could some one shed some light on this

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 4:02 am

i'm a little confused . this is not a sob story but the only way to find out is to ask. as you all know i build pac-seats. in my mind i build a good product. now i've been on the forum a few months now and i've never sold any in the united states, or from this forum.in canada they sell great. so heres my question why haven't i sold any. it's it because there not made in the usa, it can't be the price because i'm the lowest out there.it can't be that there not strong enough because we've tested them behind a car at 30 mph and i couldn't get it to break. and the warranty is one of the best ...i'm not tring to sell anything because of this thread . i would just like to know why i can't seam to sell any in the usa...could some please shed some light on this

thanks
wayne
c/o out west pac-seats[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 02 July 2002 at 05:05 AM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 2 Jul 2002 4:41 am

Wayne, are you buying booth space and exhibiting at steel shows on a regular basis? Are you running ads in places steel players look, e.g., the PSGA Newsletter? Is anyone else doing distribution for you? For instance, if Scotty carries them, he'll recommend them to players looking for a seat, etc.

I can, of course, only speak for myself but, personally, I have never seen your product, or even a photo of it. I have heard of the name of your product, but only thru the Forum, I believe, and only just vaguely. So, at least in my case, if I were in the market for a new steel seat, I'd probably bypass yours just because I know nothing about it!

Hope this is a little helpful.
Best wishes,
Jimbeaux

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 2 Jul 2002 4:43 am

What Jim said!!!!

------------------
Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney tuning.

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 4:44 am

thanks jim for being candid

wayne

George McLellan · Post by **George McLellan** » 2 Jul 2002 4:46 am

Wayne, I can't speak for anyone else, but if I didn't already have two (I sold R D my third one) I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one of yours. I saw it in Winnipeg last April, and I think your product is as good or better than anything else on the market.

I know it's a long way from Calgary to St. Louis & Dallas, but I think that's where you'd get more exposure - or an ad in the Pedal Steel Guitar Assc news letter with a picture. I think there are still a lot of steelers out there that don't have internet.

Just my 2¢

------------------
SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 4:48 am

thanks george can anybody tell me how to get this newsletter???????? is it online

thanks wayne

George McLellan · Post by **George McLellan** » 2 Jul 2002 4:50 am

Wayne, looks like Jerry and Jim were posting at the same time I was, sorry, I didn't mean to duplicate.

Wayne, I'll e-mail you the address for the PSGA.

------------------
SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo

[This message was edited by George Mc Lellan on 02 July 2002 at 05:54 AM.]

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 2 Jul 2002 5:01 am

The newsletter info is at http://www.psga.org

It's snail-mailed. I subscribe, $25/yr.

What happened to that promo you ran here, offering a seat for the best story?

If you gave a seat away you didn't publicize it well.

Best regards,
-j0ey-

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 5:07 am

thanks joey i did anounce the winner and he hasn't come forward to claim it...by the way you were a very close 2nd...your story was brain dead I LIKE IT
P/S i just emailed him again..his name is kenny yates

thanks
wayne[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 02 July 2002 at 06:21 AM.]

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 2 Jul 2002 6:27 am

Hi Wayne, Could it be that taxes and duty are a big problem when shipping to the states. For me it's a BIG problem when ordering something from the USA. Exchange, brokerage fees, sales tax etc, but I would think that the Americans would be the big winners, just with the exchange rate.

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 2 Jul 2002 7:37 am

we've tested them behind a car at 30 mph and i couldn't get it to break

Wayne, I hope you took a video of that!

Only thing I can contribute to the serious side of this post: Didn't NAFTA make it easier for trade between the US and Canada, or was that just smoke and mirrors? I'm not trying to drive this in a political direction, just curious.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 2 Jul 2002 8:38 am

My guesses:
<ol>[*]There's a lot of competition in the US
[*]Nobody has seen your product at shows
[*]People don't buy new seats every day
[*]The market is very small to start with[/list]

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 2 Jul 2002 8:42 am

Got a website?

