Anyone started their own tool truck round?
- Thread starter nickjj
- Start date
KevinF
Member
Your best sellers will be the tools that get consumed like Hook and pick sets,Screwdrivers, Hex keys and sockets, pliers that sort of thing.
Good luck, I know that you are on the right track,you are also very right about pay day
Good luck, I know that you are on the right track,you are also very right about pay day
xin
Well-known member
nice!
I would think a tool seller would be able to buy at wholesale prices directly from the brand. They don't pay retail.
That probably makes sense for the first week. They need an incentive and time to switch their consumables from their present arrangement to your service. It will be interesting to see what happens on subsequent visits. The hardest part I think will be having something new and interesting each week for the lads that have already been on the van a few times.
Please keep the reports coming, we really are very interested and want to see you be successful.
Please keep the reports coming, we really are very interested and want to see you be successful.
mudflap
Well-known member
.......X2
KevinF
Member
After awhile the first question as guys come onto the van will be " Whats New".
In my experience in the Motorcycle trade (which I've now left) the independants do pretty well as they aren't tied in to anyone.
Bergen and US Pro always sold well but a couple of indies also sold Facom as its pretty cheap over here. The MAC trucks sell it now but they tend to sell for full retail that no one else does. Also warranty wise the customer can do it themselves by phoning up and getting a free post label. When Facom pliers can be as cheap as £17 there is no real need to spend more.
Things like Facom Allen key sets in the plastic holder are cheap and easy sellers as you have probably discovered.
Consumerables always sell well as people always run out and forget to order replacements. Copper washers, P clips etc are things suppliers just don't hold in stock but when dealers are charging 50p for a sump washer that can be bought wholesale for 7.15p each there is a good mark up for the middle man.
As an example I've just bought copper washers from China because they were so much cheaper than buying over here. Cheaper for me to buy 40 at a time than 6 from a dealer or somewhere like Halfords even with a trade card.
Since Unipart pretty much shut up most of their branches there are few wholesalers left that you can just drop into or who deliver so there is space in the market for the indies in the UK.
Bergen and US Pro always sold well but a couple of indies also sold Facom as its pretty cheap over here. The MAC trucks sell it now but they tend to sell for full retail that no one else does. Also warranty wise the customer can do it themselves by phoning up and getting a free post label. When Facom pliers can be as cheap as £17 there is no real need to spend more.
Things like Facom Allen key sets in the plastic holder are cheap and easy sellers as you have probably discovered.
Consumerables always sell well as people always run out and forget to order replacements. Copper washers, P clips etc are things suppliers just don't hold in stock but when dealers are charging 50p for a sump washer that can be bought wholesale for 7.15p each there is a good mark up for the middle man.
As an example I've just bought copper washers from China because they were so much cheaper than buying over here. Cheaper for me to buy 40 at a time than 6 from a dealer or somewhere like Halfords even with a trade card.
Since Unipart pretty much shut up most of their branches there are few wholesalers left that you can just drop into or who deliver so there is space in the market for the indies in the UK.
Last edited:
toolman9w
Well-known member
Questions in order.
What's new?
What's free?
Did you get my stuff I ordered?
Can I skip my payment this week? (If you carry balances)
What's new?
What's free?
Did you get my stuff I ordered?
Can I skip my payment this week? (If you carry balances)
toolman9w
Well-known member
Congratulations on a good first week.
I don't do terms.
Came unstuck on Wednesday, someone an hour and a half away claimed to want to spend £350 on tools, got there, giant truck workshop, took half an hour to find him, browsed for half an hour, turned out to have no money, expected weekly terms on some £10 pliers.
Wasted 2 hours on that one, only real disaster of the week though.
KevinF
Member
The " New" shelf looks good, but I also like it mixed up abit!
Gotcha640
Well-known member
Don't give up on the consumables. If you're pulling up to the front door, the secretary or the inside sales guy or the owners son might point you to the bay door, or if you're pulling up to the bay the junior mechanics are going to come out and poke around. You might not be seeing the person who orders shop towels and floor sweep and hand cleaner and shop owned tool parts.
When I worked at Fastenal, we had a competition one summer, one guy focusing on tools, me on cleaning supplies. He did about 5k worth, mostly socket sets and some fancy Metabo screwdrivers. I sold 11k worth of blueroll and tyvek suits and latex gloves and disposable mops.
When I worked at Fastenal, we had a competition one summer, one guy focusing on tools, me on cleaning supplies. He did about 5k worth, mostly socket sets and some fancy Metabo screwdrivers. I sold 11k worth of blueroll and tyvek suits and latex gloves and disposable mops.
