One of my customers called me today, he wanted me to take a look at his brothers house. New house, 3800 sf. The house has been wired for 6 audio zones, 2 sub zones. The brother told me that a kid wired it that works for a large audio/video company. He wires for himself on the side. Anyway, the guy wants me to look at the job, and give him a price on the system. He's telling me that the kid that wired it told him that he could set him up with keypads, speakers, and the brain to it all (who knows what that means) for 2000.00 plus 500.00 to install it. That's what I said, two thousand. How in the hell can that be? I wouldn't even do speakers for that system for 2000.00. Here's the kicker, the kid told him that price was for 8" speaks. Sounds like somebody's boss needs to be checking his inventory... I told him to get me specifics on what this kid was getting him, as I would love to buy from him...LOL...

Let's see. Kid is wiring on the side. Already stealing from the company he works for I'm sure.

I know I don't allow my installers to do this.

So I'm sure the product is falling off the UPS truck and into his trunk.

Robbie S

Ya know what really sucks? I haven't done the job for the brother yet. There's a good chance this kid will get this job from me if he is actually selling equipment that cheap. He wired the job for 1200.00.

You can get a pretty good deal if you buy from thieves!

It will get interesting when the 'client' calls him at work when something isn't working and leaves a message with the secretary(in my case, the boss's wife)!

I'm sure it will get even better when they do the yearly inventory!

Don't steal from the hand that feeds you!!!!!

If he is stealing from his boss, would you want him in YOUR house!!!

Six months down the road, when everything of value to 'the client' is stolen(yah, the kids been casing the joint), will it still be a great deal?

We use to hang 'horse' thieves!
Why did we quit?

I had the displeasure of being in this situation about 7 months ago. A client for 8 years decided to get a second bid on the work I was doing for him. The goof I was bidding against took my proposal and added 10% above my wholesale cost, cut the labor in half and proposed a cheaper remote (cause it all came from A**D). My client almost fell for it. (oh yeah, the guy was going to work on it weekends because he had a "real" job).

My client really wanted me but didn't want to pay my "unreasonable prices". Part of my argument included these points:

My competitor knows how to copy and paste a proposal. What knowledge and experience did he bring to the project? none. Am I so good that my competitor concurs with all my recommendations?

Does a weekend warrior have insurance? The tools? How much experience?

He doesn't know how to design the remotes I proposed, how could he make "my" system work off it? That cheap remote was the only idea he brought to the table.

Luckily, I got the job for the price I originally proposed. I set it up in the time frame committed to and it works exactly how we proposed. It sure touched my nerves, though.

The best sales line that you can use! That will make the brother think twice or not.

Well i hate to break it to you but if you buy a bunch of abus crap from an A*I like place and pick up some oem speakers that retail for $79 pair while your there you could pull it off. Dont just assume that he is stealing from his boss. There is an argument that selling them this system is criminal though!Its a damn shame beacuse they will end up with crap.People who consider cost alone are impossible to reason with. What i do is give people a price and that is my price. I'm not Monty Hall! You Get What You Pay For.If it doesnt fit their budget then we can look at less expensive components or i can refer them to someone who will do a system more in their price range. When People bring up internet pricing thats when i tell them that maybe were not the firm for you. Luckily im in a position where i can do that. I understand alot of you guys arent so i feel for you.

I'll tell you my solution to this. My customers have been such for years. I respect how they make their money and they respect that I must make a profit. When faced with this same situation, I simply showed my customer my worksheet (including my cost and profit on all product and labor). The made him question the other "bid" enough to go with what has always worked... me. "Customers for life" is a good policy and honesty seems to keep them that way.

Never show customers your cost. Bad, bad idea. Would they show you their paycheck?

Let us not forget that "cost" is much more than what you pay for an individual item. We recognize and provide for the cost of doing legal business, which includes more than just product inventory.

Vincent,
Even crap at 79.00 per pair. That's still 1580.00 in speakers alone. You can't finish the project with the remaining 420.00. That would leave 420.00 for keypads, source equipment, cables, and so on. No way....

At $79 a pair $1580 is 20 pairs. if its 20 pairs then you got me but it sounded more like 8 pairs that would be $632 and that is retail. they cost $30 and he could be charging $50.