Considering a group buy on SPOT devices

[GunMD]

EDIT: The vendor that I was working with can't even get a price as good as what Amazon is offering, so this won't work out for the vendor or the customer.

Bummer, I was hoping that I could send some business his way and get a good deal for the Forum members, but alas, it was not to be.

Maybe next time. :dntknw:

Thanks for the feedback.

There won't be a group buy for the Spot.

/EDIT

As the title of this thread indicates, I'm in discussions with a local vendor to put together a group buy for the popular SPOT Satellite messenger.

Several members of this forum have these devices (Kaitsdad, Ignacio, Me, and others) and seem happy with them. Take a look at the website and if you're interested in purchasing one at a discounted price, please post up. I'm told by the vendor that I'm working with (who is working out the details of pricing as I type this) that a magic number for tiered pricing will be 25. If fewer than 25 people are interested this will very likely be a "self-buy" situation where you contact the vendor with a special code and get a certain discounted price. However, if 25 or more people commit to purchasing one of these devices I will submit the purchase all at one time and the discount will be even greater.

Please note that this discount is for the purchase of the device only and does NOT include any of the subscription fees (which range from approx $100 to $150+ per year, depending on options).

(There are discounts available on the tracking services for AMA members)

Also, it should be noted that Ram Mount now sells mounting hardware for the SPOT.

As I get more info I'll update this post so that you won't have to look through the entire thread to find new details.

So, if you're interested please post up and let me know.

 

[Toecutter]

What's retail? Any idea of discount amounts?

The only issue I have with it is that my Garmin was giving lots of "Lost satellite reception" messages while riding in areas of tall trees (Yosemite). My luck is I would crash and be in a dead spot and unable to move, no pun intended....

 

[GunMD]

MSRP is $169.99

I suspect that the discount isn't going to be Earth shattering due to the fact that there isn't much profit margin on these things. I would GUESS (just a guess, don't hold me to this) that if we get fewer than 25 participants we're only looking at a discount of around 10%. The 25 or more discount should be a little better than that.

 

[jwilly]

I'd be interested.

JW

 

[dcarver]

Interested.

'Help, I've fallen, and I can't reach my beer!'

 

[Fairlaner]

Sounds familiar....

R

 

[FJRONAMISSION]

I'm interested............

B..

 

[Randy]

Did y'all see this?

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...086&hl=Spot

 

[tcfjr]

Amazon currently lists the SPOT for $123.66 - a 27% discount from msrp. Most people pay no sales tax on Amazon purchases, and this is eligible for their free shipping program.

The AMA discount that Randy posted can be used just for the TrackProgress Service (even if you don't buy the unit through the AMA program), so you can get a year of both basic service and TrackProgress for $99.99, a $49.99 savings over the list price. TrackProgress is the service that lets you send or save your location, and lets your contacts track your progress using GoogleMaps.

 

[LDRydr]

With the Amazon price I'd have to say the group discount would have to be much more than 10% off MSRP to make it worthwhile.

 

[RenoJohn]

The price on these things is pretty low and I (too) wonder how much we'd gain with a group buy compared to someplace like Amazon which offers good pricing and no drama convenience.

However, I'd be EXTREMELY interested in a group deal on the tracking subscription. Sounds like the AMA has a 2nd year free option?(did I understand that correctly?) ....if something like that could be combined with the unit then I'd be very interested. In other words, heavy discount on the tracking subscription is more appealing to me than maybe saving a nickel or two on the unit itself.

 

[tcfjr]

However, I'd be EXTREMELY interested in a group deal on the tracking subscription. Sounds like the AMA has a 2nd year free option?(did I understand that correctly?) ....if something like that could be combined with the unit then I'd be very interested. In other words, heavy discount on the tracking subscription is more appealing to me than maybe saving a nickel or two on the unit itself.

The SPOT basic service plan provides the following: a) dispatch emergency responders to your exact location; B) let contacts know where you are and that you're okay; c) request help from friends and family at your exact location. All of these have unlimited usage, and are activated by pushing buttons on the unit. Basic service is $99.99 per year.

The optional, extra-cost TrackProgress service adds automatic tracking so that friends and family can track you on Google Maps. The TrackProgess service is $49.99 per year.

The AMA discount program gives you free TrackProgress service for one year when you sign-up for basic service at the regular price, for a $49.99 savings for the first year of service.

 

[GunMD]

Wow. That's pretty cheap. I'm still waiting to hear back from the vendor on pricing (as previously stated my info above was just a guess). I've seen some dealer pricing on these things and it would appear that it will be very difficult to beat the price that Amazon has posted. It also looks like Amazon is getting the devices directly from Spot, thereby eliminating a distributor that other dealers are required to go through.

All just speculation at this point from my end. Once I have some numbers to share I'll post up again.

 

[2006FJR]

Amazon currently lists the SPOT for $123.66 - a 27% discount from msrp. Most people pay no sales tax on Amazon purchases, and this is eligible for their free shipping program.
The AMA discount that Randy posted can be used just for the TrackProgress Service (even if you don't buy the unit through the AMA program), so you can get a year of both basic service and TrackProgress for $99.99, a $49.99 savings over the list price. TrackProgress is the service that lets you send or save your location, and lets your contacts track your progress using GoogleMaps.

That is where I bought mine. Great price excellent coverage. I can see Garmin at some point adding this feature to their GPS units.

 

[GunMD]

No group buy folks. Sorry. See details in the original post up top ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[RenoJohn]

No group buy folks. Sorry. See details in the original post up top ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nice try Scott and thanks for attempting to put this together. These small inexpensive electrical gadgets are a pretty tough racket me thinks.
What's your next group buy target?

 

[S76]

I don't wanna be found.

 

[Knifemaker]

The thing sounds cool for hikers and off road riders, but how hard is to to get lost on a streetbike?

What I mean is there are roads with names, mile markers , cell phones and other traffic about, it's hard to crash or something without someone seeing it happen and calling 911 anyway.

I guess if you are in the middle of nowhere , at night, and fly off the road and down a ravine or something, and are concious enough to push the buttom for help, it might be handy. Or if not concious and perhaps just dead , it's a good "find the body before the thing starts to smell" locator, if you have someone looking for you.

But for me, I know where I am and this thing seems a step too close to wearing one of those "Help , I have fallen and can't get up " alert pendents.

A flare gun would be cheaper.

KM

(just having fun here)

 

[painman]

I don't wanna be found.

+1. Don't let my wife find out about these. That's one reason I bought the FJR.... I could see the great benefit of this though while on a trip out in Nevada and such places where there is no cell phone coverage or any other form of human life. PM. <><