Is Buying American Enough?

Today’s blog speaks about how to buy American made parts for your Harley Davidson motorcycle and the role that wholesalers, dealers/retailers, and All American Harley Parts plays in this process. This should shed some light on the best way to support American companies and keep our dollars in the USA.

The large motorcycle parts wholesalers, the big books you see at your local dealer, forces the manufacturer to sell their parts at substantial discounts so they can resell these parts to dealers for a profit who in turn takes another piece of the pie on the retail sales. If the Harley parts manufacturer is not willing to sell their parts to them for this huge discount, they will not be carried by their dealer network and their parts will not have the same reach without them.

This puts the manufacturer in a precarious position. Do they go it alone in an effort to retain profits and attempt to market their own parts or do they lay down for the wholesaler in an effort to sell more volume? If the manufacturer decides to go it alone they are forced to market their own parts which may or may not be within their field of expertise. The manufacturer may end up spending more in marketing than the difference the wholesaler requires as a discount and end up selling fewer parts. This makes the idea of selling their parts cheaper appealing to have access to the wholesaler’s large distribution network.

If the volume is substantial then it may be adequate, but we know that people want to personalize their bikes so they don’t look like every other bike parked in front of the biker bar.  Many buyers looking for personalization are between a rock and a hard place because the truly unique parts are not readily available to the average consumer. The parts that are available are mass produced and lose their appeal to the biker looking for something cool and custom.

The manufacturer that decides to work with a wholesaler is undercutting their profit margins by a large percentage and has less available funds to do research and development for NEW unique parts and to cover costly overhead. This is why many of the American Harley Davidson aftermarket part manufacturers are forced into finding cheaper labor and shipping manufacturing overseas in order to maintain profitable margins and continue operations. It is a vicious cycle that is perpetuated by the wholesaler.

Outsourcing to places like China are taking the manufacturing operations out of the hands of the original craftsman that has a passion for motorcycles and are passing it on to less qualified cheap labor that has probably never sat on a motorcycle let alone put a custom bike together. This can equate to poor quality control and parts that may not fit as advertised or other defects because of lack of experience manufacturing parts for Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Where do our dollars go? When you buy parts from the big book wholesalers you are inadvertently hurting the American manufacturer that has decided to keep their operations in the USA and you may be prompting them to consider the idea of outsourcing manufacturing overseas in order to get back an adequate profit. So you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.   

All American Harley Parts offers a solution with a business model that makes it desirable for manufacturers and consumers alike. The manufacturer benefits because the wholesaler has been taken out of the picture; they are able to keep larger profit margins that can be reinvested in R&D or whatever the manufacturer deems necessary. The customer benefits by being able to purchase quality CUSTOM American made parts for their Harley Davidson motorcycle that have been made by the original designers and they are not indirectly perpetuating the cycle and desire of outsourcing for cheaper labor.

All American Harley Parts is committed to fostering positive relationships with manufacturers and customers. Our focus is keeping our dollars in the USA and maintaining a mutually beneficial business relationship with all of our stakeholders. You can be assured that your purchase from All American Harley Parts will result in excellent custom American made parts for your Harley with adequate profits returning back to the manufacturer to continue operations.

Doing business with All American Harley Parts is a win/win opportunity.