Members Doc Doc Goose Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Hotdiggaty!!! I'll need to pull together an order, stat. Jay, I'll bet you get a huge rush of orders next week. Better be prepared! :thu: Ditto.Jay has always been helpful and prompt in e-mails. Lovin' my Mean 90, but I could use another (especially if there's a coupon code). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Machine Gun Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Congrats on being able to live the American dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Congrats on being able to live the American dream. Just what I was gonna add. Hardest thing to do in business is properly capitalize and the reason so many fail, is under capitalization. You run out of money before enough people know you exist. Early E-bay provided an answer for under-funded entrepreneurs. But E-bay has encountered the greed factor. An inability to find the sweet spot between keeping investors and clients happy. It was a lucky confluence that you, properly, took advantage of. I'm glad it worked as well as it did!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Songman68 Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Jay, I am glad to see you are dumping ebay, they have gotten worse than the cable companies with all the fee increases. They have gotten to big for their britches and lost focus. Their focus now is only on one thing, that is keeping the shareholders happy and not their customers, it is ashamed. I have ordered lots of stuff from your regular site and you sire run first class operation. I have never had a problem with your customer service or products. To show my support for your move and your business, I just placed a $133 order on your site. I ordered a set of the Premium Texas Strat Pickups, and a set of Premium II strats as well per your email suggestion to me. Thanks for the free shipping coupon code and good luck in the future. Songman68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Small Stone Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 eBay, shmeebay.SO WHAT PICKUPS SHOULD I PUT IN MY YAMAHA TELE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Glad things are working out for you guys! I'm not big fan of ebay myself though I've done a transaction or two there. I prefer your website so all's good FAIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted August 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Yeah the capitalization thing is key- That's what killed us at Bedrock amps. The solution for me was I worked my ass off- 16 hour days seven days a week and luckily I already had a good job so I could take ZERO paycheck for the first couple of years- put all the money back into product. My wife wasn't real keen on that strategy but I'm hoping the continued growth allows us to make a few bucks here. (Cause I wouldn't mind sending my kids to college at some point!) But yeah- ebay made it far easier to get ramped up- I would have done this without ebay for sure- but the ONLy way this kind of business could exist- no salesmen, no dealers, no NAMM shows, no printed catalogs- no needless expenses- is online. And while we DO have most of our products made offshore- I DO employ five full time people- Americans who get a paycheck every week. And with the weak dollar we actually export a very large percentage of our sales to Europe- keeping to trade deficit at bay a little bit... Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 I don't think it will hurt you at all. Most people I talk to who at one time had startup business on ebay have all fled. I haven't listed with them in several years and rarely even search the site anymore. Either way good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gilgators Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 You sound like a smart businessman, Jay. Every company needs to evolve. You've recognized EBay helped you at one time, but realized it's now time to move in a different direction. Kudos, and best wishes for continued success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Keep it up Jay! You're doing everything right! All the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitar-fish Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 eBay sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goldtopper Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Just curious (if anyone can answer) where does GF get most of the stuff it sells? I realize they probably wind there own pups, but what about the bridges and other hardware? (pickguards, knobs, etc) Is that mostly just Chinese made stuff that they're retailing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildcat2008 Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 I would recommend that you keep at least a small presence on Ebay. I manage a fitness site at www.fitnessdestination.com and we don't really sell alot on Ebay, but we do get alot of traffic from our listings. Search engine optimization is one of the toughest things to figure out and you can drop out of the rankings real easy. By the way I'll be buying some pickups for my son's guitar real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LAracer Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Great story Jay. FWIW, I first heard about GFS here on HCEG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Good riddance to ebay! I'm tired of that site too and for some similar reasons. I think you'll do just fine, Jay. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IRG Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 You've made the right move. You have a fairly loyal base here and elsewhere. You should offer a free set of pickups in a giveaway now and then. You could develop a good email list this way. Gibson did it just the other day. You don't need ebay anymore, they burned themselves, like many greedy corporate entities, profits are more important than anything else. GOod luck, I'll be by buying something new soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blind radish Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 Carry on Jay ... we know where to find you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted September 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 Just curious (if anyone can answer) where does GF get most of the stuff it sells?I realize they probably wind there own pups, but what about the bridges and other hardware? (pickguards, knobs, etc) Is that mostly just Chinese made stuff that they're retailing? Well it's not really a secret. ALL of the hardware on your new $2000+ guitars are usually made in Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, Indonesia- whatever. Heritage still uses a lot of Schaller and Mueller stuff from Germany. Our stuff- parts- Are from Korea- We do not buy the Chinese, Indonesian or Malaysian stuff. They all look identical but the plating on the cheapo stuff is crap- And even the cheapo "Zinc" can be anything from the brittle lightweight "Pot MEtal" used on the bottom of the line guitars to the heavier pinkish zinc-alloy used on the better stuff- which is quite good actually. Some parts are USA made, some Japanese, a few from Canada and Mexico. About 60% of the replacement parts we sell are custom done for us- the rest, frankly, are the same stuff WD and Mighty Mite sells. Most of the pickups use USA sourced wire and USA, Japanese or German sourced magnets. Some use 100% Korean sourced parts- only if they happen to make the stuff right- and all of our pickups are wound in Korea. Some, like the NY series- are hand assembled here which would technically allow us to call them USA made- but I don't think it matters at this point. Those who would dismiss us as "Cheap Crap" have already done so- the same way people dismissed Danelectros and Fenders in the 60's. I think what the last few years has proven is that this market is NOt stupid. People can hear the difference, and have decided that in some cases the Emperor really has no clothes. Sure some name brand stuff is killer and well worth the price. Sure some hand winders make amazing sounding pickups with particular tonality that is well worth the price. But what the last three years has proven for me is what I told my wife four years ago when I sunk our life's savings into this- A guitar pickup is among the simplest electrical devices in the world- Maybe the simplest- A Speaker has a moving part- a Pickup does not. Wrapping it up in all of this mystique- "Hand Wound" "Scatterwound" "Boutique" "Vintage" "Aged" etc. etc. etc. is good for business, but it's a lot of crap. The tonal difference between five different 6.0K Alnico V strat pickups is similar to the tonal change between five different brands of guitar strings, or five different sets of fingers on the fretboard! Yes every little thing matters- and the better wire and magnets all affect the tone, but what sounds "Good" and what sounds "Bad" is based entirely upon the history of popular music, NOT the quality of the device. Ask David Lindley or Jack White or Henry Kaiser- guys who are not strictly tied to the "great guitar" culture. I think one of the things Guitarfetish can do is to hit the little underserved areas of the market- the kinds of cool pickups and devices that the big boys won't do cause the market is too small and the little guys can't do for the price. That's our niche really. All of the other stuff- the knobs and trems are a way to generate enough business to make the fun stuff possible. Like the MODboards and circuits, like the Retrotron series and NYII and NYIII pickups, Boston Blues etc. Pickups that are NOT the mainstream PAF, Alnico Strat, Vintage tele etc. stuff that everyone does. So anyway- remember our coupon codes for the weekend- Free USA shipping on ANY order use HCLABORDAY TEN PERCENT off and order $250 or more with HCTEN Thanks Again Guys! Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted September 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 I would recommend that you keep at least a small presence on Ebay. Search engine optimization is one of the toughest things to figure out and you can drop out of the rankings real easy. By the way I'll be buying some pickups for my son's guitar real soon. Good advice- But remember- We advertise in three different Guitar Mags- which bring us far more exposure than ebay and target the EXACT people we need to target. When I was in the Advertising business my philosophy developed into "Use print to drive traffic to the web" rather than strict Google adwords, Banner advertising. It's been working well for us. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minitruth Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 For the record, I have never gone through ebay for GFS stuff- Always used the GFS website. No complaints about the quality of the product, either. Never ordered from Rondo through ebay, either. I don't like intermediaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr_GoodBomb Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 Ebay's been total trash lately. People asking for and shelling out MORE than anything is worth, asking insane shipping prices... And Ebay doesn't back {censored}. If you get screwed out of cash from someone using their service, it's not their problem. Learned that the hard way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bgmacaw Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 When I was in the Advertising business my philosophy developed into "Use print to drive traffic to the web" rather than strict Google adwords, Banner advertising. It's been working well for us. If you're doing pay-by-the-month banners, send me a PM. I'm always open to other ads on my site other than Google AdCENTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MoreGuitars Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 As a buyer I think I'm done with ebay. Rarely have I found a good price that I can't get elsewhere, and sometimes I cringe at what some stuff sells for. Recently, some incredibley flaky douchebag sold me a pedal that I really needed for some gigs, and excuses after excuses, I still don't have the damn thing! Going thru dispute thru ebay blows (I've had much better luck calling my credit card company and being done with it). So, besides the killing spare time looking at stuff that's available, it's pretty worthless to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MahaloVision Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 Jay don't need no steenkin' eBay! I used to love eBay. Only had one transaction that gave me any grief, and that was minor. Sales on the 'Bay used to be easy, cheap, and relatively secure, and PayPal used to be worth the expense. Now, I don't trust eBay or PayPal's security, and recently had to deal with some scammer listing almost 100 iPod's on my account. Bastards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goldtopper Posted September 1, 2007 Members Share Posted September 1, 2007 Our stuff- parts- Are from Korea- We do not buy the Chinese, Indonesian or Malaysian stuff. They all look identical but the plating on the cheapo stuff is crap- And even the cheapo "Zinc" can be anything from the brittle lightweight "Pot MEtal" used on the bottom of the line guitars to the heavier pinkish zinc-alloy used on the better stuff- which is quite good actually. Some parts are USA made, some Japanese, a few from Canada and Mexico. About 60% of the replacement parts we sell are custom done for us- the rest, frankly, are the same stuff WD and Mighty Mite sells. Thanks Jay. So basically you had to go from being simply just one guy winding and selling your own pickups, to learning how to make all sorts of contacts and deals to be a distributor, as well as subcontracting out work for the custom pieces you sell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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