Behind the Iron Curtain - Breaking Down the Deals

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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

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Jeep Wrangler

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