Looking for a B/S Muffler

[Ducke]

Hey hey everyone. To make a long story short I got my lazy a$$ off the sofa today and out into the shop. I finally got the muffler off the Ryan Reno-o-thin man was it tough bugger too. I have been looking for a replacement on line I have found a couple but they are either priced way High or out of stock. So I was wondering if anyone may have something kicking around their shop. here is the part # Muffler For Briggs and Stratton # 391313

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[turf&tree]

Lawn care business tips

Ducke, glad to see you are up and off the couch lol. I get parts from Stens and Rotary. I forgot to mention I also have a repair business. www.homelinkpowerpro.com if you can't find the muffler locally I can order it from Stens. My cost is $ 10.17 plus shipping. It should retail around you for about $ 19.00 if you can't get it I will be happy to order it for you and ship it up north. I usually order at least once per week . No B&S dealers in the frozen tundra? Jim

[jasonw]

Originally Posted by Ducke

Hey hey everyone.
To make a long story short I got my lazy a$$ off the sofa today and out into the shop.
I finally got the muffler off the Ryan Reno-o-thin man was it tough bugger too.
I have been looking for a replacement on line I have found a couple but they are either priced way High or out of stock.
So I was wondering if anyone may have something kicking around their shop.

here is the part # Muffler For Briggs and Stratton # 391313

I have a chipper that has one of those, not sure if I am going to trash it or not yet "not running" If I do before you find another one I will be more than happy to give it to you, just cover the shipping.

[Ducke]

Thanks Jim
I do have a couple of places here in town but I know what it will be.
Somewhere around 200% mark up. I will go out and look around on Tuesday when the city comes back to life.
I will let you know what I find.

Graham

[turf&tree]

Like I said I would charge you cost plus shipping.
Cheers Duckie

[SuperiorPower]

Originally Posted by turf&tree

Like I said I would charge you cost plus shipping.
Cheers Duckie

That isn't a business. That is charity. You can't expect anyone to not make a living. I won't rip you off but by golly I gotta make a living or my family and I will go hungry. In that case I might as well close my doors. LCO folks want to make 200% or better. Why can't is it so wrong for a shop to make a buck? If I can't make a living I will close my doors. Again, cost plus shipping is flat out charity. When I have thousands of $$$ in parts in stock plus many more thousands in tools, building, training, etc., I will have to charge some profit. Period.

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by SuperiorPower

That isn't a business. That is charity. You can't expect anyone to not make a living. I won't rip you off but by golly I gotta make a living or my family and I will go hungry. In that case I might as well close my doors. LCO folks want to make 200% or better. Why can't is it so wrong for a shop to make a buck? If I can't make a living I will close my doors. Again, cost plus shipping is flat out charity. When I have thousands of $$$ in parts in stock plus many more thousands in tools, building, training, etc., I will have to charge some profit. Period.

Man who pissed in your cheerios this morning ???
I never asked for any deals and to be honest I didn't want any.
The guy is doing me a favour because I am a fellow Gopher Haul member.
Also if he gives me a deal on this maybe I just might buy more from him down the road because he helped get me out of a jam this time.
Also if you could kindly let me know where LCO are making 200% markup I would really like to move my operation to that area.
I like most LCO are in the same boat as you nickled and dimed by every home owner because every kid with a pick up and a mower will do the job for $20.00 .
I went to all my local dealers and none had the muffler, I even got one of the factory shops to order it B/S said none in stock 6- 8 weeks to get one in
so I then went on line but there is so many guys out there with $5.00 mufflers that I just don't trust them. So I went to the LCO industry my brothers and asked if anyone had one. Turf &Tree was nice enough to offer me a deal.
charity is not a bad thing try it some time it will come back and repay you double the effort.


PS
Hey Cheese this guy says we can go make 200% markup in his area want to join me in the move .............

[dpld]

Originally Posted by SuperiorPower

That isn't a business. That is charity. You can't expect anyone to not make a living. I won't rip you off but by golly I gotta make a living or my family and I will go hungry. In that case I might as well close my doors. LCO folks want to make 200% or better. Why can't is it so wrong for a shop to make a buck? If I can't make a living I will close my doors. Again, cost plus shipping is flat out charity. When I have thousands of $$$ in parts in stock plus many more thousands in tools, building, training, etc., I will have to charge some profit. Period.

i don't mind anyone making a buck and if i need something like right now and a shop actually has the part in question in hand then i will pay what i got to in order to get back up and running again.

but the problem lies in that 99% of repair shops don't stock the parts and it is always " i can order it for you and have it in a few days " line and why would i do that when i can go online find the same part cheaper and have it in the same time frame.

plus you must understand something, we invest a boatload of money into our equipment and i myself have at any given time about 30,000 g's in lawn mowers and if i bought my mowers in parts based on prices repair shops sell parts for i would have 60,000 g's in mowers and i would still own the same amount of mowers.

i have enough equipment to the point where i stick to things that share similar parts as to where i try to stock up on a lot of things and buy bulk to save money.

you also have to take into consideration that landscapers get today to cut a lawn what we got 25 years ago but all the while everything else went up, insurance, fuel, labor and equipment.

i bought my first walker riding mower brand new for 4,800.00 23 years ago and i just bought a new one last year and it cost me 15,000.00 but i still get about the same to cut the lawn.
and you wonder why guys like us try to save a buck.

