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Group Buy on Underhood Light?

I am interested in one of these, pending an appealing (not insane) price


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    59

NHBandit

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Jan 11, 2012
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East Tennessee
Eastwood has this and they might be open to doing a group buy price. I have exactly the same light but bought mine off one of the tool trucks many years ago (probably 15 years ago at least). The tool truck guy was showing one to us and I said I wasn't paying that kind of money for a drop light. He took it by the cord, swung it against the wall, threw it on the floor, and then turned it on and it still worked. I was sold. In 15 years the clear plastic has faded some from being around harsh chemicals and being used hard for many years but I'm still on the original bulb... I believe parts are available as well so I suppose I should look into replacing the clear plastic cover. http://www.eastwood.com/13-watt-bounce-light-25-foot-cord-central.html
 

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kythri

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Ideally, a vendor would be found that would negotiate a bulk purchase with the manufacturer to facilitate the sale.

This way, the manufacturer doesn't deal with any flack for selling direct, the vendor is still involved, handling fulfillment, and makes a profit without having to slash their margins to the bone to do so.
 

sk farmer

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a group buy is a great idea. take tridents work thus far. i have participated with good luck but here is where it goes south.

people have already been whining that the 120 ratchets have scratches and dings on them. well, i may agree with that but as long as it not terrible and there is no major finish issues who cares unless you are a tool polisher. see where i am going?

lets say you throw a group buy together for 100 lights, maybe 200. well a vendor goes through the work of bartering a better deal. then cuts in to his own profit margin to offer a better price still.

as is typical. there is always a percentage of d.o.a. items. maybe one or two percent. then throw in shipping issues for another percent or two. who eats most of that? the seller. throw in the guys who complain about it being too big, too small, the cord too long/short, the color wrong the finish poor, etc and you have a large bunch of unhappy customer who will throw you under the bus in a moment. (a short search will back up this statement. think of the current gearwrench thread and the past sk, snap-on, mac matco, wright etc threads, members truck drivers and reps who have come and gone over the years because of this type of issue.)

this group is notoriously picky, fussy and **** and holding mfg. and reps to a much higher standard than the general population. even the most diligent folks sometimes make a mistake they cannot correct and this bunch will never let them forget it.

any vendor who does a mass deal here better have his ducks in a row and a bunch of luck because the unhappy 3-5% will drown out the majority of satisfied.
 

ShadowRuleZ

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Detroit
a group buy is a great idea. take tridents work thus far. i have participated with good luck but here is where it goes south.

Anyone ask Trident if they could do it? I don't know what all brands they can get.

Add me to the interested group.
 

MDJames

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Jul 19, 2013
Messages
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Just another shameless plug for corded flourescent. I took these at work today. Continuous bright light and you can distinguish wire colors. No battery shitting the bed halfway through the job.

Red - is this the ATD 80050? Really like this one.
 

GTA Matt

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To throw another one into the mix, and probably on the very upper end of the price scale is the Sunlite under hood led light. http://powerledlighting.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=159

I bought 3 of them, one for work, one for home and gave one to my dad. By far the most light weight and versatile. I've hung it between truck frame rails when rebuilding rears, hung it across headliners when doing heater cores etc. It's not heavy enough to bring down a hood on a car with questionable gas struts like I've seen happen to co-workers with the bulky flourescent lights. Can either hook it to 110 outlet or attach leads to the car battery if working out in the field. And it is very, very bright. The company that builds the LED's for it is 15 minutes from my work, so it definitely fits the 'made in America' criteria.

IMAG0771_zps3f504d6f.jpg
 

gkring

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Keller, Texas

mrg7243

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Jul 17, 2013
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I would be interested but considering most of the time my cars dont have a hood on them, and tripod light is better
 

Revolutionary

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Aug 23, 2012
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I am in on this as well I would take either of the mentioned lights really. I picked up a monster shorty rechargeable LED light a few weeks ago from my snap on guy. Pretty decent but not quite the right lighting for things under the hood seems to cause shadows more than the ole Florescent.
 
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Bull

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Hey, I got a PM from someone who is "connected."

I'm going to follow it up. Keep your fingers crossed!
 
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tribbles

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Las Cruces, NM
I'd be in for a group buy too. My old Sears corded fluorescent grew legs a few years ago and I've missed the hell out of it.
 
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Bull

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I haven't heard back from Tooltopia yet. But, I have reason to believe a group buy on the Central Tools light might not be possible.

I'll need to look into the National Electric, then, or that super-fancy and pricey LED model that GTA Matt posted. However, I am not very keen on LEDs unless that particular light gives off a color from a spectrum that allows you to see the true colors on wires.

Another option might be tool truck dealer; if they have a USA-made rebrand of one of these lights and enough of us are "in," maybe one will cut us a deal. But since our resident tool truck guys were chased off years ago, I no longer have any connections in that area.
 

