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faq:cores

How do Cores Work?

Cores are typically used in the parts and service industry such as automotive, power equipment, power sports and heavy duty equipment shops.

Cores are based on the item that is being replaced is fixable, but to save time, the item is replaced instead of being repaired. The broken item that is removed can then be sent back to the manufacturer for repair and reuse.

A good example of this is an alternator for a vehicle. The service shop will purchase a new alternator instead of repairing the existing alternator so that the customer can get their vehicle back quickly. The manufacturer is expecting to get the core (broken unit) back so that they can repair it and sell it as a refurbished unit.

To be competitive, the price of the new alternator is low in anticipation of getting the core back. Therefore, when the service shop sells a new alternator, they will also sell a core charge that the customer must pay. When the core is returned to the store, the store will refund that core charge to the customer. Likewise, the store will get the core charge back when they return it to the manufacturer. The core charge is effectivily a deposit that gets returned and it's designed to “help” the user not forget.

Windward has a couple of different ways to use and report on cores. But the easiest is to make a core charge item complete with the price that needs to be charge. The core charge item is then attached as a tag along kit item to the main item. In the above example, the alternator would have the core charge attached as a tag along kit. When sold on an invoice, both the alternator and the core charge would be sold. If the core is returned immediately (the shop is doing the repairs) then the core charge can simply be deleted off the invoice.

If the customer purchases the alternator and returns the core at a later date, then the core charge can be returned on a new invoice and the cash returned to the customer.

faq/cores.txt · Last modified: 2007/02/18 15:24 (17 years ago) by dennis