wactac.com

tonycondon

tonycondon

Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
Joined
Mar 9, 2005
Messages
15,459
Location
Wichita, KS
Display Name
Display name:
Tony
Ive got a trip to Minnesota coming up this month and needed pretty much all the charts for it. I've seen wactac.com pitched here as a good low cost option for ordering so I gave it a try. Great site and great service!

I love the way you select the charts you need. just click on the map for the area you want and presto.

Google checkout was easy.

When they went to box up my order they wanted to make sure i actually wanted the current version IAPs etc. because they expire on Aug. 27. so they called me. when i didn't answer the phone they emailed me. Now that is nice!
 
I'm another vote for WACTAC.

I got sectionals for Hawaii from there. Local FBO always seems to be out of the Omaha sectional, except for 3 days at the beginning of the cycle, I know they won't have Hawaii...
 
I'll be sure to give a "woot" to the staff -- thanks for the pirep, and glad to be of service. :D

Blue Skies,

- Mike
 
Good find on WACTAC, Tony. How do they make money?

We sell NACO folded charts AT COST, and all of our items are only $0.99 + $0.50 per item for USPS Shipping.
Click to expand...
 
Heh.

We are currently operating break-even, in order to retain our NACO franchise, which we've achieved many-fold already. We've been at this for 7 months now.

What started as a "middle finger" to NACO for the minimum-FBO-sales hike has turned into us wholesaleing charts for a lot of the smaller FBOs who got pinched, which has made the business self-sustaining.

Our shipping is setup so that we gross appx $0.10 on a single chart, maybe up to $1.00 on a 10-item shipment, and the larger FBO orders end up being ~$10.00. There are actually a number of shipping scenarios where we will lose a small amount (up to $2.00), but on balance, it works out favorably.

All of our charts (TAC, SEC, WAC, ELUS) are at NACO cost, or 40% off. TPPs and AFDs are at full NACO retail, which sounds like a rip, but the shipping eats most of that (those suckers are murder to ship out)

The 2-5 year plan for wactac is to develop the computer model for ordering so precisely, that we can kick over to the new NACO no-returns pricing model (50% off retail), and then have the 10% margin to keep things profitable. In order for that to work, we will need a sizeable volume of subscription and predictable sales traffic -- and of course, accurate computer models.

I'm a database nerd by trade, so this is something I'm having fun growing, in the manner of an ant farm. Since our FBO covers its operational costs, it really doesn't cause us any harm to keep running indefinitely. :D

$0.02

- Mike
wactac.com
 
schmookeeg said:
Heh.

We are currently operating break-even, in order to retain our NACO franchise, which we've achieved many-fold already. We've been at this for 7 months now.

What started as a "middle finger" to NACO for the minimum-FBO-sales hike has turned into us wholesaleing charts for a lot of the smaller FBOs who got pinched, which has made the business self-sustaining.

Our shipping is setup so that we gross appx $0.10 on a single chart, maybe up to $1.00 on a 10-item shipment, and the larger FBO orders end up being ~$10.00. There are actually a number of shipping scenarios where we will lose a small amount (up to $2.00), but on balance, it works out favorably.

All of our charts (TAC, SEC, WAC, ELUS) are at NACO cost, or 40% off. TPPs and AFDs are at full NACO retail, which sounds like a rip, but the shipping eats most of that (those suckers are murder to ship out)

The 2-5 year plan for wactac is to develop the computer model for ordering so precisely, that we can kick over to the new NACO no-returns pricing model (50% off retail), and then have the 10% margin to keep things profitable. In order for that to work, we will need a sizeable volume of subscription and predictable sales traffic -- and of course, accurate computer models.

I'm a database nerd by trade, so this is something I'm having fun growing, in the manner of an ant farm. Since our FBO covers its operational costs, it really doesn't cause us any harm to keep running indefinitely. :D

$0.02

- Mike
wactac.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing all that detail Mike. I've been in web design/programming for a long time, and I have to say that the GUI is among the most intuitive and easy-to-use I've yet encountered. Did you do the programming? Nice job!
 
Hey, thanks! -- like all of my other aviation side gigs (cough, flight school, maintenance shop, fuel franchise), it usually starts as a bull session in the hangar, with words like "man, why can't [the other guys] just do it this way? It'd be so much better..."

I'm glad someone agrees with my way of thinking! :D

I spend 6mo a year as the top nerd for lexus.com, and the other 6 playing airport -- so I think I just absorbed some of their GUI chops over the years... although I really hate the current site navigation.. they don't really ask me. I just code it up. :)

Cheers,

- Mike
 
A quick question, why if you ship USPS won't you ship to a PO Box in Los Angeles. Just curious. We've had things taken from our mailbox down by the street so I like to send all merchandise that is mailed sent to the Post Office.
Joe


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • wactac.png
    wactac.png
    6.9 KB · Views: 124
Last edited:
Huh, I didn't know the system disallowed that -- we don't impose the limitation -- it is probably something Google Checkout is imposing as part of their "credit processing black-box" setup. Thanks for the heads-up.

