Totally unethical business practices.

[Lapkritis]

Document it. Go back to Tilton and turn them in. Titan may be in breach of their contract which would forfeit their exclusive rights.

[Noah930]

IDK if reporting this stuff to Tilton is going to make any difference. That may fall on deaf ears. But I think it's worthwhile to let OP's customer know about the pricing shenanigans, to avoid the impression that the OP's shop is trying to gouge him. Keep the trust of the customer that there are things out of the shop's control.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by Noah930

IDK if reporting this stuff to Tilton is going to make any difference. That may fall on deaf ears. But I think it's worthwhile to let OP's customer know about the pricing shenanigans, to avoid the impression that the OP's shop is trying to gouge him. Keep the trust of the customer that there are things out of the shop's control.

Yes. You want to treat customers like each is a friend.

[RANDY P]

Buy a bunch from an outside source and then blow out at cost on ebay.

rjp

[RANDY P]

It's really bad as a merchant when you buy the stuff to stick in stock, and the manufacturer does lowball stuff like that. You tied up your money in merchandise you'll never make a profit out of.

[Lapkritis]

Email OBX and ask them to pump out 100. That'll sink the market... It's the Southwest Airlines of go-fast parts.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Email OBX and ask them to pump out 100. That'll sink the market... It's the Southwest Airlines of go-fast parts.

This... lol

[asphaltgambler]

^^^^^^^^^This as well or something like it where you; the dealer, takes the initiative and seeks out another supplier or manufacturer for similar or possibly the same product. And if finding one tell them your story. Adds fuel to the competition.

I have had this happen to me on smaller scale in the past and found that seeking 'work-arounds' from someone else is more productive than 'complaining' to the re-seller or manufacturer. In that instance those people already know they are f**king their dealers so that and time and effort is lost only to you.

Also, explaining further in instances like this Titan Motorsports agrees to share / bare some of the development and initial material procurement costs with the actual manufacturer plus committing to purchase minimum quantity over a period of time. These 'agreements' may run for a few years or more. Of course risk is bourne on both sides.

A personal experience: When dependable, BIG cubic inch - HP aftermarket crate Harley engines appeared they would break drive line components like match sticks. To be fair with stock Harley stuff some of these engines were triple the HP/TQ of the stock configuration. The factory drive belts would not withstand that amount of power so they would break or shear the teeth off especially in heavy models like the FLH's (dressers). Now, Harley had been working with Gates belt/rubber company to develop a drive belt that would withstand large initial shock and loading that the bigger engine they were developing and planning on installing future models.

All the bikes guys gave up and simply converted to rear chain drive. Well this wasn't for me as it's like a big step backwards in technology or the equivalent of putting snow tire on your Porsche. I already knew that Gates supplied Harley with their drive belts and they also did a lot of commercial drive belts for manufacturing companies. I called Gates directly and told then my issue and if they had a solution. I just happened to get a good guy on the other end there and he said they did have a solution but could sell it me as there is an existing agreement between them and Harley where a Kevlar drive belt was developed and ready for their upcoming models. Problem is I couldn't buy one from Harley yet and Gates contractually could not sell it directly to me as they had a 5 year deal locked .................................................. .....BUT he asked if I has a little flexibility in length/teeth number and width fitment. I said yes - to a point. He replied that even though Harley had significant $$$ spent with Gates on R&D and they are contractually obligated to abide by it Gates used that to do Kevlar drive belts for other commercial applications. So in essence Harley funded some of the initial costs of Kevlar drive belt in that particular size to meet their requirements.

He said he could sell me a Kevlar drive belt that had 1 more tooth and was 1/8" width narrower that fit some other commercial application for a grand total of $89.00!!

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Document it. Go back to Tilton and turn them in. Titan may be in breach of their contract which would forfeit their exclusive rights.

This ^^^^!

Advise Tilton why you are no longer selling or dealing in any of their products and give them proof of how their product is getting a bad name in the market...

[tedg04]

I remember back in the day at Circuit City getting so angry at corporate for posting online only sale items, then allowing customers to pick up in store, but absolutely barred matching the price in store. They had the theory that to compete in the internet sales age they needed to teach existing customers to buy online instead. We see how well that move worked for them.

The internet makes it very easy to sell just about anything to anyone. The old hierarchy of MFR sells to Distributor, which sells to retailer, which sells to the public will likely fade away for most products, removing several greased palms from the process. It would be in Tilton's best interest to bar this sort of price gauging, but better for them to end any exclusive agreement at all. Sell the product themselves online (because it can literally be done by 1 person now) at strictly MSRP prices. They can have certain dealer rates for different dealer levels (Titan may still get the biggest discount available if they sell more Tilton products than anyone else), but under no circumstances would a dealer be charged more than a retail customer. It's a change in Tilton's business practice that makes sense on all counts, and you can only shake your head wondering why they would sign an exclusive deal with anyone.