chris77
Seriously, how do you do it? I hate haggling and feel that the price you see should be the price you pay, but the music retailers here in sunny SA don't agree with me...
I have been gassing for a certain amp for a while now, and the only place I can still find one locally is this one online retailer. The amp's been discontinued for about two years now and all the other places have sold out theirs, reducing the price in most cases to clear the stock. But this store isn't budging on their price, and is still advertising it at the full retail price it was when it came out. Last time I asked for a best cash price I was offered a hundred bucks off.... if I can go to CT to collect it. Last week I tried again and was offered a whopping R50 off, which on amp that is advertised for nearly R8000 is a bit of an insult I felt. So I asked the manager of the store that I played one at ( whose part of the group that distributes that brand) if he thinks it is worth it, and he reckoned a fair price should be closer to R6000.
So how the hell do I get these okes to play ball? How. would you guys do it?
AlanRatcliffe
You always negotiate from a position of strength. If the amp you want is the only one anywhere, you are not the one in that position, the seller is.
Wait for one to pop up secondhand. Everything does sooner or later...
UnmagicMushroom
Wow, it seems your experience is the opposite of mine! I'm always being offered discounts! :roflmao: I've managed to build fairly good relationships with some of the people working in the different music stores in my area which also helps. Since the manager things R6000 is a fairer price, are you able to buy it through him?
I agree with Alan. If the store is not willing to budge, there's not much you can do unfortunately.
doc-phil
Most of the time when i am making enquiries on gear in store the sales person whips out a calculator and tells me how much they'll do it for, and this is normally about 10 - 15% less than the marked price.
Seems like you've just come across a stubborn salesman!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
The-Gear-Junkie
If A Dealer really wants a deal he should be giving you less 20-30% off retail (depending on product) to be competitive in this day and age.
domhatch
UnmagicMushroom wrote:
Wow, it seems your experience is the opposite of mine! I'm always being offered discounts! :roflmao: I've managed to build fairly good relationships with some of the people working in the different music stores in my area which also helps. Since the manager things R6000 is a fairer price, are you able to buy it through him?
I agree with Alan. If the store is not willing to budge, there's not much you can do unfortunately.
relationships. them's the key right there. i find that if you build up a relationship with a store (admittedly difficult with an online retailer), you'll find all sorts of benefits over time. not only in terms of service and advice, getting to know the guys and gals who work there, but even extending to the discounts you can get on gear.
cultivate relationships with a few stores around you. you'll be so glad you did
dh|
IceCreamMan
start by saying no ..... ?
then make a counter offer....
and never pay more than you initially prepared to pay for it,,,well unless its something you really really really want ?
ElasticPancakes
I agree with the relationships point.
If you are a person like me who regularly acquires gear...*cough* gear whore *cough* it pays off to build a good relationship with store clerks at the shops you frequent. Not only for the sake of getting discounts of course but it helps if they know you. I usually leave Marshall Music with a piece of gear and a fat long chat under my belt, which is nice.
Otherwise if I know the online value of the product, then add some moola on for the sake of shipping, commission, whatever that's my base price that I'm prepared to pay. If what they want is ludicrously more than that, then I usually just make them an offer based on my base price. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Depends how strongly the seller wants to stick to the price and how much you are prepared to pay.
Keira-WitherKay
i always compare prices.... so i know what the oppositions stores will sell it for ....
and i agree build relationship with a store .... you spend money or bring them clients and your discounts will soar ....
but times are tough at moment so ,speak to someone higher up the management rung and make an offer...after that all they can say is no ...but maybe the salesman on the floor can only give a set discount but management should be able to do more.....
chris77
Sorry for the late reply. My internet contract (3g) has expired and I am without service atm, and I HATE typing on the phone. I seem to press all the damn letters except the one I actually want to...
The store manager who told me R6000 would be a good price isn't local but from Bloemfontein. I briefly played the amp there about 2 years ago while trying out a semi-hollow Es335 copy. Didn't buy the guitar but the amp never left my gas-o-sphere after that. The store however have sold theirs long ago and they can't belp me.
I understanx wbat you guys are saying about building relationships, but here in the plattelanf that's not so easy. We cjrrently have 3 "stores". One of them seems to mostly stock classical equipment and PA's and keeps all their guitar strings in a box under ghe counter, so you can combine the thrill of rumbling through old stuff with the dissapointment of not finding what you are looking for presumably. Another "store" recently opened in the showroom of a car dealership. From wgat I can see they currently stock an amp, three electrics, an acoustic, a hollow bodied jazz box and some kind of PA system. So in other words less than half the gear I keep in our livingroom.
The third store is a proper one and the guys working there are cool as well, but they stock nothing I want (except smalls like picks and strings etc.) None of the gear they get in will really be an improvement on what I allready have, and the ones that will are too expensive for me anyway. So it's really hard to build a relationship with a store if they don't stock waht you are looking for and the only stuff they ever sell you are strings....
chris77
PS - I neard from a fellow forumite about a store in Jhb who might have stock of the amp I'm after. Sent them an e-mail about three weeks ago and still haven't received a response (which is about par for service from brick and mortar retailers wben it comes to queries in my experience) So I will follow Alans advice and wait for one to eventually pop up second hand.
domhatch
you know, i've had experience with blokes and blokettes on the forum helping out finding stuff. perhaps if you let us know what you were after, someone might know where to find one?
chris77
domhatch wrote:
you know, i've had experience with blokes and blokettes on the forum helping out finding stuff. perhaps if you let us know what you were after, someone might know where to find one?
I am gassing for a Marshall JMD. They were Marshall's crack at the hybrid amp market and weren't received too well. Most of the criticism however were from folks who were pretty vocal in their opinions on the blasphemy of making an amp with a digital pre-amp, in China!, and then putting a Marshall badge on it. Reviews were good but because of the naysayers initial sales were slow and the amp was discontinued. Since then it has become a bit of a sleeper hit though and ticks most of my boxes for an ideal amp.
