5 day detail - Ocean Blue 993 Turbo...

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dengelson

New member
Over the last several months I've been collecting MF towels and frankly I'm glad I didn't start off buying 50 of them because the prices have been dropping precipitously. Nick just found some in a grocery store for $3.50 each. Today I found Viper MF towels in my local autoparts store for $16 a 3 pack that's just 5 bucks and change each, when I first started looking at MF towels they were all over $10 a piece.



What is the future for MF? Will they become a common household item seen at every checkout stand? How much lower do you think the prices will go?
 
We have stopped bringing them in from the mill we use at this time.



The prices are dropping as you noted, but our mill doesn't want to drop our price, even buying them 5 to 10 thousand at a time.



This would leave us with an inventory we could not move due to being overpriced in the market place.



We feel that in 3 to 6 months the retail on a 16x16 may be as low as a buck fifty and the largers will be sold in quanity for around $2.75 each or a bit low even.



This is what happens, just look at the price of DVD players one year ago, 27 inch TV's 3 years ago, etc.



Ketch

:eek:
 
The prices are dropping for many microfiber towels. However, CMA's towels really haven't dropped in two years. I hope that they do come down a bit. Laters
 
Since neatitems MF's are so cheap in group buy , I see no reason to buy anymore Miracle Towels at 5 times the price considering how close they are in performance. The law of diminishing returns applies here.
 
They sell Turtle Wax microfiber 16x16 towels for 2.99 at a couple of Meijer department stores by me. They are very plush and last through many washings. They are not listed on their website yet for some reason. No linting either.
 
We all like bargains. I learned my lesson (in general) when I bought my BMW. I went to dealer X over Y to save 800 bucks. Well, the service has been terrible, the ordering process, updating of information and and delivery was painful, They tried to rip me off on accessories and over inflate installation time for items by more than 400%, and they even washed my car and swirled it up after I told them not too. Granted that MF towels or detailing products in general dont cost thousands of dollars, sometimes we have to look at the whole picture. I have had some frustrating experiences in the past ordering stuff on the net. I got burned before on some items, either not shipping, taking 6 weeks to arrive, or getting stuck with a product I didn't want in the first place with no return policy. Anyhow, I once questioned the pricing of some products that CMA carried, and DAVID B responded back to me. After dealing directly with them I must say he is right on the money. Something to definately consider when buying ANY products, especially over the internet.



Here is a portion of his post back to me..........

"......In any industry, when the profit margin drops below a reasonable level, there is only one place to make up the difference: Customer Service. I tried to buy from Automotive Supermart two years ago and had a terrible experience. They refused to deliver my order because they said the pricing was wrong.



As a national distributor for more than a dozen product lines, CMA cannot discount those products. This would be direct competion to their retailers. Instead, they give us the best possible service. I've never had a complaint from anyone buying from CMA that was not immediately resolved, without hesitation. They take our calls 7 days a week at any time of day. The service is beyond excellent. I get plenty of complaints about retailers and other manufacturers from people who ask for help or just want us to know. ......"



Anyhow, I hope everyone will consider the "big picture" when making future purchases on the net. Sometimes it is worth an extra few bucks to do without the hassles.
 
The adage "you get what you pay for" is alive in well.



That's not to say that you should overpay, but David's points are true. As economies of scale continue to grow, you're going to find fewer and fewer local retailers and more and more national chains. You may think, "this is a good thing." But nothing could be further from the truth.



A local retailer has to face you in public each day. If he burns you, he can be sure that all your friends will know within a day or so. He just lost 10 or 20 customers (or potential customers). If he continues to not care about the customer, he'll soon see his market dry up.



National chains will not try as hard, because the employees are not there to improve the community, but pretty much just for a paycheck. Their "I don't care" attitude is transferred to the customer and the customers are left wondering if they have been treated fairly.



This is not to say that all national chains (or their employees) are bad, far from the truth; but I've found that local stores seem to "care more" as their life depends upon having you as a loyal customer.



That premise seems to have disappeared as mega-stores and large chains have prolifereated.



An interesting thought.
 
I see your point DK, but if your BMW were 5 TIMES the cost at the place with Superb Service, I still doubt you would have gone to them for the purchase. In your case, the price difference was a couple percent. I'd pay a couple percent more for good service, no matter what the product. I dont like paying 500% more.
 
Point taken DK. But RH has a point as well. Service is a part of the equation, but if the product is highly overpriced most people will sacrafice service for the cheaper price. I like Miracle/Magic towels, but there are towels available that I like just as well for much less $$$
 
I don't think my MF towels are going tp need any service from the vendor after the sale.



I guess if the item does not require maintenance by the vendor then its not really an issue who I buy it from.
 
There are towels that I would easily pay $10 for, they just haven't hit the market yet. And when they do, they'll be worth spending the extra money for it. The okay towels will stay at okay prices and go even lower as retailers everywhere will buy into the market but the exceptional ones will keep their prices relatively up cause less over the counter places will offer them and they will be downright better, IMO.
 
I would prefer that MF prices stayed high if it meant there was a lot less chance that vendors would start compromising on quality and service. I think customer support on MF issues is very important. Just look at what the efforts of YoSteve did for us when the MT brand of MFs started linting on us. These are towels that are easily going to be spending more time in contact with our cars than any other detailing tool (except a car cover...hehe). So call me a fool if you wish :rolleyes: , but I'd be willing to pay top dollar for the best quality and service. :cool:
 
One more thing, I would cry if I saw some guy removing Turtle Wax haze with a dirty neglected dropped poor $2 Magic Towel (and doing all that other stuff, like washing it with cotton or using it to apply tire dressing or something) If they hit the mass market, that much, horror scenes like this will be seen around the world :(
 
I'd have to agree with Showroom. I've had wonderful experiences with Tim at TACS and Steve at his website as well as at Neatitems. Great towels at great prices. If you get the same towel or a better valued towel at a better price and equal service, then its tough to pass up any savings that you can make buy buying it cheaper. I have bought a few dozen CMA towels in the past though. Their older towels were the BEST. Trust me. You would never use another towel after using one of those older ones. I'm sure a few of the old timers here can relate. Laters
 
I have to agree with Don. I bough my MF towels from CMA almost 9 months ago and I just love them. I will have a hard time moving to another vendor unless I can guarantee that I can have the same or better quality and service. Frankly, if there was ever a problem with a CMA towel, I think the only other vendor that I'd consider would be Steve or Tim.
 
The prices at CMA are not the best ,BUT they carry only quality. You don't have to worry. I got a wash mit from CMA for 14.95 and then bought one from Rightlook for 9.95 , the CMA is 2X as plush, Rightlook looks like it going bald. You are not going to get burnt at CMA.
 
Plus CMA stands behind their stuff 110% (not that I've ever needed to take advantage of that).

They also take really good care packing stuff, taping bottle caps, and arranging things so that they don't shift around during shipping. The only other place that I've seen do that is Griot's Garage, but you also pay more with them (generally speaking).

As was said before, you get what you pay for (and then some).
 
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