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by dpld

i don't mind anyone making a buck and if i need something like right now and a shop actually has the part in question in hand then i will pay what i got to in order to get back up and running again.

but the problem lies in that 99% of repair shops don't stock the parts and it is always " i can order it for you and have it in a few days " line and why would i do that when i can go online find the same part cheaper and have it in the same time frame.

plus you must understand something, we invest a boatload of money into our equipment and i myself have at any given time about 30,000 g's in lawn mowers and if i bought my mowers in parts based on prices repair shops sell parts for i would have 60,000 g's in mowers and i would still own the same amount of mowers.

i have enough equipment to the point where i stick to things that share similar parts as to where i try to stock up on a lot of things and buy bulk to save money.

you also have to take into consideration that landscapers get today to cut a lawn what we got 25 years ago but all the while everything else went up, insurance, fuel, labor and equipment.

i bought my first walker riding mower brand new for 4,800.00 23 years ago and i just bought a new one last year and it cost me 15,000.00 but i still get about the same to cut the lawn.
and you wonder why guys like us try to save a buck.

All good points.
I was thinking while I was out clearing snow again today why is it i can get a muffler for $11.00 plus like $10.00 postage so total $31.00 but the B/S authorized Dealer up here wanted $75.00 for the same muffler ?????? talk about your mark up

[SuperiorPower]

Originally Posted by Ducke

Man who pissed in your cheerios this morning ???
I never asked for any deals and to be honest I didn't want any.
The guy is doing me a favour because I am a fellow Gopher Haul member.
Also if he gives me a deal on this maybe I just might buy more from him down the road because he helped get me out of a jam this time.
Also if you could kindly let me know where LCO are making 200% markup I would really like to move my operation to that area.
I like most LCO are in the same boat as you nickled and dimed by every home owner because every kid with a pick up and a mower will do the job for $20.00 .
I went to all my local dealers and none had the muffler, I even got one of the factory shops to order it B/S said none in stock 6- 8 weeks to get one in
so I then went on line but there is so many guys out there with $5.00 mufflers that I just don't trust them. So I went to the LCO industry my brothers and asked if anyone had one. Turf &Tree was nice enough to offer me a deal.
charity is not a bad thing try it some time it will come back and repay you double the effort.


PS
Hey Cheese this guy says we can go make 200% markup in his area want to join me in the move .............

Ducke (and everyone else who thought it or said it), seriously? No one peed in my cheerios. Sorry if I rubbed you guys wrong. Please don't take offense at what I am about to say. This is what I was trying to say at midnight on just a few hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours, with at least 3-4 more hours to go....

I guess I look at this the same way as you look at the "every kid with a pick up and a mower will do the job for $20.00". Your words, not mine. And I never said all LCO make 200% when you did say dealers make 200% on parts.

Think about this, I buy $200 in parts (we will call this the "perceived cost"). Shipping is normally at least $10.00. I spend an hour and a half looking up and order parts, stocking parts when they get here, calling customers, talking to and checking out customers when they pick up the parts, etc. Now I have 90 minutes wrapped up in the parts. Then you have to add utilities, insurance, building costs, etc. My labor rate is $50 per hour so if I were to expect to make labor rates handling and ordering parts I would need to charge at least $75 in labor. By now I am at over $300 for those parts. This is the "actual cost". Yet, everyone expects me to sell them a part which has a "perceived cost" of $10 for $12-13. If I throw away my labor, which no business owner should intentionally do EVER (I would never expect you to throw away your labor), then I might break even at $12-13. I WILL lose money at $10..... And $30,000-60,000 is NOTHING for a dealer stocking whole goods.

Currently I don't stock a lot of new whole goods. And if you walked into my shop today and said, hey, the next time you order parts, order me a part # 391313 and I will pick it up the same day you get it in, I would say, ok, I will cut you a break. But I would not sell it to to you at my cost (perceived cost). Would you cut my lawn at YOUR COST? I doubt it... What does it cost to mow my yard, $5 in gas (remember, this is the "perceived cost")? That is what I expect you to charge me........

Honestly, I will prefer to do business with a man who will tell me, he "will make a profit" cutting my lawn. Because he is likely being honest with me. Favors will always strain a relationship.

Please understand that I am in the business to make money. I don't mind giving you a deal but I also understand if I consistently sell at "perceived cost", I will actually lose a great deal of money very quickly. If he wants to do you a favor, then that's cool. But remember, lowballers are still lowballers. Or maybe he is running a "charity lawnmower repair shop" and is not a small engine parts supplier "lowballer"?

When I come on this board and hear you guys talking about the lowballers in your industry and your need to be able to make enough money to make it, I understand. I support your right, and your NEED, as a business man, to make money. I will fight for you guys all day long. I will fight the lowballer shoulder to shoulder with you. Will you fight them with me? THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.

One more thought, do you want me to go tell your customers what your "perceived costs" are for operating your mower? They will beg for a $10 mow, and swear you are making 200% profit. I promise.

Again, don't be offended. This is how the scene looks from MY view. Meanwhile, I will continue to help you stand against the lowballers in your industry.