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Post by huggyd on Nov 21, 2015 18:57:32 GMT -5
So I have been surfing around from site to site checking out who has what available and at what price. I have seen for example: Phatboy selling: Whiskey Tango for $22.99 Lonewolf selling: Whiskey Tango for $28.99 Victory selling: Whiskey Tango for $23.20 So I was thinking of sitting down and making a Excel spreadsheet of Fireworks and having what stores in the 'area' advertise them and at what price. My questions are: -How do you keep up-todate with prices (do they change that much / that often)?? -Do any of you have a spreadsheet that could be shared (I imagine this would be to personal, but don't hurt to ask)  -What headings or categories do you have on the spreadsheet (if you have one)? I was thinking: ItemName - Manufacturer - Category - Cost - StoreName - SoldIndividual - NumberPerPackage SMOKE GRENAGE - Enola Gaye - Smoke - $15.00 - Phatboy - Y - 1 any ideas, is there even a point to trying to do this?? |
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Post by Xplode on Nov 22, 2015 11:51:32 GMT -5
Keeping a handle on what the MSRP is for a cake, and then what it actually costs is a good idea so you don't pay full price for items when you could be saving money to expand your show (or expand your equipment!). A spreadsheet seems like a lot of work to get setup and maintain, but it'll certainly help you out. Most of the shops I see offer discounts and such anyway so that muddles up the original numbers a bit.
If you're going to shoot a show, your best bet might just be to contact each outfit and supply a list of what you want, then ask for a price. I haven't tried that myself, but if you're buying a decent amount of product they might work that out for you.
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Post by huggyd on Nov 25, 2015 10:52:44 GMT -5
I have started collecting data from different websites and making a spread sheet. I am finding it hard to categorize and compare but I am making some progress just chipping away at it, this will take some time. Issues that I am coming across that some o f you might shine some light on.
- In general do stores keep the same inventory? (if they have a 10ball roman this year, they will have next year)
- Do prices change often?
- I have noticed that Competition Brand have a heading of Mid Level / Ground / High Level on their label, do they all do this in some way (small print on the side)
- What headings would seem useful to compare, I am working with: Name of Item / Manufacturer / Cost Advertised / Description (not sure of Description is really needed)
I will try to get a working sample going just based on Roman Candles and post it to see if this is something worth going on with.
Xplode, your right this is a lot of work, and trying to keep it up-todate is going to suck but it will for sure help to make an educated choice on where to spend your money.
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Post by Lumadue on Nov 25, 2015 16:33:44 GMT -5
To try and answer your questions a bit.
Most distributors i.e. Powerhouse, Mystical, Royal. Will generally keep the same stock every year. Some items can be discontinued. Some stores such as K&H, myself and Victory Fireworks. Will grab the best of every distributor.
For the most part, we will always have 10 ball roman candles, or a variant of that.
Prices change every year, with the decrease of the CAD, purchasing from china has to balance itself.
Most products will tell what height in metres the product will reach.
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Post by khogan on Nov 25, 2015 18:54:58 GMT -5
Here is a spreadsheet I started making that may be helpful to you. I though I had done more but I can't find a more up to date version on my system. 1drv.ms/1lizkZV |
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Post by khogan on Nov 25, 2015 19:18:59 GMT -5
These files may be useful as well. I started making a database and php app to track this but like many things but started working on something else. I don't have excel on this computer but you should be able to use the CSV to import the data into excel. All the files are the same its just in a different format Attachments:cake_import.pdf (222.34 KB)
cake_import.csv (36.26 KB)
cake_import.doc (119.52 KB)
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Post by huggyd on Nov 26, 2015 9:18:56 GMT -5
This is what I have so far. I am working with just 3 business so far, cutting and pasting info from their website and then I have a compare page where it takes the lowest price from all 3 and displays that, I just have to find a way to display what sheet that lowest price came from. Trying to keep this organized is more of a nightmare that I originally was thinking. Right now its just dealing with roman candles, and I try to find the store with the biggest selection grab as many candle info as I can and then start comparing that store to the others. The only reason I am doing that is due to the huge number of different types of candles and not every store seems have all the same names. So the end result is, this is not going to be a complete list of all the candles that all the manufactures make, right now (made I will work on that) I welcome any insight or help in this spreadsheet. I am just about at the point of enlisting my cousin to help, he is right into a computer programming and this might be easy for him... fireworksexp.xlsx (28.57 KB) |
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Post by fusemaster on Nov 26, 2015 12:03:55 GMT -5
Make sure you add Maxpower Fireworks to your list, they will have the best prices of them all. (Whisky Tango $21.99, 2nd for $18.50)
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Post by huggyd on Nov 26, 2015 13:58:46 GMT -5
this is just a start, I am sure there will be more represented. Just trying to get the logic down right now.
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Post by huggyd on Nov 27, 2015 10:03:21 GMT -5
Question: So far I have the logic figured out for the spreadsheet and now working on populating the list a few different ways to see what works the best for updating and viewing. My question is if you download Vulcan 2015 price list www.vulcanfireworks.com/ they have a column labeled 'CS' what is CS, does that mean anything to you guys? |
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Post by Lumadue on Nov 27, 2015 14:56:18 GMT -5
CS is usually referred to case amount
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Post by huggyd on Nov 30, 2015 9:00:10 GMT -5
CS = case size, ok thanks. is that an important factor when doing a comparison? I am trying to just do the individual items. Also and this maybe a stupid question. These are all distributing companies correct? -Mystical -Vulcan -Competition -Power House -BEM So how do they compare to -PhatBoy -Victory -LoneWolf -K&H Fireworks -MaxPower I ask because, when looking on the label of the firework I always seem to see Mystical, Vulcan, Competition on there so I always referred to them as the 'Manufacturer' is that true? Yet I am seeing on LoneWolf website they seem to have their name on different items lonewolf-fireworks.com/hocus-pocus/ I really don't see them being a 'Manufacturer' so what would be the break down? |
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Post by khogan on Nov 30, 2015 11:40:30 GMT -5
I think Lonewolf has a few products that are re-wraps of other products, not sure if they have any unique items. If everything is a re-wrap I would not consider it a Manufacturer but if they have anything Unique then I would. Same with Phatboy, they have a few Phatboy brand cakes now but I think they are also re-wraps.
