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Behind the Iron Curtain - Breaking Down the Deals
Behind the Iron Curtain - Breaking Down the Deals
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About this episode
Dive into a lively discussion about the realities of Black Friday deals in the Jeep industry, featuring hosts Neil, Scott, and Jeff. They explore the concept of minimum advertised pricing (MAP) and how it affects small businesses compared to larger retailers. The episode also touches on the recent Jeep parade, holiday preparations, and humorous anecdotes from the hosts' personal experiences. Listeners will gain insights into navigating holiday sales while understanding the intricacies of pricing in the automotive world.
Topics:
black friday deals
minimum advertised pricing
jeep parade
holiday sales
small business challenges
consumer behavior
retail strategies
personal anecdotes
Cars:
Jeep Wrangler
We want to hear from you, Send us a Text
In this special episode, Neil, Jeff, and Scott breakdown the curtain and show the truth behind the deals. Has Black Friday shopping changed or has it always been this way in the Jeep Industry? Where can you find good deals? Why is SFJ closed on Black Friday when it's traditionally a busy day for retail? Tune in for the answers and more. Next week begins our 3 episodes of Jeepmas, don't miss out on this year's special version.
Thanks for listening, give us a review and check us out on YouTube -SFJ4x4 and visit our website to grab some great gear or products for your Jeep, SFJ4x4.com. Don't forget, you can email [email protected] for special content requests, blind react videos, suggestions, special guests, or general questions. Check out our Patreon patreon.com/ISpeakJeep
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Jeep Wrangler
"... I think we're going to not see the 4 by E in the Wrangler platform post 2029. That's my, that's my, I suspe..."
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SFJ 4x4 Studios presents, in my oversized four-wheel drive Jeep, a Jeep podcast starring industry
experts.
Pure monocity.
What?
Say that again.
With mad scientists, Scott Brown, used my drill press as a sort of lathe.
Our host, Neil Simpson, if one leg goes off, they'll all go out.
Silver's shenanigans.
We are really professional with Jeeps.
This is iSpeak Jeeps.
Good morning, afternoon, evening, wherever, however, you are joining us.
This is the iSpeak Jeep podcast presented by SFJ4x4.com.
My name is Neil with SFJ4x4, Simpson Family Jeeps.
What are you doing?
He doesn't know.
And I'm joined in Grandma's couch studio.
Getting us copied, right?
Do you know that one, Jeffrey?
No.
Yes, you do.
There's lots of synthesizer work in that one for you all.
Why does that automatically mean I know it?
Anyways.
I'm joined in Grandma's couch studio by a couple gentlemen.
The guy that doesn't know who that was.
Right.
It is almost the season.
It is the producer, the Italian stallion, Jeff Germante.
And over there wearing the same sweater with a different name, the mad scientist, Scott
Brown.
Once again, I was left out of the group chat of the dress code today for you guys.
I swear, you're like middle school teenage girls.
What are you wearing?
No, we don't.
We don't.
It's just a running joke.
I literally just was like, all right, well, that's on top of the pile.
I'll grab that.
That's literally what happened.
This is the first hoodie I found taking through my laundry basket.
You two are cosmically entwined.
I don't understand it.
I can't put clothes away.
In the comments this morning, we got Nate saying, Merry Christmas.
You filthy animals.
We got Joe O'Brien claiming he's first.
I'm sorry, Joe, but you came in second on that.
Joe's holding strong with saying, I beat Nate.
But Nate is calling out that Joe is here.
Yep.
Again, Joe really is adamant he beat Nate.
And Jeannie saying, good morning, y'all.
And then Nate saying, y'all were running late.
I went to YouTube to see if it was a Facebook issue.
And of course you went live then.
Likely story.
We try to mess with Nate at this point.
Absolutely.
It was 10.19 when we pushed the live button.
It was 10.20, I think, when we started talking.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Well, I know when we actually went live with our starting soon,
it was before 10.19.
OK.
We started our intro right at 10.19.
That's our story.
We're sticking to it.
That's it.
So as far as how we're sitting in the studio and just to say,
to mention, we're all dressed in black.
We're ready to work.
We're like morning the passing of Thanksgiving of the bird.
I am, at least.
I mean, it is happy December to all of our listeners
and our family in the live here.
Nate goes, so you admit to being late?
Never.
So we're not quite fully invested in the Christmas season
just yet.
Despite the fact today is December 1.
We are officially allowed to listen to Christmas music
and watch movies.
Despite the fact, I've been doing it for a minute.
Of course you have.
I have been.
I have been.
100%.
I was driving to Las Vegas for SEMA watching Christmas movies
in the truck.
Only time I listened to Christmas music
is parodies for the last week.
And then that's over.
That's sad.
I feel bad for you.
I think the most Christmas music I've listened to
in the last several years is when I'm prepping
our Christmas episodes for the podcast.
As a point of...
And when you put it on in the shop
and we all grown about it.
Absolutely.
It's going on today.
So as far as what people can look forward to
in general today, we're going to be talking
a little bit about Black Friday specials.
And how that applies to our industry.
Additionally, I want to unpack the parade
and some of our own approach to this past weekend.
Not our personal side.
Not our personal side.
The parade that we do talk about
and we try to share with other folks.
And then we obviously have our personal piece
that will follow the outro credits
and we'll tell you about our weekend updates.
With all of that said, this is right now
my declaration is that,
and I hope that our listeners and followers
and family in the book of faces
and the YouTubes will agree,
that Jeffrey, should we choose to do
the 12 days of Christmas,
which there has already been people who have requested?
I don't think there's a choice.
Jeff has a choice that every year.
Cannot allow AI to do it like last year.
It sucked because...
It was bad.
I concur, no AI.
I was gonna say, I feel like it needs to be out into the world.
Jeff is a music person.
I think it's great that you bring this up
because in the comments, Nate is going,
I'm using AI to make Jeep themed Christmas songs this year.
I'm over the same old songs each year.
What perfect timing for this comment.
Right.
Yeah, I don't know.
Jeep stole my thunder and they did it in their commercials,
so I don't know if I need to do it this year.
Oh, you're just talking about the 12 days or something?
12 by 12.
Jeep is actually running a Jeep Stilantis.
They actually did a 12 days of Christmas song
with their commercial.
Oh, I miss that.
12 days of Jeep miss, yeah.
We know that they're listening.
We know you're listening, mothership.
We know you're out there.
We know you're listening.
So that's okay.
I mean, imitation is the best form of flattery.
That's what I say all the time when the internet trolls do their thing
and they shout from the rooftops.
That's okay.
I think you should send a swag for giving them the idea at least, right?
Yeah.
You know a free 4 by E for each of us.
Nothing major.
Nothing major.
I just want new doors and a recon for new hood.
You know what?
So I actually had a conversation with the individual over the weekend
and I think, I think we're going to not see the 4 by E
in the Wrangler platform post 2029.
That's my, that's my, I suspect.
So I'm going to go to the comments again real quick just to get us caught up
but we got Daddy Jeep saying morning so you survived snowmageddon.
We really didn't have snowmageddon this year, thankfully.
Yeah.
Bill McWilliam says good morning.
