Gym fitness equipment supplier

To find a gym fitness equipment supplier with high adaptability and guaranteed after-sales, the core judgment criteria are actually "matching your gym positioning + after-sales coverage radius does not exceed 300 kilometers + providing full-link solutions from line design to after-sales maintenance." There is no need to blindly pursue imported big brands, and don't choose unqualified small factories to save costs. This is the most practical conclusion I have come to after eight years of immersed in the operation of fitness venues.

Don’t believe it, two years ago I helped a friend in Suzhou open a community gym. He was looking for a cheap manufacturer in Guangdong, and the price was 18% lower than that of local suppliers. Calculated, he saved 50,000 yuan. At that time, he felt happy that he had made a profit. As a result, the elliptical machine in the aerobic area broke down three times in the first half year of operation. The manufacturer had to wait a week to send accessories, and the after-sales service also charged 2,000 for travel expenses. During the peak period, three machines broke down in a row. Members queued up to practice and could not afford to complain and refund the money. The cost was more than tripled from the original cost. It was just picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

In the current industry, there are actually two schools of thought quarreling over when choosing suppliers. One is the "brand only theory", which believes that only big imported brands such as Life Fitness and Technogym can maintain the tone of the market and sell at a high price. This is not unreasonable. I have seen a high-end business gym in a Grade A office building in Lujiazui, Shanghai. A full set of Technogym smart equipment is sold for 8,800 for an annual pass. The members are basically financial practitioners in the surrounding area. People recognize this brand. After practicing, I even took pictures of the equipment logo and posted it on friends. The boss calculated very clearly that the extra one million spent on equipment can be earned back by selling 200 annual passes. This investment is completely cost-effective. But if you open a community store near an old community and have an annual membership card of just over 1,000, buying a full set of imported equipment is just out of your mind. Members don’t care what the logo is, as long as the equipment is stable enough, doesn’t wobble when running, and someone can repair it in time if it breaks. The other school is "pragmatism", focusing on domestic leading manufacturers or small vertical category manufacturers, which are cost-effective and have quick after-sales response. Eight out of ten friends who open studios around me choose this route. There are also Pilates studios who buy from small factories in Zhejiang that specialize in making core beds. The price is 60% lower than imported ones.

The easiest pitfall for many people who open a gym for the first time is to ask "how much does your complete set of equipment cost" when they come up. This is simply a fat sheep sent to the door to be slaughtered. If you don’t mention the venue area, audience positioning, or main courses, the prices they quote you are all false. Last year, I met a young man who wanted to open an iron gym. When he came up, he said he wanted a complete set of free weight equipment. The supplier quoted him 200,000 yuan, and he paid the deposit in a daze. In the end, he found out that his gym was only 150 square meters. After setting up the equipment, he couldn't even leave an aisle. He canceled the order and was compensated 30,000 yuan in liquidated damages. It was purely because he didn't understand the situation. There are also people who only focus on the unit price of the equipment when signing a contract, forgetting to include the implementation costs, transportation fees, installation fees, after-sales on-site labor costs, and warranty of wearing parts. These are all hidden pitfalls that are not written into the contract. A studio owner I know, the contract It only said "one-year warranty" and did not mark any wearing parts. As a result, if the dumbbell bar got bent, I had to pay for it myself, and if the spinning pedals broke, I had to pay for it myself. It cost me almost 8,000 yuan a year, which was higher than the premium originally quoted by the supplier.

By the way, a little bit of industry knowledge is that 70% of the suppliers on the market who claim to have their own factories are actually second-rate dealers. They will add 20% to the price. The way to tell is very simple. Just ask them directly, "Where is your factory? I want to see the production line when I have time this week." If he hesitates and says that the factory is out of town and it is not convenient to visit, or the production line has been rectified and is not allowed to enter, then nine times out of ten, he is selling goods. It’s not that you can’t choose from repurchases, but you have to know that you can cut off the price by at least 15% to avoid losing money, and the after-sales terms must be written in black and white, otherwise if there is a problem, they will get in between you and the manufacturer and push the blame, which will annoy you to death.

To be honest, this industry is both deep and shallow. Don’t believe those “top ten gym supplier rankings” on the Internet. They are all lists bought with money. If you visit a few local gyms with the same positioning that have been open for more than three years, feel the quality of the equipment they use, and ask the boss who uses it and what pitfalls they have encountered, it will be more useful than searching 10 promotional articles. After all, the equipment is what eats in the gym. If you choose the right supplier, you can save half of the trouble later. If you choose the wrong supplier, the equipment will break down every three days, the members will leave, the reputation will be ruined, and there will be no place to cry. Oh, by the way, one final reminder: when signing the contract, don’t forget to include the after-sales response time. It’s best to require door-to-door service within 24 hours. After all, one day the equipment breaks down and one day less money is earned. No one wants to suffer this loss.