Personally I would stick to the majors that you have listed:
-Mystical
-Vulcan
-Competition
-Power House
-BEM
Then if you can add the lonewolf stuff under the actual manufacturer with some type of note that may be helpful. It would not be too bad to have a separate "Manufacturer" section for Lonewolf/ Phatboy but they would just have a few items. You could then put a note on the item that says what it is a re-wrap of.
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Post by huggyd on Nov 30, 2015 12:13:58 GMT -5
It figure out what is a rewrap one would have to compare the description of each item, right?
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Post by Lumadue on Nov 30, 2015 13:06:08 GMT -5
To help
*Manufactuers*
Powerhouse Fireworks
Mystical Distributing
Royal Pyrotechnie
BEM Fireworks
Hands Fireworks
Vulcan
Competition Fireworks
They produce the products that are sold
Companies like
K&H Fireworks
Victory Fireworks
Lonewolf (They do have some items under the lonewolf label, but are rewraps of other products.)
Phatboy
Are distributors. But those the manufactures will also distribute their product.
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Post by khogan on Nov 30, 2015 14:58:36 GMT -5
It figure out what is a rewrap one would have to compare the description of each item, right? Ya pretty much, compare the shot numbers as well and if there are vidoes of both you could look at that. An example is one of the Phatboy cakes looks to be a re-wrap of Splat! |
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Post by huggyd on Nov 30, 2015 15:46:25 GMT -5
Ok thanks guys.
Would you ever come across a firework made by Mystical with the same name as one made by Competition that does something different?
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Post by khogan on Nov 30, 2015 18:42:36 GMT -5
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Post by Grisom on Nov 30, 2015 20:39:31 GMT -5
The Kaboom cake called Saturn missiles (www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7TWbn8pP-Q&feature=youtu.be ) is a rewrap of Vulcan's Warhead Launcher .
At the moment there are no cakes from Mystical that share the same name as a cake from Competition . There are a few cakes in the Competition line that share the same name with some cakes in the BEM line . Ie - Sky tracer , Dragon's Breath and Brocade crown .
As for Lone wolf, Hocus Pocus is a relabeled Vulcan Bomber , Raindance is a relabeled Vulcan Creeper Dinosaurus is a relabeled Vulcan Fortune teller . |
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Post by huggyd on Dec 1, 2015 10:26:26 GMT -5
That might cause an issue in some cases...  We'll have to wait and see what happens at the end. fireworksexpv2.xlsx (126.81 KB) This is what I have so far. Keep in mind its not done, there are mistakes on prices and there seems to be double items in some cases, I will have to clean it up. The compare page is not there yet, its going to be the last thing added as all the sheets need to match, before they can be compared. This was done in Microsoft Excel 2007 file extension .xlsx I am not sure if older versions will display everything in there right place. Any feed back will be helpful, as I get deeper involved its going to be really hard to make changes. So please speak up now! |
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Post by huggyd on Feb 17, 2016 6:24:57 GMT -5
Just wondering if anyone has taken a look at the file (fireworksexpv2.xlsx)
-is this setup going to work?
-is this worth continuing with?
I was going to sit down with it this weekend and keep chipping away with it, if I find some time and if you guys think its worth while.
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Post by londonfan on Aug 6, 2018 8:00:17 GMT -5
Keeping a handle on what the MSRP is for a cake, and then what it actually costs is a good idea so you don't pay full price for items when you could be saving money to expand your show (or expand your equipment!). A spreadsheet seems like a lot of work to get setup and maintain, but it'll certainly help you out. Most of the shops I see offer discounts and such anyway so that muddles up the original numbers a bit. If you're going to shoot a show, your best bet might just be to contact each outfit and supply a list of what you want, then ask for a price. I haven't tried that myself, but if you're buying a decent amount of product they might work that out for you.I go through months of searching sites from distributors and retailers to choose the items that I want and compiling a spreadsheet to compare the advertised prices as individual items, as well as supplier total cost. It has actually become part of my yearly prep for Canada Day. Yes, it is a ton of work. Once I tried sending out my list including the best posted prices that I had found to 3 or 4 distributors/retailers that either operate in my area or were within an easy drive for me to pick up the product. I asked that they simply fill in their best price on each item and return it to me. I am not a big buyer (around $1000), but only 1 company responded to my request. I was disappointed in the lack of response, but at least felt that I did get a good deal. I find that the big problem with shopping this way is that no one wants to operate honestly and in good faith. If you plan to proceed this way you have to work with an honour system that keeps your quotes private. Once you share quote information, the field is no longer level. Openly price shopping by publishing a requested quote is just being a jerk! This opinion is probably based on working for over 35 years in the retail sector, and watching quotes being easily undercut. Anyone can easily shave a couple of points off of any competitors quote. I went back to my time tested method of... - research - make an offer to the supplier that wins the research battle - and only deal with people that you can feel that you trust (I prefer it if I can actually eventually deal face to face also) This really isn't the solution any of us are looking for, but it's my 2 cents. If you really want my best price though, I will gladly opine for 4 cents!  |
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