Drop us an Email at web@wactac.com or call the office at 951-272-3942 (9a-5p 7 days) and we can get that done for ya, piece of cake. Heck, all the charts are on-site at Corona if you ever swing east, feel free to walk in, say "wactac" to the office staff, and enjoy shipping-charge-free browsing on our wall-o-charts for the same pricing. :D

(be advised, if you forget the password, you'll get charged retail rates ;) )


DSCI0016.JPG


If you need another enticement, we just picked a price-fight with our fuel competitor on the field, and we're doing Chevron truck service fuel at SS prices, currently $3.89. You should see the political hornet's nest that has stirred up. If I'm around, you might get to hear me kvetch about socialism and airports. Heh! :D

Cheers,

- Mike
 
schmookeeg said:
Huh, I didn't know the system disallowed that -- we don't impose the limitation -- it is probably something Google Checkout is imposing as part of their "credit processing black-box" setup. Thanks for the heads-up.
....
Cheers,

- Mike
Click to expand...
That's weird. Stuff through Google Checkout ships to that PO box regularly. Anyway, I will probably stop by the gas prices will more than pay for the charts.

What days are you there? So I can say Hi.

Joe
 
Reliably, Tue, Wed, Thu, and Sat -- Mon and Fri are scheduled by "drama" :D I'll be in this coming Monday for some training.

My Vee is in for annual currently, and since I live by LAX, the drive is WAY less interesting than the flight over -- so I suspect Wednesdays will fall off of the list soon...

Cheers,

- Mike
 
schmookeeg said:
<SNIP>

The 2-5 year plan for wactac is to develop the computer model for ordering so precisely, that we can kick over to the new NACO no-returns pricing model (50% off retail), and then have the 10% margin to keep things profitable. In order for that to work, we will need a sizeable volume of subscription and predictable sales traffic -- and of course, accurate computer models.

I'm a database nerd by trade, so this is something I'm having fun growing, in the manner of an ant farm. Since our FBO covers its operational costs, it really doesn't cause us any harm to keep running indefinitely. :D

$0.02

- Mike
wactac.com
Click to expand...

Do you need to order all the charts you expect to sell at the beginning of a cycle?

If you can order charts as you need them, maybe a semi-JIT system works.

  1. Estimate your usage for the next 2 weeks
  2. See if any charts will be reach an out-of-stock condition during this time (I also include a small buffer for bad things happening)
  3. If any will reach your stock-out trigger, see if anything else is close to stock-out (consolidate the shipment and save shipping costs)
As you get more people on board, averaging works for you more.

I use this algorithm with our customers, but I have the advantage that I know exactly what they used because their instrument tells us (with their permission- they even pay for the privilege) through a web server. This is all done within a database. I use 2 weeks since it strikes a good balance between stock at the customer site and number of shipments for us.

I'm not a database nerd- this is the first (and only) database app I ever wrote- and I'm amazed it works so well. I like your description of the ant farm- that might describe mine as well
 
Last edited:
Mike, unless I missed it somewhere, can you do automatic drops (every 28 days) for IFR plates and Low altitude enroutes?
 
CT Arrow said:
Mike, unless I missed it somewhere, can you do automatic drops (every 28 days) for IFR plates and Low altitude enroutes?
Click to expand...
When you go to checkout there is a drop down menu for each item that lets you pick the current edition, the next edition, the current with subscription, or the next with subscription.
 
Areeda said:
A quick question, why if you ship USPS won't you ship to a PO Box in Los Angeles. Just curious. We've had things taken from our mailbox down by the street so I like to send all merchandise that is mailed sent to the Post Office.
Joe


attachment.php
Click to expand...

They (WACTAC.com, not Google) are either using a Shipping Restriction or Address Filter in their shopping cart setup:

http://code.google.com/apis/checkou...hipping_Restrictions_and_Address_Filters.html

My guess is the xml tag for allow-us-po-box is set to false.

http://code.google.com/apis/checkou...ML_API_Tag_Reference.html#tag_allow-us-po-box
 
Last edited:
TangoWhiskey said:
They (WACTAC.com, not Google) are either using a Shipping Restriction or Address Filter in their shopping cart setup:

http://code.google.com/apis/checkou...hipping_Restrictions_and_Address_Filters.html

My guess is the xml tag for allow-us-po-box is set to false.

http://code.google.com/apis/checkou...ML_API_Tag_Reference.html#tag_allow-us-po-box
Click to expand...

A-ha, and so I did -- thanks very much for the catch & fix, I've updated this to ALLOW post office box shipment now.

Troy, your next chart is on me, drop me an email or PM and let me know what I can send ya out by way of thanks :D

Cheers,

- Mike
 
schmookeeg said:
A-ha, and so I did -- thanks very much for the catch & fix, I've updated this to ALLOW post office box shipment now.

Troy, your next chart is on me, drop me an email or PM and let me know what I can send ya out by way of thanks :D

Cheers,

- Mike
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks. When I get to flying actively again, I'll take you up on that. :cheerswine:
 
It looks like a nice easy site to use but lacks any information I could find on the expiration dates of charts. It would be nice to include that info.
 
That's a really good idea, thanks -- it was in the cart page, but not the main chart page. I've snuck it in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top