Re: [Harp-L] Harp Depot

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

A look at the web-site raises a lot of interesting questions. But  
before I go into it, note the following:
I have NO rooster in this fight.

Harp Depot is giving a 40% discount. That means that an item that  
they sell for $100.oo 'could' cost $166.67 (PLUS tax = $178.33) in a  
music store. On a recent trip to Europe, I noticed that the same  
chromatic was going for Eu 167.oo. When you add the VAT, the total  
is  EU 183.70. When you factor in the exchange rate, that's equiv to  
$259.oo U.S.
Conclusion: Harp Depot is taking a lot of abuse for very little  
profit. They need to work on this image problem. :)

So, first thing I noticed were the office hours (10-4). Ok, that's 6  
hours..But WAIT, there's more. An hour off for lunch equals a 25 hour  
week.
1.... I see this as 'Banking' hours
2.... I see this as a 'retirement' job
3.... It appears that 2 people handle everything
4.... On the one hand they say they are very busy and don't have time  
for shenanigans
5.... On the other hand, they can't seem to handle the business they  
DO have.
6.... Apparently they need another helper
7.... Problem 1 is that if they hire a helper, they have to cut the  
profit ANOTHER slice
8.... Problem 2 is that I don't know too many people who would even  
TAKE a job for 25 hours a week
9.... When I was a mail boy for Pittsburgh Plate Glass I did packing  
(all day)
10.. I think I could average a package (out the door) per 5 min (tot  
= 60 per day)
11.. I don't SEE a whole lot of profit on 60 orders
12.. I don't think BOTH people running the place are packing all day
13.. The site connects to MYRIAD other products and the impression IS  
that they do ALL this stuff.

I can come up with another dozen factors but I don't want to drudge  
everyone.
Conclusion: The operation isn't working enough hours. As a student of  
automated business systems,
the glaring fact is that they have allocated NO time for customer  
relations. The shame is that Doc and Richard are REALLY nice guys.

Reminds me of an old ethnic joke (my mother used to hate). These 2  
guys have a truckoad of several hundred watermelons. They bought them  
for a 98 cents apiece and are selling them for $1.oo. At the end of a  
long day, they have an empty truck, and after buying a couple gallons  
of gas, they have actually broken EVEN. One asks the other "How come  
we didn't make any money"? The other one says "We need a bigger truck".

smokey-joe