Ok,
I was just visiting the JL website. I was browsing and came across a link that said "internet sales". I clicked it out of interest. Anyway, it went on to say that JL does not support internet sales and that no matter what the website may claim JL doesn't warranty any products purchased online. And then they explained the reasoning (mainly because internet sellers can't provide ample support).

So with that being said can someone clear up the subject of how these online stores work? I mean I know not all maufacturers have the same policy as JL but I imagine many do. So then how do these stores manage to purchase JL (or anyother mfg'ers who have the same policy) product and offer them at a reduced price?

I would like some serious feed back on this from anyone who knows the in's and out's of the business. I was planning to move over seas with this as one of my business idea's to pursue in Europe.
Thanks.

 

from what i hear mainly the companies that sell online are buying factory direct, and they skip the midle man which is the distrabuter, who supplies the retail outlets the product, so the product has been marked up 2 times before the consumer has purchased it.

so if you can skip having to pay markup from the distributer than you will save money on the product and be able to sell it cheaper and still make money.

but 99% of the online dealers that do this cannot offer warranty on the product. so buyer beware for online shopping.

 

I understand the theory of online sales and eliminating the middle man. I just don't understand how they can buy factory direct if a mfg'er doesn't approve of online sales.
Can someone please help clear this up for me?

 

I really don't think MOST online places are just buying factory direct. If that is the case, then it would be WAY to easy for people to just get huge discounts buying from the factory...that is what authorized dealers are for. I think most of the stuff online comes from distributors or authorized dealers who are looking to beef up their sales figures to the manufacturers(and who don't mind taking the risk of losing the line if caught). No way is woofersetc.com buying direct from JL Audio, for example. The online places may very well buy from the factory on lines that have no "authorized dealer" status anyway. The online places don't have the markup because they don't have the overhead, and also, they rely much more on making $20 per piece(but moving 100 pieces) than making $100 per piece(and moving 20 pieces).

 

They are not buying from the factory. They are probably buying from a distributor, just like the authorized retailers. But these guys often sell for a lsight mark-up compared to the authorized dealers who often have to go along with the companies minimum pricing. Look at etronics, those guys sell stuff often way below and uathorized dealer, however I would never buy from them, becuase you never know when something if going to go sour, and then your stuck with the product, since the manufactuerer won't fix it.

 

i work at a dist and this is what we follow:
any one that can produce a bill of sale from our dealers, whether it be a hand written or computerized bill of sale, will get warranty coverage, it's up to the dealer to control how they sell it, as long as we get a copy(of the BOS) should a unit come in for service. some of our dealers i'm sure sell online, but if the customer doesn't get a receipt then he gets no manufacturer's warranty. we don't cover extended warranty (past manufac)but we do get a hold of our dealer and ask them to cover it on their extended warranty(the repair quote goes to the original dealer). think carefully about who's product you going to sell and to who. for example we do not cover warranty from another counrty, including USA. we get it all the time, seeing as how any one can call our manufacturer's and get our number.i'm sure that other dist have similar rules that they abide by. keep researching and call up the dist's.good luck in your endevour