Geaga Jeeper says good morning.
Jeanie said use the one I wrote.
We'll have to revisit what that was.
I don't remember.
She wrote a song for you to sing.
I remember she wrote it.
I just don't remember what it was.
I know what it is.
She wrote for you to sing.
You're supposed to sing it.
I don't sing.
And then Nate said, don't worry.
Definitely mention to SFJ 4 by 4 in the song you posted this morning.
We're going to have to go find that.
And we got a morning from.
Press.
Press mic.
Okay.
I just had an idea since he doesn't sing,
but he does play guitar.
You should have to play the guitar.
You sing the 12 days.
Live.
I want him to play live.
I want him to drum it.
There should be no other background noise except for Jeffrey.
I don't know crap about this,
but I'm guessing since he's left-handed,
what does that mean the head of the guitar
or the neck of the guitar will be in Neil's face?
Yeah.
Well, no.
Perfect.
No.
I actually play the guitar right-handed.
That's why it'll be that way.
Oh, perfect.
So because he's on board,
he has to suffer like normal.
The headstock will be right in his face
as he's trying to play.
You can play with that as you do it.
And then as I try to mess with it,
as I try to look at him to see what he's singing,
I'll just smack him in the face.
I'm going to be screwed with the tuning screws.
Let me mess with the tuning screws.
That's not a good idea.
That's going to be good.
That's going to be okay.
That's not.
You should put in the comments
or send us messages if you want Jeff
to play the guitar, so he has to.
So here's the thing.
We actually need to do our piece.
I will talk about the parade
following our actual today's topic.
And as I mentioned today's topic.
It's behind the iron curtain.
Scott's suggestion of behind the iron curtain.
We have no idea where it came from.
When we work on vehicles,
they're made, used to be, out of iron.
And this is a reveal.
A reveal of what's happening behind the metal.
There is also a historical implication regarding,
you know, the old ways of mother Russia
and Western and Western modernity in Europe.
And then the West in general,
which America was included in,
and retail consumerism and capitalism.
So I'll give you that, right?
It's, we're going to be,
don't think too hard on the subject though folks.
It's really Scott just saying the most random thing.
Well, no, like Tetris and Russia,
you know, the guy came up with it
and then Russia took a control of it
and they needed all the money from it.
And here we get to do what we want sort of.
What in the hell is he talking about?
And we're off the rails.
What?
That's my job.
What about Tetris has anything to do
with what we're talking about today?
I'm so lost.
Where did you, what?
I've got nothing.
The games that made us, it was a great show
and they talk about the origins of Tetris
and there was a guy in the computers in Russia
that came up with the game.
He distributed it out to his coworkers.
They all loved it.
He then gave it out to some other people.
Somehow it got out of, I think it was actually USSR
at that time to someone over here.
They wanted to capitalize on it and you're not allowed
at that time, you were not allowed to in the USSR
to do that.
You had basically go through the government
and somehow money had exchanged hands already.
Basically Russia said, no, you can't do that.
We don't care.
We don't care who's money has done what
because we own it because one of our countrymen
had made it.
So it's actually a really interesting.
So folks, we were talking about Jeeps and GPS
and sometimes we're on to Tetris and Russia.
Remember that time?
Well, Neil would love this though
because it has all the who done it
and all the shell games.
I can appreciate that and whatnot.
And then we're going to talk a little bit about that
with talking about Black Friday sales.
Yes.
Right?
Yeah.
And we're going to do a little bit of tell-all,
a little bit of reveal as we have for now going on
probably a little over half a decade,
maybe a little more.
We do not work on Black Friday
as far as the service facility.
A retail store is closed on Black Friday?
Yeah.
We close on Black Friday.
And we do work in the standpoint of we're here
preparing for the parade and trying to kind of
ready ourselves to entertain members from the team.
That's just because we don't go home.
We stay really cold to make sure you have a good time.
Right.
I mean, that's the thing.
And I should mention here a big shout out
to my sister for coming in.
And this is her.
This is a big contribution she does for us.
She couldn't do it without her.
Correct.
And the story.
Correct, correct.
And she makes it a very good time for all who attended.
And I did see that Jeannie was saying that she felt bad
she couldn't attend.
And we did miss you, Jeannie, but maybe next year type of deal.
So the nature of why we do that is part of what I want
to unpack, but also sitting at home and watching these
different sales advertised both from our,
what I would call our mainstream retail.
You call it your Walmart, your targets,
your tractor supplies, your whoever's.
And then also we do come in on Saturday.
Yep.
Because we need to clean up from the parade,
do some little bit of reorganizing.
And in general, kind of set us up for success going into
the week, first week, first full week of December.
Right.
You had some conversations with some customers who are
stopping in.
And I think that it's important to kind of peel back this
curtain, if you will, to talk about why we make the
decisions we make as a business, but also our
understanding of the industry retail and service as we
know it.
And are the deals really deals?
Are the deals actually that good?
Absolutely.
And so that's what we're going to be unpacking today.
And I think that, so I know we had a whole conversation
about kind of the history of map.
I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to start with,
kind of, I'll lay the seed or the foundation of why we do
what we do from an ownership level.
Well, and just to clarify, you said about map.
A lot of individuals don't know what map is.
Map is minimum advertised pricing.
Yes.
And it is an industry standard price set by the
manufacturers that nobody can advertise less.
And so I think that it's valuable for folks listening.
We are going to break that down.
We're going to break down some of these retail
terminologies, how they apply to the four-wheel drive
industry.
We're going to do a little tell-all about ourselves
and what we do and why we do it.
Because I, again, I sat at home and I watched some
other small businesses or individuals offering,
you know, Black Friday sales.
And, you know, I'd say this to a degree.
My heart went out to them because I was there
once, you know.
And so we'll talk a little bit about our own
scenario.
And then we'll talk about those, those
manufacturer direct and retail, you know,
deals and whether they're that good or not.
So our own thing, because, and this is how
I feel strongly, what we largely do
within the Jeep community is we do people's
passions or hobbies.
We don't necessarily do distinct necessity.
So while that is part of Jeep ownership,
I need my brakes done.
I need tires.
And we do have customers that we do do that
for.
Correct.
But alongside, you know, a lift kit or
wheels that maybe they don't necessarily need to
have in order to get to work.
We are in the want industry versus the need
industry side of service provision.
Meaning your standard automotive garage,
your valveline or your lube stops are in
the need industry.
Right.
So if you go to a quickie lube, that is
a need-based industry.
I need to get my oil changed on and I want
to have it done in under 20 minutes.
That is why you go to a quickie lube oil stop
place.
Your general service garage who is, you know,
providing the basic automotive repair,
that is typically a need industry.
We largely find ourselves on the side of the
want industry.
Which normally in the want industry,
like example of Black Friday deals,
you have like I want to do new TV.
Walmart has a sale on that specific day for
the specific time.
Okay.
Now I need to go stand in line or I need to,
you know, throw punch grandma so I can get
this television.
Yep.
In the 1990s, I need to camp outside Kmart in
a tent or sleeping bag and trample the
employees as I run in.
Stampede.
Stampede into the space.
