Amazon has been taking share from retailer storefronts, feeding itself into a $258 billion behemoth. But now some retailers are taking advantage of Amazon’s wide inventory, low prices and fast shipping; using the site as a “just in time” source of inventory.
HID kits, cameras, dash kits and even speaker boxes can sometimes be purchased on Amazon at a better overall rate when you include overnight shipping fees, said retailers.
And while many retailers refuse to use Amazon as a supply source, others say it’s foolish not to take advantage of it, especially Prime deals on overnight shipping, which can cost as little as $3.99 compared to $15 from a distributor.
Erik Wasserstein of Perzon Auto Radio, Upper Darby, PA says, “I think if you’re not buying some of your inventory on Amazon, you’re missing out.” He occasionally buys items such as dash kits or “anything that is the same price on Amazon as it is through one of our traditional distributors. That could be air horns, certain truck accessories…we’ve bought speaker boxes from Amazon too.”
“Amazon also excels on anything that could come with a hefty freight charge,” he continued. “A customer comes in at 3pm with a car that we may not have a dash kit in stock for. He wants a radio and makes an appointment for tomorrow. We could call one of our distributors. We might pay $10 for the kit and $9 to $15 in freight for ground shipping. So it could cost $19 to $25 with freight. We could buy the same dash kit for $12 on Amazon, but we get $3.99 overnight shipping with Prime.”
He also orders micro SD cards for dash cameras, strobe lights, and batteries for alarms via Amazon.
“It’s a just in time tool. The only bad thing is, as time goes on, Amazon is using their own courier services, which are not as reliable as our UPS truck…So where with UPS you know your driver and he comes at the same time, with Amazon, they could come late in the day. So you use it to a point but I wouldn’t rely on it for super mission critical stuff,” Wasserstein said.
The opposing view is held by Mark Miller of Westminster Speed & Sound, MD. “There are plenty of guys out there that have moved to Amazon or even more to eBay… I get one to five Chinese manufacturers emailing me every week, always related to mirror monitors, cameras, parking sensors. I just trash them,” he said. The reason is quality control. A dealer might be able to find on Amazon or Alibaba, or eBay, a product from the same factory that a US supplier uses. But the supplier implements quality control and offers warranties.
“Camera quality is not reliable. I could sell 40 beautiful cameras then have a run where I have issues and then it goes away for almost every brand…. I’ve stuck with brands that take care of me no questions asked. I let the manufacturers take the risk,” said Miller. “If a guy comes in with a pickup and he has a bad camera, you have to go remove and reinstall that’s an hour lost where I can’t be making money.”
A third retailer who asked not to be named said he orders from Amazon in a pinch, depending on the product. He said, “Sometimes a $10 dash kit can cost $15 for shipping,” through a traditional distributor. But he added, “The major electronics; head units or amplifiers we stay away from [on Amazon]. But the little fill items, if we’re in a pinch. It’s not just about cost. It’s availability.”
The response from a distributor (who also asked to remain anonymous) was this. “Of course Amazon is growing and its been extremely successful with Prime. But my accessory business is growing and it has been for the last few years. I don’t feel the impact of Prime yet, but I’m sure it’s there and my numbers would be higher.”
He added, “Because of Prime,…and they get that free two-day shipping and I don’t have it, I have to place the order and it takes anywhere from 3 to 5 business days, then they will go through Amazon. That’s the direct impact. In that sense, we are being affected by Prime.”
I cant believe i read all of this and dealers think amazon is friend and not FO. Last i check they are the giants taking everyones sales from underneath them.
At Elite Distributor Alliance (EDA), we’re seeing unprecedented year over year growth in 12 volt. Our customers typically enjoy same day delivery or next day delivery as the norm. Many of our members have fleets of trucks on the road, reliably delivering mission critical product to our customers. All of our products are vetted for quality — guaranteed legitimate. We stand behind what we stock and sell. We enjoy trusted advisor relationships with our customers and we offer training.
While there is certainly a time and place for Amazon – their powerful logistics engine is second to none – they will have a difficult time replacing the trusted distributor partner such as we have in the membership of EDA.
Manufactures need to start tracking serial numbers, and the day a referral sends gray market goods in for warranty, cut them off.
Transshipping should be reason to terminate a contract to both parties.
Both the seller and the buyer.
Retailers have been bitching about this for the last 20 years, look what its done to the retail price, many many items are my cost at a distrubtor if I buy one item, how the hell do they expect retailers to keep the lights on? You’ve got to turn a profit to pay the bills.
Dosnt the retailer have advantage over the DIY install, and isnt 90% of returns becuse somthing was not installed correctly to start with?
I’m going to say 99% of blown speakers is owner error not properly set up amp or incorrect box specs. This makes highend products look no better then bargain brands. People get pissed off because they get no support when there are problems. And they call bullet proof equipment junk because it was not installed correctly.
In 34 years of installing I can count on one hand
The diy jobs ive looked at the sound systems amp were correctly adjusted or crossovers set correctly. People just do not know or have any ear for it. And the drunker you are it always sounds better louder. Here lays voice coil we knew him well. May the burnt stink air out!
12V Distribution as we know it today will be dead in 5+- years. Amazon will simply open a “Commercial” division with Dealer pricing that will require credentials i.e. Login, User Name and Password and your done. Next day in most major states. Of course “protected” direct brands can flourish under this roll-out. Yes, this is my opinion….but why should Amazon stop with consumers and leave millions on the table. Heads up!
If you’re selling brands that can be found on Amazon cheaper than your dealer cost, you’re doing it wrong.