Dillon @ Midway USA

[SCV]

Why does Dillon not sell its products to people like Midway USA ? I asked Larry P the owner of Midway that question. His answer was he would love to as he admires Dillon's great products. He went on to state Dillon had not got togther with him yet... All of this was Via Email..

So my question is why not? If not the presses why not other some other small stuff such as Cal Conv's Die's ect?

Edited January 2, 2010 by SCV

[FLG8R]

Not sure as to the answer, but a suggestion. Others carry Dillon products, namely Brian Enos. This forum has been such a tremendous resource over the years, that when it came time to purchase my Dillon 650, I had no hesitation about getting it from Brian, and the caliber conversions that followed. Prices aren't too bad either!

Happy New Year

Edited January 2, 2010 by FLG8R

[Joe4d]

Dillon has it's own online and catalog sales, why would it need to sell to a middleman ?

[SCV]

I agree with you Brian Enos is great and All my future purchases will be from him... Although my reason for asking this question is there are other people who sell Dillon stuff besides BE. Why does Dillon not include Midway USA in those other dealers the carry Dillon Products? Larry P donates millions to the NRA ect. The name recognition could only help Dillon.

Example of other Dillon Dealers.>>>

http://www.eguns.com/old_index.html

http://shooters-supply.net/Reloading.html

http://www.grafs.com/vendor/280

Edited January 2, 2010 by SCV

[rr4406pak]

Dillon has it's own online and catalog sales, why would it need to sell to a middleman ?

I'm thinking it would be a good option for Dillon.

Think of all the additional advertising they'd get being associated with Midway.

[Foxbat]

No sense in guessing... we should simply presume the gears of the two companies did not mesh for some reasons... happens all the time. I have been involved in distribution chain decisions enough times to know how nonlinear the process can be. It is also rarely final.

[NoSteel]

Personally, I do not care a lot for Midway's customer service. In the end this may actually be looked at as bad service from Dillon. I like it the way it is now. Quality products offered by quality vendors who know Dillon's commitment to customer service and use that as a selling point. I'm not sure Midway would be able to price point much lower than our current suppliers. My 2 cents.

Edited January 2, 2010 by NoSteel

[Hairtrigger]

I am guessing that dillon won't discount thier product enough to Midway. Margin needs to be good to have inventory like Midway does.

[rick t]

Midway just might be the Wal-Mart of reloading supplies! Could be Dillon has a good reputation and doesn't want to ruin it by manufacturing a economy grade of equipment like Remington and others did for Wal-Mart. Well Mike D. did I hit the nail on the head?

[kmitchl]

I had several less than satisfactory customer service experiences with Midway so I no longer do business with them. Grafs and Brownells meet all of my needs and have excellent customer service.

[Sarge]

Always had good CS with Midway. RCBS and all the others who are sold there don't "Walmart Grade" their stuff for Midway. Dillon does set there prices though. I see some of their stuff in gunshops occasionally which are notorious for having high prices and the Dillon stuff is the same price as factory or BE etc.

[raz-0]

Dillon deals with resellers way differently than the brands midway carries. They deal with inventory and returns differently, as well as having some hard-line MAP policies. I think that's about all there is to it.

[laportecharlie]

I used to buy a lot of stuff from Midway but over the years their prices have become less competitive and their shipping costs are absurd. I don't think Dillon needs them.

Charlie

[boz1911]

I used to buy a lot of stuff from Midway but over the years their prices have become less competitive and their shipping costs are absurd. I don't think Dillon needs them.

Charlie

Haven't done this in a long time but a big plus one.........Buying Dillon from Brian or Dillon is all we need.

[Hairtrigger]

It's not just Midway, Graffs, Natchez, Midsouth.... all carry other brands. It seems Dillon is missing out on some great posibilities

[Pezco]

The reason is likely a 25 -30% reduction in margin dollars.

[LPatterson]

Has anyone considered that the reloading dollar portion of Dillon's sales are very small compared to his real business. Maybe he is more concerned with name recognition for a great product than how many other places carry his product. I have no idea of his sales policy but when I get a box from Dillon it is not marked made in China as a lot of Midway products are.

When you buy something from Midway and it breaks then Midway wants to have it back so they can see how you abused (their words) it before sending it back to the manufacturer. If a Dillon product breaks, a phone call usually has a replacement part in the mail then.

[Ken8521]

It's not just Midway, Graffs, Natchez, Midsouth.... all carry other brands. It seems Dillon is missing out on some great posibilities

Not really, because it would probably cause them to have to discount their product more than they are willing to do. They allow

a limited number of resellers, while keeping most of their sales in house... Makes sense to me. Why pay a middleman when its

completely unnecessary.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Ken8521

[Rob Boudrie]

It's not just Midway, Graffs, Natchez, Midsouth.... all carry other brands. It seems Dillon is missing out on some great posibilities

Dillon has a well oiled machine to handle retail sales and customer services.

Mail order houses typically require 40 points of margin +/-, but may go lower in some cases. Dillon sells to stocking dealers for something like 15% off.

My guess is that it's not worth it to Dillon to offer cut their margins to the level where a place like Midway finds it profitable to carry their stuff.

[benos]

It's not just Midway, Graffs, Natchez, Midsouth.... all carry other brands. It seems Dillon is missing out on some great posibilities

Dillon has a well oiled machine to handle retail sales and customer services.

Mail order houses typically require 40 points of margin +/-, but may go lower in some cases. Dillon sells to stocking dealers for something like 15% off.

My guess is that it's not worth it to Dillon to offer cut their margins to the level where a place like Midway finds it profitable to carry their stuff.

+3.

In addition, the less control over their outstanding no-BS warranty they lose by adding dealers, they happier they are.

be

[Middle Man]

I've be fortunate to have heard lots and lots of old firearms industry stories over the past decade One of my co-workers (two of whom have been wholesale buyers in the industry for 25 & 45 plus years) once related a story regarding Dillon's entry into the reloading machine business. Story went that Dillon started with the traditional three step distribution model way back then (i.e. the 1980's) Story continued, that after a short while in that three step model, Dillon wanted to have more control over warranty issues, pricing, and the like so he started his own catalog business. In short, Mike wanted to continue to build a better quality machine and the simplest way to do that, without increasing costs, was to "cut out the middleman", take on all the risk, and handle his own distribution. That middle step takes a portion of the risks, pays a portion of the distribution costs, and consequently requires a portion of the profit margin.

Being heavily involved in the three step distribution chain for these past ten years has been very educational. As some others have noted in this thread, some distribution strategies work, some are fairly successful, and some fall flat. Some manufacture's products are successful with a three step chain and some are not. Some manufacturers have had success with blending their distribution strategies and some in this industry are forever switching to and fro between direct and three step every few years. Dillon hit on a formula that works very well for them, their retailers and their customers. Midway has a pretty successful formula as well. Evaluating the proposition with an informed eye from a distance, the two formulas would not necessarily blend...

Edited January 5, 2010 by Middle Man