New Vendors? Misc vendors?

[GrimJack]

EDIT: I originally posted this question to the mod crew, however, I think input from the community is in order.

Hey folks, a few questions to throw out here, see if anyone has some input.

A few folks have asked about becoming an authorized vendor here. One fellow who rebuilds injectors, and Horsepower Freaks. This leads into some questions we should ask...

Do we want more vendors? What kinf of criteria should we enforce to remain a vendor? We recently lost RacerJake, so we theoretically have room for at least one.

How about creating a Misc vendor forum... where vendors can post stuff for sale... then anyone who gets enough traffic gets promoted to a full section?

I'm very tempted to toss this thread out into the general section and see what kind of input the members have... after all, it is their community.

 

[shaeff]

thats definately a cool idea. however, what do you think our current vendors will think of the added competition? we'll soon find out. still, think its a cool idea, as i'm always looking for a good deal on parts, (though i'm not cheap) i like fast service and honest people.

-shaeff

 

[GrimJack]

I'm really hoping the current vendors will venture in here and say what they think. Really though, it's our decision in the end, and as we all know, competition is good for the consumer.

I wouldn't want to go nuts and list 100 vendors, and I'm not really sure where we should limit it.

 

[Idealsupra]

i think healthy competition is what makes the world go round...

this will just make the vendors create btter products for better prices

i say as long as they are reputable....let them be a vendor!

besides maybe if they see mk3 guys will buy stuff from them...they will make more and new products!

 

[Ckanderson]

Charge them? then split it up between the admin's and super mods?

(this was a joke guys)

I like the idea of horsepower freaks.. it might get us more turbo kits........

 

[935motorsports]

The vendor section is long as it is. I was getting worried previously, when any vendor was granted in, as long as they sold an item or 2 for the MK3.

My suggestion would be to have "gold" vendors, which get their own section. Obviously they would pay a fee. Since the site hosting is already sponsored, fees would go towards paying for Supramania stickers, shirts, etc to reduce costs to members. This should be limited, I would hate to see SM turn into a corporate type situation where all the big paying vendors would take over. You should also require that the vendors work on or own MK3s in their shop.

The "other" small vendors would have to share a single vendor section where they are allowed to post their goods in a single section. They "other" vendors would be by invitation only.

One thing that went over well on another forum was that some vendors were allowed to sponsor a section of the forum. For example, forced induction section sponsored by horsepowerfreaks, with a link to their site.

Just some ideas. I dont mind sharing space as long as it's not just some guy that sells MK3 floormats or something. Full service vendors.

 

[Ckanderson]

I like 935's idea.. A gold section would work..

 

[GrimJack]

Now up for a topic of discussion with everyone.

Discuss.

 

[Clint]

I think that this is a great idea, I've always liked horsepowerfreaks selection on parts and mic stuff. Also with suprasport they use to have great products they would sell but IMO they have fallen close into the cracks.
I myself Maybe going 1jz soon and it would be nice to see the performance parts for the 1jz community grow a little more then what it is now. Also body kits are getting really thin now days and it would be great if the venders could get their fingers into more of the body kits as well with other rare parts. just my 2 cents .

 

[oneandgone]

I like how it's set-up now. Mainly small time vendors who people wouldn't know about otherwise. Everyone knows who HPF is, granted they are one of the few companies I will send my money too, but do they really need the advertisement? I'd hate for this to turn into SF, and I'm afraid that's what it may lead to with big name/big dollar vendors.

 

[GrimJack]

I should point out that first and foremost, this is a community owned site. We will not be going down the road where advertising dollars have more pull than the membership, not if I have anything to say about it.

IMHO, the reason why we now have the lions share of the Mk3 online readership is because of this policy.

 

[Boostedstr8six]

Sounds good to me.

 

[MKIIINA]

sounds good to me. we really could use a few more vendors. I really wassad when RacerJake bit the dust. I thnik HPF would be a great addition to the current line up, but lets make sure that it doesnt turn into SF where you can't post jack about new parts that you personally make and want to sell. We need to face the fact that we are a boutique style group that probibly spend on ave between 1 and 2 k a year on our cars and often for just a few small parts (BIC DDP, RaceTek's Metal accordian hose, JBL's Wares, etc) So it makes things difficult for widespread stuff to get made and for them to turn a profit. Look at all the group buys that both work and fail and you'll see what I mean.

Basically, a gold member section(paid, prefer ability of community to vote on entry into this on) for vendors is great and then a general place(non-paid) where people could post what they make in their garage w/ whatever their brains can create sounds good to me.

