Morris Minor Owners Club

I'll third that - pride of the tool kit is the halfords snap on looylikey ratchets:-) spanners great too although unfortunately dont have many. Would have more if lived near a halfords.
Aren't they guaranteed for life?

ill fourth that! one of the few things they are good at,though not up to the torque needed to do a cylinder head lol!

My Halfords AF sockets have done a good job at torquing up A series heads!

the little adaptor to change between 1/2 and 1/4 size holes dont last tho,turned to cheese,fortunately i had a larger socket.

Collectively if the demand is there we need to work together to get these products to market at a realistic price.

What have you in mind?

Les, what I mean is if the demand is there then we can look at investing in bulk to reduce costs and pass on to the customer.

Lets face it nearly 200 people have clocked this thread and only a few companies have been mentioned as suppling the type of tools people are looking for. It would seem they have cornered the market and collectively if club members shout about what they need then with confidence I have good research to work with.

Paul,
think what you have to consider is whats the capital outlay to buy in bulk & what is your potential return to a limited market over an estimated storage and rotation of that stock. Investing in bulk then passing on that saving is cutting your potential profit - and when your sat on expensive stock that doesnt move quickly that profit margin is there for good reason.
Not raining on your parade but a few frank points... because i'm the last person to knock a potential idea someone has before its rolling but..

200+ hits on this thread means diddly - seriously ive had things on ebay with more watchers than that but never sold even though they were a good deal.

How big is the potential market here? you should conduct a poll on here really with the appropriate questions, most of us I'm sure would love to have a fancy tool chest filled with good but expensive tools, but the plain fact is unless your loaded & you happen to be a real enthusiast your not in the market.
E.G. i'd rather in the name of economy (no matter how false it is) buy a budget (but not complete rubbish) set of sockets or spanners for the cost of 1 really decent expensive one - if one breaks I buy another whole set. If i want to go upmarket it would be the halfords gear because thats as far as my budget could stretch.

Do you have any idea what a basic line of stock would cost? I cant help but think that the average snap on van has well over 50k of stock on board and thats nowhere near the range they can supply to order and not carrying many of each item.

Shame you cant get hold of a few tasty items and have a go with them on ebay - stick with that for a couple of months and you'll certainly get a feel for potential market.
Word of cation there though a lot of suppliers will show you the door if you tell them you want to sell on ebay - several reasons, but some dont like to be associated with it and others are bound by franchises for regions so youd be stepping on the toes of their official distributors etc.

Just cant help looking at your idea and seeing £££££'s and lots of them just to carry a stock - because pretty much gone are the days of sale or return - and certainly credit accounts for new business at any sensible level.
If you walked into a bank with a new business proposition let alone requesting funding they will want some pretty detailed market research.
How far have you trawled the web to see if anyone is doing something similar both via google & ebay?

Anyway just my two penneth and food for thought

I bought a cheap socket set once. I keep meaning to replace it and have been intending to do so since 1976.
If you see what I'm getting at - although we all like quality tools we don't stump up the money to buy them.

Just a thought.

RogerRust wrote:...... - although we all like quality tools we don't stump up the money to buy them.

Could this also be applied to parts Roger

now thats a different story I'm older now and wiser!

Thank you for the great feedback, It's interesting to see others point of view.

This venture is still in the early stages and this forum is contributing to the overall research needed to establish the complex market.

Whilst there is positive and negative here, each is just as important to us to help guide the process

ALL POINTS raised will be taken on board, which is why I am gratful for everyones time in responding.

I will keep you all informed as we progress (Good or bad)

Thank you

Paul.....

RogerRust wrote:now thats a different story I'm older now and wiser!

Unfortunately though I think you could be in the minority. We all want cheap parts. but then these out of necessity come at a cost