We're in that situation.
We do find ourselves more in the need
category because my wife works retail as well.
She works at a grocery store on Black Friday.
They might as well be closed.
Yep.
They have no traffic.
Yep.
It's the random person that just happened to run
out of milk over the holiday and needs a
gallon of milk.
Yep.
And that continues on pretty much for the
entirety of the weekend, especially as these
sales continue to get stretched out longer
and longer and longer.
Yes.
And something I thought was interesting.
I saw a smaller business, a little bit
bigger than us or ish.
It's a little bit different.
But early forward parts game, they actually
said, oh, we're going to have this so much
percentage off on this date to this date.
And then they extended it.
And I said, I see you.
Yep.
You didn't get any sales.
You didn't get any sales.
You didn't get the sales.
It's just, it's just, it's, it's a little
bit of a weird out of the corner of your
mouth thing that we are holding on to or we
are doing as people within business to be
like, I want to be like everyone, everyone
else, right?
I want to fit in with the consumer based
market that we all reasonably knew and
grew up with.
There is this mindset.
There is this mantra.
Are there deals out there to be had?
Maybe.
And that's what we're going to be talking
about.
I got a part of this, I will in this
situation to my wife because she was like,
well, what deals actually do exist out
there for your listeners, right?
We were talking about it.
And that's what kind of started this,
this idea churning in the process.
And so we, we do hope that we can share
some of that insight to help you get
those deals.
And that is one of my goals of this,
of this behind the iron curtain.
I think the really the biggest start
concept is, is that we've noticed
definitely in the last couple of months
kind of a stagnation of the market
things.
People are only buying what they have to
buy.
We saw more tire sales because of winter.
We saw more people maintenance in their
vehicle.
We saw less people going and saying,
I'm going to go and just blow all my
savings on my Jeep.
And I think that was not just our
industry.
That was kind of worldwide or
nationwide at least.
What is global?
And I saw people, lots of businesses
put their, all their eggs in a
basket and they say, we're going to
make up for it with holiday
sales.
And in order to do that, they have to
incentivize you to spend money that
you're not going to spend otherwise.
What's going to make you pull out your
credit card that already has a balance
and go, I will buy this
because it's a deal.
Yes.
And that's what I saw this,
this year, more than anything was
let, let's drag me
or incentivize you to get
dragged to my website so that I can look
at what's for there.
And then while I'm there, well,
you know, this is 15 bucks
off.
I've been thinking about buying that.
Okay, fine.
I'll do that.
And I think that was more than
anything what I saw this
year on stuff.
Well, and for us,
we would be open on Black Friday
back in the day.
And tumbleweed would go by.
Yeah.
Well, actually, for two or three
years straight, we,
I put together some, some decent
graphics.
I actually went ahead and I
put together some products
that we could either bundle
that we could deeply discount
that I could basically
have done a special buy on
one way or the other so that
we bought in quantity.
So our margin was larger.
So we were able to discount
further.
And, and or the big one
that is for a lot of
vendors that started in the 90s
of the early 2000s, a discontinued
model, manufacturers were getting
ready to release a new model of
X, Y, and Z.
So a new SKU number for
the coming new year.
And so the discontinued model,
they were looking to liquidate
that inventory and so therefore it
ended up on a pallet in your local
retailer.
Or it's something wasn't produced
quite to their liking.
Say it wasn't the color they
actually wanted it to be.
This was actually a little bit
off.
And instead of doing a scratch and
dent sale, they're doing a black
Friday sale.
And it's only for that specific
model.
And one that sticks out to me
is Walmart would do that with
televisions.
Sure.
So I'm going to be all in the frenzy.
I got to get there before Grandma.
And this one actually doesn't have
surround sound.
But the one over there does.
Yeah.
And by the time you realize that
it's already at home, it's out of
the box.
You've had the mad dash and you go,
oh, well, I guess I don't need
surround sound.
Right.
Oh, well, I saved 150 bucks.
Yeah.
And you know, I'll get all
upgrade my sound system anyways in
the future because I'll get
a new trend.
Right.
And that is pervasive.
And it's well, we're all aware of
this.
I think the me coming here from
a retail background and working
in many different retail
industries besides automotive was
also a shock and reveals a lot
about this industry with black
Friday deals.
And that shock specifically is
the standard margin.
Mm hmm.
The average margin in the
automotive industry is
significantly less in
comparison to most other retail
industries.
Yes.
So you're already behind the
eight ball when it comes to
creating these deals and you're
already faced with having to do
major loss leaders to draw
people in.
And a loss leader is where you
actually discount below your cost
and you're losing money by
selling this product in hopes
of drawing people in that are
going to spend money on other
product where you have greater
margin.
And as a concept for the lost
leader on that flyer that I
would put together as I was
mentioning all those items.
I would have a loss leader on
there.
Something that we knew that we
were going to advertise.
Now there might be only one or
two of them that we could
actually satisfy.
Now if we sold as far as
volume was concerned all of
these loss leaders or in mass
which of course the retail
establishments were doing that
again in the 90s 2000s.
Right.
And that's why they started
saying OK there's actually
limited quantity.
Of the Elmos and the TVs and
the this and the that TVs are
a popular loss leader because
they have so much extra margin
in them that they're not
actually losing money by that
heavy discount.
They're not making money on it
but they're not losing money
and I do believe there was a
time where there was that
that maxed out TV that had
the surround sound that had
everything and they sold it as
a loss leader and they
actually did lose which
that's why they said oh
quantity is one or two or
three.
You know what I mean in the
whole store.
Right.
Yeah.
And so here's the thing.
So we did this and we
stayed open because we also
obviously are a service
business.
So we're here servicing the
Jeeps right because we're
staying busy.
We've always got Jeeps to
work on.
And then we find we need
a part.
So we pick up the phone and
we go hey can I get this
part and no one answers.
No one answers.
I go to hey we need to
verify why this hole is
two inches to the left on this
part that we just received.
Hello.
I will be out of the office
for the period of blah blah
blah.
We could not do our
job.
We cannot do our job.
Right.
So we're here on Friday.
Now we've got we've got
nobody busting down our door.
Despite advertising door
busters just the tumble
weeds.
And then we're
we're fighting the uphill
battle of trying to
service vehicles and
the spite have trying to have
the parts on the shelf to the
best of our ability.
Things come up.
Can't always see everything.
We can't get either
information from the
manufacturers directly or we
can't actually get parts from
local auto parts sources and
whatnot.
And then let's just put it
out the biggest thing.
We have an angry Greg
because he can't get parts
and he's stuck and he's
trying to figure out how he's
going to move forward.
He can't.
And then his tool broke and
he can't get that warranty
right now.
And he's just like
and you know and then the
thing is by eleven twelve one
o'clock somewhere in there
people would start to come in
because they had woken up.
They had gone out to eat.
Maybe they did stop into a
traditional retail store.
They did their actual door
buster deals.
They did their actual door
buster box retailers because
they're trying to buy for
somebody else.
They're picking up a small
gift for themselves again
small you know little
tangible items and now
they want to come in and
they want to be on vacation
with us.
They want to share.
They want to share.