 

[935motorsports]

One thing to consider is that HPF is already a vendor at SF. It wouldn't benefit SM to have them as a vendor unless they gave some SM specific discount. Since there is no person to pay for hosting, there is no advantage to have them unless they offer discounts to members.

I would be more then happy to offer SM specific discounts as well. I'd like SM to excel as the primary MK3 forum online and watch the MK3 section of SF die.

 

[Dirgle]

I like the idea of having Main Vendors section for the primary(GOLD)vendors and then a sub-forum of various vendors where an unbiased moderator can sticky relevant and/or active products. As for the GOLD membership, it should be a monthly/yearly subscription for the vendors . Not a very large amount, but it should be one set price. And it only goes toward getting them on the main (GOLD) vendor page, and does not buy them any special privileges beyond that. The thing that should filter them should not be the entry fee but a short essay/letter/description of what they can bring to the table and have to offer the MKIII community. In terms of products, services, and resources. This letter is to be reviewed by the moderators. And if it's decided that the vendor has the best interests of the MKIII community in mind then they can be accepted on to the Main Vendor page. At which point the vendors letter of intent should be stickied at the top of their sub-forum as an announcement, so that the forum members can view it. Upon acceptance, the GOLD vendors are given a certain amount of reputation points (preferably 50% so that the reputation can grow or shrink) to begin with. Then we request that members contribute to the vendors reputation upon purchase from that vendor. It should also be requested that reputation points be given or taken based upon the customer service that the company provided and NOT on the product. That should be left for the parts review section. Should the reputation points reach 0% then the Vendor will be removed from the main page. Should the Vendors reputation reach 100% they could be rewarded by say having their monthly subscription fee suspended. This would persuade the vendors to provide the best possible customer service to the MKIII community that they can. Money from the GOLD entry fee can be put toward creating resources for the community, like an information database or something. I am sure there is far more details to it than this. But this is just an idea I threw out there and can be improved upon. But this will at least insure that the vendors don’t govern the forums like they do on SF and that they are there because they want to be and have the best interests of the community in mind.

 

[Ckanderson]

One thing to consider is that HPF is already a vendor at SF. It wouldn't benefit SM to have them as a vendor unless they gave some SM specific discount. Since there is no person to pay for hosting, there is no advantage to have them unless they offer discounts to members.

I would be more then happy to offer SM specific discounts as well. I'd like SM to excel as the primary MK3 forum online and watch the MK3 section of SF die.

But they do make a few mk3 specific parts... Having them would be a benifit to the community even if they dont offer SM specific discounts.

 

[Furball]

I wouldn't mind having a couple new vendors on here, BUT they have to show a love for the mk3, and be willing to develop or find new performance parts for us. Having another vendor selling the same exact thing as all the others isn't really going to get us anywhere. I like the Gold vs standard vendors idea along with the rating system idea, kinda gives the comunity a say in what vendors are worth while and which ones aren't.

 

[tte]

Very good idea Grimjack....
Good competition benefits the Supra club.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[935motorsports]

I agree about MK3 loving vendors.

I DRIVE an MK3, work on MK3s almost every day, see MK3s every day of my life. When an MK3 goes down I drive to that car and help it run no matter the day or hour. MK3s are my LIFE, so it is hard to watch someone who doesn't even have an MK3 share the spotlight.

I would do things for MK3 owners that I would NOT do for other general customers. Something to consider for vendors.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

HPF does not have a vendor forum on SF (we do have a banner, and are allowed to occasionally post product announcements, but we do not have a place for Q&A and posting specials). At any rate, SM offers a much more community-based atmosphere and is a place where I can get direct feedback from mk3 owners regarding our offerings and service.

With a vendor section on SM, MK3 owners could post informal questions about products or pricing without the having to email or call us. Other mk3 owners could see questions they perhaps would have liked to ask, but wouldn’t otherwise. Additionally, when I add products to the website, I can let the community know (for example: in the past week I've added 4 different mk3 LSDs, 18 different roll cage options, 3 different coilover sets, 1jz cams, and a couple strut tower bars). I could also post blow-outs on items we wish to move from inventory (5Zigen upper intake pipe anyone? SAFC? ). And it's possible that we could have a monthly Supramania-only specials. I could also get feedback from the community about what they’d like to see offered at HPF.

I know HPF is considered to be a "big box" store compared to some of the specialty shops like 935. But Robert lists products we do not, and we list products he doesn't. And HPF started with deep Supra roots -- this isn't some random internet start-up company trying to make a quick buck on a niche market. The fact we also serve other cars just means we have the buying power to give customers the best deals, yet can still provide outstanding service.