Quick Questions.

[JT Bagwell]

I was involved in a discussion tonight with someone that is involved with a lure company. One of the topics in our brainstorming session was an idea to allow anglers to sign up as a member of some sort of "club" (for lack of a better word at this point). There would be an annual membership fee. As a member you would have the ability to purchase baits at wholesale cost (the price tackle dealers pay for their products). This is "typically" 40% under retail (the price you would pay at a store).

So here are my questions (all hypothetical):

1. Would you be interested in something like this?

2. What is the maximum you would be willing to pay to join?

3. Why do you think a club like this would/ would not benefit you?

Don't worry, I am not going to try to sell you anything. This is basically to get outside, unbiased opinions.

Thanks

JT Bagwell

[kajun]

Hey JT,

I would be interested in something like this, but it would obviously depend on the membership fee.  For a recreational fisherman like myself the fee would probably have to be under fourty dollars annually for it to be worth it.  In a typical year I generally only make 8-10 trips to an actual tackle shop.  So I don't spend a whole lot of money on tackle.  I am starting to build my own lures and soft plastics so if I could get some pieces in bulk at wholesale then it would probably be worth it. Just my opinion though.

                     

                                                        Kajun

[AUTgrPilot]

For me, it would depend on the type of lures offered.  I'm interested and would love to hear more.  I think it would benefit anyone who spends more than a couple hundred dollars on tackle every year.

[Chris]

I guess it would depend on the kind of lure. Is it hand carved or plastic, fat or thin, wide wobble or tight, what kinds of colors. What is the lip made out of? What kind of wood is it made out of and is the hook on eye screws or on a wire harness. What kind of line tie is on it? Is it up against the bait or is it molded on the lip. Can you tell I am kinda picky? The main reason is because I know what will catch fish and if I got a lure that does I don't want the lure to be short lived because of sub standard materials. Cost doesn't matter as long as the lure does what I want and will last more than 3 fish without the paint being half gone. I don't need the hook being pulled out or have to retune after every fish. I don't need anymore junk but if its a great product or if you want an honest opinion I am game ;D I would have to see it first. If its a comparable product to what I am already using I would be interested but I would need more info about it. Some companies offer something similar to what you are talking about but the club cost cover any costs for materials and shipping for x number of lures.

[L.D.]

I imagine that this lure company wants to get their product out in the public and needs some start up capital hence the club money in advance, also they don't have to sell to a distributor at a lower price. I don't think that the average fisherman would want to spend more than $20.00 maximum to join a lure club before he gets a lure and this is why. I have a tackle shop and there isn't a lot of profit in lures. If I can make 40% on plastics and 30% on hard baits, I'm a happy camper(remember walmart and K mart are never far away). So on a $5.00 lure I pay $3.50($1.50 mark up). So to break even to keep under what the angler would pay the store, the average angler would have to buy about 13-15 lures to use up the $20.00 before he started to save any money because of shipping and handling need to be added also.

[roadwarrior]

I wouldn't be interested at any price. I like to piddle at bait stores in person, surf sites on the web and buy from guys that do their own custom work. There are plenty of "deals" out there and there is NO WAY a little club is going to offer the variety of products that are already available from a multitude of sources.

[Bassin101]

If only one lure manufacturer is represented, it sounds like a "Tupper-lure" party for fishermen.  However if several companies with proven effective and dependable lures were also involved I might be interested.  Like Chris says a lot depends on the product.  Being in a group that can exchange tips on how to fish a Zara, Heddon, or Bomber would be valuable.  "That why I like this site"

Rather than start new clubs why not market to existing fishing clubs?   8)

[Nick]

If the club members would get a crack at a wide variety of tackle from brand name dealers, yes, but let's not kid anyone.  This isn't going to happen. Tha margin from the manufacturer to the jobber or even the point of purchase is just too thin for someone to give us a real 40% break in the pricing. I'm skeptical.  Someone would have to charge a club fee of more than $100 yearly to offer us real deals.

[Pond-Pro]

             >If a bunch of companies were involved in the club, I would do it. The problem is that there would proubably be a lot of people(like me) who pay the first anual fee, go out and stock up on everything using their discount, and then quit the club before their next payment is due. I have always wondered if there was a way that I could get products for the price stores get them for.

[JT Bagwell]

Thanks for the feed back.

As I stated before, it's not a "club" so to speak, that was just the only word that came to mind at the time.

What I was referring to was an idea from a "Single" custom lure business. I wasn't referring to a group of companies or anything like that.

Here is a more simplified example.

Lure Company X would allow you to join their program for Y number of dollars per year. This annual fee would allow you to purchase lures from Company X at the price that they charge tackle stores.

That's the extent of it. This is something that was mentioned to me. I am in no way saying that it is something that this company will or will not do. I have my personal opinion about the whole concept but I was curious what other anglers thought.

JT Bagwell

[Bassin101]

JT, did you talk about running the "program" on the web?  Then charge, a nominal, lower annual fee. Tag it to all of the fishing related web pages for greater exposer.  More members but less cost per member.   8)

[Brett_F]

I was a member of one about 5 years ago.

once a month you got a new lure and was supposed to fish it in as many ways as you could and then write a techical type report on how well it did and where.

Based on your responces and how well you tested it out for them the fee was waived.

It only lasted about a year and a half and then they started charging a yearly fee to keep doing it.

I gave it up at that point.

[Big_Bass_Rich]

1. Would you be interested in something like this?

Yes, always interested in things that will give me a good deal!

2. What is the maximum you would be willing to pay to join?

Depends on what I'm getting out of it. If I buy the lures/tackle all the time, then I'd probably pay a lot even up to and over $100.

3. Why do you think a club like this would/ would not benefit you?

I think it would benefit me because I would love to get lures that I use often at a wholesale price. What a deal it would be if I could get all my spinnerbaits at that price! Even with the membership fee I buy so many of them that I would make it worthwhile in the end.

[njvbass]

For me, it would depend on the type of lures offered. I'm interested and would love to hear more. I think it would benefit anyone who spends more than a couple hundred dollars on tackle every year.

I'm gonna agree wth auto. If your talking some high end baits and not Unkle Bucks

[crankbait]

1. Always interested in joining something and spending money...!

2. I would pay $29.95...

3. I may buy something I normally wouldn't because of high prices....

I think you should also get special access to internet website where there are specials or maybe a special section of how to articles, or merchandise like apparalls. Did I spell that right?

Or maybe a special email bulletin with this kind of info on it like a email magazine...! Or how about you graduate to differant levels of discount for the more product you buy...?! Or maybe membership gets you one free lure when it first comes out and first hits the market...! Well I can go on for days with thoughts......