And I love sharing because
you know that's great.
But now we can't do our job
like when we were actually
supposed to be working on
jeeps.
Now we're just standing
around.
And eventually it got to the
point where I realize you
know what I'd rather as
much as I love the guys
here I'd rather equally
stand around at home with
my family.
Yes.
And we can message each
other.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And so the it's funny
from having this learned
experience and to sit at home
and as exactly as you said
watch these other people
younger businesses start
up businesses businesses that
are at a medium size as
us hold on to that.
And I just I wonder if for
them that there is a benefit
to that process for them.
And I struggle to think
that there I don't think
there is I think it's just
people expect it and
at a certain expectation
then they got what's wrong.
You know like I saw Eastwood
doing sales and I saw
Speedway doing sales and both
of them were doing this
ambiguous five to 50 percent
off.
Of course we're not going to
advertise the five percent
off.
Sure.
Because why even bother.
Well a lot of times they'll
just say up to 50 percent
off and you go on and most
everything is five or less.
Well that's really what I was
going to say is I I wanted
to go I went on Speedway
I was like OK what's actually
50 percent off.
It was like normally ten
dollars and it was like five
and some change and by the time
you did tax and everything it
went up pretty high for what it
was.
And I'm like I bet you they
haven't sold this in six
months.
Oh yeah.
And now they're just well
why try to clear out
inventory.
Absolutely that is what
they're trying to do and
everything else was like ten
maybe eight percent.
You know it really wasn't
that good of a deal on
anything.
Sure.
And it was real random stuff
like they had a break kit
and they were discounting the
front kit but not the back
kit.
Sure.
You know and again they're
just they're incentivizing you
well because now you OK well
I was thinking about buying
that I'll buy that well now
I have to buy the back at
full blown retail.
Sure.
Because now I'm going to
save on shipping there's
some other expectation.
And yet I think as I think as
consumers we're a little
OK with that.
Right.
I think that that's where I
think we get beaten in to be
OK with that.
Well and that's where if and
again I don't want to I don't
want this this particular
podcast to go too far into
what we talk about at the
American hustle a lot which
is how we actually do
business and entrepreneurship and
whatnot.
I will add one other piece.
A lot of the Black Friday
sales and deals are the
buy one get one free or buy
two get one free.
And I early on in college I
learned that the buy one get
one free deal is actually
costing you more money unless
you have a need for that second
item.
I saw today over the weekend
there was by three get one
free.
Yeah.
Like unless you're going to
use them unless you were
going to buy them anyways
you're not saving money.
Right.
And and so you know so as
far as these you know from our
standpoint is concerned
and I recognize that it is
a little bit of a
snub to traditional
market expectations.
But again and what I was
mentioning with the American
Hustle if you have any
interest to know really kind
of the inner workings of how
we operate within a business
you can check that podcast
out.
But ultimately I always talk
about if you are a startup
business and one of the first
things you do is buy shirts
and pens with your name of
your business on it before you
actually provide a tangible
product or service.
I know your business is going
to fail and I strongly stand
by that.
80 90 percent of the time
because you have a misplaced
expectation of your
approach to doing business.
If you're making product that
only your you and your family
want that's a red flag.
And so with when it comes to
we do things because of this
kind of socially normed
expectation I think that that
is that point you're making
as far as how these sales are
advertised by some of these
other businesses.
Now this is all leading up
to what deals actually do
exist.
But before we get there
let's talk a little bit about
how we approach MSRP
and map
and retail.
And actually I thought it was
kind of funny because I was
talking to a distributor the
other day and he attempted to
explain jobber to me.
And I had to stop him.
I had to stop him.
I said I said politely
you know I'm going to ask
you this I don't mean to be
rude.
How long have you worked for
X, Y and Z distributor.
He goes I've been here
five years and I was like
cool were you in
distributing before that.
Oh no no no.
I was in you know whatever you
know other job.
And I said so I was actually
here when our industry
discussed map and how we were
going to implement map into
the off-road and automotive
community.
And so I understand jobber
entirely well in the fact
that at this point in time
jobber for the longest time
Greg would put his hand in his
head and just be like
MSRP and jobber and retail
and map and a none of them
lined up you know they didn't
make any sense.
And at this point in time
they still don't but they
don't they don't a hundred
percent MSRP is a fake price
MSRP is a fake price
established by the
manufacturer.
Right.
It's just flat out that is
a fake price and but as
society we now know that.
Yeah we now know that.
Yeah and jobber has
perceived little discount
someone doing that job we
get it for.
Correct.
I've never seen anyone
actually sell anything for
jobber price.
They did for a while for a
period of time like probably
eight ten years ago there was
these jobber sales for two
seconds.
Yeah a hundred percent and
now and now much of our
industry is saturated by
map.
And as Jeffrey said what is
it.
Minimum advertised pricing
or minimum advertised policy
depending on which company
but basically it is a set
price that you cannot advertise
that product for less than.
So if it's nineteen ninety nine
for this product as map
nobody in the industry is
allowed to sell it for less
than that or advertise it
for less than that.
Some manufacturers add
the stipulation that you
can't even discount it to
that.
So you can't even add a
coupon at the end price.
And probably one of the
ones and I always tiptoe
gently because I'm not anti
rough country by any stretch of
the imagination.
I need to know there's certain
products that are good and bad
with with every every
manufacturer.
But this is one of the things
that rough country has done
phenomenally from the
beginning.
And I would say that our C
was early to the game in our
industry because they
valued their relationship with
independent dealers
distributors retailers of their
product line.
So no matter if you turn to in
theory Northridge or I'm in
Quadratec Extreme Train one of
the biggest box store retailers
who have very little overhead
and and high high retail
saturation or whether you go
to your local distributor of
rough country those two
entities are required to sell
at no excuse me let me
change.
They cannot sell they are
required to not sell less than
map.
They can sell more than map
right and that's what's
valuable.
You can't go above MSRP
technically but kind of
nobody does that anymore.
Right.
We saw some problems with
that at dealerships about two
three years ago.
Yeah.
You know car dealerships
selling above MSRP.
They're adding all the
different fees for it to get
away with it.
Yeah.
And of course that's when you
get big daddy government
involved and they start to get
a little antsy as far as you
know as far as government
regulatory issues when you're
kind of doing some predatory
practice pricing practices.
Yeah.
But within map pricing within
our industry how it applies to
us we are required as somebody
who's authorized to deal in
this product line to not sell
below map.
Yep.
There's agreements have to be
signed.
They monitor your website.
They monitor your marketing
if somebody says hey company
XYZ is selling this product
for five dollars less than
everybody else the manufacturer
will look into it and if they
determine that it's a map
violation they get a warning.
They can lose rights to
sell the product period.
They can get technically depending
on the agreement you signed you
could be fined.
There's all different things.
