How do you choose a reseller?

[CADTutor]

What qualities do you consider when choosing your AutoCAD reseller?
Geographic location?
Expertise in your discipline area?
Range of products supported?
Training facilities?
Support?
Price?
All of the above?

Recently, I've been talking to a number of resellers in my area and they all seem to offer different services. Some sell AutoCAD at a discount and are considered "box shifters" others give smaller discounts but tell you that they offer great support.

I just wonder, in these days of "off-the-shelf" software whether any of this matters and whether the choice shouldn't just be made on price alone. Seriously, what kind of support can a reseller offer that could make it worthwhile paying a premium?

Also, I wonder how many CAD managers actually change reseller. Do you shop around each year or do you just stick with the one you've got?

It's a topic I don't hear talked about very much and I just wonder what your view is.

[Alan Cullen]

Very interesting question, David. Personally, we stick with our known, tried, and proven reseller. He's the only one between here and Brisbane. But I have known him for 20 years, and he also used to work with one of the other techies here. So we all get on very famously.

David, it just struck me, this should formulate an FAQ. So I will wait in anticipation of the responses here, and look forward to your FAQ submission on this topic. :lol: :lol:

Oh, and if you need any help with the FAQ, I'm sure we can provide that help. :P :twisted: :lol: :lol:

Yeah, I know...I'm just being cheeky. :twisted:

[Dipali]

Well for me, when i had to purchase it december I checked with 3 resellers, 2 from city & 1 from the other city. finally i zeroed in one one who was giving the best price because none of them provide support & also the one I choose has been longest in this business, eversice autocad was launch here, so he was giving the best discounts. and if required his institute is best in training in our city.

[Alan Cullen]

Dipali, I have found that resellers do not give too much support, in fact they give basically nothing. They just sell acad products. I have found that AutoDESK in each country is supposed to provide training, which they do not do. They are more interested in getting involved in promotion of the product. Not about support for the product. That is why forums like ours are so popular, because we fill the gap.

[chrisdarmanin]

what ever the boss choses but the reseller we have provides training (albeit a bit expensive compared to government courses) and was always available when we called him. my experience with the reseller was good :)

[Bloodwig80]

What qualities do you consider when choosing your AutoCAD reseller?
Geographic location?
Expertise in your discipline area?
Range of products supported?
Training facilities?
Support?
Price?
All of the above?

Recently, I've been talking to a number of resellers in my area and they all seem to offer different services. Some sell AutoCAD at a discount and are considered "box shifters" others give smaller discounts but tell you that they offer great support.

I just wonder, in these days of "off-the-shelf" software whether any of this matters and whether the choice shouldn't just be made on price alone. Seriously, what kind of support can a reseller offer that could make it worthwhile paying a premium?

Also, I wonder how many CAD managers actually change reseller. Do you shop around each year or do you just stick with the one you've got?

It's a topic I don't hear talked about very much and I just wonder what your view is.

When it came time to choosing a reseller for ACAD we had only 1 choice here in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) so basically we just went with the only person that was available.

When we were looking at SolidWorks we had 2 choices and picked the one that was cheapest. We didnt really care about training because nowadays most ongoing training is done OTJ or through websites/seminars/webinars.

At another job I had, one of the higher ups actually switched our SW reseller because someone from our company that was fired went to work with the SW reseller and as the boss had a big ego he just didn't want to deal with that person ever again.

The funny thing is that I was hired to replace that guy, and a couple of years later I met him and we had a good laugh and a beer and then I referred him to the new company I was working for and he got the contract.

So in my experience I guess we have chosen resellers based on Price and Relationship.

[ReMark]

Our reseller was picked as a matter of convienence by the president of the company. The reseller's office is just down the street from us. I've never really been much impressed with them. The price is whatever AutoDe$k says it is; no discounts. Their training staff hasn't been all that impressive. They run 1 and 2 day seminars, a couple of which I've attended. They start late, have too many breaks, end early and charge too much. I've stopped attending these events and turn down all offers to attend "promotions" or "roll-out" events. The best firm I've dealt with so far as training goes is one called CADtech. I attended one of their 2 day classes on AutoCAD 2007 and was very impressed. Well organized, with complete access to written and online materials. Resellers? Who needs 'em.

[James]

our reseller was choosen from being at the Interbuild Show, where they sat us down and took us through the software.

we got a quote for the software via email and i rang a couple of other resellers and they coudnlt match the price, the rest is history :)