babbalute wrote:
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
You're proposing airfreighting container loads of guitars and amps into SA to make them cheaper?
And you think the local distributor hasn't tried to get directly from the US? You think that local distributors can dictate terms to Fender, Gibson or other large manufacturers?
I dont get you, you are saying that Fender products are much more expensive because they have to come via Europe. So lets bypass Europe, do did not give any reason why this has to come via Europe ?
I read somewhere that Fender migh go bust because they are not selling well(or the value of stock held by their distributors is more than the value of Fender) The time is ripe now to approach manufacturers with alternatives to what they doing now. Sales are bad all over the world for any product and it takes a smart man (or woman) to break the monotomous system that is existing now.
As I said it might not work for all products one wants to import. But when manufacturers are presented with facts and figures (after you done your home work) they will be open for business. And this does not mean ordereing truck loads of containers. Many small orders also compete a container in the end. Maybe there is a bit more paperwork involved but that will keep your accounted busy rahter then having meetings every second day on discussing how they can do less work and increase proffits.
Nobody said that I was dicating to my manufacturers, with that attidute you stand little chance. A simple facts and figures detail and showing alternative options to manufacturers, who after all are not in the business of distributing and selling, will open their eyes and allow multiple distributors or as we call it "an open agancy policy" Anybody can sell their products in their respective countries.
The fact that a distributors is allowed to sell bothe Fender, Tokai, Gibson, Ibanez and all the other manufacturers products is a sad state of affairs. But then maybe this has to be this way otherwise they do not survive. Imagine going to a car shop and find every model and make of car on the same shop floor instead of going ot BMW or Mercedes for that specific model of car.
With todays state of internet access and world wide websites the need for distributors is falling away ralidly. This is a good thing(especially for SA) A intersting business model would that anyone could and would import the guitar he likes, how much aftersales service is required anyway on this type of products ? And if it would require any of this he would simply take it to his local luthier(it will ensure existance of these people for future times) or local electronics guy to sort out the problem. The same applies to amp, drum sets, etc.
Going to a distributor means long delays, he has to import the part only whith his next shipment, he has a local techie fixing it anyway and not a factory trainned guy, he will charge twice a much as he has to support plenty staff, cover a huge premises rent bill etc....Not to speak of coverning his own salary. Dealing with a local guy that is able to supplyt all of this at a much lower cost. The expensive ones will simply fall away in the future.
In the old days before corporate managment cam into play many more people had jobs, a salary and thus a living. The bigger companies get the less people they emply and the more expensive goods become for obvious reasons. It is time (imho), that the big piramid collapses and breaks down to smaller blocks(businesses) Allowing a more competitive market and thus lower pricing for everyone. I doubt if it will ever happen though,but the state of the world economy is asking for some change. And this is applicable to any type of product, including guitars, amps etc.
Sorry to tell you this, but, you don't know what you're talking about...and, please use 'spell check' ?
"You read somewhere that Fender might go bust"...complete nonsense.
"The fact that a distributors is allowed to sell bothe Fender, Tokai, Gibson, Ibanez"...not sure what this means ???, Fender, Tokai, Gibson and Ibanez are all handled by different distributors.
You plan (or you're proposing our distributors) fly off to the USA and buy Fenders, Gibsons, Tom Andersons, Suhr's at "discounted" prices?
From where, from who, who's going to supply you...Guitar Centre?
If you make it to the front door of Fender or Gibson do you have R800,000 for your first order...cash upfront?
Then you're going to ship the "discounted" guitars you bought to SAfrica, pay shipping, VAT, import duties, clearance fees, transport costs/local shipping fees.
Then you're going to wait 60 days to get paid by music stores that you supply.
Do you think the "discounted" price you'll pay from wherever you get the guitars from is less than the price our current distributors pay direct from Fender (Europe), Gibson (Europe), Tom Anderson, John Suhr, etc, etc?
Trust me, you'll do it once and never again, you'll run for your life and lose a ton of money.
Both Fender & Gibson in SA go through Europe because Fender USA and Gibson USA can only deal with sales & distribution in the USA, so they pass SA onto their Europe divisions.
Whether they deal direct with the USA manufacturers or the Europe divisions their costs for guitars are the same.
