Sales. Do fish finders and trolling motors usually go on sale after Christmas or is right now my opportunity? Any likely sales trends or other knowledge before I press pay now would be appreciated

I think the sales you saw in the past few days are about the best you will see all year. This is the slow time for boat sales, once the trade show season kicks in, sales pick up, deals typically go away, especially if you aren't buying a boat too... People begin thinking Spring sometime in January/February, very few are thinking Spring pre-Christmas... 

 

There isn't a lot of profit on electronics for the dealers, most the money is made in the labor to install... Nothing like say clothing that has large profit margins... Most dealers buy electronics through distributors too, so there is a middle man, you have to do a LOT of business with the manufacturers to even be able to buy direct from them and even then, you still get nowhere near the margins you get on other goods... Smaller entities may even sell some stuff at their cost during this time of year, just to be able to purchase enough to cover their annual minimums... 

 

I placed an order through Tackle Warehouse for some tackle a few days ago, it was packed and shipped same day, that tells me sales are way down this year from previous years, TW is never that fast with free shipping when they are backed up with large amounts of sales like they should have been on Black Friday, etc...

 

At some point, the entire system is going to implode, you have manufacturers all selling direct these days, offering larger discounts than their dealers can afford to, if I owned a tackle shop and had thousands and thousands of dollars invested in my inventory and I saw say Berkley offering a buy one get one free deal on Black Friday, which is essentially selling to consumers for less than they sell to dealers, I would be awfully mad... They are all doing it now and eventually, we aren't going to have tackle shops any longer... Just manufacturers websites to order from and a few chain stores with horrible service/knowledge...

18 minutes ago, Goby said:

I think the sales you saw in the past few days are about the best you will see all year. This is the slow time for boat sales, once the trade show season kicks in, sales pick up, deals typically go away, especially if you aren't buying a boat too... People begin thinking Spring sometime in January/February, very few are thinking Spring pre-Christmas... 

 

There isn't a lot of profit on electronics for the dealers, most the money is made in the labor to install... Nothing like say clothing that has large profit margins... Most dealers buy electronics through distributors too, so there is a middle man, you have to do a LOT of business with the manufacturers to even be able to buy direct from them and even then, you still get nowhere near the margins you get on other goods... Smaller entities may even sell some stuff at their cost during this time of year, just to be able to purchase enough to cover their annual minimums... 

 

I placed an order through Tackle Warehouse for some tackle a few days ago, it was packed and shipped same day, that tells me sales are way down this year from previous years, TW is never that fast with free shipping when they are backed up with large amounts of sales like they should have been on Black Friday, etc...

 

At some point, the entire system is going to implode, you have manufacturers all selling direct these days, offering larger discounts than their dealers can afford to, if I owned a tackle shop and had thousands and thousands of dollars invested in my inventory and I saw say Berkley offering a buy one get one free deal on Black Friday, which is essentially selling to consumers for less than they sell to dealers, I would be awfully mad... They are all doing it now and eventually, we aren't going to have tackle shops any longer... Just manufacturers websites to order from and a few chain stores with horrible service/knowledge...

Thank you for the on depth response. I'm hitting pay now....now!!!

30 minutes ago, Goby said:

I placed an order through Tackle Warehouse for some tackle a few days ago, it was packed and shipped same day, that tells me sales are way down this year from previous years

Probably because their black friday sale absolutely sucked this year.  15% off is the lowest I have ever seen it. Last year was 20%.

4 minutes ago, LokiDawg said:

Thank you for the on depth response. I'm hitting pay now....now!!!

 

Well, I sincerely hope you don't find a better deal later on, since you took my advice LOL

 

I truly do not believe you will, this is the best time of year to buy a boat or any major purchases typically. 

 

Best of luck! 

4 minutes ago, Goby said:

 

Well, I sincerely hope you don't find a better deal later on, since you took my advice LOL

 

I truly do not believe you will, this is the best time of year to buy a boat or any major purchases typically. 

 

Best of luck! 

No worries. I won't look!!!!😂

11 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Probably because their black friday sale absolutely sucked this year.  15% off is the lowest I have ever seen it. Last year was 20%.

 

Could be true, that may have to do with manufacturers tightening the reins, there are rules they are all supposed to adhere to, pricing minimums, etc...

 

Which makes what many of the manufacturers do to all the dealers every year even worse...

 

Most of the stuff a tackle shop would sell nowadays, are sold by one of about 6 mega entities that have bought up all the tackle companies and some of those entities even own large percentages of their competition LOL 

 

Same thing that is happening with boat companies, etc....

Thank you all. I have my batteries, charger, enduramax 55, Garmin striker 4cv, yakattack cell block & transducer arm, and a few other essentials on the way. I'll be ready for KBF tournaments next year. 🥂🖖😁

You might be able to find a great deal on something gently used if you keep an eye open. People getting that sweet new piece of electronic gear for Christmas that will be looking to unload their current equipment to be able to buy more stuff will often get you a good price if you're okay with used gear.

If it were “me” I have seen where one of the major retailers has taken used electronics in trade and offers them at discounts.  I can’t remember if it was THMarine or one of the others.  That’s where I’d be looking. 😉

That would be RMP Russell Marine Products in El Dorado KS.  Nice folks.

I tried to buy used electronics but found a great sale on a new 10" Lowrance Elite FS for less than $1000 without my military discount.  Got a $100 gift card for my military discount.