ARC to stop using dealers ! !

ARC will no longer sell to dealers who wish to sell ARC products online to usa adresses after Nov 7th, this includes phone orders. They will sell to brick and mortar stores only. It looks like the only way to buy ARC is factory direct. Following the steps of SF I guess. What the hell is going on with online sales lately? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Does this mean that if one has a B&M, they cannot be a internet dealer?
BTW, where did you hear this?

Sunspot, if you want to be an ARC dealer you cannot sell them online. Through your storefront only. No phone orders either.

In the past Peter has been extremely up front about various issues.I would suggest that nobody speculate about this. Let Peter address it if/when he feels it's necessary. If it's true and if this is a topic he wants to say something about....he will.

Mike

:O what is the world is happening !!!!!!???????????

First SF, now Arc???
This really bums me out. There are NO stores in my area that carry either of these brands. This Really limits my options.

I dont understand this. I am sure there is a reason behind this, but what is it?
I would think that this would HURT sales dramatically.

Arc has much better sale prices than SF tho.. so it really doesn't get the same rise out of me..

that sucks that they wont be as widely available tho.

This kind of bums me out, since http://www.cfrlights.com has a very attractive shipping arrangement for Canadians. Arc's shipping to Canada is expensive!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif

I cannot believe this to be true, and I would like to hear it direct from Peter. As a point of reference I own 7 ARC flashlights, all bought on the internet (and have no plans to stop there). Without the internet I would own 0 ARC flashlights, and frankly I don't think ARC would exist as a company. It is the internet's ability to support companies like ARC and projects like the Firefly that make it such an incredible medium.

Rick

I didn't think of that. without the Internet, I wouldn't of gotten my ARC's. I don't even remember how I stumbled upon getting them but my initial purchase was 3. this was over a year and a half ago when they were black without chemkote and I loved them. I think they were around $20 too.
I do remember getting some infinities from Botach.
Maybe us flashaholics don't like going outside.

tkl,

How do you know this? Where did you hear this?

Peter,

Is this true?

To everyone:

I agree with BlindedByTheLite that the prices on the Arc website are pretty close to prices offered by online dealers, so that it's not much of a difference, except perhaps for international buyers. I have always bought Arcs direct from Arc Flashlight anyway. Perhaps online businesses, being MUCH easier to setup, and MUCH harder to track and monitor, are a significant source of risk for one reason or another? It's tempting to speculate, especially with some of the rumors floating around and other things that have surfaced, but it's probably best to wait to hear from Peter directly. I don't know why, but I've been worried about Arc Flashlight lately. I hope it's just an irrational and groundless fear.

Maybe Arc will bring in a broader range of shipping options for international shoppers? Fedex overseas is expensive and they ALWAYS charge customs duties, regardless. At the moment the dealers offer a better range of shipping options.

PS-Although Arc offers top class service that goes some way to making up for this!!

I sent a memo out to the dealers yesterday with our new distribution plan. Basically, we are only looking for dealers who either directly interact with the customer in a physical store (B&M) or import the product to other countries. All web sales to USA addresses should go through our website only. We will continue to sell as usual to all dealers until Nov 7th and dealers may have remaining inventory well into the new year.

I am planning on announcing this here but the text is not finished yet. This really can be a complicated thing to describe.

Some rough goals:

- Devise a method to use new technologies to reduce costs (in this case, distribution costs)
- communicate with dealers
- communicate with customers
- limit details to competitors so they won't benefit from my research. This makes the CPF comms more challenging of course
- Protect customers from higher costs or reduced value

btw, in the case of shipping to Canada, we already have 2 importers (1 is listed on the website) that could ship to you more efficiently than a US dealer.

Peter

humm-

Well I'm going to sit back and zip it for a while and see how this all plays out.

GregR

I'm just wondering how Arc is going to sell as much without the exposure of on line dealers. People other than CPF'ers won't see Arc lights listed on internet dealer sites, leading to sales. And since I can't name a single B&M store that carries Arc I guess Arc is now "hiding out". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

I'm also wondering how this will pan out.

I won't affect me because I don't mind buying from Arc direct, but it will affect business for Peter. Since no one outside of these forums will know Arc exists. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I echo Sean's post.

I have an idea what brought this on, but I sure don't see the logic in it.

hmmm, I was thinking of becoming a light dealer by going outside of cpf and trying to penetrate the backpacking world in there forums

I think we'll all just have to sit back and see what happens. I, like Jim a few posts up, have been wondering about Arc lately. Some of the talk around the super cheap "sales" of AAA's has been pretty much of a downer. I know the CPFers will do their best to help Arc, but I (like others here) worry that nobody new will be able to find out about Arc if they don't wander through the CPF.

The bottom line is this: I want Arc to be around so that I can add an LS4, LS5 and whatever's next to my collection. If this guarantees that we'll have Arc around for years to come, then I'm all for it.

Peter, that is just insane. To turn your back on the medium that created you in order to embrace an outlet in which you have no evidence that you might possibly succeed. The mindshare that you own on the internet is huge, why would you put that at risk?

If you really think that we need to handle an ARC at a store in order to buy it, then you have not been following the Firefly phenomenon. Where a person without even a prototype managed to get folks to send him almost $20,000 up front to fund the creation of an innovative product. This could not have happened without the internet.

If you limit my online choices to just your site, I will resent you for it and stop buying ARC's, despite having bought most of my ARCs directly from you. Spending $150 for a flashlight is not just about the product, it is about supporting people that you believe in. Don't take away my belief in your company.

Regards,
Rick

as i've said before, peter knows the whole story.
as customers, and even cpfers, we only know a little bit of what we see. we may view this as a bad choice, but only peter knows the truth of it because he's the only one that has all the background information.

when your child asks you why you don't let him eat candy all day, you respond that it's bad for him. he doesn't understand why this is so, because he can't comprehend everything that's going on.
as customers and friends, we need to step back and let peter decide the coarse of events. he knows what he's doing and we can only speculate the reasons behind why he's doing it.

when you comment and say that something is "stupid" or "insane" you are basing those statments on incomplete and often flawed information. i encourage everyone to set back and try not to jump to conclusions.
i'm sure in good time peter will explain everything and it will make sense to most of you.

Six months ago I had never heard of ARC but I did have quite an interest in LED lights. Had it not been for the internet, I would not have purchased any of the 16 ARC flashlights that my family and I own and carry. Had it not been for the competition the internet sales have offered, I may have purchased two or three lights, but no where near the quantity I have.
Sales are much easier to loose than they are to regian. ARC is without a doubt truly outstanding quality and I like bying made in the USA. Will the business prosper if there is a large loss in the volume of sales?