:>)

Drew Howard

------------------
www.newslinkassociates.com
www.drewhoward.com

Larry Clark · Post by **Larry Clark** » 2 Jul 2002 8:47 am

Wayne,some photos on your website would be a real help. It's kind of hard to get too excited about purchasing something you can't see.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 2 Jul 2002 9:01 am

Wayne does have a web site and there are pictures on it. Maybe that's the problem, people aren't finding the pictures.

My suggestion would be to post this URL to link to your seats instead of just linking to your main page: http://www.outwestpacseat.ca/Pac-Seats.htm

Bob Mainwaring · Post by **Bob Mainwaring** » 2 Jul 2002 3:07 pm

Hi there Wayne,
I know it's hard to sell a product no matter how good it might be - I know, as I've been trying to push my British Motorcycle Spare Parts Business for these last 4/5 years.

I found out like the guys have said, get your product to a show or any other gathering interested in steel guitars, and let them sit on one for a while and get used to the feel of it.
Another thing is to offer a catalogue (Catalog or Dogalog) by mail with just the cost of the stamps - this is also good exposure as this way a person can get an idea where they're heading; addresses can be kept on hand for future insertions of catalogue name entries.
Another idea is like we mentioned a while back, and offer the various seats in "kit form" as a lot of guys like to think they did it all themselves and a little of them are built into it.

Maybe also sell kits for legs, hinges, covers, foam, rubbers etc etc....a nice touch would be to get cast up - a name plate out of polished alumimum that could be screwed on the front panel.

Good luck "T"

Bob Mainwaring. Z.Bs. and other weird things.

------------------

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 3:32 pm

thanks guys i will look at my site to see how to make it easyer to navigate...and bob m. i will list the kits as they are avilable and we do sell the legs and parts and such..as for the shows i won't be able to make it there this year ...BUT...I WILL BE AT TEXAS AND ST LOUIS NEXT YEAR unless i'm in a pine box.... as for duty it should be easyer to get stuff into the states ... does anybody happen to know the duty on $185.00 us...thanks for all your help and i will look into all of this
thanks
wayne[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 02 July 2002 at 04:36 PM.]

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 2 Jul 2002 3:55 pm

does anybody happen to know the duty on $185.00

I think there are taxes and duties and forms to fill out, but I don't really know. Providing a "delivered" price (and taking care of the paperwork) might generate more interest.[This message was edited by Michael Holland on 02 July 2002 at 05:04 PM.]

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 2 Jul 2002 4:17 pm

Like Bobby Lee said, the market is very small. And not all steel players use them.

I have a GFI Pac A Seat that i'm very happy with. When I bought it, it had the screw on legs which I didn't like. I called Gene Fields and he said send it to me and i'll put on the folding type at no charge. I told him I felt I could put them on so he sent them to me at no charge and i like them just fine.

What i'm saying is someone is going to have to have one heck of a better seat and price for me to even think about changing seat brands. So after you've been in to steels and related items for 150 years like Gene has...maybe the sales will come.

Bob.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 2 Jul 2002 6:24 pm

you know, this is one item that doesn't need replacing very often.Everybody needs three or four guitars, a dozen amps, effects out the wazoo.....and one seat. I'm curious about something, y'all be honest, now. Does it seem like seats just cost too doggone much? No offense, Wayne, I'm not taking a shot at you. Please don't take it personal. But a seat is pretty much a box on legs! I'd love to have on of them fancy jobs, with leather upholstery, cup holders, headphone jack....But I live in a trailer, and I'll be doggone if the best piece of furniture in the place is gonna be a steel guitar stool. Like I said, Wayne, no offense intended. But a moderately priced used seat sells faster than a 100.00 Profex!

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 6:41 pm

true about the cost but it should be known that it takes a min of 3 to 4 weeks to build one it's very labor intencive

thanks
wayne

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 2 Jul 2002 6:43 pm

thanks for all your help guys i will do my best to rectify this and strive to do better

b0b please close this thread as i got all the advice i need to work on
thanks
wayne