GTA Matt

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I'll need to look into the National Electric, then, or that super-fancy and pricey LED model that GTA Matt posted. However, I am not very keen on LEDs unless that particular light gives off a color from a spectrum that allows you to see the true colors on wires.

Not trying to influence any decisions, as I know for a DIY'er, these lights can be pretty pricey, and all of the lights posted have their pros and cons. I use it daily, never noticed any problems picking up wire colors, light output is real similar to a stinger LED flashlight. I looked through my photobucket to see if I had any good pics of the light in use, but my ****** camera phone doesn't really seem to do the thing justice. These are with no camera flash.





This is kinda far away, but you can see how bright it lights up the intake plenum and everything else under the hood.

 

redwrench60

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But since our resident tool truck guys were chased off years ago, I no longer have any connections in that area.

Why in the hell does this place do this? I've seen it happen and I don't blame them for leaving to shed the target on their backs. It seems totally opposite of what you'd think would happen on a tool and garage forum. It's ********.
 
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Bull

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Why in the hell does this place do this? I've seen it happen and I don't blame them for leaving to shed the target on their backs. It seems totally opposite of what you'd think would happen on a tool and garage forum. It's ********.

I hear ya. It's too bad. We had two Snappy guys who seemed like salt o' the earth, stand-up fellows. They were on here all the time.

What price point do YOU guys need this to be at to be a definite "yes"?

I don't think the Central Tools model will be had by us for any less than the Tooltopia price.
 

czgunner

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I hear ya. It's too bad. We had two Snappy guys who seemed like salt o' the earth, stand-up fellows. They were on here all the time.

What price point do YOU guys need this to be at to be a definite "yes"?

I don't think the Central Tools model will be had by us for any less than the Tooltopia price.

I guess I missed this.
What happened?
 

sk farmer

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Why in the hell does this place do this? I've seen it happen and I don't blame them for leaving to shed the target on their backs. It seems totally opposite of what you'd think would happen on a tool and garage forum. It's ********.

I hear ya. It's too bad. We had two Snappy guys who seemed like salt o' the earth, stand-up fellows. They were on here all the time.

What price point do YOU guys need this to be at to be a definite "yes"?

I don't think the Central Tools model will be had by us for any less than the Tooltopia price.

i think a cornwell and at least one matco, trtoolsupply and a couple others also. i alluded to this earlier in the thread and got no traction. it is a few internet bullies, blow hards or whathaveyou that chase them off. the 5% ruin it for the rest.

if i was a seller i probably wouldn't touch a group buy with a ten foot pole because of them. i would rather sell 10 of something and make 10 dollars each than sell 100 and make 1 dollar each because the 100 is 10 times as much work as the 10. that may not be a totally accurate statement but you get the idea. that is what a group buy is asking for.
 
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Bull

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i think a cornwell and at least one matco, trtoolsupply and a couple others also. i alluded to this earlier in the thread and got no traction. it is a few internet bullies, blow hards or whathaveyou that chase them off. the 5% ruin it for the rest.

if i was a seller i probably wouldn't touch a group buy with a ten foot pole because of them. i would rather sell 10 of something and make 10 dollars each than sell 100 and make 1 dollar each because the 100 is 10 times as much work as the 10. that may not be a totally accurate statement but you get the idea. that is what a group buy is asking for.

Hi sk; we do have a history here of some successful group-buying activity, though not with a discount in mind as I am trying to do here. To date we have had two successful Epstein's Days, a Wilde Wednesday, and a Westling Day. I have only heard positive things from those vendors/sellers/companies about the events.

But you are correct about there being nit-pickers and whatnot. I don't think a light would be held under the same scrutiny as a ratchet or wrench; guys seem less inclined to fetishize a light, but you never know.
 

fr0mastaj

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I'm interested! Been eyeing the National Electric one for a while now...
 

sk farmer

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Hi sk; we do have a history here of some successful group-buying activity, though not with a discount in mind as I am trying to do here. To date we have had two successful Epstein's Days, a Wilde Wednesday, and a Westling Day. I have only heard positive things from those vendors/sellers/companies about the events.

But you are correct about there being nit-pickers and whatnot. I don't think a light would be held under the same scrutiny as a ratchet or wrench; guys seem less inclined to fetishize a light, but you never know.


i am fully aware of the past events. i have been part the epstein and wilde events. i also took part in the trident 120 xp event. it is pretty well documented that several have complained when a 60% off list ratchet had a light scratch in it. i will stand by my assumption that buyers will expect a premium product at cutrate price and ***** to high heaven if it isn't.

the old saying is good/fast/cheap, pick two but the three don't go together.

is a light going to be different than a wrench or ratchet? maybe, but i sure wouldn't bet on it.
 

czgunner

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Can you ban the bitchers?
I say that in jest (somewhat).
I can't believe the people that complained about the Trident deal.
 
