Direct sales

[deputydogg]

We are a local office supply company and sell a several machines a year which we buy through a couple different vendors. Is there a manufacturer that we could get set up with directly ? We've been in business 42 years and have recently seen a rise in demand from our customers.
Thanks,
Dave

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Direct sales

I recommend Toshiba. They offer a good mix of low priced to mid range product with high reliability from multiple OEMs.

You need to stay within your ability to techncially support.

The copiers are easy to set up and support.

This business is not like you sell a Brother and tell the customer if you need support contact Brother.

[FrohnB]

Re: Direct sales

I'd recommend Ricoh!
Have nothing but good things to say about them, and have heard nothing but good things said about them.
Easy maintenance on machines, especially on the newer models.
GREAT customer/ sales/ tech support.
Great user interfaces.
Nearly unbeatable prices for exceptional quality.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Direct sales

You need to do your research to determine what sales/service territory is open in your area. It's not like you just get to pick and choose. There's also certain criteria that you must meet with most manufacturers.

[tsbservice]

Re: Direct sales

We are a local office supply company and sell a several machines a year which we buy through a couple different vendors. Is there a manufacturer that we could get set up with directly ? We've been in business 42 years and have recently seen a rise in demand from our customers.
Thanks,
Dave

For several machines? What's the rise you're seeing lately?
The only manufacturer I can imagine here is Brother.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Direct sales

I'd recommend Ricoh!
Have nothing but good things to say about them, and have heard nothing but good things said about them.
Easy maintenance on machines, especially on the newer models.
GREAT customer/ sales/ tech support.
Great user interfaces.
Nearly unbeatable prices for exceptional quality.

... except product delivery sucks. As does for all OEMs right now.

Best to partner with a distributor and not a OEM.

[FrohnB]

Re: Direct sales

... except product delivery sucks. As does for all OEMs right now.

Best to partner with a distributor and not a OEM.

[FrohnB]

Re: Direct sales

For several machines? What's the rise you're seeing lately?
The only manufacturer I can imagine here is Brother.

[mloudy]

Re: Direct sales

Along with hard to get new engines there is huge amount of products damaged by the trucking companies now. I would normally get one damaged engine every two years. I am now seeing two damaged engines arrive per month. Some major some minor but I accept none of them. These go somehwere to be repaired/rebuilt if possible and then are back on the market with about 900 pages at a fraction of the cost new.

For the original question, I would hesistate signing on with an OEM right now after 42 years. I'm not sure what their quotas would be now or if any of them would be looking to sign on new dealers. If you go that route and they are wiling to tell the truth I would ask about product availablity. They may lie or make up crap. You might find an honest rep who will give you the best forecast possible. Unless an OEM has been in the semiconductor and componet manfacturing industry for a while they are likely waiting in line for this stuff and can't get it. I know of one OEM that will have no products to sell until summer of 2022 and even that is not guaranteed.

[FrohnB]

Re: Direct sales

Along with hard to get new engines there is huge amount of products damaged by the trucking companies now. I would normally get one damaged engine every two years. I am now seeing two damaged engines arrive per month. Some major some minor but I accept none of them. These go somehwere to be repaired/rebuilt if possible and then are back on the market with about 900 pages at a fraction of the cost new.

For the original question, I would hesistate signing on with an OEM right now after 42 years. I'm not sure what their quotas would be now or if any of them would be looking to sign on new dealers. If you go that route and they are wiling to tell the truth I would ask about product availablity. They may lie or make up crap. You might find an honest rep who will give you the best forecast possible. Unless an OEM has been in the semiconductor and componet manfacturing industry for a while they are likely waiting in line for this stuff and can't get it. I know of one OEM that will have no products to sell until summer of 2022 and even that is not guaranteed.

[mloudy]

Re: Direct sales

I am always a bit uneasy when buying from a new source. If the rep has been trying to get my business for a few years and still stays in contact even though I don't buy I feel a litlle more at ease pulling the trigger on my first order.

We buy used and rebuilt Sharps to keep in stock. No more than a few machines at a time. It can be anywhere from a week to 3 weeks to get a machine in. Many times we are delivering one of these the same day or next were are contacted by a new customer. I can't be waiting around for weeks when someone calls and asks "How fast can you have a machine here?"

As of right now Sharp has taken away our abilty to see what they have in stock but they did give us a forecast of which models would be in/out of stock for the next quarter. Currently most of our equipment orders are to us within a few days unless it is coming from the west coast.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: Direct sales

Product in your local inventory is king these days.

Most dealers are use to ordering product only as they need it and receiving the same maybe a week later.

Those days are likely not coming back for quite a few months for all players in the copier/printer industry.

Rising prices are also likely as the costs to ship a container from China has risen from approx $4k to $28k. The cost to ship one Doc Feeder via air from China use to be around $200.00, now around $800.00.

Even via Air freight quick delivery is not assured as you must compete for available cargo space as many industries compete for that space.

[deputydogg]

Re: Direct sales

For several machines? What's the rise you're seeing lately?
The only manufacturer I can imagine here is Brother.

We've had several customers wanting "full size" machines lately(40-50 color 11x17). We sell a ton of "throw away" machines but typically only 2-4 full size machines a year and buy them from acm so I prices are typically higher than most. All that being said I found out Friday that our owner is selling out so I don't know if I will even have a job after August...
Dave