After reading numerous threads about people buying Chinese made headers because they could not justify spending hundreds more for the American made headers, only to see companies try to explain why their headers costs as much as they do. How come these companies will not offer a group buy on their headers? I know many people would love to buy American made product if it was for a reasonable price and people would stop looking to China for items to save a few bucks.

 

I would buy some.....

 

I would be in too.....

 

Count me in if it's a pretty good deal!!!

 

There are good deals to be had if you really look around. It would even be better with a GP though.

 

interesting

 

There is a group buy on all B&B stuff in a thread the other day, to include headers.

 

Still waiting for an answer from some of the vendors...... how about it? I am sure we can get the number of people needed for the purchase.

 

I'll buy right now. Not going in on 100 bucks off of 1500+ headers and x pipe though.

Wish Texas Speed had a set for the C6. They worked great on my c5Z and were like 800 bucks shipped with a 3 inch x pipe.

 

 

^^^ I got a PM from Texas speed saying there are coming out with their c6 SS version next in 2-3 few weeks...this was last week.

 

I wonder if they will have a catted x pipe. If I remember last time they came out they catted x pipe didn't come until later.

 

I've heard that for 6+ months, but I hope that is true.

 

Well first off, you have to understand the premise of a group buy. Basically a vender says "I want to sell a lot of widget x to get volume discount y, but I don't want the risk of buying inventory and having it sit for a while". So they start a group buy and go out offer a steep discount to collect orders, and then use the orders they collected kind of as financing to put in a large order at a deeper pricing discount. Personally I refuse to do group buys because a.) as a company, you should be able to buy your own inventory, and b.) When I have tried them in the past, people backed out at the last minute, and the administrative side of it was a mess.

Instead, we buy in volume at great prices from the manufactuers, and then pass that on to customers in great every day pricing. It would be silly for me to organize and run a group buy for parts I already have on my shelf that I bought at the deepest discount there is. I just put the parts on sale, and if you call, you will get my absolute best price.

 

I'll buy right now. Not going in on 100 bucks off of 1500+ headers and x pipe though.

This is a big reason why people will continue to purchase off brand headers. The so call sale, group buy or whatever you what to call it, will save you $100 on your $1800 headers
After reading another post from a vendor on this forum, still talking about what China has done, how China making crap headers (blah,blah,blah) Enough already. I am no marketing expert but someone needs to brainstorm a header G/B and you will see the headers fly off the shelf.
We all know how good American made headers are (we got that), it is harder in today's economy to spend upward of a grand or more for a little more performance and quality.
I know I would buy a set of ARH with cats if it was not also 2 grand

 

[QUOTE=MarylandSpeed;1576796040]Well first off, you have to understand the premise of a group buy. Basically a vender says "I want to sell a lot of widget x to get volume discount y, but I don't want the risk of buying inventory and having it sit for a while". So they start a group buy and go out offer a steep discount to collect orders, and then use the orders they collected kind of as financing to put in a large order at a deeper pricing discount. Personally I refuse to do group buys because a.) as a company, you should be able to buy your own inventory, and b.) When I have tried them in the past, people backed out at the last minute, and the administrative side of it was a mess.

Instead, we buy in volume at great prices from the manufactuers, and then pass that on to customers in great every day pricing. It would be silly for me to organize and run a group buy for parts I already have on my shelf that I bought at the deepest discount there is. I just put the parts on sale, and if you call, you will get my absolute best price.

Ok I can understand where you are coming from, you have to do what's best for you and your company. All I'm saying if things do not change for the American made headers they will continue to lose business to the X brand. Give it a little more time and you will see x brand start to make a better product at a still reasonable price.

I have seen your sale prices and to me they are still high. I do realize you are doing the best you can but the header companies to need step up or the game will be over

 

You need to keep in mind..there is a certain price you need to sell parts for to run a profitable business. You are not gonna get Kooks for under $1000..it's that simple. It costs money to do business the way they do...especially the machinery and overhead. Much more than it does not knock off someone elses designs, make them at a contract manufactuer in China, and dump them here on ebay. I don't see any of the knock off header companies sponsoring forums or events. I don't see them coming out with different size and stepped headers, so there is a header for every need.

I don't argue about this because I am losing sales. I argue about this because I want customers to be educated, and know what is going on. There are no free rides, and these knock off headers are cheap for a reason. I actually have gained some sales because customers like that I take a stand on this stuff. I feel strongly about the subject, and I think it is wrong for forum members to openly support and promote a knock off of a sponsors products.

As for sales, Kooks as of right now is selling pretty much every C6 header they make...knock offs really have not meant anything sales wise, as we are still seeing growth in most markets. It would honestly be silly to just run a massive sale because there is plenty of demand for the supply they currently have.

All that tells me that people running the knock off stuff are not people who I would normally be selling headers to anyway. They are people who would rather save money more than paying a name brand product. I have guessed these people would have either not bought headers at all unless there was a $300 option, or they would have bought a used set of premium headers. They are not the people who would normally drop $1600 on headers anyway. I also think a very few could genuinly could afford nice headers, but feel like they are "sticking it to the man" and smarter than the next guy by buying a set of knock offs and saving money. Additionally, the people who run knock offs tend to be vocal and post a lot. I can sell 10 sets of Kooks and no one will every post about them on the forum. However 3 people will buy ebay headers and post 15 times in every header thread about how great they are promoting them.

The last thing to consider is that most Corvette customer run cats with their headers (9 out of 10). The knock offs don't offer cats, and for most people, it is easier to just spend the money on a decent set than fabbing something up.

A similar comparison for this situation would be shoes. You can buy Payless shoes for a 3rd the price of name brand shoes. Yet every time I go to the gym, or where ever I see people in name brand shoes. If you can't afford Nikes, or simply don't want to spend the money..buy payless by all means. However realize hating on Nike and acting like they are losing a sale is silly. You were not willing to spend the money their product cost anyway..so you never really were a potential customer.



[QUOTE=AtlPitbull;1576796091]

 

Another thing I don't get is why everyone acts like the header companies are sticking it to you all time, but people will pay similar money for axleback exhausts, and you don't see nearly the complaints. We have people fork over $1000 plus for a simple axleback because they want the Corsa sound, or they want the Borla sound. Yet a header/X-pipe that is marginably more expensive, but has a lot more work and craftsmanship put into it is insanely priced and ripping customers off? I have seen people even hook these $1000 systems up to $500 ebay headers. I don't get it.

 

Stereotyping your potential customers is not good. I have spent money on exhaust parts in the past years a couple times with you and have been very happy, but surprised you said this.

I completely understand and agree with most everything else you have said, but I strongly dissagree with the above. I have more than enough money to buy a set of 1500, or 5000 dollar headers. It's different strokes for different folks. You guys sell a great product, kooks. It's not for everybody. People want to spend their money in the best way that fits their situation.

 

Good point and also the very reason why I never bought a cat back for my C6 (or my Z28). I like the quality of most cat backs but only like the sound of a small few and with the very minute power gains they provide that money was far better spent on other mods (such as headers/X-pipe) for the cars.