RE: Monkey Lad business practices? (Re: Turbo/wastegate questions - K24, WG Spring etc.)

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

>     Likewise... _If_  Benjamin Swann was quoted $400, me 
> $375, and Gary
> Lewis $210, I am a pretty aggravated cheapskate... I would be 
> really annoyed
> to pay $400 for it and then find out that some other people 
> got it for $210!
> WTF!? Isn't that one of the things that happens to us at the monkeylad
> garage when the car breaks down?
> 
>     Before this heats up, let me say that I can totally 
> understand if you
> want to give people you consider your friends a better rate, 
> but you should
> really make sure that you tell them to keep it a secret! 
> Furthermore, you
> should put up prices for your wares on the site; It would 
> keep these types
> of things from happening.

... I just had to reply to this post ... 

If there is any one individual in Audidom who should be commended for his
helping Audi owners keep money in their pockets I would suggest that it is
the person here being accused of being a "monkey lad."  He freely divulges
information that other vendors will ask you to pay for ... or might tell you
is proprietary.  When we look into the boost mod field, it used to be that
there was one primary source ... and based on the prices at that time even
$400 would have been a bargain (and superior to the more expensive mod I
might add)!  

I doubt that this is a situation where there was a special discount for a
friend ... it sounds as though if you had bought the product two years ago
the price was around $200 and now the price is $400.  Perhaps the current
product has been improved due additional research that has gone into the
$400 product and so the seller feels that this is an appropriate price.
Perhaps the price has been $375 for a year now and it just went up to $400.
Perhaps the seller analyzed his costs of doing business and found that he
could not stay in business only charging $200 for the mod.  Perhaps you
would get more for your $400 product (e.g. WG spring, new WG diaphragm, new
pressure transducer) than those who paid $200 got ... 

I don't know if any or all of the above suppositions are true, but the fact
of the matter is ... if you don't feel that the upgrade is worth the asking
price then don't buy it!  I don't appreciate seeing an accusation of
impropriety as a result however.  I find it a bit surprising to see this
posted by someone who appears to have their own business ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)