Q: How many times do I get to hear, after quoting an installed price for my product, "I found a kit on Ebay for 75 cents, how much would you install that for?"

I tell them the exact same price since I'm going to throw the Ebay kit they bring me in the trash and install my own.

I explain to them that yes, in the past I did install kits that customers would bring me and had nothing but problems. Obviously I couldn't offer any kind of warranty with the kits, and could not be responsible for the design or fit.

I can't make a pig look like a princess, but since they were now my customer I still felt an obligation to make them happy, and it usually ment at my expense. I can no longer afford to do that, so I just choose not to install any film or kits that I don't provide myself.

I tell them even though it says 3M or has a design house pedigree, it could be old film or may have been stored in a non temperature controlled environment. The kit may have been opened and looked at, and if it was mishandled in any way, flaws would show in the finished product.

Installing kits customers bring you from Ebay or any of the other sources out there lowballing the product is a bad idea in my opinion. Sooner or later, a customer will ask you the same. Hopefully by expaining to them the reasons why you won't install that kit, you will be able to retain the customer to your product and profit margin.

A: We don't condone the selling of ppf kits on eBay... and I truly wish the people that are doing it would stop. It's the wrong way, at the wrong time at the wrong price (who said that?).

A: I agree with both you guys. In fact, since Invinca-Shield sometimes sells directly to the retail customer, we did a small trial two years ago to see if E-Bay might be a viable distribution channel. It was not.

We did set fairly decent "buy it now prices" and posted 20 - 30 of the most popular models online. They were not cheap but they were not full retail either. Regardless, our conclusion after spending nearly $600 for the trial was that the public was not willing to buy pre-cut kits via E-Bay. Now we have seen an occaisional Invinca-Shield kit for resale after the retail customer bought it and decided not to put it on. We don't support those activities and in fact our warranty is only to the original purchaser but we can't stop folks from reselling something they no longer want.

We also had a similar experience with a TV ad we ran in southwest Florida where we offered a standard kit (hood and matching front fender pieces plus an installation kit and installation video) for $99 plus shipping and handling.

The ad ran for three weeks during pretty decent hours (not graveyard hours) on TBS and Fox Sports. After three weeks we had ZERO orders. That was a $7,000 lesson in learning one way to sell ppf that doesn't work. Our conclusion, along with the advertising agency was that very few people were willing to spend $100 and risk not being able to install the kit themselves.

I still think you get the most bang for the buck visiting car clubs and doing a demo install. Once you have one kit sold the feeding frenzy begins and they ALL have to have one.

The point being....be wise. Spending a lot of money advertising this product doesn't necessarily mean getting a proportionate amount of sales. Actually, the best ways to sell ppf are also the cheapest.

A: When I read this post I had to laugh. I started in mobile electronics about 11 years ago and about 40% of the installs I did were of customers equiptment. I never cried that the product wasn't purchased from me or to my liking, I just charged more to put it in and on some equiptment that was in bad shape I just wouldn't touch it. There is always going to be lowballers out there so get used to it. It is only going to get worst as time goes on. I have been doing Paint Protection for a little over 3 years now and have had people come in with kits and treat it the same way. I will be glad to install it but will charge a little more than normal and if it doesn't fit perfect than I will not be resposible. I started with bulk and would only wrap cars and have mixed feelings on the kits to begin with. Realistically most are the same with a few bad ones out there. I don't think its worth loosing a customer over a kit that you didn't sell. Pure profit is always a bonus and if they don't like your price show them the door. The kits on ebay are no different than going to a web site and buying them online direct some are just cheaper without warranties. Its funny that Invinca-Shield agree's but yet is guilty of the same thing and also will sell to a retail customer. What's the difference? I am not trying to stur anything up but think about it. The best way to move your product is to sell your product and service as well as educat your customers. I don't have a problem with people selling on ebay and it suck's that there are people on there that go alittle far on thier prices but look at it from a buisness point of view. They are advertising for all of us. They get the peoples attention on the product and the smart ones will look through the phone book or web and be calling for info and pricing. At this point you can sell you services and potentially gain a customer you may not of had. Paint Protection will be like tint in a few years and be all whored up. The only difference is there are not as many options on film so it will come down to your sales skills and pricing like when selling a tint job. There is enough business to go around so why worry about it. If you want to see a jacked up market than get into paintless dent removal.

A: People have to remember that Invinca-Shield has been doing this in some fashion or another for nearly ten years now. Trying to find an installer even five years ago was difficult enough. In fact, I'd be willing to guess that there are only a handful of us here who have been doing ppf for even that long.

Also, we don't offer the kits to the highest bidder. Except for offering an occaissional 10% quantity discount for groups such as car clubs, the retail price is what we consider to be a fair price for the product and accurately reflects our costs and a decent margin. And regardless that some people think it is too low, we will sell the same kit to any distributor or established tradesman for a lower (wholesale) price so they can still make a mark up on our kits.

When retail customers call us and ask, "Am I better off buying my kit from you and taking it to an installer or buying the entire product "turnkey" from a distributor, we always lean towards them going through one of our distributors. That is unless we have reason to suspect the local person will convert our sale to another brand or cut it free-hand.

We'd like to think that our offering of kits direct to the retail public at decent prices for ALL makes and models has helped changed the publics perception of this product from something that only Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lexus owners could afford to a product that nearly everyone would want to buy for their vehicle. That in itself has probably done some good for all of us.