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Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2004, 04:48 PM

okay... to place an order we need to know who is "in"
my car's paint job is costing me too much, so i am no longer in on this buy, but will see it through to the end.

if you are in with an exception (i.e. ill take one, if the price is 400)

Thanks..

Posted by: ! Jan 12 2004, 04:53 PM

ME

Posted by: Gint Jan 12 2004, 06:31 PM

1 set of front and 1 set of rear Mueller suspension roller bearings please. I will nail this thread and un-nail the previous one. OK Aaron?

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2004, 06:33 PM

sounds good gint, Thanks a bunch

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 12 2004, 06:46 PM

by when do you need to know ?

i'm still waiting on damper pricing. if you haven't heard from me by deadline time that's cool - but i'd like to know when the deadline will be ...

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2004, 06:49 PM

its all up to you guys...(i cannot afford one now ) voice your deadline requirements and well implement them....im easy

Posted by: jdogg Jan 12 2004, 07:41 PM

I am in for a front bar and for the monoball strut mount. I am ready right now, but can wait no longer than the end of the month...Too much to do, too little time....

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2004, 07:43 PM

end of the month sounds good then, unless someone wants it quicker

Posted by: TimT Jan 12 2004, 08:46 PM

Im in

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 12 2004, 10:45 PM

1 bar for Dave Bell
1 bar for Jridder
1 bar for mike
1 bar for jdogg 1 set of monoballs
1 for tim
1 for my source
maybe ~1 for me (still trying to recover from my paint job excercise )
Maybe rich

Posted by: Gint Jan 12 2004, 10:51 PM

Aaron,

No bar for me. I'm busted. Just the bearings Front AND rear. And I don't need 'em until the end of February.

Posted by: Dave Bell Jan 13 2004, 02:03 AM

I'm in.... let's get some more people signed up and get the price low

- Dave

Posted by: jridder Jan 13 2004, 05:11 PM

I'm in for the bar and front and rear needle bearings.

Posted by: anthony Jan 15 2004, 03:05 PM

I've asked a couple times about logistics and shipping. How will it work and how much will shipping be?

Is there a web page for the Tarret sway bars out there? Google turns up zilch.

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 15 2004, 03:10 PM

ya just gotta spell it right - Google found it right away for me ...

http://www.tarett.com/

Posted by: anthony Jan 15 2004, 03:15 PM

Hey, I was just going by the topic title!

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 15 2004, 04:05 PM

im not sure how much shipping will be yet. all the bars could be sent to me and ill ship them, or, the bars could be shipped from tarret or my distributor.

Posted by: Dave Bell Jan 16 2004, 09:50 PM

Don't care how they are shipped... direct ship would probably be faster... not that we are on a fast track.... It would be good for everybody to get to some sort of payment record from Tarett with their name and purchase date on it in case something isn't right with the bar or they need to prove when they bought it for fulfillment of any warranty... which I presume they have.

- Dave

Posted by: ! Jan 16 2004, 09:55 PM

So when is the talking about it gonna end????

Let's hump on this....

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 16 2004, 10:12 PM

hmmm...if you read the thread...once


come on mikey

Posted by: ! Jan 17 2004, 08:35 AM

Just being impatient....as usual....

Posted by: Gint Jan 19 2004, 10:31 PM

I guess I'm completely out of this deal Aaron. I appreciate it all of the effort you put into it.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=8357&st=0&#entry111393

Mike

Posted by: Ira Ramin Jan 22 2004, 02:14 AM

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the interest in my products here, and I’m sorry if this group buy has caused any problems or bad feelings. Until this afternoon, I’ve been out of the country for the last three weeks on business and haven’t been able to deal with this properly. Group buys sound good initially but can easily go wrong, as some of us are starting to realize. Up front, I sell a bunch of parts, my dealer (the source) makes some money, and a bunch of you guys save some money. What could be so wrong with that?

What about the guys currently paying full price with another dealer? They’re not too happy when they find out after their purchase. And if they find out before the purchase and make their dealer drop his price. Than I have an unhappy dealer that may not buy my products again.

