I agree w/ most of what you said. However, there is a BIG difference between a RESELLER'S permit (which is what most people that I know have, as well as some SHOPS). When I was neck-deep in to Serious Customs, I would not settle for anything less than W/D status. If I had to buy $5k worth of product I did. If I could not get W/D status, then I simply did not provide the product to my customers. There was a time when no1 in the nation could get a Hotshot header cheaper than me for a B15 unless you were a Hotshot employee... as well as some other companies that I linked up w/ in the late 90s. Yeah, Serious is dissolved and pretty much all but a way for me to source parts for MY rides cheap, but I am still connected and can often laugh at eBay pricing. It's getting harder, but I still have my hands in the hip-pockets of pretty much every1 that I would ever need. The parts business will NEVER die... the rules are just changing. Either you PAY THE PRICE to stock the merchandise or do not carry it.

Manufacturers are not stupid. If Dave at Skunk has 5 shops in every state as a RESELLER/DEALER of his product, then that's LESS ads that he has to run in HT, SCC, HCI and all your other favorite publications. It's a SMARTER way of doing business for the manufacturer bro. It's smarter b/c the average guy is gonna call MSP before calling Skunk for a product. That gives Skunk more time to work on their race cars and not be on the phone w/ Joe Blow, explain the difference in Pro 1, 2, and 3, hear about the guys car, take the information and ship out the product for a lousy 20%. It's cheaper to have 10 dealers per state than to do demographics for all of those locations and put a marketing plan in place for every different demographic. Why not let MSP deal w/ those questions/idiots and then still move the product?

I agree w/ you Mike in part --> If ALL you are into is parts, and you are a RESELLER then you definitely better not quit your daily grind. You'd definitely better diversify your porfolio... LOL. But the WDs out there still have room to breathe if they are smart.