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RPL	The two recent Maisto group purchases are posted in the merchandise area. It seems that a lot of members never get beyond the general topics area. I don't want anyone that ordered purple or yellow cars to miss out. I have 23 unpaid cases as of today. Everyone that ordered has received a payment notice and a follow up reminder. Any cases unpaid by June 1st will be offered for sale. A few people have indicated that they are interested and I will rotate through them based upon when they expressed an interest. The orange cars are ordered after a very long delay. Maisto is advising an August first estimated delivery date. If they do arrive before Dream Cruise I will allow anyone attending the opportunity to pickup their cars at our house for the pickup price if they'd like. If anyone is interested in orange cars, I have one unsold case plus 9 cases from CJ's order and 9 from Gary C's order that are available.
Stray Cat	Outstanding Bob, Thanks ! Let me know if I should pay you now or wait till the Dreamcruise etc. Sincerely, John ------------------ 2001 Orange, Mopar Exhaust, MTD Intake, Front and Rear Mud Flaps, Chrome Shimmers, Orange Prowler Logo Valve Caps, Ceramic Brake Pads, Prowleronline.com License Bracket, Eric Wolf Chrome Trans Cover, Mopar Hitch and Trailer.
RPL	Stray Cat, I'm assuming you are referring to paying for the orange cars. I will send out a request for payment when I know that the cars are in transit. Until then, no payment is due. With some luck, which I could use, the orange cars should arrive before Dream Cruise. If they do, I will offer the option of picking up ordered cars at my house during the event. This will save shipping. The FedEx charges, which was the least expensive way to ship this round of cars, went up unexpectedly based on fuel prices from January when I priced the cars until last week when I shipped them. I have a number of cases of purple and yellow cars which remain unpaid. I will send out the third and final payment reminder. On June 1st they go back on sale. If you're interested, please let me know. I have a few people that have expressed what they would like. As it stands now, I look to lose money on this transaction so I have to make sure everything is cleared. I will be forced to take a hard look at the pricing on the orange cars. One thing that would help is if I can sell nine of the fifteen cases of orange that I ordered for CJ. That will reduce my potential out-of-pocket cost. Between Maisto continuing to raise their prices and the low cost shipper raising prices, the risk from when I accept orders until they are delivered may drive me out of this providing this courtesy.
Dale Beaman	Bob, I know what you are doing for us is a risk and lots of work. Thanks for all you and CJ do to add to the Prowler experience. Dale
galaxie	Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.
Pantera	Bob, I would take a box of purples.....
Mike Downey	I agree. If FedEx added a fuel surcharge then Bob should not have to eat this unexpected increase in shipping charges. Let us know what the additional costs are per case. quote: Originally posted by galaxie: Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.
BeWare	quote: Originally posted by galaxie: Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO. I'm with you. Bob, I will be mailing you a check to help cover the extra expenses. This message has been edited by BeWare on 05-24-2007 at 03:32 PM
MDProwler	quote: Originally posted by galaxie: Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.
Dave Mills	If there is a shortfall, I am willing to chip in. This message has been edited by Dave Mills on 05-24-2007 at 05:11 PM
SirReal	Galaxie I agree with you. Bob if there is a loss please post it and allow us to sign up to cover the loss. The amount lost can be divided up by the signees to cover it. Thank You for all of your efforts on this project.
RPL	Thanks for the thoughts. I'll see exactly where I shake out when the last twenty or so cases are paid for. There is pricing pressure everywhere. The first purchase was the dark blue cars about 18 months ago. Maisto's pricing increasing since then to the orange cars is up 44%. The case price has risen only 21% from $55 to $66.50. We saved money when most people paid via check avoiding PayPal fees, more work but a cost savings. There was a further savings moving from US Priority Mail to FedEx Ground but handling tripled. Heck the postage was generated along with the shipping label on my computer and the Post Office sent a truck and people out to pick the load up from the house. When I priced the purple and yellow cars in January I was embarrassed that Maisto had raised their price 23% from the previous order. Assuming savings from receiving mostly checks and switching to FedEx Ground, I was able to hold the pricing to $62. Even at that, I had to go to $66.50 for the orange because Maisto demanded another 9% over the purple and yellow order. After I receive final payment for the purple and yellow cars, I'll be force to reevaluate the final pricing on the orange cars. I'll have the facts from this round of shipping. One redeeming opportunity would be if Maisto actual meets its estimated arrival date of August 1st. Then anyone coming to Woodward that has room could elect to pick up their cars avoiding the shipping costs altogether. Next year the thought was to continue cycling through the Prowler colors. That would be 70 cases each of Prowler Red, Prowler Silver and Prowler Black. Costs may well end this.