Any of my dealers that see the prices that were posted are not going to be very happy about it either. Why would they want to stock my products when they are being undercut and can’t sell them. They’ll also think that I must be giving someone else a better deal.

This is also not good for club members Mike and Brad for the same reasons. Not only does it cause problems for them, but there is a price error on the discount listed for Mike’s bearings. There’s either an error, or the source isn’t planning on making any money on them. There’s not enough margin for so many people to make money on them, and Mike's bearings are out of this group buy. In addition, any needle bearing purchases from members of this board should go through either Mike or Brad, not me. They’ve both put in the time to develop, support, and promote the bearings, so please go through them first for bearings.

I believe that this started with good intentions from everyone involved, and that I’m partially to blame for the misunderstanding between one of my new dealers and myself, which allowed the group buy to start without my knowledge. Keeping things going smoothly is part of my job. I’ve spent part of the day today apologizing to some of my other dealers that found out about it.

I’m now stuck with the choice of disappointing some of you guys or possibly pissing off more of my dealers. At this point, I think there’s no real harm done but I’d like to ask you guys to please wrap this buy up by the end of this week, if not sooner. Aaron is still coordinating, and all sales are going through his source. I will drop ship the parts. This is the last group buy. Please feel free to post or contact me directly with any questions.

Thanks,
Ira Ramin

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 22 2004, 07:44 AM

well said, thanks for posting here in person to clarify the issues.

i know that at my day job at Ross-Tech, the marketing director spends a bunch of time (especially around the holidays) keeping the distributors in line and seriously, actively, discouraging discounting. US trade laws do require that the "MSRP" is a "suggested" price and a manufacturer cannot dictate what price a distributor charges. (they can, of course, dictate what price distributors -pay- ...)

on high-value, low-margin parts, undercutting just winds up hurting everyone.

i like getting a deal as much as the next person, especially on expensive stuff. but i think your decision to eliminate group buys is a good one. i wish you luck enforcing it - it's an ongoing struggle !

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 22 2004, 07:38 PM

Thanks Ira for clearing that up.

As to logistics,
products will be drop shipped, and ill get the contact info to place your orders in a day or 2.

Thanks again,
Aaron

Posted by: anthony Jan 23 2004, 10:11 PM

I think I'm in. What's the price going to be on the front bar?

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 24 2004, 09:49 AM

1-5 bars = 425
5-10 bars = 400
10 + = 375

i think we are at 8 bars

Posted by: anthony Jan 24 2004, 11:07 AM

Well, lets go people. Everybody knows the Tarett bar is the best bar for the money!

We only need two more orders on the bar to get the best price. Gint, come back now that the roller bearing issue is cleared up.

Posted by: ! Jan 24 2004, 11:27 AM

I will solicit buyers from the 911 board.....

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 24 2004, 01:14 PM

sweet! go mikey

Posted by: Gint Jan 24 2004, 02:50 PM

I never wanted a bar. Well, that's not exactly true, I want one, but I can't afford it and it's not a "necessity". It will have to wait until I get the "rusto" done. I needed the bearings to get them done during the resto. But I've got enough other stuff to spend money on the next 3-9 months or so.

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 24 2004, 03:14 PM

let me provide some closure here too, for those wondering where the interest in expressed earlier is. i wasn't in for a bar either - it was bushings and top strut mounts to go along with my strut upgrade.

i agree Tarett's bar is probably the hot-setup value leader.

if i need to go cheap, i'll use the monoball pillow block 19mm bar from my /6 and have some lever arms welded up to fit my splined ends. if funding permits, i'll go with the Smart bar. similarly with the upper strut bearings - while a strut truss doesn't do much for a 914 due to the design of the front bulkhead, it -is- a benefit on the 911, and WEVO's integrated approach looks to be the class of the field there.

so - my advice for any of you fence-sitters out there would be to jump on this deal - i doubt you'll see anything similar come by for a long time. in my case, the killer deal is for a part that was never on my shopping list ...

