I applied for a job today!
 

LOL! Last time I did that was about 30 years ago! I've been bored off my ass with nothing to sell so I thought I'd take a swing at a sales position opening with a local Deere dealer.

I stopped in to inquire about the opening I had seen online. The guy I needed to talk to was at lunch so I left my name and number. The guy calls me and says "go ahead and fill out an application online". I told him "my application isn't going to be very impressive. I've been unemployed for 25 years". The guy laughed and I explained that I've been self employed since about 1995. I told him I've been selling used construction equipment fulltime since 2008 and that the pandemic has pretty much killed my ability to buy equipment to sell. He understood and asked that I fill out an application listing self employed as my work experience. I made up a quick resume listing my sales experience just to give him a better picture of my body of work.

I called a dealer a few weeks ago inquiring about a sales position. The guy said "we don't have enough equipment to keep our current sales staff busy. We couldn't possibly take on another salaried salesperson" To which I said "Who said salary? I looking for straight commission. I don't need a regular weekly or bi weekly paycheck. I need something to do. I need something to sell. I don't need you to have current inventory. I need to have the ability to sell a new piece even if it'll take the customer waiting three or four months to get it." Maybe that sounds over confident but I know what I can do as long as I believe in the product I'm selling.

My biggest issue is, I'm not sure I'm ready to work for someone else again. I don't "need" the money but I do need something to do. Making deals happen is what motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe that will be enough to motivate me to go to work for someone else. But damn it'll be tough as I've enjoyed so much freedom over the years. I'm hoping it'll be an outside sales position that doesn't require me to go into the office.

I tried to buy a Kubota RTV 1100C and was told that it would "about a year" to get it, which I interpreted was a TBS story. So then I started looking for a Can Am Defender, to which I was told up front was backlogged due to parts uncertainty and a fire in Mexico at one of the factories. Really, a Canadian company assembling product in Mexico to be sold in the US?

I determined that the only way to get what I wanted was to look for new existing dealer stock. I lucked out and found a new Polaris Ranger 2021 model (this was in late August) that a dealer in Merced bought from another dealer in the mid-West. The total crazy part now is that the global parts chain is still f-ed up, and now the same machine that I bought just under 6 months ago can be sold for almost $10K more now. If I was an equipment dealer, I'd be trying to find an angle to buy and sell rich man toys (boats, exotic cars, and UTVs) at a profit. I find that engine hours of up to a few hundred hours does not make a difference. And no way in Hell am I going to sell my buggy, even for that much $$.

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I hear ya brother! I bought my Ranger 900XP last year in February. It's a '15' with 187 hours on it. I know I could make money on it, but then what the hell am I gonna do when I need a SxS? I've been looking around for deals on used Polaris, Can Am, Honda, even Cub Cadet! But it's the same stuff, crazy prices. I've considered looking into becoming a Polaris dealer but that would require a storefront and I'm really not into taking on any debt.

Good luck with it, Nick! Would your previous customers be ripe for following up on? I find if I believe in what I'm selling, I can do well. Then it's not so much a job as a passion. At least it's not like you have to work somewhere to make ends meet. Keep us posted.

I'd end up drinking my profits. Not a good plan. That or I'd get bored and start drinking. Then pretty soon it'd be "sorry folks... we're sold out" and I hadn't sold a damn thing all day!

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With so much of what I did being out of state and in several different brands, it would be a bit difficult. I could sell used, if they have it. But I wouldn't be able to sell new into another dealer's territory. Luckily all of my customers have what they bought as their last name in my phone! So I know which guys are the Deere customers. It always blows my customers minds when they call and I answer with "Hey ... how are you doing? How's the .... running?" It's funny how many think I have a good memory.

Are parts and accessories tough to get? I would think there's some game in that end of the biz also to get you out there moving and shaking if inventory stays low.

Good luck Nick!

I was shocked when, as a program manager four years or so with a little bit of end-of-FY cash to splash we spent like $27k on a Polaris to use around our explosive firing ranges. Nothing sexy, just a crude micro-ute. That's what my '16 Mazda 3 cost!

Perhaps we got the "special government price" but darn if they're not just printing money with those things! Now I'm sure they're even more expensive, and you get to wait. And wait. And wait.

I hope we get back someday to the Old-Normal instead of this New-Normal carp.

Honestly, I'm kicking myself for not purchasing a new Ranger last year when I had the chance. I could have bought a new XP Northstar edition with cab and air for around 22K with the incentives they were offering. I could have made some coin on that machine as I only put about 15 hours my machine in a year.

I sell a line of new attachments, if I can get them. The problem? They've implemented surcharges of up to 25% on certain attachments and they have problems getting steel to produce the attachments which puts lead times out several weeks. Most guys aren't willing to wait for an attachment. A machine? Yeah. But there are so many attachment manufacturers that there's no need to wait. And cost? Most don't care. They'll increase their price for the work they're doing to cover the increased cost of equipment and attachments.

The Steen Kabuto dealership I pass by twice a week looks to have full inventory. It wasn’t like that six months ago though. Same for the Deere dealership.

RDO Equipment, Ehrenberg AZ is right down the street from my AZ home. The other RDO site is off Ledro Hwy. outside of Buttonwillow raceway in central Cal. Both John Deere dealers & service
Know the owner well.

I have a few dealers I work with that have told me Kubota has done well at keeping them supplied with machines. I visited a dealer Southwest of me to see what their inventory looked like. They had a lot of compact tractors but rubber tires skid steers, compact track loaders and excavators? Nada.

RDO is huge! I've worked with them in the past. They have always been a difficult company for me to purchase from.

I’ll have to take a closer work Friday on the way home, to see exactly what they have.

I wasn't familiar with them so I took a look. Looks like they're a Yanmar dealer too. That's two really solid lines. I'm surprised Kubota and Yanmar would allow that. I've heard that Bobcat is giving dealers an "us or them" ultimatum. Yanmar wouldn't give me the time of day a few years ago because they wanted to protect a few dealers that were at least 40 miles away and didn't sell in my market. Really weird.

We just bought a gator from the local Deere dealer. 5ish month delay. And that was the quick one. Other gators were longer wait time.

Northstar Ultimate. But you'd have to run me over with a cement truck and pry the keys from my hands to get it.

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