Buying Bull Riding Gear On-Line

Sure seems that more and more hype is floating around out there in the market today. Almost everyone has popped up with a web site touting how great they are at this or that. I think it is going to get a lot worse, before it get's better unless the consumer does their homework on who they are buying from.

For those of you that don't know, we've been around selling on the internet since early 2001. When we started to test the waters and determine if there was a buying market for rodeo equipment on the internet, while still producing and promoting special events such as bull riding in the midwest.

I can't tell you exactly how many have come and gone during this time, however a considerable number have since vanished. On one hand I'd like to think we've played a part in that we have continued to raise the bar on what the buying public demands and we have met and exceeded that at every chance. With that, many of those that dabbled in this business decide it just isn't worth the hastily and bow out closing up shop leaving many customers asking what happened. Thats the other hand....I hate to see any business close.

Most people have a fantasy that they can build a website and suddenly they will have millions of dollars in sales. What they fail to see is that along with that comes security issues, credit card processing, order management, inventory and oh' ya CUSTOMER SERVICE...the list goes on and on. Most simply wanted a part-time home based business that didn't have to deal with it as a business.

We decided very early on that we wanted to pursue the rodeo equipment sales side instead of the promoting and production for one main factor...there wasn't a dominant provider of equipment nationally or internationally selling direct to the consumer that exceeded the customers expectation. It was still very old school and a ton of very disfunctional, incomplete and insecure websites out there.

Has it been easy?

Heck no. We have made a ton of mistakes ranging from poor performing manufacturers & distibutors to the core operating system and beyond. However, we continue to expand our operations because our customers have understood the changes that we have made and continue to make that benefit them directly.

Like what you might ask?

Take a look around on the web if you are looking to buy bull riding gear. What do you find? I mean really find? (Keep in mind my background is ten years in telecommunications and network management exposed to the early days of the web). Well, for those that don't know...you find a ton of websites that are the furthest thing in the world from secure.

What do you mean secure?

I mean I wouldn't give them my name little lone my credit card information. They haven't taken any steps to prevent fraud and most are hosted by free hosting companies. Whos to say if they will be there tomorrow considering the number of internet hosting companies that are crashing and burning with the demise of the telecom industry.

What else?

Well, the truth is most of the sites that claim to be selling bullriding equipment are part-time hobbyist having the manufacturer drop-ship the goods direct to the end customer. They do not have a physical store or catalog or any background selling bull riding gear. Do they list a phone number, contact name, address in the lower 48 states? Heck we had someone copy all of our product images and post them on a site that was in a data center in India. Come on the last I knew bulls were sacred in India...I doubt they look too kindly on riding them. In the end they were shut down for fraud. I have no idea if anyone actually fell for buying from them.

Ok, so now you have me freaked out about shopping on the internet!!!

Sorry, that's not at all my intent. There are some great on-line companies selling gear. Some even home-based. My point is there are some basic things that you should look for before clicking that button to buy it just because it is the lowest price.

Like what?

There are several industry standard that should minimally be looked for;

• Security
• VeriSign
• Contact Numbers
• Physical Store/Minimally address
• Do they stock it?
  
  Let's start with security:
  
  We have partnered with ScanAlert to test our site daily and immediately identify any vulnerabilities. Considering we utilize Netsuite we have yet to have any type of incident and have received comments from ScanAlert at how amazing it is that they scan and seldom find a site come up clean without having to make some type of change(s). Kudos to Netsuite for their stellar performance in this department! As of this writing you will not find any other website selling bull riding gear or equine tack and saddles subscribing to ScanAlert. I guess the FBI & the Marines use it....I mean why not. I trust it. So should you.
  
  Look for this symbol:
  

Next, let's look at what they use for payment processing. Is it only PayPal? Not that PayPal is bad...it's not we love it. However if it is their only payment form it may be a good indication that they couldn't get a Merchant Account to process credit cards...which lends well to part-time. Which makes you wonder exactly how long will I wait to get my order.

We use VeriSign PayFlow Pro. A trusted dominate industry leader in secure credit card processing. Look around on most major brand retailers sites and you'll find this one.

I could go on and on about this. It's just things we've learned that everyone else in our industry doesn't think is worth the time. I hear from competitors/suppliers "I could never justify spending that kind of money for something like that". All my rant is really about is to caution you from jumping at the first price that comes along because there is way more to a price than meets the eye. If you are looking for a trusted company, that works full-time, stocks most of the items, has experience in the field and takes your privacy and security serious....than all we ask is to come pay us a visit on the front end. We hate hearing the horror stories from those that went somewhere else first and didn't get what they expected.

One of these next ones I'll post about why shopping on-line from trusted sites is better than paying cash or using a money order....in the end it give you the customer much better protection than you might think.

See you on the Road!

Matt Owen

CEO

US Rodeo Supply Company, LLC

www.USRodeoSupply.com