[QUOTE]Originally posted by Colby:
I love this forum and enjoy reading the articles, but will admit I have yet to ever buy anything from Pelican Parts (although I WILL be getting one of those books...looks very well done Wayne). If Pelican Parts wants more customers, prices talk.

I don't buy everything from Pelican, but if they are within 5%-10% of a competitor's price I will. Why? Because of what I have received for FREE from this board. Advice that has probably saved me $2000-$3000 in labor costs. When I needed a throttle rod that no one sells, John Walker sent me one for free. Hell I live in Missouri, he knows I'll never be able to use his shop. Warren lets me e-mail him at odd hours and weekends asking stupid questions to which he patiently replies. These guys don't work for Pelican, but Wayne provided the forum by which I get this great advice. Pelican parts has never screwed up an order of mine or lost one. When I needed my tach rebuilt, I got Tom on the phone who gave me great advice on how to pack and ship it and even told me how much to insure if for. Sure Wayne is in the money making business, we all are to some degree. But I also feel like I know him. I like to give my friends my business whenever I can. Call it brown nosing if it makes you feel better. I call it loyalty.

Kurt V
72 911E

Guys, guys, guys. Is EVERYTHING about money? So what if Pelican is 5 or 10% higher than some of the hackers out there. Think of all the time you spend on the internet and the phone and looking through catalogs trying to save your lousy $10. You can't put a price on the knowledge and experience represented on this board, which is literally within a few minutes from each of our keyboards. That is INCREDIBLE!!! That has to be worth something and you need to factor it into your purchasing decision.

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-Richard
'84 Carrera Cabriolet
'74 911 Widebody 3.6 Project

I have not owned my P-car near as long as some of you. But in that time I have dealt with many parts vendors. You just can't beat Pelican for selection, service, and their prices are pretty darn competitive.

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Matt Chamblin
78 911 SC

My 2 cents.....When I purchased my tensioner upgrade, I bought from Pelican soley because of this website. It was not the cheapest at the time, but it was close. I figured that the knowledge and dedication necessary to put together the site indicated a dedication to customer service.

When a ferrule went feral on me, I was glad to have them on the other end of the phone sorting out what was wrong. They had another ferrule in my hands within days.

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Graham Archer
83 911SC Cab

Ditto for me with praise for Pelican. The first time I needed a part it was a 3 dollar item, and they took the time to fax me an exploded diagram and figure out what part I needed....took two phone calls and about 15 mins of their time to maybe make a buck. My next part needed was a 300.00 item and I just called up and ordered it without shopping around. This board is certainly worth any slight price difference if it exists

Out here in ct.parts can be very exspensive
and I find no one to be as helpful as the people at peican! "and the board members".I know if I ever have any questions they are answered accuratly and promptly. I have become to trust pelican and rely on them.
So I will defend them in any way I can ,
people should be carful what they say some things should not be said!
Thanks Wayne for being here for us and I will
continue to shop and post here, I just wish I knew about this place years ago.

BOB ALBO

Hehehe, I love to play the devil's advocate...oh the fuel it adds to the fire! http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/smile.gif

I can understand paying a lil more to support a "favorite shop" (because they are local, run a BBS, etc.). My main point is this BBS should not be an obligation to buy from them. The best online motor club I've ever been part of was Club DSM (Talons, etc.) www.dsm.org. Very good bunch of guys, tons of info, and TOTALLY FREE! What made it good was its members. Just like this forum; we make it what it is, Pelican only puts it here for us. If they didn't, some one else eventually would. If that decidedly makes some of you loyal to Pelican, then the best to you. I personally go for price, convenience, service, and a willingness to help. Pelican, and most other shops I've dealt with do all three, so for me it comes down to price. Don't hate me for this; consider me a capitalist! http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/smile.gif

Colby

I think the point is do what you want, but out respect don't use Wayne's time and money to push his competition. If this board provides you enough information and entertainment to keep you coming back day after day then yes I believe you do owe Pelican a debt. There are a number of us here who pride ourselves on not overpaying, but I think you need to look at prices in terms of are they fair, and you have to include the benefits of this site as part of the price equation. This constant cry of poverty "those of us on a budget" is b*****it. If money is a major issue your in the wrong hobby. The concept of supporting those who support you is a noble one and if it costs a few bucks it's bargain. Where's my damn credit card I need some ignition wires.

