Selling tools for a living

[cm2677]

Hi, I have been looking at this site for a while and it's great.

Does anyone here sell tools for a living (Snap-on, Mac, Matco, Cornwell, etc)? I have been thinking about a career change and I seen an add for selling tools for one of companies I mentioned above.

If so how do you like it and what are some of the PIA problems you have to deal with?

Thanks

 

[r6_cannibal]

If so how do you like it and what are some of the PIA problems you have to deal with?

probably people like me who wants to see everything on the truck but only end up buying one thing

in my defense, i rarely get to go inside

 

[yogitech]

Collecting weekly payments might be one your biggest problems depending how you set up your payment plans....

 

[paramudduck]

Extremely high turn over. High investment you usually end up totally over your head in debt. Unless you get a really good territory you are in trouble from the start.

If you take a territory that hasn't been serviced or has been poorly serviced you get hit with massive warranty work that ties up your money for long periods.

 

[jay50]

Sure, tool sells is OK....if you don't want to eat much or have a house to leave in....

 

[35mastr]

Been There+Done That = Dont do it.

There is a reason that those areas are avalible.

There are lots of real dead territory now that the economy has taken a fall.

Be very careful if you decide to take something like this on. It can and will destroy you current livley hood if you get a dead route.

After that there is no turning back. You will be so far in the hole that no back hoe big enough will be able to dig you out.

Tool truck sales were good on the trucks pre internet.

The internet has really taken the sales away from the distributors. People just have way to many opertunities to buy from so many different sources these days. So that really hurts the truck sales.

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Tool truck sales were good on the trucks pre internet.

The internet has really taken the sales away from the distributors. People just have way to many opertunities to buy from so many different sources these days. So that really hurts the truck sales.

I can empathize with this. I have a large tool box full of Snap On tools, and the only tools that I bought from the distributor were tools that I bought when exchanging something else to take away the "Sting" of the dealer sourced exchange.

Adam

 

[Art From De Leon]

There is at least one Matco dealer that posts here, and a few weeks ago, there was a rather comprehensive discussion, which ran into several pages, regarding the pros and cons of a man interested in becoming a tool truck dealer.

 

[daveblank]

If you take a territory that hasn't been serviced or has been poorly serviced you get hit with massive warranty work that ties up your money for long periods.

That's also the perfect time to make yourself a hero. During my 1st few weeks while the trainer was riding with me, many things got warrantied that shouldn't have. He had the authority from Matco to handle whatever he wanted. I still follow that type of mentality when I pick up a new stop.

 

[makgreens]

the matco guy near me has a huge house and seems pretty well off...i guess tool sales for him does well

 

[Hiball]

Not to sound like a retard but i would think that "Truck Credit" would be somewhat of a risky deal, and could possibly be detrimental to your bussiness. Yes, You would broaden your customers but i would think that it would get old having to track down someone and or your tools when they dont pay. Now where the retard part comes in, Im assuming that when you guys reference "truck credit" you mean that the tool guy is selling you tools on a payment plan instead of using Snap on credit or such. How many payments does it take to pay off a socket set? 2, 4 or ?. If that is not what "truck credit" Means i am a Retard. Just curious?

 

[Mike83]

the matco guy near me has a huge house and seems pretty well off...i guess tool sales for him does well

Ha ha lots of people have a huge house. What you can't see is the pile of bills inside and a note from the spouse asking how they are going to pay these?

 

[makgreens]

Ha ha lots of people have a huge house. What you can't see is the pile of bills inside and a note from the spouse asking how they are going to pay these?

true
but around where his house is there arent any large houses...a buddy of mine said his business is always going good since his got almost the whole city as his route

 

[expatriated]

Extremely high turn over. High investment you usually end up totally over your head in debt. Unless you get a really good territory you are in trouble from the start.

If you take a territory that hasn't been serviced or has been poorly serviced you get hit with massive warranty work that ties up your money for long periods.

Can anyone give a rough dollar amount for a start-up cost? Let's say you weren't going to finance it, you had the cash. What would be the ballpark for laying out the initial cash for buying a truck and the initial inventory inside the truck?