And ultimately you could be
placed on a do not sell list
which means that you can't
sell any of their products that
you can't sell any of their
products right and that
ultimately the biggest piece
is and there's work around
for that I need you to know
that if you get placed on a
do not sell list there are
work arounds you can sell
that product but but when
it comes to warranty or
customer service if you are
the consumer and you say I
just bought and I'm going to
make this scenario up folks
I'm going to I just bought
this winch about three months
ago and it seems to have
malfunctioned and I'm
totally make made up
scenario and RC goes hey yep
we would love to help you we
have a comprehensive lifetime
limited lifetime plan on our
winch we just need proof
of purchase and you go yep
not a problem I've got it
right here in my email and you
get your proof of purchase and
you send it into RC and RC
goes well you know Jim
Bob's dot com you know Jim
Bob's winches dot com is on
our do not sell list we can't
help you now you as the
consumer are screwed yep because
Jim Bob's winches dot com is
not or is on RC's do not
sell list and that's
ultimately a big a big
problem and then theoretically
in the way that the world
works if there was enough
people who bought RC winches
had problems with Jim Bob's
winch dot com you could then
class action lawsuit them on
a civil degree and you know
rarely does it come to that
extreme right usually we just
tuck our tail between our
legs and be like well that
sucks and you know you
leave a nasty review and move
on with life welcome to the
internet in 2025 but all of
this is to kind of paint this
picture of what we now deal
with is is map pricing so
largely 365 days a year
364 or so you are
supposed to be selling at
this one price point or no
less than this one price
point and as Jeffrey said you
can't even have coupons or
further discounts for it to
go below this particular
product on this skew
occasionally you could if
you were in a sale and you're
buying someone's buying a
ton of things depending on
the manufacturer in the map
policy sometimes it allows you
to do a one time discount on
the invoice but you can't
advertise a sale you can't
advertise a coupon you can't
advertise any of that which is
why you usually see the
discount supplied at checkout
correct yes good prior to
that's a big no no and what
we were looking into is just
a brief history prior to
going on air we looked into a
brief history and it appears
that because if you're listening
to all this and you're like
man it sounds a little
complicated and done quite
making a lot of sense from what
I thought I knew about
capitalism in America you're
we know you're right that
this is actually in violation
of free market economics it
kind of is like lying in the
sand you know kind of
that baseline but what was
what was happening is that
certain people were not getting
market share or you were
ruining relationships so if I
am a manufacturer I want to be
able to sell to Walmart just
as I want to be able to sell
to Target and if I give
Walmart the advantage then
an entity like Target who has
a massive purchasing power
could be like yo I'm just
not going to buy from you and
now you would lose a substantial
amount of capital that would
be coming into your business
not only that if you have a
small business like us or smaller
yet than us and you want to
put them out of business then
you just go in and undercut
pricing you make it so that
they can't buy at a level
that makes them any money
listen as part of the iron
curtain I'm gonna put
four wheel parts and Polaris
out on blast and they
literally had a predatory
practice of doing this they
would absolutely saturate
markets where there was
higher performing businesses and
I'm proud to say that we still
exist despite the fact that
they attempted to do that
within northeastern Ohio
western Pennsylvania so on and
so forth that it was so
crazy they would literally the
sale would come out right
after the people that could do
something about it's closed
yep and then it would go off
sale as they open
oh yeah old school
quarter tech was a huge
violator of that yeah I
have no problem sharing this
because these are factual things
that I had I had to provide
screenshots for and they were
practices that some of these
companies employed because
of their purchasing volume
yep and then we're like yes we
did it so what 100% you want
us to still buy from you and
they're like well yeah yep
what then a number of
individuals kind of started to
see play out though is that
yes you have four wheel
parts Polaris but that's
one entity the entity of
all of these small shops from
coast to coast is actually
a much larger purchasing power
when you add them all up
yeah and so they manufacturers
realized they were actually
biting the hand that fed them
because some of the things
that ultimately those violations
that that took place for two
three five years they did not
actually add up they did not
benefit the manufacturers in
fact they put some manufacturers
out of business and they
didn't allow them to sell
within other you know other
markets only that actually
didn't do that business that
good either which is why we
saw them kind of fall that
specifically four wheel parts
fall from fall from grace
from grace because you can't
keep losing money on product
correct others out of business
when the other people don't
go out of business and the
problem is that in the four
wheel drive industry the
product wasn't changing Walmart
can go to high sense and
say I need you to make this
TV cheaper yeah and and quite
frankly they will you know what
I mean whereas if Polaris
four wheel parts goes to I
don't know I'm gonna make
somebody up our tech I need
you to make your bumper
cheaper our tech is going to
be like I got USA Steel
I've got my my my process
my fab guys my fab guys
get paid what they get
paid I can't and so there
is this kind of natural
I can't make this cheaper I'm
not going to so then you have
to buy it by the truck load
which is also why there is
less margin in this
industry than you get into
those some other like TVs
electronics there's a ton
of margin because exactly
that there's 30,000
different factories in China
that'll make it for less
absolutely it's just a
bigger market in general
so it's easier for them to
do that correct so when we
have this industry and I'm
watching other shops other
businesses other distributors
go hey we're offering these
sales on Black Friday I'm like
man I know they're kind of
really not sales you know
unless they they are like a
discontinued item or you did
a special buy and as Jeffrey
was mentioned when we were
doing some of our talking
and research if you bought
a truck load of a said
product and you got special
agreement to say basically
on this run on this
pallet on this truck load
we have permission to do this
three-day sale and then once
that's done once this this
line is gone that then it's
gone I can't offer it again
I can't advertise it again
those still do exist yes and
it's important to note so when
Jeff was talking about what
real deals do exist there are
oftentimes that as a thing
because factually back in the
day we saw this with the
if good rich ko2 which you know
no longer exist necessarily the
ko and then the ko2 right
it's a great way to deplete
old stock you don't want on the
books anymore and that's again
why you see so much of this
during Black Friday and
into December that's an
inventory reset for retailers
100% you know just like
cell phones are a perfect
example they come out with a
new model constantly and at
least yearly so you don't
want your 25 model on the
on the books Jan first
correct well and we didn't
even get into it and we
don't need to but there's
tax incentives and tax
benefits of doing this and
the loss leaders how you can
benefit as a business right
by doing that by clearing
that inventory so as far as
applicability to us and
despite the fact that I
feel like we've painted a
picture to say that there's
not a lot of good deals
out there here's where the
deals come in and it hurts
small business when the
manufacturers offer a deal
that is a map violation in
itself direct to consumer but
it's direct to consumer from
the manufacturer so they can
do that price and as a
small business we don't get
that benefit so oftentimes
they are selling at our
margin yep so we can't
meet we can't beat that
price we can't match that
price and and and sometimes
what they will do is
they'll be like yeah we
understand that basically
we're selling direct to the
consumer at your margin but
they don't have that big of
margins right again they can't
benefit us with that extra
margin for us right and they
and so they go well I'll
give you 5% more I'll give
you 3% more which is
which is fine but if I've
got a bunch of legwork in
trying to to bring
something in or to to find
the exact right part or
if we bundle free shipping
into it for for our
consumer well now that
doesn't actually that's not
a deal for you because you
know I'm eating shipping in
our 20% off or something
like that right and so this