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Bull

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i am fully aware of the past events. i have been part the epstein and wilde events. i also took part in the trident 120 xp event. it is pretty well documented that several have complained when a 60% off list ratchet had a light scratch in it. i will stand by my assumption that buyers will expect a premium product at cutrate price and ***** to high heaven if it isn't.

the old saying is good/fast/cheap, pick two but the three don't go together.

is a light going to be different than a wrench or ratchet? maybe, but i sure wouldn't bet on it.

Well, if the Trident group buy had that problem, it seems to run counter to my experience with the other sales events.

I wasn't aware of any problem with that deal, either. I haven't followed the thread.

I now regret linking the Tooltopia rep to this thread, because this discussion isn't working in our favor.
 
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kythri

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The Trident/GW bitching is coming from a very vocal minority.

Trident is a top-flight company, and I truly hope that they don't feel that the very few speak for everyone. They certainly don't for me.
 

ilovevocs

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The Trident/GW bitching is coming from a very vocal minority.

Trident is a top-flight company, and I truly hope that they don't feel that the very few speak for everyone. They certainly don't for me.

If your in a retail/service oriented business you get accustomed to customers like this quickly. They have an unquantifiable sense of entitlement when it comes to spending their money. I'm not directing this comment to anyone personally. What i am attempting to convey is that If a vendor sells x amount of items they anticipate a set number of these folks within that amount. Some times you take it on the chin and do what it takes to make them happy, and some times you decide that your brand can handle the impact of their negative publicity because its well established and had a good reputation. I don't think we're discussing anything here that most vendors aren't aware of or deal with on a regular basis.

I for one would just be satisfied if the product showed up. My one and only group by here resulted in payment being made with out the delivery of the good. :( needless to say my expectations are low and it will not difficult to exceed them.
 

sk farmer

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The Trident/GW bitching is coming from a very vocal minority.

Trident is a top-flight company, and I truly hope that they don't feel that the very few speak for everyone. They certainly don't for me.

i agree. trident was excellent to deal with and my shipment arrived several days before they said it would.

If your in a retail/service oriented business you get accustomed to customers like this quickly. They have an unquantifiable sense of entitlement when it comes to spending their money. I'm not directing this comment to anyone personally. What i am attempting to convey is that If a vendor sells x amount of items they anticipate a set number of these folks within that amount. Some times you take it on the chin and do what it takes to make them happy, and some times you decide that your brand can handle the impact of their negative publicity because its well established and had a good reputation. I don't think we're discussing anything here that most vendors aren't aware of or deal with on a regular basis.

I for one would just be satisfied if the product showed up. My one and only group by here resulted in payment being made with out the delivery of the good. :( needless to say my expectations are low and it will not difficult to exceed them.

i don't think expecting to get your order is unreasonable. on the flip side. i received my 120xp 3 piece set. it came packaged in a foam tray. the 1/2 drive ratchet had a blob of rust (see picture below) that i assume came from touching the foam tray. i would guess it either held some moisture or sucked away the oil that coated the other parts of the three ratchets. i little oil and a couple light rubs with some steel wool and it left only a slightly discolored area. i really could care less as it will never affect performance or lifespan


my point is that if this ratchet would have fallen into the wrong hands we would have seen a whole thread in 14 angled pictures about shoddy mfg, poor packaging and the complete and utter failure of trident and gearwrench. most likely before they picked up the phone to get it resolved in a reasonable fashion because really, what fun is that? we know it happens because any of us who have been here a while have seen it happen before. i don't operate that way but the vocal minority does. i feel that i got an awesome deal on an awesome product even if it did have a minor imperfection.

yes, a vendor should be able to deal with those issues but as i said in my example before. if a vendor sells 10 or 100 of something at a normal price to their normal customers they have priced their service in to it and should be able to provide a normal service. ask them to sell 10x, 20x or more of their normal amount at a reduced profit and things can go wrong in a hurry.

i am not a business and don't claim to be. i recently did a t-shirt program. over the years i had shipped probably 50 items to places all over the u.s.a. and to a couple foreign countries. never had an issue. all of a sudden i had to send 50 packages to every corner of the u.s.a and several of them international in a short period of time. guess what? all sorts of problems crept in that i had not expected. some my fault, some beyond my control. it ended up being a good experience but it was an eye opener on how things happen when you do them on a scale much larger than your norm.


i was fortunate to have worked with good people but even though this happened months ago i still have one package that never arrived (i refunded the full amount) and some items that have never been paid for ( i never shipped before receiving pmt.so i still have the items) fortunately i never meant to make money, just cover my costs and have a few bucks left for gas money.

trust me, there was no gas money left.:lol_hitti

hey bull, need a t-shirt?:lol:
 

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