Wholesale Egg Price

Grandpas Grub

Well maybe not that scratched & dented.

There was a guy in Provo that offered a XL (in box)on eBay for $1,000. It didn't interest me.

It seems to me the fest prices are the best if looking for a deal.

GG

Mainegg

Little Steven wrote:

Julie,

Whoa! You're preaching to the choir here. I have two small businesses, one in Canada and one in the US. I know what the underlying costs of offering a product or service can be. Thirty years in business has pretty much taken care of any naivity I may have had in this regard. I just asked a question of CWM about chain stores.

Steve

I was not aiming that at you I'm very sorry if it sounded that way. just defending the cost of doing business and the mark up question on the eggs. One of the fabric cutters I sell I make 15 % on and people are asking all the time for a price break. It costs me money to sell these. I just have to hope that they buy other things to and come back for extra blades and such. We import our own special woven linen for the patterns that we produce and between the dollar and the cost of shipping It is getting harder. But I love what I do, I really truly do love it. We had a mobile home park for awhile sold that last year :woohoo: LOL DID NOT love that LOl OK jumping of the soap box now and smashing it. I can feel my blood pressure going up :silly:

Little Steven

Julie,

I guess the big reward of having a business is loving what you do. That and not having a boss. Instead you have hundreds of bosses...your customers.

Steve

Broc

Methinks one way to judge the "real-sell-value" of a product is to do some internet searches.

Lets say I wanna buy a Widget. I look all over for the best sale on Widgets. Then, when I go to a local dealer, I have some idea of how low that dealer may go in selling me the widget.

But -- I have a couple "rules" I live by.

First -- If I can't get it locally, I buy on the I-net.

Second -- If I can buy it locally, I negotiate my best price within my market area, which is my tax base.

Third -- Only when I can't get something within my local tax base [or if a seller won't negotiate prices at all, at all] I go to another tax base within my state.

Gotta remember -- there sellers are paying for my police, for my firemen, for my kids' teachers...

Now -- I DO calculate the value of after sale services within this... If I can buy my Widget for $20 less "over here," but the dealer "over there" is going to be taking care of me... I'll part with the extra $20.

=====

And, just as important -- I want whomever I buy from to be making a profit. I want that resource to remain in business for all of us!

I have a very good friend -- carpet salesman and installer. He "bid" himself right out of business. He would underbid anyone, just to get the job... but he didn't make enough money to feed his kids.

Now, he lays carpet for a big box, and is making more than he ever thought he could make in business for himself.

Somehow, I feel that we all lost on that deal, expecially when you multiply that many times over across our country.

I hate to be too obnoxious, but I absolutely will not buy anything from Wally. They don't take care of their own and they run too many good people out of business.

OK --

End of rant...

BurntRaw

South of the Mississippi River?

Isn't that the Gulf of Mexico?

Just want to make sure I didn't miss something...

Grandpas Grub

LOL. Ooops, I had the same problem in the army it is a left/right thing.

West...

Chef in the Making

Broc

Did you mean Wal-of-China-Mart. If so I totally agree with you.

BBQster1

I can understand you wanting to know the cost of an egg.

While we are working on that, would you please provide the last copy of your paycheck, bank balance and 401-k so we can better understand your ability to purchase an egg and adjust our prices accordingly?

Just kidding - I've been accused of throwing nickels around like manhole covers myself.

I am suprised (and impressed) at the forums support for dealers. Somebody must be doing a good job out there!

WileECoyote

It is normal and healthy for a consumer to search out the best price available, and to ensure that the best price is also a fair price considering the value of the goods and services received from their perspective. To determine fair prices it certainly helps to know the cost of the goods sold, especially on commodities like the egg which are the same at all dealers. Smart and ethical dealers and distributors should be confident and not afraid to show their actual cost or markup. Profit varies based on many factors but it is still a good indicator to be aware of when making a purchase.

How many of us buy a new vehicle without knowing the dealer invoice price, factory incentives, holdback, etc? We all know the factory and car dealer will make a profit in the end and we are ok with that, we just want it to be a fair profit so that we aren't taken advantage of. I just purchased a new truck at the beginning of the 2007 model year. It was in very high demand, supply was low, and I wanted a very rare but highly sought-after configuration. I shopped around every day for a full month and ended up paying 3.5% below MSRP sticker price, which was a fantastic deal at the time, but it was considered a ripoff just 6 months later when the supply was up and the factory incentives kicked in.

I managed several major nationwide businesses for over 20 years and I always told the customer what our cost was whenever they asked. If the markup was low I used that as a selling point, and if it was high then I would explain why. I was not offended if they purchased elsewhere, and I often encouraged it if I could not give them the best deal for whatever reason. I trained all of our sales staff to do the same. At the end of each fiscal year our approach paid off. Customers appreciated the honesty and felt comfortable with our advice, which in turn led to increased repeat visits and multiple-item sales.

When shopping for a unique item like the egg, which isn't as widely available as other similar products, you have to do a lot more research to determine what a fair deal is for you. Each of us have different needs and priorities so "fair deal" is a relative term. Local sales people don't matter at all to me. I know what I want in advance, I educate myself on it thoroughly before buying, and I will service it myself if needed. I will deal straight with the factory for any warranty issues and I typically shop online or at the cheapest provider for supplies and replacement parts. I don't care about delivery or assembly and I don't plan to buy a replacement any time soon so I probably won't go back to the retailer again for a long while unless it is for something totally different. So to me the most important factor on the egg purchase was price - the lower the better and I don't care who or how, as long as it is legal. Obviously my situation is unique to me. If you want the owner of the shop to deliver your egg, set it up, and stay for a few hours to walk you through your first cook then of course you should be prepared to pay more for the service.

