I would like to know where the idea came from that John Deere doesn't make much profit off the D series tractors. The profit off each individual sale might not be a lot but they sell tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of them every year. Just like Wal-Mart they make their profit off quantity. John Deere got into the box store lawn tractor market because they seen the profit they would be missing out on.
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There is about $ 40 worth of steel in a D series tractor ( retail price )
The top & bottom dies for the rear fender & foot boards cost around $ 100,000 each
The broaching dies that cut all the holes in the main frame would be around the $ 80,000
Then there is the folding dies , stripping painting & assembly.
There is 5/8 of SFA profit in making the mower.
Engines have around a 50% retail mark up as do the trannies so get the price of a replacement engine and tranny, take 1/2 to 1/3 off that price then subtract that from 1/2 to 2/3 of the retail price of the mower ( retail mark up is around 30% )
You get around 10 to 12 of them in a shipping container so work out what that costs from the factory to the shop.
If there was a lot of profit, then there would still be a lot of companies making ride on mowers.
Then remember mowers are seasonal so all of the bought in parts, wheels , tyres, switches, seats ,what else all have to be bought in and paid for well before the mower is even off the production line.
Then there is the wages of the people who assemble them.
Stores like Lowes then screw them even more by demanding 60-90 days credit or free floor stock and 90+ days on replacements for the stock sold.
AS for Wal Mart the are strait out criminals, exploiting their staff and flogging off stuff bought in from China at 1000% + profit.
If you don't believe that then get onto Made in China , Alibaba , or China Trade and see what sort of prices you can get stuff from china in quantity.
When you do most likely you will recognise stuff sold in Wal Mart, usually in a different colour for about 1/10 to 1/20 of the price you see it for in Wal Mart.
If I want to buy walk behind mowers with Honda clone engines in quantities of 200 I can get them for $ 140 Aust, landed
Buy them in 1000's and the price goes down to $ 60 Aust.
The discount stores sell these mowers ( in different colours with different brand stickers on them ) for $ 299.
The 239 profit on the push mower is probably more than JD make on a 100 series mower.
The big hope is you go in to buy a 100 series & come out with a ZTR which is much more profitable.