is where I think we have
seen a shift within the
industry certainly post map
which was somewhere in the
for the four wheel drive
industry what we're talking
about was map pricing
emerges in the late 90s
2000s right roughly speaking
there's a music record
legal case five companies
got investigated by the FTC
for enforcing map creating
this map policy and then
may of 2000 they agree
not to use map and then
somewhere from there you
start seeing it roll out
into other industries and
then as it continues to
roll eventually by
2015 2017 range it starts
to leak into the automotive
industry sure and and
that's exactly it leaked
into the industry everybody
was kind of like what are we
doing with this and we're
very much we are much in
the throws of business SFJ
four by four is right and
we're at some of those
higher level conversations
where how is this going to
affect us is going to
benefit us is going to hurt us
and trying to be on the
forefront of a degree of
understanding it and employing
it to the best of our ability
so at this point in time post
covid and the consumer
industry and market that we
have is this kind of
wild retailers really
in my opinion are not
capable of giving great deals
unless it is that special
buy or discontinued model
right as we we kind of unpacked
with eastwood or some of these
other you know some of these
other retailers and
distributors within our
specific industry but the
manufacturers are selling
direct to the consumer
and giving authentically
good deals in certain
degrees now one of the things
that we did talk about was
the fact that like obviously
if you've listened to
podcast you know we had a
interview with revolution gear
revolution's
deals through the weekend are
actually the same that we can give you
and that's because revolution
really needs professionals
to to do the gear job
it's a less DIY market
not say that it can't be DIY
right but it's less they rely
heavy on service industry
to sell their product versus a
DIY market to buy their product it's a warranty
and and reputation thing
at that point because
a good gear can be
harmed easily by a bad installer
yes hundred percent
whereas you might
have your traditional
bumper suspension manufacturer
who is already selling to the DIY
and while I agree
with the statement that a
good product could be harmed with a bad installation
it's a little harder to
have a bad installation it's a little
harder to have a bad installation
right on a standard bumper
on a on product on a bolt-on
product there's not thousands of an inch
of measuring required correct
correct and so
we see a difference in the
discounts and whatnot and so Jeffrey
this weekend had been asked
if he could honor some deals
from some manufacturers
and I had some of them I said
nope by direct and others
revolution gear specifically you know
what for warranty purposes we will
honor those prices for you if you buy
while they're advertising those prices
and so I do believe
that certain manufacturers
who are offering
you know twenty
plus percent
site-wide on large
either kits or
products I certainly
know that iron rock
off-road does authentically
sell good deals
on on this
holiday yes era or range
and there's a comment somebody in the comments
had taken advantage of that last year
Michael actually and then he said
he
was waiting for the black Friday to buy the ox
locker because he got fifteen percent
off of that and that's running through
December six and
and so
IRO does and they
do free shipping which
is not something that they are great
at it's not something you get regularly
again it's one of the incentives
that I typically offer our
customer base is that we try to bundle
shipping into your cost of purchasing it
with us certainly the bigger kits
and whatnot not always but sometimes
our tech is running twenty five
percent off darn near
site-wide yep JKS
twenty percent off darn near
site-wide so there are
what I believe to be
authentically good deals
if you are
prepared to
to do that transaction here
and now but I think we're in a time
of in a season where
oftentimes people are
buying for others
or well
smaller tangible I think you also
have to be careful a lot of
times those manufacturers
offer free shipping
as a normal thing
but then you go to this
where it's twenty percent off but the shipping is not free anymore
yes so you're not actually saving
a lot of money right and so you got
to be careful with that sometimes there is a good deal where
you're getting the free shipping and the discount
but sometimes they just change
the verbiage of the sale
and again that's just to get you on
their website so it makes you
um here on the go ahead and make that
purchase well and what you mentioned
I did not see any
door busters
kind of anywhere
so personally what's interesting
about that is I I did
but I think you have to
change the definition
of a door buster all right what do you think
so door busters used to be
a thing where you if you weren't
within one of the first fifty people
in the door you were not getting that deal
correct now their door busters are
advertised for the whole
sale weekend they're just
there and some of them are
still your last leader type deals
but they're just
there for the whole weekend they're not
you have to break down the door and I think
I think a lot of that changed in the
90s and early 2000s where people
were literally being killed
from stampede or people
with the video game industry with
the x-boxes and the playstations
with guns going off at best buys and
things like that so I think
that changed how
advertising got put out
and how we do these deals to make it
safer for the consumers and for the
employees oh the employees
I mean in my opinion specifically because
as you showed me that tiktok great
tiktok from a gentleman
at Target basically doing
a you know a speech from
Braveheart or it was from 300
or is it the is it just a
straight straight knock off we are
Spartan yes we are
it was it was fantastic
and you know ramping up his
his staff
in preparation of a door buster
experience but
as I as I largely
fell and I understand what you're saying
I guess I'm having a hard time
accepting this
air quotes door buster that's all weekend
long right because
again I mean
I saw a couple good beams unless it
was you know previously
sixteen hundred dollars and now
it's a thousand bucks and I say
six hundred and fifty dollars did you see
the the golden ticket deals that happened
no so and I could
be wrong but I believe it was target and lows
that offered a golden ticket
option and I don't know
exactly how it worked
but I know target
the winner of the golden ticket got like some candy
and a free little item
the winner of lows got like this
massive crazy shopping spree
huh but it was you open
up these buckets and in the buckets
there was only so many people that got a bucket in
the bucket was a
gift card for lows there was a small
little like our purple strap deal kind
of things like that sure some tchotchky
stuff but in that
card was a golden
ticket hidden for one one winner and they got
like this big shopping
spree that's crazy to get a buzz
around and sure but that
is where the
new door buster is is
in these kitschy
game style yeah
promos I was going to talk about harbour
freights they did their
black friday sale a week
ish early for ITC
members and that's just to
incentivize you to go by
to be the member
ITC membership
so that you could get this perceived
deal with that said
I didn't even
go the whole week I am ITC
member didn't care whatever
I was there last
night just because I needed something
and I'm like
oh well that's on sale
that's Ben's empty
hey is there any more of these oh yeah
there's a whole pallet of lights over here
yep and there's so
their their black friday sale
it went for a week before
yep black friday
for ITC
yes the stall
on the shelf was empty
yep but they had a whole pallet
of them and so what that sells me is
they had a huge
volume of these lights
and they just need to get
them off the shelf sure
and somebody might argue that they're ramping
up production in
in anticipation of these sales
which is also a thing
which is also a thing but then think about
the quality that may
or may not exist in them right I mean
the idea that we once
had these products that were
you know authentically
a huge discount
with the expectation that it would draw you
into the store we are not
able we're not doing that anymore because everybody
sitting at home and they're underware shopping out the
internet so there is no longer a
need to push you into the
store from a manufacturer standpoint
they're happy to offer you a percentage
off
and even the even Harbor freight they don't
care if you come into the store necessarily because
they offer the same sales every three months
basically and as a
Harbor freight tool junkie that I
am I recognize that a lot
of their pricing was not
any better than the sale that will
come around in three or four
months from now and it's at that point
it's convenience it's convenience I was
there it was on sale I was on by
light anyway it was just nice
to get a little bit of a discount on it couldn't