The " New" shelf looks good, but I also like it mixed up abit!
I've discovered, what I suppose should have been obvious, that anything at eye level or on the top shelf sells very well, especially the middle shelf as you climb in, so hope is the shelf at the front will have the same effect.
Plus I've just ordered 144 new lines so I need a bit more capacity.
nmantas
Well-known member
Any new updates on how things are going?
landrover bodger
Well-known member
its good its working out for you . i wish you were closer to me bergen and us pro stuff is great value . keep up the good work
KevinF
Member
Looks very good.. Ask the guys what do they need, and then try to find it for them. Soon you will need a bigger van. 
. [ I'am building a 40 footer ]
. Ask the guys what do they need, and then try to find it for them. Soon you will need a bigger van. . [ I'am building a 40 footer ]nmantas
Well-known member
Any updates on how things have worked out the past few months?
Iluvbeer
Well-known member
My Brother in law started a MAC tool truck a few years ago. He is very much a people person and extremely smart but failed miserably. He snd mybsister lost everything, including their new home over the deal. There is a pretty large initial investment, and then yku have to rely on your clientele to make their weekly payments which isnt always easy. Im a business owner and this is ine business I wouldnt touch with a ten foot pole!!
Worked out what best sells and a stick to that, plus have new lines every week, can get about 400 lines on the van without it looking too cluttered.
2 vans now, one for hand tools, plan for other one is bigger things like tool chests and jacks.
Hoping to get a shop, so that I can benefit from more local trade and do mail order from it - shop rents are cheap here, somewhere to keep stock too.
Website has done very little, facebook has driven pretty well all the sales.
Hard work though, and I doubt I've actually earned anything - put all the profits back into stock and trying to grow.
I have been thinking about doing this only with used tools. I already Load up the van/truck with the used tools I acquire from flea markets, FB, CL, yard sales, etc. and sell them right off the truck at local shops. I already do this as my side hustle on CL/FB/Ebay. Not sure if it would work or not and I wouldn't be doing it to survive on but just another platform. The only draw back is the cost of the vehicle/insurance/gas.
Ton ton
Well-known member
T
Those pictures look pretty neat.
dutchgray
Well-known member
Nice to hear it, online is not the place for a small business selling common hand tools, unless you had an exclusive deal on something so you could corner the market on it. Its too easy to price shop on the internet and the lazy order everything through Amazon anyway.
US pro and bergen?
Can you tell us anything about those brands? Never heard of them. What is their business model?
Bergen and US Pro are the lower end of the Chinese tools sold in the UK, ratchets, vice grips, sockets, etc. Very cheap, very durable tools. Not particularly well finished, although US Pro is nicer than Bergen. Probably similar to the lower end HF tools.
There's a wide selection on eBay UK:
us pro: Search Result | eBay
Find great deals on eBay for us pro. Shop with confidence.
www.ebay.co.uk
My favourite 1/2" ratchet is a $20 US Pro. Probably the cheapest ratchet I own, but it has taken years of abuse and is the perfect size for most 1/2 use. It's a decent design inside too, 72t and strong, unfortunately you can't buy repair kits for then (which I needed after knocking the reverse lever off while hammering it onto a locking lug nut...).
Sure, but any profit? Are you taking a decent wage home from it?
I ran a business for 5 years then made a smart business decision. I locked the doors and got a job! I could not see where I would ever come out on the deal.
Last edited:
landrover bodger
Well-known member
good to see its working for you . keep up the good work .
That little thing is your tool truck?
Around here they are medium duty 8 or 10 wheelers with ~8x20ft boxes for the "showroom"
Same. Took me 10 years though.
Do it very part time now.
Ton ton
Well-known member
Care to share a pic of the big tool trucks? Most of the tool trucks that I have seen in Virginia are 3 ft. longer than Nick j's van and maybe 6 inches wider. I have seen a bigger tool truck in Pennsylvania.
Attachments
dutchgray
Well-known member
In the UK you're only allowed a maximum 3.5 ton gross weight on a car licence (if you're old enough you were allowed to drive 7.5 ton light goods vehicles as well) so to go heavier you need the extra licence, but then if you are operating commercially you have to have a tachograph and abide by the driving hours regulations, which would really limit a tool van drivers working day, and be a load of extra paperwork and costs.
So tool vans are mostly based on large vans and they stuff as much in as they can.
3.5 tons? Interesting. My pickups weigh about that empty. ~10 tons loaded.
We are allowed up to 25,999 GVWR without a CDL.
Last edited: