue with me over our $5 minimum charge. It costs me that much to simply walk in the warehouse. The high prices are so that you can find something that isn't normally easily accessible in stock so you don't have to have down time waiting for something to come in. That capability is something many companies value more than anything else.

I do find it funny that when people bring up the topic of an instrument being too expensive then everyone goes through the roof and chastises that person then cries about how their barely making a living. Maybe the distributor should do the same.
Click to expand...

I would accept that except, Timbuck is talking about a 700% mark up. Is that still reasonable?
 
heymak said:
I would accept that except, Timbuck is talking about a 700% mark up. Is that still reasonable?
Click to expand...

Yes. It is in my industry. I buy parts for pennies and sell them for dollars to the guy coming in off the street. He pays a premium but the company that buys 10,000 parts a month isn't charged the same. Also, you have to realize that if they want to pay with a credit card, which is inevitable, that I have to pay a transaction fee that is a large percentage of that sale. Then there's the $4.00 in a box and packing material to ship it if that's what they want to do. It all adds up. Often, if a guy walks in and asks for an o-ring, is polite, doesn't argue over the minimum then I'll simply give it to him. Its the exact same argument made in building instruments. A lot of people simply don't understand what goes in to the pricing structure. I'm not just selling a part but am providing a service along with it. It wouldn't surprise me if some distributors mark up their retail prices to drive off retail customers or make it worth their time. I'd like nothing more than to give up that part of the business. Ken obviously knew what he wanted but I bet most people would take up a lot of the salesman's time trying to convey to them what they needed and probably weren't smart enough to know they needed the model number.
 
thistle3585 said:
Yes. It is in my industry...
Click to expand...

It's the old story of the consultant who charges $10,000 for opening a valve. When asked to itemize his work, he submits "$10 for opening the valve. $9,990 for knowing which valve to open."
 
Harold O. said:
It's the old story of the consultant who charges $10,000 for opening a valve. When asked to itemize his work, he submits "$10 for opening the valve. $9,990 for knowing which valve to open."
Click to expand...

No, its the old story of having to pay salary for six employees, insurance, health insurance, payroll taxes, utilities etc. I actually do open 10,000 peacock valves a month for an automotive manufacturer, so that they will shut during installation without ripping the stem out, and I only charge .07 a piece to do them. In the industrial distributor business, you are often overladen with quality standards that don't really do much other than drive up the price. To sell to some automotive plants, I have to inspect 20 of every 200 parts and that adds costs.
 
thistle3585 said:
No, its the old story of having to pay salary for six employees, insurance, health insurance, payroll taxes, utilities etc. I actually do open 10,000 peacock valves a month for an automotive manufacturer, so that they will shut during installation without ripping the stem out, and I only charge .07 a piece to do them. In the industrial distributor business, you are often overladen with quality standards that don't really do much other than drive up the price. To sell to some automotive plants, I have to inspect 20 of every 200 parts and that adds costs.
Click to expand...
Just the same problems you have... So does the company that I bought the belt from at £4.95 ...Next time I need a (PJ 610 belt) I know where to go...Not! SIP.:)..Repeat orders are the thing to look after.:)
Here is the website http://www.bearingsrus.co.uk/240j--pj610-13485-p.asp
 
Harold O. said:
It's the old story of the consultant who charges $10,000 for opening a valve. When asked to itemize his work, he submits "$10 for opening the valve. $9,990 for knowing which valve to open."
Click to expand...

Except Ken provided the $9,990 part of the service himself and they still wanted their ten grand........
 
The real question is "Did he get a $37 belt for $4.95." I can buy $20 ukes all day long but that isn't to say that they'd perform as well as a $1000 uke. I guess only time will tell. I hope it works out well.
 
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