And if you are really serious about finding out the cost of the egg or any other item, go ahead and contact the factory to inquire about becoming a dealer. I have done this dozens of times and 90% of the time they will provide you with a dealer price list or at least some ballpark numbers before you make a commitment. If the markup is high and the product is popular then I have often become a dealer just to sell to my friends and family at 5-10% above cost, then I get out once we are all taken care of. Many times I don't charge anything above my cost at all and sometimes I actually lose money, but I do it just to help people out. I am fortunate enough to have a regular job which covers the bills so I can afford to do this, and it is really fun to make so many people happy. In fact tomorrow morning I am placing an order for roughly 50 lbs. of beef jerky and 40 lbs. of smoked cheese, both made by a small Amish farm which gave me a dealer account without any commitment or paperwork when I told them how I planned to help people. I have been suplying my friends and family with this food for almost 50% of the best price on the web. The Amish still make the same money as they do from their bigger dealers, all of my friends and family are happy with a great deal, and it is fun so why not? Life is too short to pinch pennies when you don't have to, but for big purchases or tight budgets then by all means go ahead and search out the best deal.

Grandpas Grub

WileECoyote,

With full and complete respect...

I well understand and respect your thriftiness and 'cunning' in trying to get the best deal. I also have set up dealerships in order to get a personal item's at a bigger discount.

If someone is a thrifty shopper, more power to them. I hope the time and effort spent, delay of use waiting for 'that best deal' is worth the discount.

After reading, my first thoughts can only be expressed as WOW!. I got a real good laugh with your a part in your last sentence 'Life is too short to pinch pennies'.

These remarks are not direct to you but the statements. So much wonderful points to disagree with, what a bonanza.

It is ABSOLUTELY and WITHOUT question that no one has a right to know a dealers cost of anything - unless I am in a different country than I think I am in. Sounds like our government in full swing except when it comes to them.

It is insulting to ask a dealer their cost.

Further who to know what an individual cost of an item is.
A dealer buys 10 eggs at actual cost of $100 each or $1000. Dealer breaks one another is used for a demo which is never sold. (remember there will be invenotry tax on that demo each year). For example out here video stores pay $5 per DVD or VHS they have in sotck each year as property/invenotry tax. There are probably taxes paid on the building, fixtures, and furniture as well as inventory.

Now the dealers actual cost for 8 sellable eggs is not $100 rather $125.00 per egg.

What about the freebies the dealer might toss in when one buys and egg, is that a cost to the egg.

Is the dealer allowed to add the freight; be paid for the loss of interest on his investing the money for these to sell.

Is there a cost for employees that a dealer should be allowed into the cost (or the wage of the dealer and possibly wife) who probably work 7 days a week to keep things going.

Is a dealer able to add the cost of a vehicle, taxes, oil, fuel, insurance, repairs into the cost of the eggs.

What about the utilities so one doesn't freeze when in the shop for those best prices.

The cost list goes on and on and on.

You give an example of an auto dealer invoice. I have absolutely no valid information on this subject all I do know is I don’t think I have ever gotten the best deal I could have got. The dealers are just too good of experts in their business. Dealer invoice… in my opinion is a complete joke. Dealer cost will probably never be known by anyone other than the top executive people in any given dealership.

There are factory incentives, rebates, discounts given to dealers after the factory invoice is set. I have heard a dealer gets a rebate if he services a car bought from another dealer the rumors go on forever.

Back to our dealers. Have some respect for the folks that are doing their best to help us enjoy our q’ing. I am sure these people work hard and long hours and do this as much for the love of running their business as for the money.

I could have saved $500 from what I paid for my original large. At times I wish I could have gotten a large at a fest price, but I wouldn’t have wanted to wait until this year to do so. I am happy with what I received for what I paid. I did ask if this was the best price he would go on a medium. He said yes, I trusted him and took home my medium. I’m not going to check prices, rather I am enjoying cooking on both.

Don’t beat our dealers down, and don’t ask them how much profit they are making – it is none of your or my business.

I hope our dealers are enjoying the benefits of their hard work and sacrifice as well as make enough money to provide and protect themselves and loved ones as well reach their financial goals and future needs. That doesn’t mean I enjoy paying full retail or retail+ on everything I get – LOL. We love you folks and thanks.

My 2¢

GG

WileECoyote

GG:

We are closer to agreement than you think.

I agree that nobody has a "right" to know the dealer cost and it is totally up to the dealer if they want to provide this information. Most dealers do not disclose this information and we shouldn't hold it against them. I simply stated that it is normal and healthy for consumers to seek out the best deal possible, and an important part of this determination is based on the true value of the goods and services received.

The cost and value of services and unique products are highly variable and somewhat subjective but the raw cost for a commoditiy like the egg is generally standardized within a reasonable range. Of course each dealer's overhead situation is different: sales volume, service levels, demos, kits, specials, etc. and this will impact their net profit so the consumer has to factor that in, but it still helps to know the raw dealer or distributor cost from the manufacturer so that you can determine the markup and evaluate if the dealer is offering you enough value and service to justify the profit.

Also, frugality and generosity are not the same. You can be very frugal with your purchases and do everything possible to save money (pinching pennies), yet you can also be very generous with your time and money when helping others. I personally believe it is best to be frugal, especially on big purchases, so that you can maximize your savings which in turn will free up funds for other purchases and causes.

And I didn't say anything bad about any dealers. My point was that it is best for the consumer to do their homework and get the best deal possible. Then use the savings for eggcessories or other causes. If you opt to buy at higher prices with little or no research and you enjoy the results then more power to you.