 

[daveblank]

Can anyone give a rough dollar amount for a start-up cost? Let's say you weren't going to finance it, you had the cash. What would be the ballpark for laying out the initial cash for buying a truck and the initial inventory inside the truck?

PM sent with my contact info.

 

[MotoDave]

Not from personal experience, but I found some info on the Snap-On Franchise website:

http://www1.snapon.com/franchise/investmentInformation.nws

They quote $146-282k as the initial investment cost. I have to believe that would cover buying the franchise, truck and tools to put on it.

 

[Joe Mamma]

You might find this interesting:

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1091049

Joe Mamma

 

[ps junkslinger]

My snap on and Matco dealers seem to do real well. The occasional gripes of people not paying but they seem to have pretty sweet houses and huge garages full of toys. Then again what the hell do I know, like some one aove said who knows who stacked up there bills are?.....

 

[Flathead Red]

I'm not going to say yes or no but I will tell you I have been thinking of the same thing. I was recently in Columbus, Ohio at a Goodguys show and it started to rain pretty hard. My dad and I decided to take a run over to the Snap on trucks. I talked to the guy for over an hour. He explained to me how the business works. You start out with 200 customers. No cold calling. It is an established route. You will ride with someone for a couple weeks then have a trainer ride with you for a couple weeks. This is after you go to their facility and go through the formal training. The initial cost is 15k at least. The guy I talked to recommended more but not more than 25k. The you lease your truck. It's then up to you. You can work as little or as much as you want. The guy I talked to made 8k the first month he was working. That was a couple years ago and not the norm I'm sure but the bottom line is, that it is a self motivating job. You have to want to work for it. He also explained about people that skip out on paying and so forth. It seemed pretty cool but it does take work. I am still interested so the Area manager is setting me up with a guy in my area to ride around with. We'll see but it's just my 2 cents.

Flathead Red

 

[35mastr]

Can anyone give a rough dollar amount for a start-up cost? Let's say you weren't going to finance it, you had the cash. What would be the ballpark for laying out the initial cash for buying a truck and the initial inventory inside the truck?

Depends on what you want to spend on a truck. A good used Freightliner 18" truck is in the ball park of 40k and then a minimum to just cover the shelving and not the roof would be in the 45K range. This is from expeirience and not just a bull **** quote.

 

[35mastr]

PM sent with my contact info.

Any reason you dont put the start up quotes for all to see.

 

[daveblank]

Any reason you dont put the start up quotes for all to see.

There are too many variables for me to say you need *** to start. Paying cash or finance? Method of finance?

Cash price
New truck 75k minimum used is cheaper
Inventory 60k
There will be extras like computer & supplies

 

[35mastr]

Wow,I really like to know where you are getting new trucks for 75k.

The last new truck I looked at a couple years ago thru Bush at tool fair was 112k.

It was nothing all that much different than mine except it had survalience camara inside the truck.

 

[daveblank]

Wow,I really like to know where you are getting new trucks for 75k.

The last new truck I looked at a couple years ago thru Bush at tool fair was 112k.

It was nothing all that much different than mine except it had survalience camara inside the truck.

basic starter truck at Bush, Summit, Herr & ACDV

http://www.summitbodyworks.com/docs/C5500_Cornwell.pdf
http://www.summitbodyworks.com/docs/48_State_Matco.pdf
http://www.herrdisplayvans.com/new/2007 MAC H1.pdf

 

[cm2677]

Sorry I have not gotten back sooner.

Thanks for the input. This is definetly something to re-think.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

How much are the profit margins? (Ex. buy a ratchet @ $100 sell it for $165
equals a 65% profit margin.) Also it seems that leasing a truck would minimize your monthly payment and pay for all repairs.

So a ballpark figure would be 25K for inventory if you lease a truck you probably only put down a couple grand, How much is the franchise fee? Are their any restrictions on where or how you sell your tools? Can i place an ad in the paper or on CL,EBAY?
Can i walk into an autobody shop not on my route and try to generate sales?
Are there any day or hour requirements or restrictions? Seems lucrative.

