Some retailers complain it has become more difficult to price a car audio job due to the many price increases, which numbered 4 or 5 from some suppliers last year. This is causing confusion on the sales floor, and chipping away at already stressed margins, they said.
This is particularly true of car audio kits and accessories, said retailers. A single supplier may carry hundreds of SKUs, and with price increases every few months, it becomes a part time job to load them into point of sale software in a timely fashion.
Kelly Kirschner of Performance Auto Sound, WA, said, “It’s difficult to quote a job. We’ve run into it especially on items that are more special order. Our guys will often quote the last price in the computer. I’ve instructed them to check, but they don’t. It’s been a nightmare with all the price changes.”
This has negatively affected Performance margins by about 3 or 4 percent on kits and accessories, said Kirschner.
When it comes to goods other than accessories, one dealer said, he just checks the prices on Crutchfield. “I was on there three times today. Whatever Crutchfield has it for, that’s what we sell it for.” He noted that he had ordered a radio months back so it was in his computer system at $649. But by the time he received the order the price was $749. He checked Crutchfield and charged accordingly.
Others are able to keep up with price changes, but say that job has become a burden.
Zack Knoop of California Custom Sounds notes, “As soon as you get all the prices updated, there’s a new wave. But we keep up. If you stay on top of it, it hasn’t been a concern.”
Jim Norton of Norton’s Car Stereo said he sold a gentleman a system over Christmas. The customer came back two weeks later to buy another one and the price had gone up $300. “I had already sold through inventory and re-inventoried. Before I knew it the radio had gone up, the kit had gone up, the box had gone up…then when you factor in the shipping….”
Norton’s main concern is not pricing today’s jobs but handling warranty issues down the line with so many price changes. Suppliers may want to reimburse at the lowest price. “That’s where people are going to lose their shirt and they are not going to know they are losing it,” he warned.
He currently marks all incoming boxes with the pricing at that time and is even considering taking a sharpie and marking each unit he sells with the cost.
source: https://www.ceoutlook.com/2022/02/15/with-price-changes-quoting-jobs-is-challenge/