Jeff C
81SC

Hmmm, interesting thread!

Well, I have been a member of the rennlist mailing list since it was started and the couple of generations of lists before that, and now watch the Rennlist web BBS as well as this one. Both are free so there are alternatives to the Pelican Parts list if your want.

However, I think due to timing (the Pelican Parts one was upgraded and running before Rennlist) and good support, this BBS has really taken off, more than the Rennlist Web board..but check out the volume via the email lists...

As far as purchasing parts, being in Canada, it often is cheaper for me to buy the parts locally in Vancouver than have them shipped, pay the exchanges and duty at the border. Actually, I am suprized that you guys in the US don't buy from people like Weissach in Vancouver. An example is turbo tie rods..they had the Porsche kit on while ago for $119 CND! That's under $70US! And its from Porsche (I think Porsche has different pricing for different countriez).

So I have not had the chanc to give very much business to Wayne, but if I do buy in the US, I will give him a try. I have bought from both Vertex and Zims in the past, but that was before Pelican was really established. Both have been 100% for me.

But I am very price sensitive, so as long as Wayne keeps competitive, he has my vote when I need stuff in the US!

Colby,

I am a capitalist, also. That doesn't give me the right to be rude. When I am invited to a dinner, I don't knock the food in front of the host, if I don't happen to like it. Pelican Parts is the host of this board, it cost them bucks to operate it. Of course, they are hoping to get some business, from people that use it. If they don't that's okay too. But it really does bug me when guys talk about saving a few bucks elsewhere, on Pelican's Board.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...ads/P-Car5.jpg

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Bill Carcot
1979 911SC
Diablo Region, P.C.A.

Well (now keep in mind that it's Friday, and I've had about 3 glasses of a very fine vino tonite). The truth of the matter is that it does cost money to operate this board, AND this site. This board by itself would be nothing without the site to back it up. People who are fans of the board and spend plenty of time on the board forget about the rest of the site sometime...

Our business model is like Public Radio. If you listen, then support us. If you don't, then we'll go out of business. No bets about it. My goal is to not be the lowest cost parts liquidator. It's not our style, and we wouldn't want to run our business that way. Besides, history tells that 'lowest-price' isn't the best business model to win customers.

Not everything is a commodity. We add value to the products that we sell through our customer service, and this website. Let's look at this. We've been in business for about 3 years now (a little more actually), and we've grown from selling $500 worth of parts out of our garage in to sales into the seven-digit range. Vertex has been around for many, many years. If the rock-bottom, no frills, low-price strategy was the winning one, then they would have grown tremendously over the past years, and would have squashed us (and Performance Products) a long time ago.

Now, I lambast Performance for having high prices too. When they have a 20% sale, most of our normal prices are lower than their sale prices! I price our parts and accessories to be competitive with our competition (which by my definition is somewhere inbetween the highest and lowest seller of parts.) I also need to consider the costs of our operation (including the website and the BBS too). I won't tell you how many hours I spend working on the servers here at Pelican. Egads, imagine if I actually had to pay someone to do that hourly.

Anyways, the point is, thanks for your support! We have tremendous things in store for you, and we've just hired a few new people to work on our site. The New sections of the 1974-89 catalog are a preview of what's to come. Basically, if it came on the 911, we will have it in our catalog. Our back-end warehousing software (humbly written by yours-truly) is advanced enough to handle an almost limitless number of parts. So for your benefit, we're going to offer them on-line! Again, check out our new sections of the 1974-89 catalog for a preview (here is the link: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911M_catalog.htm).

Thanks everyone for your support, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

-Wayne

Wayne, you do indeed have good balance in your business. Pelican’s price/performance is unequaled.

While all are free to use other vendors, and other Bulletin Boards, Pelican is unique in combining both a purchase point and a high traffic BB. This combination provides a security to the customer more valuable than some promise to the best service, or some flimsy money-back guarantee.

So for those out there obsessed with saving a few bucks by going elsewhere consider your time and risk of getting poor service.

Colby, curious. . . was your “devil’s advocacy” just a straw-man argument? Hmm perhaps I’m just some cool collared, brown-nosers! http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/wink.gif
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