agree more and and it makes you want
to be the ITC member or just
this much more because you know that you
get the heads up on those deals so
and I agree entirely with you what I'll
say you were talking about the kitschy the creative
the work around yeah what they did do
and I know this with fact is
they actually stocked up their they have
a reconditioning program and
they had stocked up and
scheduled their
truck deliveries in such a way that
they had more of their scratch and
dent and they the
to the you know when you
walk into our store at least to the right
was a much more fuller experience
and I had a whole conversation with them about
a week ago that they had been
periodically they saw a bump in their
refurbished
product coming in again
makes sense because that's just a product they
just need to get off the books
it benefits them
to just get rid of they took it in on warranty
and it's right now it's going it's it's
worth zero dollars to them right
where if they run it through their refurb program and
resell it they can at least recoup
some cash on it and and there's
a fine line on some cash and right
off there's a balance there which we won't
get into percent that is a thing
as well that they have to consider and so I
think that you know whether it be the door
buster from the the buckets the mystery bags
the the the golden tickets
the refurb items
our industry has changed and
I think we saw as
Scott had in in our preparation
this we've mainly seen percentages
off yep I did not
see
hey folks you have to run out and buy
this product
I personally didn't
see that at all within
our industry I would love to
know if anybody of our comments has
has saw that
or if you know you've listened
to this this point and you you know that there's
this great deal going on you'd like to share that
with us and we
can share that out to the the
rest of our listening audience you
can you know Texas our tax
only number 440855
2100
we will gladly say hey
everybody needs to run over here and buy this
thing because it's such a great deal
otherwise I'm not exactly
seeing them this year
saw a lot of percentages
I saw a lot of good
specifically USA
manufacturers who were able to give some
percentage off product direct
to consumer but be
aware you have to have somebody if
it is a product that requires installation you have to
have somebody who can install that well
for you and so be
conscientious of that would be
how I would caution you
otherwise I think
we've reasonably ran our gamut
pulled our curtain back a little bit
on on us as a business
why we make the the choices that we are
are not open and closed
in these situations and what products we
kind of
choose to sell at what discounted
rate or can or can't
at that point and really in the
end of it us as a business we want
to give you the best deal we can
year-round so we're always
going to try to chisel that price down
as low as we can
in general that's what
I think it's one of the things that's made us unique
a. not only do we
approach building them like we're our own
but we we buy like our own as well
absolutely and and the big piece that
I always say is that we make money when we buy
not when we sell to the customer
because of that you
as our listener as our customer
get the extension of that mentality
we're looking for the best possible price
and so whether it is by the pallet
or whether it is a relationship
with a manufacturer
our objective is to
buy competitively because
from the very beginning
the phrase that I use was
our expectation was to be
internet competitive right there were
other shops that we were aware of
who you would go into
and you would get quoted $100
$150 more on an item
than you could buy it online
and I thought that
that was always lost on me
I don't quite understand that
but then you also say well
you're not allowed to bring me that product for installation
well okay well now all of a sudden
all you've done is turn that customer away from being
a valuable customer
of yours whereas if we can
sell within a reason
to our customer base
at the price that they would buy
online well then they are incentivized
to buy from us because they get
the knowledge they can get the service
and the installation of it
and when we can't do it online
we will work with you on doing the install anyways
hey we can't
beat that price but if you bring it to us
with exception of a few select
products we'll install it
and those few select products are ones that we just
flat out know can't be installed
sure and we have relationships
with enough manufacturers
on the products that we are strong on
to make that make
sense and not only that we will
assist with warranties
and stuff on product that we didn't even install
just for a customer service
piece when we can
and so I caution
you in this period of
looking for the best deals and when everybody's
pockets are already stretched
thin
it's a deal that makes you want to whip
up your card and buy it right that second
take a moment sit back
say is this actually the deal I think
it is does this actually
need to be on my credit card balance for the next
six months did I need to buy three of these
to get the one free correct yeah
and I
and I can't help and I watch these
and I maybe this is the industry that's a little
bit lost or the market that's a little bit lost
on me but a lot of these harbour freight
resellers and they're going in and they're buying
these wrenches at you know 40%
I don't understand and they're buying them at
cart loads and then they're taking a marketplace
and reselling them like how
yeah how is somebody so oblivious
they're not just doing this I don't know
these sounds of the guy doesn't have a truck
can't drive there I don't know
it's so confusing so be
cautious in this season
when our money is already thin
yeah in how you're spending
your hard-earned dollar until next time
Jeep on Jeep on
Jeep on
hopefully people actually
know some some got some deals out of that
or at least a conscious way of thinking about it
absolutely because I didn't really see the
the hard line deals out there
so I know not like they
once were not like they once were like I said
on me it's only beneficial when you
were already gonna buy a product
anyway and you just got a little bit
of a discount so that's kind of cool I agree
so speaking of which
oh on my weekend
oh boy
so I my beginning of
my little break I took I was actually
thinking I'm gonna get in the garage I'm gonna do
a bunch of car projects
I got a day of doing that
I had the same
false
illusions yeah
I thought we took a break but it didn't feel
like it I have yeah I
did not I got I got to sleep a little bit
more don't feel a lot rested
though don't understand that
God
or the big advantage I got
is the rear window for the Model
T was
warped because of
me chopping it and I was able to
have enough time to run that through the planching
hammer and it's less warped
yay
nice other than that
we did go take advantage we were
my cell phone was
starting to show its age it was
a 22 model
speaker was getting blown out
as I constantly do for some reason
and the screen was broken because
welding sparks breaks glass
go figure
go figure so we went ahead and
went in and got maybe that's why your speakers keep
blowing out too easy killer
anyway saying
so we went and got
25 models of what
we had
because of we knew that they were
gonna fish the 25s out the door
26s are going to be rolling out
and they were doing a good buy
back program literally just
like we talked about they paid
you know a decent amount
for our old phones to take
off for the new phones it's kind
of a wash there's a couple
sense difference kind of scenario
gets us a recent on the phone
gives them some phones refurbish
and sell off into that
different market so
and just to pose that is literally
what we did also
I felt myself being
Jeff the builder this weekend
and the fact that
Sunday we didn't have to go anywhere
didn't have to do anything my wife
had already cried we're not spending
any money today which I was here
for
but then I went to get the Christmas
decorations out she's like well let's just
stay home and set up the Christmas tree and I'm like
that means I got to
crawl into my closet
attic and
fight with everything in the dark with a flashlight
of course I don't know where my good flashlight
is the kids have
ran the other ones almost dead so they're like
flickering and you got to shake them to get them to work
and you're in here
you know there's mice or something around
so you can't see you're fumbling in the dark
you're getting cobwebs in your hair
it's just a terrible experience
and on top of that the insulation
was improperly
stapled and people had gone on
prior to me
put up every bit of remnant
of drywall and strip of steel
or not steel of wood
to hold this up which was not going
a good job so of course
right over top of the decorations
the insulation is literally
laying on them and on top of that
someone thought it was wise to paint
the ceiling
which is the roof white
what does paint do when it gets old
flakes off so not only did I have
fiberglass insulation
