Yes, I sell Rohn tower, but the intent of this post is not a commercial. In
fact, it is probably an anti-commercial.
Last year when I considered taking on a Rohn dealership for the second time,
I did some calculations to see if it was "worth it". It was marginal,
contrary to common belief that dealers always gouge their customers. Here
is some of the process I went through to decide if I should do it or not:
The local sales price is dictated by what a local buyer can get tower for
from the two major sources that advertise in the back of QST with 800
numbers: National Tower and Texas Towers. These two sources are within
pennies of each other for similar pieces and the shipping from each of them
to Oregon is also very close. DELIVERED price is what I have to compete
with for local sales. So my selling price is pretty well set right there.
Next, I looked at costs to purchase from Rohn. If I buy at least $2500
worth ($5000 worth, in some cases), I can get Rohn to pay for the shipping.
Also, since Oregon is West of the Rockies, we have the privilege of buying
off the elevated "West Coast Price List" which is a disadvantage that
neither of my two major competitors have to put up with. When everything is
said and done, I actually PAY Rohn about the same amount for each tower
section as National and Texas advertise it for in QST, within a buck or two
per section. Since they are buying off a lower price sheet and obviously in
much larger quantities than me, they pay much less than I do. There is
simply NO WAY to lower my costs without buying in batches costing at least
$10,000 or maybe more. I haven't even asked since it is out of the question
for me. So the question becomes, "is there enough difference between the
costs dictated by Rohn and the selling prices dictated by the competition?"
The answer is, "just barely".
If you ask me to quote shipping you some tower, suddenly I can't compete
since there is no room for me to absorb any shipping costs and you will have
to absorb them in an increased delivered price. You are better off buying
from National or Texas. If Oregon had a sales tax (which it doesn't), I
could not compete with National or Texas on even the local business since
you could escape the sales tax by buying out of state and once again there
is no margin to absorb the sales tax. This is why you don't see a lot of
local dealers selling Rohn tower and quite probably why HRO chooses not
stock it.
So when you ask me to "give you deal" or ship stuff to you, you now know why
I can't (I am already giving you the best deal I can and you have to pay
shipping charges which make buying from me not your best source for price.)
So why am I giving away these "business secrets"? Simple. If somebody
wants to take my towr business, they will have to undercut my prices and
when they do, they will have found a new hobby: selling tower. They SURE
won't be doing it for profit.
The only reason I can do it all is that I sell it out of my home (zero
overhead) and I am retired so I have the time to play with it. Selling Rohn
towers is really a lousey business from the standpoint of making any money.
You just have to love playing with towers.
Stan w7ni@teleport.com
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