DarkStar50

District AAA playoffs started today at our building. 50 teams in on the first day. By 10 AM we had an hour back up on skate sharpening. The "nervous nellies" couldn't believe it. Sorry, but you qualified 2 weeks ago, maybe you should have thought about this sooner. As a friend said, after investing $10K in your kid's season, now you wait until the last minute for a $6 sharpening and it's our fault you have to wait?!! WTF!!

We have had the same experience with posting the sign.

If we don't have skates that are going to fit right, we don't charge the fee. It is not $20 for each pair you try on.

We stopped selling upper end goalie gear a few years ago. The $ in inventory, slow sell-through, travel goalies who travel and shop out of the area, and then the internet killed that section. The deal with skates is that you have to fine tune your inventory to what has sell through. Brand X skates can't sit on your shelf, not sell, and tie up inventory $$. So Brand X better not screw up or they may not get a second chance. From my experience on both sides, as a player buying skates and someone who fits and sells skates, you buy skates because you NEED them. Your old skates no longer fit or have broken down. The decision to buy skates, unlike most every other piece of hockey equipment is based on need, not want. "I don't need a new OPS but I want one, so I'll buy it. I want new skates but don't need new skates so I won't buy them. I need new skates now." Therefore, 90% of the time customers come into the shop "ready to buy". The fitting fee actually means nothing to them. The other 10% are the customers who just want to use your time, experience, knowledge, and inventory to get fitted, go home and online to "save" $20-$40. Running a pro shop in a busy 4 rink building means helping customers at once who are ready to purchase. If a $20 fitting fee separates those who are ready to buy from those who are not, we have earned more sales through helping those ready to buy sticks, gear, accessories, sharpenings, then from those "tire-kickers" that have no interest in purchasing skates, a time consuming process for one sales guy. In the big picture, $20 isn't really a lot of money but it is amazing how to the "tire-kickers" it is.

Yes, the people who are ready to buy still come in and purchase. We take as much time with them as we always do. Quite frankly, the people who used our time, knowledge, and experience to just get fitted and then leave, we no longer see. And if we don't have a skate that fits right, we do not charge $20 for trying on the wrong skates! One more thing that needs to be said is that what works in my area may not work in your area. Every LHS location and situation is unique. They each have circumstances that set them apart. There is no general generic formula for this. That is why when guys get pissed off here about a fitting fee or whatever at their LHS, it is because that is how it is in their location, not how it is everywhere. Also, as mentioned by Sputty, every area is constantly changing. My Northern NJ locale has changed with Pure Hockey and that other mega moving in. So, what worked 2 years ago may not work now. If you can't change how you do business, you're not in business very long.

1. There is a sign stating $20 fitting fee in front of the skates. Therefore, they can both read it and we do mention it before we get started. 2. The customer will either agree or not agree to the fitting fee before we get started. That is how a fitting fee separates those who are ready to buy from those who are not. Every situation is different and experience plays a big part in how we deal in each situation. There is an intuitive feel that comes from selling skates for a long time about who is ready to buy and who is not. These experiences, as strange as they may sound from those who only shop at a LHS, are a lot different for those who have worked at a LHS.

That's exactly what we do. The fitting fee simply separates the prospects from the suspects. if this was a perfect world, customers wouldn't lie about their intentions.

If your intention is to buy hockey skates from the LHS that has a fitting fee, what are you worried about? You won't be charged the fitting fee since you are buying the skates.

this morning's phone call: Do you mount skates? What have you got? Well, I bought jackson figure skates for my daughter on the internet. I need the rest of the screws mounted. sure, we can do that. I'm not sure if I bought her the right size. If they are wrong I will have to return them. Ok, maybe you should make sure they fit before you mount the screws. Then, I want to come in and have her try on your skates to make sure I get the right size. Needless to say, it went downhill from there very fast.

Shanahan was in the shop this morning. I asked him about 24/7 and the NHL office take on it. He said Boudreau doesn't look too good with the sauce on his face!

^, time to raise the baking and first time sharpening fee in your shop.

WS, some idiot, you know who you are, pm'ed me and thought it was valid to ask if in less than 10 days before Christmas ordering a product in was ok and not an unusual request. In my world I don't make promises I can't keep. End of my rant. Stay calm and carry on.

Moving things along, I got this variation the other day on "do you rent helmets?" "do you rent hockey sticks?" "sorry, no." And also, after way too many years in retail, as we approach another Christmas and gift giving, for those customers who want to know on December 14, if we could order in that special gift and get it for them before Christmas, Christmas has come on the same day on the calendar for the last two thousand and ten years!!

Are you trying to get to 1000 posts in less than a month? When a mod says chill out on this board, he is Jesus Christ. Blink and you miss it around here.

I just got off the phone with Sergei from Moscow. He wanted to do a custom skate order over the phone. His English was limited, to say the least. I asked to talk with the person who kept giving him words in English. He put his wife on the phone. I had to explain to her that custom skates cannot be ordered over the phone. I would only do a custom skate order if Sergei came in to the shop so I could measure his foot. That was a first.

Shortening the cuff and shortening the fingers are two separate custom upcharges. Shortening the fingers a bit can make a big difference in fit and comfort. Krev did a great job creating a unique glove without the branding.

Thanks Jason. That is a very interesting real life description. Ultimately, it sounds like high risk with ???? reward. So, who wants to jump in with the investor capital and get things started?

Jason Harris may have an opinion on that.

Anybody here take Economics 101: Economies of scale?

Hypothetically, if these "rogue" vendors have lots of money to burn chasing a shrinking pool of players to sell "pirate product" to via internet or whatever, good luck to them. They must have lots of better ways to burn their money, though 'cause you and I know this is not the elitest sport to make money in! Brooklynite, Combat, Miken, Fury, TPS/Sher-Wood, Winnwell, Tackla, Montreal Hockey, just sayin'...............

As a shop buyer, I have no interest in that type of product. Players in this area want known brands, not knock-off product with unknown labels. Look how hard it is to sell a previously known brand such as Winnwell, even second tier brands such as Sher-Wood/TPS, struggle to get into a shop. When the knock-offs happen, it will be fool's gold.

As if any of this pipe dream ever has a snowball's chance in hell of happening. And hockey players are as label/brand conscious as a bunch of rich women shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. If you don't believe it, check out the 96 page thread on what pros are using just THIS season!

Well, he won't be allowed to jump the line when he needs his skates sharpened in a rush, will he? How far is it to St. Louis? 'Cause if he has a problem with the skates..................

Take his credit card number before ordering. It's a special order, you are married to it. NOTE: if it is an item you do not normally stock. Same thing happened to me. Guy orders size 230 RBK steel. I don't get his CC #. I call him when the steel comes in. "OH, we bought new skates. I don't need the steel anymore." Any questions? And size 230 RBK steel is not something that will check out soon.