Posted by: Gary Jan 24 2004, 07:57 PM

OK guys. It looks like you're spitting distance from 10 bars. I'll throw my hat in and be the 9th, but only if someone follows me to make it 10. I'm up to my ears in a full resto, but this is a great thing going.

Gary

Posted by: TimT Jan 24 2004, 08:07 PM

Like Rich said, jump on this,

Im already in, however we need more people to make this buy really sweet!!..

Everybody wins!!

Posted by: seanery Jan 24 2004, 08:40 PM

what sizes are these available in?

Posted by: RAR Jan 24 2004, 10:26 PM

Greetings,
I too was wondering about the bar size. It appears 22 is the only one for the fronts. Is this what folks are using for a 3.2 or 3.6 conversion for the street, or is a larger bar required. There doesn't seem to be a rear bar, but this isn't recommended on the six swaps as I understand it. Thanks.

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 01:52 AM

Seems that PP will be carrying the item soon and the post got pulled.....

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 01:54 AM

22mm is what I use on my 3.6 911....it's the stock size for the Carrera. More than adequate for the street and occasional track use....

Posted by: Ira Ramin Jan 25 2004, 02:34 AM

I’m sorry to disappoint anyone but the group buy is over. The deadline was 12:00 midnight on Saturday. I had asked for this to be wrapped up quickly but instead of doing that, someone went and posted it on the Pelican board. The person that posted it is out. Now I have some very angry vendors and I have to insist that this is the end. I see 8 people still possibly in. I know who they all are and I can only honor the first five that I receive orders for with payment from Aaron’s supplier by the end of Tuesday. No others will be accepted. I’m sorry for having to handle it this way but unfortunately I have no other choice.

Ira

Posted by: anthony Jan 25 2004, 10:49 AM

What's the point of allowing group buys if they can't be advertised on public chat boards?

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 10:58 AM

Hey....I asked before doing it....thought I was helping.....so shoot me.

This board is monitored by other boards and blaming ME for the vendors getting pissed off is out of line. I would consider rethinking your comments. They are wrong.....

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 25 2004, 11:08 AM

many manufacturer's -don't- allow group buys. my interpretation of reading what's been posted in this thread is that only a misunderstanding in the distributor agreement with the new distributor acox was working with permitted this in the first place.

Ira could have shut it down immediately but he was trying to be a good guy and let the one that had started up on this board continue.

then it spread even further and pissed off yet another round of people.

Ira's been trying to walk the fine line between keeping this community happy and keeping all his other customers, distributors, and dealers happy. IMO he's done a great job being a stand-up guy letting it go as long as it did. don't make him out to be the bad guy here. [and no, i'm not blaming MikeZ either - this situation was frought with danger from the beginning -- a classic 'no-win' deal ...]

once upon a time, a "group buy" was a handful of local guys who could work a deal with a local distributor. nowadays, that "group" is international and threads like this become parts-brokering sessions.

distributorships and dealerships are often geographic regional deals - sometimes exclusively. it's not fair for a regional distributor to [try to] undercut every other dealer in the country and then have direct shipping from the factory besides. if you were a dealer for a manufacturer who permitted that kind of thing, you'd be wondering why you were bothering to be a dealer at all. (the main reason for being a dealer is to take advantage of the profit margin afforded by your buying volume, and the possible additional installation and "as along as" marketing opportunities. take away the pricing incentive and dealers aren't left with much more ... when we go to a vendor for event "sponsorship" money - where do you think that money comes from, and what do you think the vendor expects he is buying for it ?)

like Ira said - this buy was in full swing by the time he found out about it, and he tried to do the right thing by letting it slide. all after that is simply consequences...

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 11:18 AM

I find NO fault in your argument Rich.

However, blaming the whole thing collapsing on ME.....for posting on the Pelican board and then further penalizing ME by not allowing me to get in with the discounted purchase, sucks.

I guess Smart Racing will take my money.

Posted by: anthony Jan 25 2004, 12:36 PM

Furthermore other people are now being penalized because he is only accepting the first 5 orders rather than the 8 we have.

