How to buy parts from Allied/Badger

[funkcicle]

It's trivial to go down to your city/county clerk's license and buy a business license. Varies by locality, but where I live the cost is $25 + a percentage of last year's revenue- if that revenue is zero because you're not charging people then all you pay is the administration fee. If you do anticipate some revenue (and you should, why let a niche trade skill go to waste?) you can then get a tax ID # from the IRS over the telephone in less than 5 minutes, though this isn't really even necessary as accounting for a sole proprietorship is super simple and can just be tacked onto your standard filing.

[ghmerrill]

I don't think that up to this point anyone has said anything about congressmen or bigotry. In fact, I don't think I see where anyone has said these companies are doing anything "wrong" in any moral or legal sense.

I have wondered at times if they're treading on the "restraint of trade" line -- and this really isn't quite comparable to a wholesale-only operation. But that's pretty murky and I'm not sure how I feel about restraint of trade laws in general.

I do think that they're being silly (and probably not effective in the way they want to be), but hey: it's their business and it makes them feel good.

[Chasetbr]

For me it was more just wondering from a business standpoint why they wouldn't want to make more money. I understand they worry that someone will get upset with them when some random dad thinks he can fix an instrument with no prior knowledge. I think the amount of extra orders from people just on TubeNet would justify them doing this. Idk its just my two cents.

[windshieldbug]

I suspect that it has to do with what bloke suggested, liability.
If you have a business license you're on your own...

[ghmerrill]

Comparing this situation to that in "regulated industries" with government control (drugs, medical practice, legal practice, engineering of various types, plumbers, electricians, etc.) is way off the mark. That would make some sense if instrument repair techs had to hold those sorts of certifications and licensing in order to conduct their business -- something which I suspect no one here wants to see.

And this really isn't a wholesale/resale issue. Allied is perfectly happy to sell you the smallest part they have and ship it -- with the addition of a nominal "small order" fee. What matters to them is not that you have a "business license", but that you are a "professional" instrument repair technician.

In addition to the medieval craft guild thing (which is very real in this case), I suspect that one reason for their policy is that they're a small company, kind of stodgy in their ways (no disrespect intended), and they just don't want to face the prospect of hordes of people (or so they fear) with no knowledge or experience calling them up and asking them all sorts of questions about their parts and tools -- and getting in the way of the people who are trying to make a living with this stuff. They don't have the time for that. (Ferree's, which I believe to be at least equally stodgy, seems pretty much okay with this; but different strokes for different folks.)

There's nothing wrong with this. It's only unfortunate that the market (at least currently) doesn't appear to be large enough to support a competitor with a different policy. If I can get parts for my garden sprayer, my tractor, my washing machine, and my rifle (which I recently had to get from the German company that bought up Mauser stuff when they went out of business -- and it was very simple), I ought to be able to get parts for my tuba with the same degree of effort. Maybe at some point the Chinese will start manufacturing heaps of old parts and such that actually fit and are easily obtainable. Maybe.

[Tom]

...I suspect that one reason for their policy is that they're a small company...

Absolutely true. I wonder if the TNFJ realizes that both Allied and Badger State Repair are really very small businesses. My observation is that both companies are just about maxed out just trying to maintain the status quo and don't really have the need or the desire to expand or change the way they do business.

[bort]

Blah blah blah, where's my Amazon Prime 2-day shipping for music instrument parts!