[Towertalk] Buying nuts and bolts - Rationalized gouging

[Robert Shohet]

> On small-quantity oddball hardware, why should they think you're going to
> do repeat business?

Huh?  The same reason we need to buy the hardware today is likely to be the
same reason we will need it again at some point.  Things break, they
corrode, we lose them, we do "re-fits" and replace them, etc.  Some my
rotators are almost 30 years old and have been reworked and upgraded several
times.  They work great but require occasional maintenance and that requires
parts.  I am sure that my 8 tailtwisters and Ham IV's will require the same
parts again at some point in the next few years even if they don't break.
Antennas I upgrade and redo as necessary and I have 13 of those in the air.

Besides, if I like the way the company does business, there is a very good
chance that I will buy a lot more things from them now and in the future -
not just the item that originally caused me to contact them.

> Also, I paid $8/bolt for some stainless steel hardware. The way I figured
> it, how many do I need to buy in a lifetime? 4 now and 4 more later? How
> cheap do I have to be to be a ham?

Maybe you will only need 4 now and 4 later but not everyone has your
station.  I buy bolts by the dozen and screws/nuts/lockwashers/split
lockwashers of all different sizes by the box (100).  I have just a
single-op station - multis need a lot more than me as they have a lot more
antennas, towers and operating positions to deal with.

> What does this have to do with towers?

This is what we use for towers, antennas, rotators, radios, amps, antenna
switches, phasing devices, projects, etc.

Bob KQ2M

>
> On Thu, 25 Apr 2002, Robert Shohet wrote:
>
> > > > Whatever happened to the concept that you build your "costs" into
the
> > price?
> > >
> > >     The original post had to do with the fact that a part that cost 57
> > cents
> > > was ordered. So what would the price be by building in your "costs"?
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Steve     K7LXC
> > > Champion Radio Products
> >
> > Back to your original question - maybe a compromise - like charging $2
for
> > one $0.57 part and offering 10 for $8.00,  and eating the rest of the
cost,
> > is a good compromise.
>
>
> --
> Hisashi T Fujinaka - htodd@twofifty.com
> BSEE (6/86) + BSChem (3/95) + BAEnglish (8/95) + $2.50 = mocha latte
>
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