How do YOU use the Dealer Search? And How Often?

I'm curious as to how various collectors use the Dealer Search feature at www.HarbourLights.com/search/search.htm


What kinds of search do you do and why? How often do you use this feature?

What kinds of problems do you have with it?

I'd like to hear both from WACKOs and Newbies on these questions.

I find that I usually use it when I'm planning a trip. It lets me know if there are any dealers near to where Im going or on the way I'm using to get there.

It sometimes takes a little bit of time to determine which ones those are, as I must figure out where they actually are in reference to other places.

I have not had any magor problems using the search feature. I do recall some problems in the past with the map part of the search area. That's not a big deal, as I have other sources for that information.

I find it to be generally a very helpful tool.

Dennis

I use it to find what the latest shipments have been to the dealers. Don't I wish?

Last fall, my regular dealer went out of business. I used the dealer search to see if any new dealer was signing up in my area. Over the past 5 years that I have collected HL's, only 2 dealers in the Salt Lake area are still selling.

I also use the dealer search if I am going on vacation. I used it the most when I was still hunting for models that I didn't have.

I use it if I will be traveling. Depending on the area I will be in, I may use either the area code or state to search on. I then print it out and take along a hard copy.

Of course, I also use it when preparing announcements of dealer signing events. Unfortunately, not all dealers have up to date info. There have been occassions when I sent an e-mail and it was returned. If I remember correctly, I have also found dealers that had web sites, not because they had it listed with HL, but because I used a search engine to look for it.

Overall, it is a very useful tool when looking for a dealer.

Dave

When I first started collecting I used it to call out of my area dealers for elusive retired pieces. Now I use it whenever I am going on a trip. I'll print up a list for the state I am visiting and take it with me. I do occasionally check my home state to see if there are any new dealers listed.

Only problems I have encountered were some out of business dealers that were stil listed (and once I stumbled upon a dealer not listed!).

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Ken T

I too use it when I am making a trip. Also, once or twice a year, print out the list for GA and try to visit as many as I can, reporting back To Rick for R&R.

Rich

I too use it since I do a lot of traveling. When away from home, I have my laptop with me, log onto HL's webpage and download the local dealers. I try to do a little R@R while visiting the local dealers and submit what I find. Sometimes, I find a great deal out there.

Tim - Keeping the flame lit...

Well as you probably know, I'm on autoship so I haven't been traveling to too many dealers. But every once in awhile I'll print out the list and make note of the dealers that are in the area I'm visiting. You never know when my one missing HL might show up:

"Excuse me Miss, what is the price of that Coquille River LE?" "Let me check that for you, sir." "That's an older piece we found when we were cleaning the store room." "Gee the price tag says $60.00 but it is old and it has been hanging around for years." "Would you be willing to pay $50 for it?" (picture me with a poker face) "Is that the best you can do?" "Well okay, I'll give you $50." "$50 it is, sir, would you like it wrapped?"

Then I woke up..........

Bob

If you've visited the Harbour Lights home page today, you may have noticed a new object: the dealer search now can be launched from the home page by selecting a state from the drop down list and clicking "GO".

www.HarbourLights.com

This will display up to 100 dealers from the state or country you selected. If there ARE more than 100 dealers in a state, at the bottom of the list, you'll see a "Next Page" link that will display more.

All the same information continues to be displayed about the dealers and you can click on each dealer's name to view a single page about that dealer. If the dealer has a web site, there should be a link to that web site (which will open in a new page.)

The major change is that you launch the search from the home page rather than from a fill in form on a search page. You can no longer search by city, zip code or area code -- primarily because these were causing some users problems. So now all results are by state with the list sorted alphabetically by city first, then by dealer name.

The dealer list now includes almost 3,000 retail locations and is updated once a month when new stores are added. Other updates are made day-by-day.

Hope it works for you!

John,
Your new dealer list works great. I have used this in the past both when traveling and at home when searching for new lights. Thanks a lot, as I think this version is easier to use.