Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Frankly it ticks me off that I have spent hundreds of thousands in one store over the years, but now johnny-come-lately has the same purchasing power that I do. Maybe I'm naive and those days are gone.
Yep, this annoys me too and I lose faith in the credibility of the store.
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Setting a fixed selling price also kills the possibility of the store throwing together "package deals", where they will throw in a bunch of free product (strings, plectra, case, books, etc.) with a purchase that together add up to a bigger discount than the buyer would usually get but still works out with a higher profit margin for the store than the same item discounted normally. This kind of thing benefits both buyer and seller.
I disagree with this argument Alan. We all know that you get nothing for free. I don't like being suckered into the extras that I might not have actually wanted. I will make the choice as the customer when and what I buy. Tell me the actual price and I will make an informed decision. Also tell me upfront what my discount is as a loyal customer, a professional or a business.
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
A set "pre-discounted" price also creates a lower perceived value of the product - and you will find that most of your manufacturers are more worried about their product's perceived value than the discounts you give - and for good reason.
I also disagree with this. Repeated discounting does more damage to a brand's image than selling to the advertised price. Also, advertising at an inflated price makes the item potentially out of reach of a some buyers. This is like shooting yourself in the foot.
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Local stores will increasingly find it more difficult to compete against the big international sellers until the local distributors man up and tackle the manufacturers on supplying them product at a price that enables them to compete fairly without costing the end users more. That is where both the disparity and the solution lies - between manufacturer and distributor.
I don't care what goes on between the manufacturer and the retailer as long as there is not price fixing. The retailer must advertise his price and I will make a decision to buy or not on the perceived value of the item plus the after-sales service and the soft issue of whether I like doing business with the shop concerned.
I must say that all this inflated pricing and discounting does nothing for the image of the retail music industry or the distributors and, as a consumer, I don't really trust them because of this. I always feel that I have to be on my guard rather than what they wan't me to feel, 'grateful because I was given a discount.'
