Miners Den Group In Australia Have Lost Their Minelab Dealership

[Norvic]

14 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

There are always two sides to any story

There are at least 3 sides to any story, the truth being a 3rd side but that`s more elusive than a hen with teeth. This dinosaur believes "the consensus" is rarely the truth and gossip is never, however weight in the pockets the truth if it`s that lovely yellow elusive stuff we all seek.😉

[mn90403]

What does Minelab gain by getting rid of Nenad and Miner's Den?  What is in it for them?  Can't they move on and keep what they have too?

[TheDeepseeker]

It’s painful watching people who I have held in such high regard over the years getting caught up in the cut and thrust of businesses and their associated empire building. It’s like watching Santa and an elf slugging it out in the shopping mall at Christmas time with all the kids watching. 😭

[madtuna]

I might have a browse in Finders Keepers in Kalgoorlie on my once a year or two trip into the big smoke but when you live remote 99% of what you buy is online and that’s everything not just prospecting gear.

I read a lot of comments on FB and forums where people are saying “that’s it! I’m never buying another Minelab machine again”.
When Coon cheese changed their name to Cheer the uproar was the same, but you open their fridges now and you’ll see a dirty big block of Cheer. 

When you rely on your detector for a living in remote WA there is no other option at this stage…not Algoforce, Nokta, Axiom nor QED.

Yep it’s a shame to see the end of bricks and mortar shops and people losing their jobs but it’s an on line world today for a large part of the population.
What would be an even bigger shame would be seeing a through and through Minelab promoter now touting the current crop of other detectors as the best for gold here in Australia. Not implying that is happening but let’s see.

USA detecting and geology might be a different matter.

As JP stated, 2 sides to a story. Not that I’m stating these are the reasons, but I know one dealer who got the chop, staff were continuously bagging Minelab publicly, and you’d be stupid to not think this would not get back to them. Another, well I can’t write here what I know unfortunately.

As for Nenad, a true loss there.

[Steve Herschbach]

OK, stuff happens, but when speculation devolves into taking shots at each other (post deleted) might be time to take a breather. Locked for 14 hours (and now unlocked).

[Steve Herschbach]

Minelab is a business and I am quite sure they are confident they are making the right decisions for their business. What buyers think is a good dealer may be entirely different from Minelabs perspective. I do know however from my own dealing with corporations much larger than Minelab that dealers are often seen as a needed evil, and in some industries the relationship between supplier and dealer can be near abusive. We faced constant pressure from companies to buy more product than we thought we could sell. There was always some guy back at corporate looking to make his numbers and the answer was to shove product down our throat. It's counter-productive in the long run but his job was riding on that quarterly report - who cares about next year? The threat was that if you did not take product they wanted you to take, you were not doing the job and could face cancellation or a new dealer right across the street. It's not all buddy buddy back slapping fun and these people are not your friends. Or they are - until they are not. Not being when you do not serve a purpose anymore.

In the end Minelab is doing what they think they need to do, and it may be smart or it may be dumb. Companies make stupid decisions all the time. As a person who spent his entire life running businesses I actually have little sympathy for the dealers and such also. The bottom line is that when you decide to get into business you are making a decision to swim with the sharks. It's eat or be eaten. Big companies step on small ones. People stab each other in the back. Life is not fair. If that is too much for anyone, go work for somebody else and let them deal with it. Companies come and go all the time, and in the end for most of us as purchasers it makes little real difference. This too shall pass.

[King-Of-Bling]

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Minelab is a business and I am quite sure they are confident they are making the right decisions for their business. What buyers think is a good dealer may be entirely different from Minelabs perspective. I do know however from my own dealing with corporations much larger than Minelab that dealers are often seen as a needed evil, and in some industries the relationship between supplier and dealer can be near abusive. We faced constant pressure from companies to buy more product than we thought we could sell. There was always some guy back at corporate looking to make his numbers and the answer was to shove product down our throat. It's counter-productive in the long run but his job was riding on that quarterly report - who cares about next year? The threat was that if you did not take product they wanted you to take, you were not doing the job and could face cancellation or a new dealer right across the street. It's not all buddy buddy back slapping fun and these people are not your friends. Or they are - until they are not. Not being when you do not serve a purpose anymore.

In the end Minelab is doing what they think they need to do, and it may be smart or it may be dumb. Companies make stupid decisions all the time. As a person who spent his entire life running businesses I actually have little sympathy for the dealers and such also. The bottom line is that when you decide to get into business you are making a decision to swim with the sharks. It's eat or be eaten. Big companies step on small ones. People stab each other in the back. Life is not fair. If that is too much for anyone, go work for somebody else and let them deal with it. Companies come and go all the time, and in the end for most of us as purchasers it makes little real difference. This too shall pass.

I like the History Channel shows on the people and companies who built America. Curious as you mention you've ran/managed businesses your whole life. Care to share more details ?

[Steve Herschbach]

51 minutes ago, King-Of-Bling said:

I like the History Channel shows on the people and companies who built America. Curious as you mention you've ran/managed businesses your whole life. Care to share more details ?

Started a business with a school chum and dredging buddy while still in high school. Turned into one of the largest small scale mining and metal detecting supply shops in the country. Expanded that into a general power sports (ATVs, boats, snowmobiles) business over the years, ending up being one of the largest dealers or top dealers for many product lines. For instance we were the number one dealer for Ski-Doo snowmobiles in North America, largest Keene dealer for decades. etc. Now three locations split into three sub-business, Alaska Mining & Diving Supply, Alaska Motorsports & Equipment, and Alaska Mining Superstore. Celebrating 50 years in business next year. More details if you are interested:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/21927-alaska-mining-superstore/page/3/#comment-235167

I also got regulations passed in Alaska allowing for the creation of recreational mining businesses on state mining claims, then created my own, Moore Creek Mining, LLC, while also engaging in a couple million bucks of hardrock exploration with a couple Canadian firms on the claims. Lots of stories about that on my Mining Journal pages, look for anything with Moore Creek in the title. Had my fingers in various other pies but those were the two biggies. End of the day I did ok for a dumb high school kid from Alaska. 

[geof_junk]

I like to see and feel the product. Pay with money (or gold), not pay for transaction fees and single item postage costs and losses.