 

[Coach James]

A friend of mine had a Matco route for 3 maybe 4 years and sold it two years ago. His wife, also a friend of mine, finally told him "sell the business and get a job that makes something or I'm leaving." His route was in a pretty good size city but he was working 6 days a week on the road by 7am and home after 8pm. Then cleaning the truck and restocking.

Sundays were for doing his other paperwork. His wife did the books and hated every minute of it. She said their two best years he brought home 25k-30K. Not worth it for the number of hours he was putting in was the conclusion they both reached.

He also said that dealing with people bouncing $12 checks then the following week having to make their regular payment plus the $12 past due plus the bounced check fee got to be very old. Several times he got into physical confrontations when he went to repo a tool box someone kept missing payments on and the guy would physically attack him.

He sold the business and took a job at a faucet manufacturer.

Coach

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

bouncing $12 checks.

Coach

Doesn't the bank charge 3 times that for an overdraft fee? It makes sense to just pay the $12

 

[daveblank]

How much are the profit margins? (Ex. buy a ratchet @ $100 sell it for $165
equals a 65% profit margin.) Also it seems that leasing a truck would minimize your monthly payment and pay for all repairs.

So a ballpark figure would be 25K for inventory if you lease a truck you probably only put down a couple grand, How much is the franchise fee? Are their any restrictions on where or how you sell your tools? Can i place an ad in the paper or on CL,EBAY?
Can i walk into an autobody shop not on my route and try to generate sales?
Are there any day or hour requirements or restrictions? Seems lucrative.

Our average profit margin goal is 35%
Leasing is better
They all want more than 25k in starter inventory. It's close to 60 with us.
Matco has no franchise fee. I've heard Snappy does. I've heard Mac & Cornwell don't.
You have a protected territory that you are supposed to sell in.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

Now when you say protected area that's just from other Matco Dealers,Correct?
Not from SnapOn,Cornwell,Mac,SK you're still going to pull up at a shop and see any of these dealers already there. Correct?

 

[Chris Adams]

Now when you say protected area that's just from other Matco Dealers,Correct?
Not from SnapOn,Cornwell,Mac,SK you're still going to pull up at a shop and see any of these dealers already there. Correct?

You are kidding, right?
Matco doesn't hire thugs to 'protect' it's turf from its competition.
It means no other Matco dealer is allowed to poach on your area.

 

[daveblank]

Now when you say protected area that's just from other Matco Dealers,Correct?
Not from SnapOn,Cornwell,Mac,SK you're still going to pull up at a shop and see any of these dealers already there. Correct?

Correct on both accounts. Normally with the other distributors there is a level of professional courtesy. If they are there, don't pull in on them. In the same turn, if you are there, they won't pull in on you.

 

[Fedwrench]

As others have pointed out, today's mobile tool dealer faces previously unknown fierce competition from internet tool vendors and Ebay. With fewer shops making money, coupled with fewer techs, the market has also shrunken significantly. I also hate say this but, many of my peers have been less than straight up with our tool dealers over the years. Techs skip out on payments and leave the tool dealer holding the bag. I wouldn't recommend selling tools for a living.

 

[Garagero]

I have been buying tools for years. Anymore, I look for second hand stuff. New tools are nice, but a solid used piece does the same job for a fraction of the cost. There are exceptions to this, but with the number of online bidders I compete against on a regular basis, I have to believe that there are a lot of individuals out there like me.

Pre internet and pre economy troubles, the trucks had a captive audience. Now, you can get a hold of nice tools for cheap prices, especially from the growing out of work mechanic population which is fueling the secondary market.

I don't know from experience, but my intuition says there are better ways to own a business and make a living. I say try a niche market that you can cultivate an online reputation for. I may be wrong...

 

[bowtie3]

Our average profit margin goal is 35%
Leasing is better
They all want more than 25k in starter inventory. It's close to 60 with us.
Matco has no franchise fee. I've heard Snappy does. I've heard Mac & Cornwell don't.
You have a protected territory that you are supposed to sell in.

