end of free labor is coming
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=96883
Printed Date: April 26, 2024 at 5:30 PM
Topic: end of free labor is coming
Posted By: kassdog
Subject: end of free labor is coming
Date Posted: September 04, 2007 at 12:19 PM
I currently work for circuit city and have a good friend in best buy who informed me that they will no longer do free installation on radios anymore. This could be the end. I can see circuit following shortly after.
Replies:
Posted By: hottwhyrd
Date Posted: September 04, 2007 at 4:00 PM
who cares does that mean they wont charge as much for kits, harnesses?
Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: September 04, 2007 at 4:42 PM
They will always charge that much for kits and harnesses because people are willing to pay. If only the average consumer was smart enough to price match the install parts. My local CC has always let me price match to Parts Express.
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Kevin Pierson
Posted By: tubbs04
Date Posted: September 04, 2007 at 5:53 PM
...there's never such thing as free installation, just markup...
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...don't crush the weasel...
Posted By: init
Date Posted: September 07, 2007 at 4:57 PM
CC could continue to do free installs in order to keep a competitive edge. Only time will tell what CC's decision will be. I never really priced the fit kits & harnesses at Best Buy when I worked there. How much more do they charge for those things than anywhere else does? If it comes down to it and you're looking to save money, then maybe you could try buying the harness & kit at a place that sells them cheaper (e.g., Walmart) and bring them with you when you buy your HU and see if they'll install it with those. Just make sure you buy the right one and see what they tell you. The worst that could happen is they can say "no," and if you haven't opened the package you can bring it back.
Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: September 07, 2007 at 5:00 PM
When I worked at Circuit City our Metra harnesses and dash kits were twice the price of Parts Express' Metra harnesses and dash kits. Are Metra antenna adapters were 10X as much as Parts Express' Metra antenna adapters!!!! ------------- Kevin Pierson
Posted By: eurobink
Date Posted: September 07, 2007 at 8:22 PM
i have a question... if we were to educate consumers on lower cost parts thru smart shopping.. and we lowered cost on everything else.. and kept free installs... at which point do we turn a profit? at BB, we did have free installs.. they basic labor was free (ie dodge neon, ram, corolla.. and soon) vehicles requiring extra labor were just charged the extra labor fee of $12.. very fair.
Posted By: offroadzj
Date Posted: September 11, 2007 at 8:50 PM
I cannot speak for other stores, but I know that my store (circuit city, albany NY) WILL NOT use parts from walmart. Main reason being that the few that I have used have been very poor quality... I have seen pins that were so loose that connections cut in and out, and even worse, I have also seen some pins in the incorrect place. As far as the dash kits go, they seem to be made from an inferior plastic and break easily... in addition, they dont seem to have the correct mounting (ie dont line up the best) on some vehicles. I am not a big fan of scosche, but if a customer brings any metra or american international part, I have no problem using them.
Just my .02
Kenny
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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205
Posted By: outtaluck72
Date Posted: September 12, 2007 at 9:28 AM
eurobink wrote:
i have a question... if we were to educate consumers on lower cost parts thru smart shopping.. and we lowered cost on everything else.. and kept free installs... at which point do we turn a profit?
at Circuit City I know the kits haven't come down in price, in fact the price has risen, mostly due to Circuit trying to make up profit they are loosing from merchandise in the store. Radios, speakers, amplifiers ect... are getting cheaper and profit margins are lower. they need to make it up somewhere, besides letting go the higher paid employees. sell more accessories, that's one thing that Circuit drilled into your head, add-on sales. those little parts with a good bit of markup add up quickly, especially when everyone has add-on sales.
Posted By: tholton33
Date Posted: October 05, 2007 at 7:36 PM
i just got a job as a mobile installer at best buy and it cost 50 for a deck install, 20 for the harness, 20 for the dash kit. add in the materials fee and all that b.s. and ur looking at about 100. not to mention it an extra fee if we have to do a hardwire. i think its a little rediculous but i just install to dont make the prices.
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Tyler
Posted By: CapSS92
Date Posted: October 07, 2007 at 4:58 AM
I never understood giving away the install. What about liability? I've seen "free" install from Audio Express here in town catch on fire. Guess if you are a big bizness you can absorb the damages.
Posted By: fknfbm
Date Posted: November 08, 2007 at 8:42 PM
Ive been at the local bby for almost 2 years now and Ive seen the price of speaker harnesses jump from abour $5 to $13. I think thats absolutely ridiculous, almost as bad as our $15 antenna adapters. I do agree that it was a good idea to ditch the free install because thats what ate most of our days up. How can they justify paying me fairly well when all I do is deck installs all day and making maybe $30 bucks profit on the harness, kit, and deck?
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