Topic: What does it take to become a Marlin Crawler distributor??

[lowgeared]

I would like to be a distributor for Marlin Crawler products in Moses Lake, WA.  I am the only shop around willing to do crawlers, crossover/histeer etc.  As far as I know, the only shop that carries any  items similar to Marlins is Sky's, and that is 300+ miles away.  I think the area is definately ready for it as we have tons of trails, sand dunes, and nationally advertised rockcrawl events all within 100 miles of here.  Just a thought.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Hmmm Id say you'd need a knowledgable employee.

[84runner]

Hmmm Id say you'd need a knowledgable employee.

Pick ME Pick Me  I have thought of this in my area also , so lets get some feed back from Chris or someone

[81Toy4x]

I think this is an awesome idea.  I am one of the WA guys, and I would love to see a shop in WA that carries Marlins products.  All the shops in my area have big signs that say "lift kits, nerf bars, truck boxes"  I hate it.  This would definitely be rad if it happened.

[lowgeared [OP]]

I've tried contacting some of the other big names-Teraflex, Currie...Teraflex got back to me and they want like a 5000 dollar buy in.  Screw that.  The way I look at it, I am free advertising as it is.  On the front door to my shop there are two stickers-Marlin Crawler and Comp Cams.  My Toyota pickup is a rolling advertisement for Marlin and Sky's.  I am just looking at drawing some attention my way.  I am one the guys that actually uses the parts I would sell.  They could hop in and see what rear springs up front are.  They could see what an IFS box and Marlin Hi steering lokks like.  They can try out the dual cases.  They can see what a wide rearend looks like installed.  They can see beadlocks.  They can see flex.  They can see me nak...whoops...got carried away   Stay away LILSWAMPER I was just kidding.  It would just be nice to have someone come in, want a dual case setup, new drivelines(which are farmed out to a machinest friend of mine), maybe a rebuild or efi swap, regear, lockers, onboard air...you guys know what I mean.  There is another outfit here in town-the one and only time I was in there I was inquiring about tow straps-they showed me ratchet straps-enough said.  Anyone can sell truck boxes and cheap ass lift kits.  I really hear what your saying 81 Toy4x.  NOBODY in town has ever ordered anything from Marlin except for me.  And no one had even heard of Sky's around here until I actually drove my ass all the way down there to check out their shop and pick up an IFS rear from them.  Nice guy though.  Same quality stuff just like Marlins shop, but not the exotic selection.  On another note, a friend and I have also talked about having a Toyota 4WD only salvage yard.  That would be real cool, but would have to be ebay or website type sales as I said...I am the only "Toyota" wheeler that is local or loco enough to attempt this stuff.  I am a member of United 4WD and PNW4WDA and hold a region level position as well as my wife and I are Pres and VP of one of the four local clubs.  Lots of advertisment...just need a little more oomph.

[Marketing]

I would like to be a distributor for Marlin Crawler products in Moses Lake, WA.  I am the only shop around willing to do crawlers, crossover/histeer etc.  As far as I know, the only shop that carries any  items similar to Marlins is Sky's, and that is 300+ miles away.  I think the area is definately ready for it as we have tons of trails, sand dunes, and nationally advertised rockcrawl events all within 100 miles of here.  Just a thought.

We no longer offer a dealer program. We offer the same prices to everyone, dealer or end user.

Here is the whole deal. We have our prices cut to the bone as it is now. If we raise the retail price so we can discount for the dealer we then have a product that has a retail price well above the competition.

When I came to the shop they were offering a %10-%20 discount to dealers. Many of these dealers were ordering parts and not paying their bills. Cutting them off ment less sales. After looking over the situation I choose to discount all the products to match our competition and change our marketing directly to the end user. We cut off every account and now only ship COD or Credit card. I still have $8,000 in accounts receivables that I have no hope of receiving. The dealer system was just sucking us dry and often the dealer made more money on an sale than we did.

In the past 9 months we have more than doubled sales and are now once again making a solid profit. Every penny of this profit is being put into the purchase of new products, product development and marketing

The dealer system simply was not working..

[SWAMPER]

They can see me nak...whoops...got carried away   Stay away LILSWAMPER I was just kidding. 

.... ....tease JK 

[lowgeared [OP]]

Thanks for the response.   

[SWAMPER]

There there....have a makes you feel all better 

[Roktoys84]

Just because you're not an Authorized dealer doesn't mean you couldn't keep a copy of Marlins catalog on the counter and sell his stuff. You could still make money on the installation.I'd be good for you and Marlin.

[foxfab]

All you need is a large hunting knife.

[WHITE_TRASH]

All you need is a large hunting knife.

[lowgeared [OP]]

Hey-us in Washington try to keep that OJ stuff down in Cali....

[WHITE_TRASH]

Damn Im slow!  You cant forget to leave a bloody glove somewhere on the property.