Let’s see now… Gas prices are rising, and the latest reports are that The Consumer Confidence Index has dropped, reversing five straight months of improvement. The index dropped from 72.0 in February to 63.4 in March. Add to that the fact that rising food and clothing prices are taking their toll on consumer budgets, plus housing prices and sales are down, and unemployment is still very high.

But here comes the cavalry, Seedealercost.com, to the rescue of the boating industry, with Dave Taylor and Jack Malone on their white steeds leading “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” (Just Google “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and see how that worked out.) Not well!

SDC thinks the “Charge of Their Light Brigade” is going to minimize the economic impact on our boating industry, and even help dealers and boat builders prosper. How you ask? Well Seedealercost.com thinks they will be saving dealers, boat builders and the entire industry by showing consumers dealer cost on boats and engines. Costs that questionably are inaccurate or, at best, incomplete, according to what dealers and boat builders are saying.

Are you kidding us, Jack Malone? And Dave Taylor, after you and Malone spent years working with dealers and boat builders in this industry, how can you really believe this will work? What on earth are you thinking? Or are you selling this website hard because it has just been that difficult for you two industry veterans to get a job?

SDC claims they have had thousands of clicks on their website. Maybe. However, I wonder how many there were if you subtract the number of industry folks checking the site to see just how off base the “dealer costs” are that are on the site.

And I have to also ask… just when are the money folks behind this website going to come out of the closet and let us know who they are? Why are they hiding behind Malone and Taylor? Continue reading Seedealercost to the rescue? Huh? →

Unfortunately, the Seedealercost.com website is not DOA as thousands of us in this industry had hoped and as I had written in my last blog article. So the question is, how long will it be before it is DOA if they don’t get enough advertising to write Malone and Taylor’s paychecks?

Most comments that I have read or heard since the website went live have been negative towards it. But a few (very few I might add) have commented, “The time has come for this in the marine industry.” Huh?… are they serious?? And some have made comments like, “The buying public deserves to know what something costs.” My response to this is, “Why?”

An “Inconvenient Truth” – We don’t need this site!

As Larry Russo, Russo Marine, Medford, MA said, “To those that say, ‘the time has come for this in the marine industry’”, I say… why hasn’t it come to the furniture industry or the clothing industry or the large appliance industry or the jewelry industry??? Why the hell do we need it in the boating industry?” I agree with Larry. The truth is…we don’t need it in this industry.

Russo also commented this about the SDC site, “The ‘dealer cost’ prices on the site come from unreliable third parties. They are out of date and inaccurate. At this time, no manufacturer is supporting this site with data or with advertising.”

He went on to say, “If anyone finds themselves in conversation with a consumer about this site, they should respectfully let them know that this site is simply not credible at this time. Until a significant number of major manufacturers endorse and support it with both data and advertising, it has no merit and should be labeled what it is… a scheme by two former industry employees trying to make a quick buck!” (I hope they never get that ad support!) Continue reading An “Inconvenient Truth” – Seedealercost.com hurts the industry! →

There is still a lot of chatter about the alleged new website that is changing its name from “PayDealerCost.com” to “SeeDealerCost.com.”  Most of the chatter is very much against this website. I just visited PayDealerCost.com and all I got was:

S D C
SEE DEALER COST™
NO FRILLS – JUST THE INFO
NOW YOU HAVE THE TOOLS TO NEGOTIATE YOUR BEST DEAL
For More Information Please Email

This is all there has been on this website for several weeks now. So one has to wonder… is it DOA? We really don’t know who the principal of this alleged website is or what their timing is. Jack Malone, formerly with Mercury Marine and Yamaha, and Dave Taylor, who used to be with U.S. Marine, seem to be the point guards for the project. I called Malone a few weeks back to ask him about the website, and during the conversation he told me he was only an employee. But he didn’t tell me who the real money guy behind the website was.

In any case, as of today, they are not up and running. Maybe it is DOA. Maybe they have re-thought the whole thing as a result of the intense push back from dealers and boat builders alike, finally realized the damage it could do to the industry, and decided not to start the website. Let’s hope! Continue reading Dealer costs on a website??? DOA?? →