Final Deal on Heat Master
OK, here's the latest and final offer from All American regarding specifics for the Heat Master...
1) The guy who designed this wrote me back and said the machine was designed purposely to have a floating upper platen only and tried to explain for reasons I didn't understand since I haven't ever used one, says it's a better design????OK, I'll have to trust his expertise...What would you say if you designed and sold it?
2) It is limited to substrates up to 1/2 " (I know HIX states 1" on their similar machine).
3) The temperature range is to 425 deg. F (I've seen 450 and 500 on others...don't personally know how much of a limitation this is but not much I assume, if anyone has a difference of opinion or experience please let us know)
4) THE BIGGY...One payment will be required. I will have to determine how large of a burden this will place on me. Not saying it will be at all, just need to know for your and my protection. I may have to add a little to the price to cover my expenses but I, by no means, plan to turn this into a profit thing for me since all I was looking for was a way to take advantage of a discount in the first place. Although, now my credit line will be the one at risk if someone backs out. We'll work through the details before any of us commit. I have to say that my intrest is sparked now on becoming a distributor if we all have success with the machine....couldn't ask for a better group of testimonials. I'm not much of a risk taker though so if one of you are and want to step up, I'll consider the option of passing the torch.
5) They will extend the offer to ship individually via UPS at a $45 fixed rate to anywhere in the USA besides AK and HI.
6) They will offer a bulk discount of 15% off MSRP for the other 2 name brands. I did the math and it does't seem like much of a deal since I've seen the same units listed on Ebay go for around the same price. I think they are just trying to sweeten the looks of their own product.
As for bulk discounts from other suppliers.....
I spoke with one other that supplies the HIX model 400 and they were willing to give a considerable discount for the same quantity. Keep in mind we're talking a higher price for the brand. $629 was the initial price but when I asked about individual shipping he said he would lose "his" bulk discount which equated to about $20/unit. He sounded like he may still negotiate but I didn't push it so even if he didn't go for $629 it would be a max of $649 which is $50 cheaper than I've seen that unit anywhere. I'm betting with a little more contact, we may get the HIX somewhere for around $600. With that in mind, I'd also bet we may get the Stahl for about $500 or a little less because I've personally found a TX supplier close to me willing to sell it for $595 for a single unit but he won't go less even for quanties because he's just a resaler. BTW, it's not Signwarehouse but they'd be on my list to contact if this angle gets persued.
To sum it up...For all who voted in on this, give me your feelings on....
1) The payment issue on Heat Master (are you willing to up the anty to cover my troubles...won't be much and I'll give the details when I figure them out.
2) Is anyone else already in a position to pick up the torch...i.e. already set up with paypal and have enough room in your budget to make a considerable purchase while risking that half of us don't back out of the deal? JK about the latter but something to consider.
3) Would the popular vote be to persue a more popular brand name or will we lose half of our bagaining power due to the cheapskates like me? JK...I'm actually on the bubble, I was convinced I'd be paying between $6-800 after researching for awhile but this machine appears to have everything I was looking for at a considerably lower price. The only thing that doesn't attract me is the weight for being very portable...shipping weight on the specs is 95 lbs. if I recall correctly which isn't of considerable difference for similar machinces but I have found one that is made from aircraft aluminum that has the same whistles and bells touting to be the next evolution due to the ease of portability. May consider seeing if they are up for a bulk discount deal.
If Heat Master deal goes down I don't want to be known as the guy who sold you down the river if we all get a lemon or be held responsible for making warranty issues good. I may have to check into seeing what I need to do to cover myself legitimately. I see this as shared risk and I happen to be the guy who stumbled across it. Don't want no stink eye from forum members and quit getting the priceless help I get off of the forum on a regular basis. It wouldn't be worth the discount if that should happen.
To avoid crowding the board with unnecessary discussion, feel free to e-mail your responses to me directly and I'll try to sum it all up and post a general response. You probably won't hear much more from me before Monday night cuz I'm headed to my lake house for the holiday!....Before you pass judgement, on me for that last statement, I gotta clarify. It's a poboy special (not too shabby though) I built on my own over the past 10 yrs. I got a bad habbit of takin' on chores if I think I can do it myself and save a buck, I've really got to refrain from going out in the garage and crankin up the mig every time a customer wants a real estate sign frame. I wouldn't have most of what I got if I didn't have this attitude though.