Couple of questions Dave, if you don't mind.

Do you have to pay for truck repairs if its leased?

Does the company end user finance program recourse to you at all?

Is it really a protected territory or just list of calls that they provide you? Meaning theoretically they could give a stop in your "area" that is not on your list to another Matco dealer.

Thanks for your time.

 

[daveblank]

Do you have to pay for truck repairs if its leased?

If it is out of warranty, yes. I don't know how all are set up, but, mine is a balloon note. At the end of 5 years I can purchase outright for 6k or walk away.

Does the company end user finance program recourse to you at all?

They have rules set in place. As long as I've done everything correctly, I'm good.

Is it really a protected territory or just list of calls that they provide you? Meaning theoretically they could give a stop in your "area" that is not on your list to another Matco dealer.

On paper it's a list of 325 customers. But, the people surveying the route miss shops & I pick them up. No other Matco distributor can sell outside their route. It can cause loss of a franchise. So, what happens to the extra shops? When I put them into my computer, an exception report gets created at Matco since they are not on my original route list. This will include name errors like "Joes Muffler & Brake" when "Joes Brake & Muffler" is on my approved route list. At that point a DM pays a visit. I have to prove that it's legit & I'm not in my neighbors route.

A good example, We had a distributor retire due to health reasons. Another distributor was taking part of his route. It took 8 months for me to get the approval to take on 4 of his old stops even though he was moving territories. There were a lot of people involved in the switch & Matco wanted to make sure there was nothing fishy going on.

 

[onecheck]

Not from personal experience, but I found some info on the Snap-On Franchise website:

http://www1.snapon.com/franchise/investmentInformation.nws

They quote $146-282k as the initial investment cost. I have to believe that would cover buying the franchise, truck and tools to put on it.

I would buy a Subway franchise for that amount and not have to track down dead beats who arent paying for the tools you gave them on truck credit. Besides once the economy improves the price of gas will be back up about $4 a gallon

 

[rhandwor]

If you have a couple hundred thousand laying around you can try it. Every tool truck driver I had the well stocked ones made a living. The poorly stocked ones all went under. The tool companies put all the exposure on you making you pay for the tools to sell on credit. Few mechanics pay cash. It takes long hours around 12hrs per day and doing inventory on weekends.

 

[Big Bad Jon]

So, can it be summed up that if you are willing to work very hard, especially at first. Then get a decent route and have a bit of luck, you can make a good living at it?

 

[Joe Mamma]

So, can it be summed up that if you are willing to work very hard, especially at first. Then get a decent route and have a bit of luck, you can make a good living at it?

My Snap-On guy borrowed some money from a relative when he started out. He worked his a$$ off for years, even got behind on his payments to Snap-On. He didn't know what he was doing wrong (and it turned out that he was doing nothing wrong), but he continued to work hard for more years. Those long days and getting up very early that someone mentioned earlier in this thread sound familiar to what he had to do.

It's sort of sad because he is a great guy, and gives great service (unlike most of the other Snap-On guys I've known). He's one of those guys that will sometimes let himself get screwed over a little to help you out, knowing that there's a chance that he will pick up a loyal customer.

Well fast forward a few more years and he's making good money, and fast forward a few more years and he's making REALLY good money. My Snap-On guy lives in an awesome house, in a great neighborhood. He's got a great family and works his own schedule. He takes off when he wants, and does whatever family or social activity he wants. People are jealous of him.

I hear some people ***** about how Snap-On guys make a lot of money off of mechanics who can barely afford to pay them. Well, I've got no problem with that. If they can do it, more power to them. The good ones had to work to get there.

I hear what the guys in this thread are saying. But I think it's like anything else in life. If you work hard, and are a decent guy to your customers (even let yourself get taken advantage of every now and then), and have the financial wherewithall to stick it out, I bet you will do very well.

I hate to sound like an a-hole, but I think alot of people don't have the long term vision and determination to make it in that business. Their "long term" is 12 months, not 12 years.

Joe Mamma