TLRandall	I had 5 cases, let me know what the additional shipping costs are, and I will gladly send it to you. I in no way ever expect anyone to loose money on this, and even with the increase, will still be interested in next years order, and will continue until we have replicated all of the Prowler colors that were available. Thanks Bob for doing this. ------------------ 1997 Purple Prowler Go-Cart and Trailer 1999 Purple Prowler and Trailer 2000 Yellow Prowler Trailer 2001 Mulholland Edition Prowler and Trailer 2004 Ford F-150 FX-4 and Trailer 2006 Vintage Outlaw 48' Enclosed Trailer
RPL	I don't expect anyone to bail me out. Just grumbling about the recent cost pressures. I've never gone into any of the activities supporting Prowler owners with the intention of making money. Whether it was sharing the soft goods left over from Mopar getting out of that business, the trailer parts from the supplier closing down his facility, the literature early on that DCX shared, the car bags or the giveaway cars. I work hard to try to keep the delivered cost as low as possible. The problem with the Maisto cars is that they don't typically produce a quantity of the same cars in the same color and package them in a single case. The vast majority of their business is mixed cars in various colors produced when they want and then sold to merchandisers in mixed cases. Our cars are special orders that have to be built after they procure the appropriate paint, packaged with our stickers, boxed, containerized, shipped to Long Beach, the container broken down, pallets built up and shipped to Detroit. It all takes time. Despite the FedEx Ground increase from January, it would have been much worse had I continued using US Mail as I had in prior shipments. That would have killed me. Talk to anyone that has hosted one of the larger events. Ever see one of them make money? The object is to minimize cash out of pocket. If you've ever attended one of CJ's events, you'll remember the event book, name tags and etc. What has she ever charged? The cost for the last night's dinner. Figure out what these have cost me. I don't mind doing the Maisto group purchases. I've got it down to a manageable process. The most difficult and time consuming part is multiple follow ups required to obtain shipping addresses, coordinating screen names with real names, second and third payment notices. I appreciate it every time a check comes in promptly with the name, screen name and shipping address. People change their minds and circumstances change is the five months from posting a group purchase until the cars actually arrive. I understand that. I appreciate it when someone simply lets me know that they don't want the cars or changed their mind. I can resell them to people that realize that they had not ordered any, ordered enough or new owners. Worst case, I may have to adjust the delivered price for the orange cars based on my average shipping cost on the purple and yellow cars. I'm still surprised that a number of people that have orange cars or expressed an interest in orange haven't ordered.
Steven R. Gary	Bob, when shipping the Orange just let me know your cost and the check will be in the mail. Again Thanks for everything you do for the group.
galaxie	Bob, I hope you didn't take what I said in my post the wrong way. It's not a question of bailing someone out if he or she looses money doing a service for the P.O.A. It's the question of doing the right thing. If your costs go up, for whatever reason, it should be passed on to all concerned. I know you probally get tired of hearing this, but we all DO appreciate what you & C.J. do for us.
RPL	galaxie, I don't take offence to many things. I just like people to understand the reality of these things. Cj and I do these things because we like the Prowler owners. We've made friends with great people that we would have otherwise never had the pleasure of meeting let alone making friends. We turn up all over the country and typically meet with people at out destination. If I don't call people when I travel, I feel guilty like I'm sneaking in and out of town. LOL!
kat hunter	If you need additional $ on the yellow and purple cars due to shipping costs just let us know per case price and I believe you will find the checks in the mail. We appreciate all the work you put into the diecast project and everything else you do for the owners. You do not need to be losing money providing this service.
DETECTIVE ON THE PROWL	....I WOULD LIKE TO GET ON THE INTEREST LIST FOR (1)PURPLE AND (1) YELLOW...PLEASE LET ME KNOW...ALSO POSTED IN COLLECTIBLES.. THANKS BARRY
TooHipCat	quote: Originally posted by kat hunter: If you need additional $ on the yellow and purple cars due to shipping costs just let us know per case price and I believe you will find the checks in the mail. We appreciate all the work you put into the diecast project and everything else you do for the owners. You do not need to be losing money providing this service.