over top of my decorations I had to get
I had paint chips
everywhere did you taste them
where they led
I thought about it while I was there
I was like I betcha this is lead paint don't care
I'm in insulation
this is bad this is taking years off my life
at this point and I just
gave my Christmas decorations for my children
so my wife is at the door
cause it is a pain about to climb in
out of this little hole
and I said you know it would be so much easier
if this insulation wasn't falling down
and I could see in here with a
light and
true supportive wife fashion
she goes well we could do that
I thought this is how Jeff
gets into the situations where
at midnight he is building
something or hiring down a wall in his house
because his wife is going
well yes honey we should just do that
so next I know we're driving the lows
sometimes it's her idea but yes
that's exactly how this happens
and I've been buying foam insulation
which meant I had to clean out
the bed of the truck from building the building
which I had been putting off and procrastinating
so where does all that go
right in the bucket of the tractor and I'm like please don't snow
cause now I have to move that again
so
we go we get that
and pull in the pro park
and go in and find the foam
get the right washers for it
screws you know coming out of our
ears so I don't buy any more of that
I get a receptacle
I get a box I'm like I'm gonna figure this out
go up in there and I realize
real quick that where I wanted to tie in the wiring
is a three way switch
I don't really know what I'm doing
but I have Google
so I get Google out going
and I look at the diagram I look at
all my switch and I go this does not look the same
that means someone was
creative and just did what they wanted to do
how do I do this
so I and not only that
you'll blow this I'm pulling the switch out of it
and wires are falling off the switch
and sparking at me as that's happening
I was like oh great I found a house fire
this is how I burned my house down
so and they don't know how to
tighten it down I love the part that he
doesn't know what he's doing with electric
and doesn't shut it off first
yeah
perfect
well they're setting up decorations downstairs
I need the house you know functioning
so anyway I got my
electrical screwdriver with the plastic
all the way to tip so I'm prepared
so I get everything attached
back to the outlet or the switch
I put it back in there I'm thinking about
what you know how am I going
to do this if I'm not going to do this
dinner time so I sit
and I and I you know
process through dinner
and I go up there and I'm like I'm screwed
I'm just going to hook it up so I pull it all
back apart knock the
lock out out of the box put in
my coax get my
box wired up before
at least knew that smart
when you say coax are you installing
cable to or
the wire
the wire in the box
wire it all up
how I think it should be
turn on the light nothing happens
happens
so I sit back and go
this is the moment where you're sitting
cold there's a transmission on your chest
and you're trying to shove it into the jeep
back in the day we're laying on the ground
but it gets better choices it gets better
he told me this part so
I think I'm thinking in this moment I should
just message Jeff and be like
help
throw up a white flag
somewhere I'm like no because
Jeff will have to drive out here
and like do Jeff the builder
and he needs to spend time with his family
I've already hogged too much of his time
so I just have to
man up and figure this out
and that light bulb went off and I said this is a three way switch
I bet you somewhere else
somewhere else so I go downstairs I turn on the switch
I come upstairs and the lights on I was like you know what
that's probably not right
don't care oh god
it's 720
I need to get insulation figured out
I'm I got light now
yay
so well I'm glad that your house
is still standing
he wired it to one of the switches
direct instead of through the three way system
we figured it we unpacked it this morning and figured out
what I just one wire need switch that's
fine anyway
the other best part is I got in there originally
I was going to tear all the old insulation out
and put this up and a light bulb
went off in my head and I was like I bet you
I just put the foam over top of what's
already there it won't fall down anymore
what staple insulation is designed to do
you're supposed to put hard
you know
board over top of it not random pieces
of scrap so I just went ahead
and did that and take the seams
that actually looks really nice nice I have light
we were able to organize
because now we can see vacuum
to create you know all the crap
up so overall it was great
it was great look at you
I mean you know can't just get the
order you know the Christmas decorations
and stuff out yeah
but next year I told
my wife I said older Scott will be
much appreciated future Scott
future Scott will definitely be
thankful wow this
process with that said
we have way too many Christmas decorations
I powered
my family to please
reduce which she's telling me she already
did I don't believe her
but it's all good
but that is how Scott became
Jeff the builder over the weekend love it
and I definitely want to fire
myself and hire Jeff no no
I support you being
the builder oh god
Jeffery anything
it was a long week
it was a long week
of nothing going
right and yet still nothing being
terribly bad so there's
that just
what it is that's fine
I was all over all over that's what you were saying
yeah as far as
I do want to comment on the parade
we want to
thank everybody who came out and
braved the cold
the cold and the wind I think the wind
was the wind was the biggest challenge right through you
and
Jeffrey thank you for coming in
and making sure that it went
as as seamless as it could
we had a nice
we had a we
never know what to expect
as far as attendance is concerned
I will kind of
share out into the world that
might be changing in the future
you know there some city
folks are leaning towards maybe
you know putting a cap on participation
and we'll see how that goes I don't love
that idea but
we weren't exactly sure so we started to
make sure we greeted everybody it's
important to me that we greet so my son
and his friend made sure to stop
and give him a kind of heads up
came to me went from me to Jeff
and we've had other people volunteer
basically just to arrive at the parade
you're talked off by three people
I'm down for it
I'm down so
you know we
we really enjoy spending
that time with people
with kind of a
unified experience right
so we're all coming from different backgrounds
different expectations different kinds of jeeps
different clubs
all you know come
one or two or three
people come from each kind of
different geography and
we never know how many jeeps are going to be there
so having that organized
setup we're able to accommodate
way more jeeps than what
we typically have come and that's
we get a lot of jeeps so
at one point you're like I don't know
if we have to pack them so tight I'm like yep we do
yeah you were committed
at that point
you know as we already mentioned
my sister plays a pivotal role in
facilitating this nice
open house kind of experience
we have hot chocolates
and we had Carmel Apple Bar this year
which was excellent
she was slicing the apples right up there
and you had the bowl with all the different toppings
you could put on and sauces
lots of different snacks and stuff
and we do that as a way to share this experience
with other jeepers who are coming to our facility
we want to welcome you and thank you
for being part of the parade
the parade itself
is a little
less attended than usual
from a community standpoint
there was
physically less people out there
but there's construction
in town and
again it was kind of a cold
and biting night so I'm not sure if that
had anything to do with it
I've certainly seen attendance
both from our participation
to attendance of people on the side of the road
a much more grand
experience so I don't know what the difference was
this year or just as we talked about
with some of these Black Friday deals
everybody's feeling a little stretched thin
and our pocket books and our
there was multiple people commenting too
about how last year the parade got changed
and so they were questioning
if people were worried that it was going to get changed
and didn't make all the preparations to come out
agreed agreed so
and a huge thank you to the people who did
make that a priority and
I love spending time and sharing
that experience with you so thank you
for that
just in the comments here as we end it
Joe Bryan says Scott Villa
yep
I love it
I uh otherwise
I concur I had this
misplaced expectation that
I was going to have these four days
it was going to be four days
people and life is
really busy right now
and that was a
big challenge for me and that doesn't help
that I think I caught a bit of a bug
but we're here we did our thing
and now we've got jeeps to build
so until next time
and it will be Christmas
from here on out folks
jeep on
jeep on
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