Changes At Garrett?

[Jim McCulloch]

I just got a message from my Garrett distributor, American Detector Distributors, that they are no longer a Garrett distributor. Does anyone know what happened? 

[GotAU?]

Hey Jim, and happy new year! Sorry to hear this, perhaps they’re not happy with Garrett selling online and having so many holiday sales that undercut the dealers? Minelab online direct sales probably have done this as well.

Times are a changing, but it’s good that there’s still gold in the ground to be had! 

[phrunt]

Like most major brands selling direct is the way of the future, having a US distributor seems crazy when they can do that themselves.  It's a competitive market now with a race to the bottom for pricing to remain competitive, having all these extra hands out to get some money just doesn't make sense.

[Gerry in Idaho]

Jim,  Good to hear from you old buddy.

Yes it's true. I spoke with American Detector Distributor a few weeks back and he informed me of them not going to sign the new 2026 agreement.  As mentioned, the changing of times and is tough for us old birds (dealers for 30+ yrs).

Luckily, guys like you and I are no longer needing to bust our butts to make a sale.  Heck, just trying to match all the back door dealer offers the manufacture turn a cheek to, is tough enough.

Notice, I'm not chasing sales anymore.  Like you in times past, we offer a price & great customer service.

No worries, it's what it is.

At our age in life, making memories is more important and fun anyways.

Hope to see you down the road some time again.

Happy Hunting.

Gerry.

 

[GotAU?]

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

Like most major brands selling direct is the way of the future, having a US distributor seems crazy when they can do that themselves.  It's a competitive market now with a race to the bottom for pricing to remain competitive, having all these extra hands out to get some money just doesn't make sense.

It’s pretty sad, Simon. Jim is one of those dealers that will spend his personal time with you for training. He spent the afternoon with me when I bought my 24K, and his wife even brought us cookies!

[phrunt]

51 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

It’s pretty sad, Simon. Jim is one of those dealers that will spend his personal time with you for training. He spent the afternoon with me when I bought my 24K, and his wife even brought us cookies!

Yea, a sign of the times in the industry, sadly the best dealers are dumped in a second by the manufacturers when they're no longer needed, we've seen some of this going on with Minelab.

As soon as a manufacturer starts selling directly it's time to worry for its dealers.

By cutting out the distributor can dealers still buy direct from Garrett and continue to sell? That would be ideal.

 

[snakejim]

14 hours ago, phrunt said:

Yea, a sign of the times in the industry, sadly the best dealers are dumped in a second by the manufacturers when they're no longer needed, we've seen some of this going on with Minelab.

As soon as a manufacturer starts selling directly it's time to worry for its dealers.

By cutting out the distributor can dealers still buy direct from Garrett and continue to sell? That would be ideal.

 

I was a Garrett dealer years ago and bought direct from them. The other day I called GARRETT out of curiosity and asked if could become a dealer again and they told me no. They said to contact  https://www.outdoorout.com/  if I wanted to be a dealer.

[mn90403]

The 'franchise' model of product marketing is broken.  Amazon became the master distributor in many cases bypassing mom and pop stores and making people scramble for a new living.  You had to go online or get out of the business.

Customers are now the king being able to be influenced, directed and discounted into channels which don't include hands on training.  We are able to cut, slash and shop for the thinnest margins available and cut ol Jim and Jerry out of our purchases.  Our loyalties have been broken in many cases.

Just like shopping for much larger purchases like cars.  You can cut out some of the 'middle' by using a broker or using some internet services.  That is big buck savings if you go for it.  But as Jerry says, what about the service?

Gerry and Jim and many others have stellar reputations and will help put something in your poke other than a detector.  Let's hope that they are available to us in the future for a 'training fee' after we save all of that money on our direct buy detector.

The thought just came to me that I have never bought a detector via a direct purchase.  I've gotten all of my detectors from a dealer.  Has anyone here bought direct and how much did you save?

[phrunt]

My nearest dealer is many hours drive away and being so small means stock levels aren't what you would want and a lot of the time the product you want isn't in stock anyway, some close by big box type stores carry low end Minelab models, I buy wherever is cheapest as for an internet purchase nothing else matters, the manufacturer handles the warranty, sometimes that means internationally like Australia so I guess it's why I don't have the same feelings for dealers as those in the US that are lucky enough to live nearby one of the good ones.  I'd love to be able to stumble into a shop and look at the gear and work out what I want to buy, although I'd always come away with too much.  

I know with an extremely limited market, no way would a shop survive around here.