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 01:44 PM

"I" was also part of the original five.....no matter, like I said there are more manufacturers out there.

I WILL not stand for the blame for the deal going tits up, however.

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jan 25 2004, 02:02 PM

I for one don't blame you Mikey - this deal was hanging from a thread from Day One. i didn't want to say anything then because i really wanted it to go through for the people involved, but i was skeptical...

you can only keep the genie in the bottle and Pandora's demons in their box for just so long once the seal is cracked, and there were a dozen issues ready to scuttle this deal.

now you and Ira are pissed at each other, which is too bad, because you're a good customer and he makes good products, but shit happens.

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 02:56 PM

I ain't pissed....just wanna set the record straight....if'n I was pissed I WOULD BE PISSED....but I aints.....

Posted by: TimT Jan 25 2004, 03:23 PM

This thing is still on right?

I believe I was one of thew first to jump on the bandwagon, hope Im still in..

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 25 2004, 08:29 PM

here ya go...the first 5 people only. sorry

Posted by: ! Jan 25 2004, 10:00 PM

All except me of course.....

Posted by: ChrisReale Jan 26 2004, 06:12 PM

What the F? So, the purpose of the group buy is to get a better price for more people. Funny that only the first 5 are getting in on the deal (1 to 5 bars =$425) . Basically, the price was never intended to go below $425 and people who are ready to buy are being forced out. From a manufacturers stand point, I guess thats "ok" but it should have been stated clearly from the begining.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 26 2004, 06:13 PM

wasnt my doing chris, im sorry.

Posted by: ChrisReale Jan 26 2004, 06:53 PM

I understand Aaron, I still like you you put some time and effort into this, and you should be recognized for this. Its too bad at the end of the deal all the rules are coming out. Oh well, there is always WEVO.....

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 26 2004, 06:55 PM

thanks chris, i now feel all warm and fuzzy

Posted by: ChrisReale Jan 26 2004, 07:00 PM

Dude ya gotta change your diapers every day

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jan 26 2004, 07:04 PM

LMAO

Posted by: Gint Jan 26 2004, 11:37 PM

I think this thing is all but dead now eh? The 5 people know who they are and have to deal with Ira directly right? Can we un-nail this thread now?

Purely to make Miles happy you know.

Posted by: seanery Jan 27 2004, 07:54 AM

I almost did this yesterday, sooooo, off it goes.

Posted by: Gint Jan 27 2004, 07:55 AM

Do it.

Posted by: ! Jan 27 2004, 08:32 AM

Oh by all means let's make Miles happy. Let's make Ira happy, lets's make the vendors happy, just don't forget to shit on Mikey on the way out.....

Thank you, I'll be here all week, don't forget to tip the waitress.... :finger2:

Posted by: Gint Jan 27 2004, 08:37 AM

I feel for ya. I really do.

I've not commented (really) since my rant on how this deal went down. Blaming you and excluding you was a cheap shot IMHO. As far as I'm concerned, Ira and his employee or distibutor that Aaron originally set this deal up with are the ones responsible for it's failure.

If a parts supplier doesn't want to allow group buys, so be it. I can understand that. But make your intentions clear with your distributors/employees so this kind of fiasco doesn't take place.

Posted by: seanery Jan 27 2004, 08:42 AM

I agree, I don't think anyone here did anything wrong. The problem is miscommunication or ignoring that communication between this distributor and it's manufacturer. I feel for ya mikey!

Posted by: ! Jan 27 2004, 10:05 AM

No prob....like I said before I'm not pissed....irked maybe, not pissed.

Not like I missed the last train to Georgia or sumthin'

Posted by: Dave Bell Jan 27 2004, 11:08 AM

O.K... I have been off line for a few days... and I don't think I can even figure out what happened here.

I think I was in the first 5 people... but I can't tell for sure.

And how do I contact Ira... just call Tarett?

- Dave

Posted by: Gint Jan 27 2004, 11:10 AM